The German Greens are still finding it tough to support electricity generation from their existing nuclear power plants. Not sure why they are making this so hard. Winter snow starts in a couple of weeks.
Where? You show scant evidence of this in anything I have seen. Where for instance is anything mentioned of the billions of dollars being spent on sustainability programs and development?
I wrote extensively on the Kaya Identity some time back – which is located absolutely at the core of this question – and summarised again in my comment above. Crickets.
Keep in mind I am still an author and you have a long standing pattern of harassing me by abusing your power of moderation with vague and unspecified allegations.
[I’m under no obligation to write about anything, nor am I under obligations to spend my time addressing issues that other people raise. I also don’t need to defend myself against the shit you make up about my views, politics and motivations. Just like all the other authors, we choose what we write about and how we spend our time here. If you wanted genuine engagement on these issues, all you had to do was come back with your questions and points without the harping at me, or telling me what I should be writing about or doing. Banned from all my posts for the rest of the year – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Should those two young kids ever get a degree and go to work, they will figure soon that it is better to work on an actual completed project that actually changes the world for good.
If, with an activist criminal record, the two of them prefer to work for a pittance at some activist group then they will remain in righteous penury.
My argument was concise and accurate – green activism puts all of it's energy into telling us either there are too many people, or the people need to consume less and reduce their standards of living. The first two terms of the Kaya Identity.
The first is a moral question – if your plan requires fewer humans to succeed – fail.
If your plan requires everyone to live in a poorly defined hippie poverty forever – then fail.
People who want to solve the problem put all of their energy into either improving energy energy efficiency or reducing the amount of carbon required to produce energy. The last two terms of the Kaya Identity.
Your response is a mix of incomprehension and abuse of power. Gives me zero confidence in your motives.
I have no problem with you putting out your arguments on TS, even the ones I disagree with. Sometimes there is an issue where your comments are off topic under my posts but like with any other commenter this is easily resolved by moving them to OM.
But making up things about my beliefs is not acceptable.
I'm also not willing to deal anymore under posts with the near constant picking at me as an author. eg in your comment you again question my motivations instead of just arguing your points about the topic.
None of what I have just said is outside of the normal way things happen here.
Sometimes there is an issue where your comments are off topic
My comment was by any sane definition entirely on topic – indeed if went concisely to the heart of the matter. You just didn't like it.
Until the Green Party's around the world drop their irrational opposition to nuclear energy I will continue to loudly question their motives and those who support them.
I was talking generally about some comments being off topic. I didn't say your comment in the Sunflowers | Oil post was off topic. If it was I would have moved it.
You just didn't like it.
I don't even remember what the comment was tbh. Having a very busy few days. But again, you think it's appropriate to define my views, and each time you put those little jabs in, it confirms that I need to set a boundary.
TL;DW: Both sides of the nuclear power argument have an agenda.
Nuclear Power
Pro: Climate friendly, takes up little space, produces on demand.
Cons: Expensive, Non-renewable, won't have significant influence on climate change within the next 20 years, Unpopular.
Cons: The nuclear industry has a demonstrated inability to manage to solving their plant lifetime waste issues.
When you look at the footprint through centuries of high level waste half- life, then the space issue is large.
After it demonstrates an ability to stop their chamical and radiological pollution for half a century then it might be worth looking at. For theoment all thatbis apparent is that there has been 70 years of preety dangerous accilmulating pollution.
The nuclear industry has a demonstrated inability to manage to solving their plant lifetime waste issues.
Only really a problem if you want it to be:
And this really only applies to the early generation PWR reactors that utilise their fuel very inefficiently. There are several ways to build 4th Gen reactors that consume almost all their fuel (including waste from older reactors) and create a much smaller waste volume that only needs safe-keeping for a few hundred years. Geologic storage is perfectly appropriate for this.
It would also be helpful if anti-nuc greenies would stop raising irrational fears about storage sites and allowed some to go ahead as the Finnish have done.
I have outlined this at least a dozen times here over the past few years, but the 'waste problem' keeps getting trotted out – even when the risk it poses is tiny compared to the climate change problem it addresses.
There are several ways to build 4th Gen reactors that consume almost all their fuel (including waste from older reactors) and create a much smaller waste volume that only needs safe-keeping for a few hundred years.
That really isn't my point. After all you can go back over the last 70 years and see exactly the same kinds of claims being made about every reactor type and their waste.
Geologic storage is perfectly appropriate for this.
You can assert this. However you cannot point to a single place where this has been tried for long enough to find out. Now I’m not an engineer by training. However my science degree is in earth sciences. And I’d assert to say that an engineer who asserts that is a just a fool. They are arguing without sufficient evidence to support that claim. Every long term nuclear dump site I know of so far has had unsolved problems before, at or after end-of-plant-life.
Nuclear disposal of even medium levels has never been tried in geological terms. All we have had is things like dropping waste into the oceans – and now becoming a problem when we now work the deep ocean areas for comms lines – because the containment has failed. We’ve had above ground waste leaking into ground water systems. We’ve had closed nuclear plants dropping low and medium level waste on land by sea shores in rusting iron barrels.
Basically we have had experiments done by bloody pig-ignorant engineers who haven’t put in the controls to find out what their experiments did after they got them off their hands.
There have been 70 years to demonstrate that waste can be minimised and that the disposal is safe. It hasn't been demonstrated.
Instead we have waste piling up in dangerous locations and so far (as far as I am aware) exactly one open disposal storage that looks like it may be viable. The one that just opened in Finland. About 70 years after the first reactor. In 3-4 decades we’ll have some idea if it will work. I’d also note that they have put in extensive experimental monitoring – it is just as interesting to me if they manage to maintain that for long enough to get useful results.
I'm perfectly happy to have builds of a few demonstration reactors based on new principles. To test new disposal techniques. But I also require evidence that these techniques actually work before building more.
But those will require decades of testing to prove that they actually work and don't have process bugs is the only way that counts – as monitored tests. They are many decades of testing away from the kind of wide deployment you’re talking about.
Deploying site systems that don't have viable plans for the whole operational lifespan of the plant, and to its disposal is how the nuclear industry got in this mess – and you appear to be wanting to repeat the stupid experiment?
And it isn’t like we are lacking alternatives that have had decades of continuous testing in wind, solar, various geological battery systems, etc. The only thing that hasn’t been fully tested yet is using lithium battery banks – and the testing for that is slowly making it clear what the issues are.
The unknown risks – the ones that really really cost at and after end-of-life are becoming known. Wheras the nuclear industry is still fumbling in the dark ages of just starting to try to find that out.
It would also be helpful if anti-nuc greenies …
It isn’t the ‘greenies’ that you should be concerned about. There aren’t that many technical people outside of the nuclear engineering fanboys who think that the nuclear industry has done their job well enough to be trusted with dangerous materials at scale.
Their outright scepticism about the long-term value of nuclear technologies in open economies has fuelled the body politic’s scepticism. In the closed economies the devastation of whole landscapes by previous generations of engineers with no long-term time horizons has even managed to convince their current day engineers that there may a be few issues about how they operate on a biological and geological basis.
@RedLogix
I like the way the guy who has been the biggest defender of the 20/21 Century Western Capitalist/Imperialist project here on the TS…an ideological project that in its brief tenure as chief hegemony of the planet has squandered the one and only blimp in human history that provided us with free energy, for short term gratifications and capital gains with absolutely no long term aims or visions for the future of humanity (except maybe for their capacity to produce or more importantly consume ) much less the planet (except maybe for the amount that can be extracted from it)…the ideology that now that is on its death bed, leaves us with a Climate Armageddon as our inheritance…this same guy comes on TS all righteous…the gall.
Though I will say this…following that death cult (and defending it all the way) over the cliff right into the fires raging below shows the dedication of real fundamentalist that’s for sure…which I guess I can respect on a certain level, as I too am a fundamentalist…the difference being my ideology is the correct one…Socialism.
Sorry I forgot to add that the neocolonial hegemony defended so valiantly by our friend is of course also extremely racist….as was recently encapsulated rather nicely in a recent speech by EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell…
"Europe is a garden," Mr Borrell said in a speech in Belgium, but "most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden".
It looks like global pension funds are in trouble, their bonds (historic asset) are falling in value as interest rates rise. Yet because of (short version) investment decisions they are having to sell some of their assets. So it's not looking good for share markets. Some see a winter of energy shortage hardship in Europe followed by government and financial industry sector in crisis mode managing both the sustainability of some pension funds and the blow back of yet another private market failure.
PS Don't panic (ours should be fine – Kiwi Saver is a new scheme thus has smaller sized liabilities to continuing inputs).
Keen-eyed observers will have drawn the lesson that tax cuts for the wealthy, without any indication of what cuts in public services will be necessary to fund them, are a recipe for disaster. Even keener-eye observers, here in New Zealand, will have seen the obvious parallels between Liz Truss and our own National party. Christopher Luxon has at least had the benefit of a trial run of the policies which he has threatened to impose on us.
Is Luxon capable of learning from the mistakes of other hard right Tories?
I doubt it. If the Natz win in ’23 (God forbid) then we’re probably going to go the same way the UK will over the next few months.
I see Jacinda has not ruled out working with Winston Peters. That's strange given the narrative the Left, and everyone else for that matter, tar him with. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. The problem for Peters is ACT has most of his policies covered.
Where is the comparison of at least one major NZF policy with ACT? It is clear that you believe your own reckons but that doesn’t make it true for the rest of us. In fact, from the replies it appears you’re wrong. Lift your game!
Winston Peters is for higher wages and training of local workers before immigration. Neither is ACT policy. NZF has only one bottom line for coalition (whether National or Labour) – no inclusion of ACT or Greens.
I said ''most.'' However, I should have been more circumspect. These points from Winston's speech.
''1-First – to defend one law for all in our country, and
2-First – to defend democracy of our country.''
That covers much ground between ACT and NZ First when formulating policy,
It's the nexus that has the majority of NZers concerned even if they intend voting Left.
Now if you were a swing voter, where would you put your vote? On an old campaigner who has stuffed the country around on numerous occasions? Who's capricious behaviour has turned many voters off for life? Or would you want a young politician who has worked hard. Who isn't scared to call bs when it's needed. And isn't scared to stand up to Maoridom and the Left? Better yet, if you like Winston's policies, but can't stomach voting for him, ACT has a similar focus around law and order and democracy. Those are the two big concerns with voters in my opinion.
People are writing Winston off. I wouldn't, especially if he comes to an accord with all those small one issue political parties. It would be a political beast made in hell, but It would probably cross the 5% line.
He has a chance – there is still a 1-2% base. And he will be going for 1% from ACT, 1% from National, 1% from Labour and 1% from the fringe parties (3 to 2%). Most in the provinces. Better than 50/50.
The attention might take oxygen from TOP (now less likely to get from 2 to 5%), but help the MP (now more likely to get 4 seats c2.5-3%).
In my view you either have democracy, or you don't. If you argue democracy is the tyranny of the majority in favour of European, then what's the alternative for Maori? Maori already have special privileges plus all rights given to European. Although historically that has not been the case.
Tomorrow on TV One is the Doco 'No Maori Allowed' It's about historical racism in Pukekohe. That should keep the troops happy.
The restraint on majority is in the civil liberties and human rights protections (whether formed in a constitution, or a Crown in parliament system). That might well include indigenous peoples and those with Treaty rights.
That is not correct. Until very recently Maori could not build individual homes on their land. It is still collective homes.
They had to fit in with our world view. Now we are being asked to consider theirs and be more fair….. kicking and swearing begins by a racist few or by those who hold the cake!!
That is true, very true. However, I considered that historical when I wrote my comments. But there's still problems. Maori have discovered an age old Pakeha problem – bureaucracy.
Maori could not build individual homes on their land.
Nothing to do with race. Anyone trying to build on collectively owned land encountered the same problem. More than a few hippie communities ran into exactly the same story.
As long as affluent middle class professionals like your good-self volunteer to do all the suffering & sacrifice (in health / housing) for 'Equity' … then fine … but we both know it won't even remotely be you & your chums … it'll be poorer, lower & low-middle-income non-Maori – already greatly financially disadvantaged – who'll be transformed & scapegoated into second class citizenship with few if any rights (my Parents currently being the perfect example).
People who, despite being born into poverty or low income families, have always been law-abiding, civic-minded, done the right thing, thought of others … will be the ones you viciously scapegoat & punish … absolutely fucking guaranteed. Albeit, of course, assiduously camouflaged as some great moral cause.
Fortunately, some relatively recent polling (Aug 2021) conducted on an issue that is essentially a proxy for the broad idea of 'Equity' (as opposed to Equality) suggests most New Zealanders aren't prepared to be conned by Critical Theory BS. The 2021 Lord Ashcroft poll found that even a majority of Maori Party & Green voters supported universalist ideas rather than policies pushing ethnic discrimination.
Like I say, the Woke middle-class are not “The Left” … you’re a self-interested Upper-Middle Vanity Project … and your relentless moral posturing is so transparently phoney.
"Poorer, lower & low-middle-income non-Maori" being "transformed & scapegoated into second class citizenship with few if any rights" sounds terrifying. Is there a Kiwi demographic or historical perspective that illustrates just how bad things could get for "non-Maori"?
Growth in life expectancy slows [20 April 2021]
The gap between Māori and non-Māori life expectancy at birth was 7.5 years for males and 7.3 years for females in 2017–2019.
Right, so you're confirming that affluent middle-class professionals like yourself – the genuinely privileged – are determined to scapegoat poorer non-Maori … and transform them into second-class citizens …
… and you’ll (rather desperately) deploy very crude comparisons (lacking all context) between Maori & non-Maorias a whole (as opposed to looking specifically at poorer & low-middle Pakeha/Asians) to buttress your decidely vicious & self-interested objective … got it … good to have it on record.
Who are you addressing here Swordfish? Your bitterness is becoming too personal. Are you saying discussing inequities is "Woke"? If so look in the mirror, because most of us " Self interested Upper Vanity Project…. etc…..' came from poor homes who valued Education… You know.. the "Woke" of their generation.
Thank you swordfish. That needed to be said. You are 100% right. However, there's a plethora of people ready to tell you why you are wrong. I too fear for the collateral damage such attitudes bring,
Try for something a little more cogent & plausible than the horrendously pompous dismissal "sigh"
Soooo Upper-Middle … soooo Russell Brown …. sooo "why do I possess such unusually refined sensibilities … I'm too morally good for this world"
Simply asking you to be a little less Brideshead Revisited.
Now, if we can get back to poorer non-Maori and how the affluent Woke are looking to systematically scapegoat them in health, housing & so on … preferably without too much in the way of Sigh.
Right, so you're confirming that affluent middle-class professionals like yourself are determined to scapegoat poorer non-Maori … and transform them into second-class citizens
… got it … good to have it on record.
??? I provided statistical information about the absolute life expectancy and wealth of different ethnic groups in NZ. Don't understand why this equates (in your mind) to scapegoating (blaming?) "poorer non-Māori" for anything, let alone transforming them into "second class citizens."
I really miss Mum – she was an inspiration and offered wise counsel. I've been been taking care of Dad at home for nine months now as he slowly loses his memory and independence – he's depressed, and occasionally experiments with VSED for a day or two – such is life.
And he will be going for 1% from ACT, 1% from National, 1% from Labour and 1% from the fringe parties
Doubt it … in broad terms, there's the potential for ACT to hoover up anti-WokeNats (& possibly swing-voters) … while NZF (or some new Party … preferably a trad Social Democratic one) wins over a segment of disillusioned anti-WokeLabour voters.
[No doubt both parties will be looking to supplement their support from the fringe]
For quite a few years now, NZF has attracted (& lost) far more former Labour voters than Nats … hence, in terms of their voting-base, they’re essentially part of the centre-left constellation … so they'll be aiming first & foremost for those 2020 Lab supporters who have voted NZF in the past [there’s quite a few of them & most of them haven’t died in the interim].
See my 4.01pm post below as to recent NZF voter preferences.
I don't see ACT taking any more National "trigger issue" voters than they have already (they led the debate on these issues not National) – and certainly not any centrist who reads their manifesto. Both ACT and Greens will have to campaign well to hold their current poll support level.
There was a suggestion on radio NZ (possibly a throw-away comment!) that both NZF and ACT are in favour of seeking to do away with the Treaty of Waitangi. Sorry I was driving and cannot recall the time when the comment was made.
I think around 80% of the NZF vote is from the Right. So if NZF get 4.9 percent 3.9% of the Right's vote is wasted but only 1% of the Left's is wasted, giving a significant advantage to the Left in the distribution of seats under MMP.
Of course Ardern hasn't "ruled out" NZF. Is this your first election? How old are you?
In 1996 Winston attacked Labour and National and vice-versa, and in the end NZF did a deal with National.
In 2005 Winston attacked Labour and National and vice-versa, and in the end NZF did a deal with Labour.
In 2017 Winston attacked Labour and National and vice-versa, and in the end NZF did a deal with Labour.
In 2023 it's unlikely NZF will get over 5%, but if they do … NZF will do a deal with either National or Labour if they need to.
The only time NZF were "ruled out" was when John Key calculated (correctly) that National could get a majority without NZF. He got the support of 3 other parties.
If you think Luxon or Ardern will choose to lose rather than do a deal with Peters if they have to, you've no understanding at all of politicians or MMP.
''Of course Ardern hasn't "ruled out" NZF. Is this your first election? How old are you?''
Well, deary, fairly old. I was just pointing out the political hypocrisy that goes on. Winston is slagged off by all, then if he's needed politically, all of a sudden that dog whistling is ok. It never ceases to amaze me. But more so coming from Labour who are meant to have a paternalistic eye on, and special relationship with, Maori.
Winston built a career on attacking "sickly white liberals", scratching itches from the Treaty to immigration. Everyone knows who he is and what he does. It didn't begin in 2022.
He was Deputy PM under Ardern for 3 years, because the alternative was worse. Do you think Labour voters regret that decision? Do you think they wish National had been in government for a 4th term, in a pandemic, ?
That's the same decision as always, and no party – Labour or National has ever chosen opposition instead.
Do you think they wish National had been in government for a 4th term, in a pandemic, ?
Shudder- they would have screwed that up even worse than they did with the GFC. In my lifetime, National seem to make a fetish of wanting to doing doing exactly the wrong thing in every crisis from the UK joining the EEC to covid-19.
Those idiotic statements about what they wanted to do during covid were insane. Release border controls before the population was vaccinated- just because some of their business mates were too thick to run their businesses over the net. They wanted to do it just before the artival of beta, delta, and omnicon…
The only political group that was stupider was Act and their parasitical shills in the taxpayers union.
Winston is slagged off by all, then if he’s needed politically, all of a sudden that dog whistling is ok.
Such nonsense. Even on this site not all (!) are slagging off WP. More importantly, neither Ardern nor Labour have been slagging him off either; they’re simply giving him the least amount of political oxygen. You’re also losing the plot with your biased anti-Māori rhetoric; you sound like an ardent NZF or ACT supporter with very little to say and a whole lot of hot air and bluster.
And that just shows that NZF has understood one thing. In opposition you attack all the parties that are not you, after all the party is representing its voters. In this case NZF doing stuff and saying stuff on behalf of its voter base. And neither a Labour or a National voter has to like a damn word he utters. After every election however any and all parties should seek to be admitted to the governing team. Specially the third parties.
Any party that rules out potential coalition partners on the grounds of their purity boundaries is self – selecting out from governing and pushing their agenda and promoting change. So why bother voting for people who self – select out long before anyone has cast any votes.
The story censored in western MSM for decades – this was first admitted by the DOD during Desert Storm (used on the Iraqi army) and has been a conspiracy theory ever since.
Asian media has reported its use by Chinese police on dissidents there.
Remembering Dr Patrick Flannagan and his Neurophone, This opened the way for many other devices that followed. Once the military gets hold of an invention, its use for humanity is stifled.
Not really neglect is it? It's corruption. National replaced elected ECan members to obtain non-enforcenment, same as Max Bradford was sent in to steal public power assets. And it will keep happening until those responsible face serious consequences – ie never if major parties have anything to do with it.
I hesitate to say this – as I know that many Standardistas regard Kiwiblog as anathema.
However, a contributor there, PaulL – has been running a fact-based series of posts – analysing the impact of tax and benefit policies on low income households – often referred to as the welfare trap.
They (so far at least) seem to be fairly politically neutral – and focused more on stating the issues, rather than identifying solutions (I gather the 'solutions' come later in the series – but he's already said there are no wave the magic wand answers out there)
But I've found them to be the most useful summary of the issues that I've yet seen (especially the graph visualizations of actual financial impacts on households)
And – particularly useful in challenging the 'just work more hours, get a pay increase' rhetoric, which is prevalent.
The spreadsheet he's made is really useful, it's clear we really need to look at how the abatements work they're effectively punitive especially if you have to re pay at end of year.
This is about the debate within National since John Key accepted Labour's 2005 WFF tax credits approach in 2008 (because there was no other way to get working families out of poverty …).
Why would a Party/Parties, who say they need 50 000 unemployed to bring down the cost of living care about the working poor? Short answer for all their positioning and pontificating they really don't. More "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing stuff".
As it did under the Helen Clark years. There is a reason Labour brought this benefit/tax in for families, and N never repealed it and will not repeal it in the future.
At some stage Government either need to regulate the pricing of flats/houses, or we need to flood the market with rentals build by the goverment and maintained by the government, and any citizen has a right to apply for such a flat irrespective.
Frist. cap the accom benefit. Declare a max and make that public.
Second. build faster, more and where people are. stop moving homeless people around to warehouse in motels and expect them to find housing and jobs in places that historically have been struggling for a long time, and that in the case of some over the last few years have lost most of their local industries to covid and the resulting fall out.
Third. if we can spend 3000 grand a week for shitty motel room somewhere without jobs and support, why not rent a house/flat directly – and cap it at market rent – non of that free market where the government gets milked as if they were a commercially used lactator.
Right now and for a while the onus has been/is on business to pay higher and higher wages in order to keep up with a price inflation that has very little to do with businesses actually. Why should businesses be responsible to increase wages so that their staff manages to keep up with someones ursurius demands of rent? Why would the government not come in and finally regulate that market via rent caps or setting rent mirrors that need to be adhered too?
Honestly, you can have a min wage of 50 bucks make 2000 per week and still need government assistance and not be free of the fear of homelessness if your weakly rent is 1800.
And fwiw, with inflation doing what it does, it will get worse by the week.
I thought that his posts were interesting reading. Maybe it just needs to be looked at from an angle where the questions is not partisan, but one that identifies an issue and how to fix it. Or we can just complain about parties that change every other year, and watch it go worse a little more one homeless family at a time, one poor family at a time.
The difference is that Labour keep reducing the cost of WFF tax credits by increasing the MW and working towards living wage, fair pay and industry awards (bus drivers … ). To have more for other spending.
Sure given the major problem is now the cost of renting and lifting the WFF tax credits and or AS in a tight market enables landlords to raise rents, we have to move to non income related policy (as we have with food in schools).
So for me it's also a rent freeze (and some extra support in terms of tax credits and AS for those at lower incomes/benefits etc) and more income related housing. One way to do that is to buy up houses off private landlords (who are losing their right to claim mortgage interest as a cost).
Not an MP, Cameron Bagrie supposed independent economist, recently employed by ANZ and Key.
It is part of the rights mantra and what they did last time, along with using lots of immigrants to compete for work and the 90 day rule to cap wages for the poor, plus take away all rights to discuss work conditions.
Then they lied and raised GST. So not much trust for their promises. Sorry Alwyn, I am not digitally smart, but you will find it if you care to google.
Your definition of recent is certainly pretty generous.
Cameron resigned from the ANZ in 3 October 2017. That is five years ago. By coincidence it was the same month that John Key was appointed to the New Zealand ANZ Board. I really don't think that they would have been involved with the ANZ together, do you?
With that framing in place there is about zero chance of employment policy being effectively implemented. The problem with the framing is it walks straight passed availability of work in assuming incentives to enter work are relevant. The relevant factors for people going from welfare to work are actually, can they find it given their skill set and location, does it offer enough hours given their total income, can they get it given their limited employment history. If work was available which removed these hurdles then many on welfare would prefer employment, just for the pro social factors. If it was flexible enough a lot of invalid welfare recipients would also be part of that.
The framing of human employment preferences as marginally motivated doesn't describe human psychology. When this answer arrives from macro economic models they assume full employment (equilibrium market state) as an outcome.
I'm not sure what 'framing' you're referring to. Perhaps you could give an example.
From my reading of the figures – the point was that, for a significant % of the lower paid workforce (especially those with children), employment, additional hours, and even pay rises, are of marginal benefit (cash-in-hand-at-the-end-of-the-pay-period benefit).
That's the biggest hurdle that needs to be addressed. I don't know whether there is an employment policy which addresses this.
Right now – work is available (boy is it available! – at least in Auckland – which is, after all 1/3 of the population – so fairly significant). Employers will bend over backwards to find hours and shifts that work for you. If you can turn up reliably, and do the work – employment history doesn't matter.
Those barriers certainly existed in the past (and may again in the future) – but aren't a big reality right now.
However. It seems as though the benefit abatement rates are an absolute killer. It costs to go to work (clothes, food, transport, childcare – that's massive) – it would seem to me, that many people quite possibly can't afford to get a job – at or even quite a bit above – minimum wage.
Yet when benefit rates were much higher unemployment was lower. There has been consistent framing that you need a gap. Buying into this framing help keeps benefit rates down.
Once you work out that that framing is not true then there is no reason against increasing benefit rates to make people's lives better and to ironically make them less fatigued, better fed, better mentally and in fact more suited to going to work.
The trouble is that the bureaucrats have also been brainwashed into this thinking as well. Remember MSD's advice to government in response to giving a bigger benefit increase as per WEAG was that this gap needed to be maintained.
Both National and Labour think this. Bunch of numpties.
Mike Treen pointed this out some time ago.
"The Labour government was implicitly accepting the argument that there needs to be a big gap between the benefit and a job to motivate people to work. There is in fact no evidence for that. Sweden has the highest sole parent benefit in the world yet had the highest percentage of sole parents in work. New Zealand had much lower unemployment when benefits were much higher as a percentage of the average wage."
"But to cut real wages the employer thinks he needs the gap to grow between wages and welfare payments. You have to make living on a benefit as miserable as possible.
In 1991, National savagely cut the rates of all benefits, including the invalids and sickness benefits. The harshest cuts were for the unemployed.
The unemployment benefit was cut by 25% for young people, 20% for young sickness beneficiaries, and 17% for solo parents. They abolished the family benefit and made many workers ineligible for the unemployment benefit with a stand down period of up to a six months. The 1992 benefit cuts were worth approximately $1.3 billion – about the same size of each of the tax cuts handed out in 1996 and 1998. Unemployment benefits were stopped for 16 and 17 year-olds and the youth rate for 18 & 19 year-olds extended to the age of 25.
Benefits as a percentage of the average wage fell significantly after 1985.The single person unemployment benefit dropped from 42 to 30% of the average wage by 1996. National Super for a married couple went from 85% to 72%. A domestic purposes benefit for a parent with one child went from 80% to 53%. The benefit for an unemployed couple with two children went from 95 to 69% of the average wage. "
Marginal benefit is a framing of the issue, its an assumption that this is the primary motivator to human behaviour around employment. As a country we have been down the road with the policies which follow from that assumption before. There are no alternatives to this outcome because the concept is to create a significant gap in income between employed and unemployed status. We will start there and end up cutting welfare to even below minimum budgets put forward by actual nutritionists (yes, we did that as a nation), starving people into work.
You may well be sanguine with the countries level of unemployment, but there are a bunch of things to consider around this.
1) Our official theory of unemployment makes zero sense. It is claiming we are more than 100% employed. Now realistically when you make an estimate for a maximum and its exceeded you would conclude that your estimate for that maximum was clearly incorrect. But apparently this doesn't behave as an actual limit.
2) In making this assumption we've decided it makes best sense to go without the output of 50,000 more people. That's an extraordinarily large amount of real output, and ongoing work history, we are giving away to a framing which is demonstrably incoherent.
3) New Zealand has had lower unemployment rates previously. Just this happened is an era when both political parties discussed full employment as a policy choice and the modern NAIRU concept wasn't known as an acronym.
4) The unemployment rate is only a measure of some/no employment. It doesn't measure under-employment which indicates a much larger waste (real output the country is going without) which is on-going. Including under-employment its a reasonable estimate that NZ real output could be a full 11% higher.
5) Unemployment rates vary regionally. There are some areas and cohorts where the rate is still in double figures.
6) Registering unemployed in statistics requires that those people are actively looking for work. Any unemployment rate above zero indicates there are people who can't find work.
All of these points indicate the same thing, the framing (and you purportedly didn't notice) obfuscates and invisibilizes a huge amount of ongoing waste of real output. That same framing has a history of really perverse economic policy in NZ. As I said, if that framing is adopted the results have about zero chance resulting in effective employment policy.
"If you can turn up reliably, and do the work – employment history doesn't matter.", I find this level of non-thinking astounding. Hint, the unemployed people are the applications which you already rejected (trivially) for lack of employment history. The ones who turn up reliably and do the work are employed.
"If you can turn up reliably, and do the work – employment history doesn't matter.", I find this level of non-thinking astounding. Hint, the unemployed people are the applications which you already rejected (trivially) for lack of employment history. The ones who turn up reliably and do the work are employed
In turn, I also find this level of wilful blindness astounding.
We are at a time when employers are crying out for workers. They are raising wages (well above the minimum), being totally flexible on hours and conditions (part-time – not a problem!) and certainly not rejecting applications for lack of employment history.
Yes. That may not always be the case in the future. And it may not be the case in some areas of NZ (I can only talk about the situation in Auckland – which as I pointed out has 1/3 of NZ population – so is fairly significant).
We even have situations where schools in South Auckland are struggling to retain their 16+ kids to get qualifications, because they can walk into jobs paying well above minimum wage. [Of course, the schools are rightfully concerned over their long-term prospects]
If people are not employed – under those conditions – then we need to be looking at the barriers – and the abatement rate of benefits, appears to be one of the strongest.
Nor, has there been as far as I can see, any mention of a requirement for 'full employment' or any variation thereof. Indeed, the original poster specifically discusses under-employment (and the barriers that the abatement rates for benefits, accom supplement and WFF) put in the way of increasing work hours. Child-care costs are also a huge barrier for Mums (and it almost always is Mums) with pre-schoolers. The 20 hours-free policy goes nowhere near accounting for the actual cost of child-care.
And, yanno. It's pretty self-evident that the majority of people go to work to make a living. If going to work, working more hours, or getting a pay rise, makes you worse off then that's a pretty major dis-incentive, right there.
I don't know of anyone who goes to work out of the kindness of their heart with the sole desire to make their employer wealthier, or to decrease their cost to the government (a truly abstract concept).
And while there are lots of other social benefits to working – they don't outweigh the cold hard reality, that you have to pay your bills at the end of the fortnight.
I can tell you (from experience) that there is no budgeter like a single mum who has to juggle every cent on a weekly basis – and who knows considerably more than her WINZ manager about the costs and disincentives of that extra hour of part-time work.
It seems to me that the 'framing' is coming from you, rather than the actual original poster.
Is there anything in the actual posts that you factually disagree with?
Because, if we (as a country) can't even agree on what the issues are – then you're right – the chances of having an effective employment policy are indeed zero.
As I have highlighted the framing is an obvious issue. In your latest reply it has some how invisibilized the fact that current official government policy is to add ~50,000 unemployed. That appears incompatible with any coming benefits from marginal rate changes. Its also invisibilized full employment as a political choice, and that this outcome is not a policy pursued by the govt. Obviously those issues are quite relevant to employment policy, as are their costs which dwarf anything relating to marginal employment choices.
Here's a highly relevant thing relating to marginal employment arguments. Did you know they imply that unemployment is therefore voluntary?
The assumption is that there is a trade off made between leisure (e.g unemployment) and work. The marginal difference between these is supposedly the cause of unemployment. I have in no way been claiming people go to work to make employers wealthy and that's a complete strawman anyway, your author is talking about the marginal rates relating to employment.
Now I'm fully happy with your belief that there are some minor tinkering's around the edges which are carrot policies, rather than stick. But you should clearly be aware of the prior art hanging around these policy discussions, that this is ultimately a discussion about creating a significant gap in pay between employed and unemployed, and that if this is taken seriously the implementation will surely be of the stick form and quite destructive, that has been the prior outcome in well known cases. That also remains fully consistent with present belief systems around welfare policy (as DoS describes quite well).
"certainly not rejecting applications for lack of employment history."
They are still rejecting them though. Some because the applicants are Maori or Pacifika, some because they are older, some because they have children, some because they are on benefit, some because they want experience, some because they want/need to retain a pool of local seasonal workers, some because of union affiliation, some to put pressure on the government, some because they don't want to spend money on training, some because they are over-qualified, some because they are pregnant, some because they have trolled their facebook pages, some because they have previously taken out a personal grievance against an employer, some because they have a collective black-list they add to and pass around, some cause they have a foreign sounding name……………….
And then there's those employers no one really wants to work for – shitty employer, unsociable hours, lack of safe public transport, dangerous conditions…..
My son's friend, a good kid, always worked, never been in trouble lost his job when his employer closed. Applied for hundreds of jobs over six months. Most time never got a reply. More rejections the more he struggled. Committed suicide. Some of those employers he applied to were in media bleating about how they couldn't get staff.
Throughout the festival’s history, we have always defended the need for a full and frank discussion of the problems facing society. Our motto is ‘FREE SPEECH ALLOWED’. We live in a time when censorship seems more prevalent than the days of shushing priests and damning judges, and yet things have changed. Contemporary attacks on free expression often come both from the state and from within a wide variety of institutions, from colleges to companies, museums to the media. On the one hand, censorship can take the form of legal overreach – from calls to beef up the Online Safety Bill to questions about how to deal with misinformation. On the other hand, censorship can be subtle, and is often quietly self-inflicted for fear of ostracisation.
The pressures on free speech will be a major theme at this year’s festival, with speakers asking questions about whether cries of You Can’t Say That have affected political progress relating to anti-racism, climate change, economic growth and even the world of arts and culture.
We aim to make all our events an antidote to intellectual silos and closed-off echo chambers. The Battle of Ideas festival is an intellectual journey, with many different routes to take through it. With scores of debates and hundreds of speakers, there will be much to enjoy for everyone on an enormous range of issues.
The Battle of Ideas festival is serious, fun, inspiring and much more.
Trump ushered in an era of more freedom? With the Supreme Court?
(the event referred to is in London, so I assume we're talking globally here, which in effect means in the West, because there's not much freedom everywhere from China to Russia to Iran).
Massive move toward censorship, elitism, authoritarianism & anti-majoritarianism over the last 6-7 years … driven by a self-interested Woke professional-managerial class (essentially opposed to democratic norms & genuine Social Democracy) … hand-in-hand with Big Tech Oligarchs.
The arrogant commandeering of centre-left parties by a dogmatic, anti-democratic segment of the middle-class making fundamental changes rapidly (& preferably by stealth) reminds me so much of the Leninist vanguard tactics of the Rogernomes through the mid-late 80s.
Massive move toward censorship, elitism, authoritarianism & anti-majoritarianism over the last 6-7 years
Where, Brexit in the UK, red MAGA cap Trumpism in the USA, Bill English taking over from John Key, or do you mean females speaking up on Twitter and in MSM ….
"Obviously it's not the 19th century, the 1950s, or any time before the internet."
Location, location . location….may be important to the context.
Pre internet (and pre instant media) most conversation was local and in person….self censoring was and is dependent on repercussions. if you were unfortunate enough to live in a totalitarian state then the repercussions were real, but in a democracy much less so
What's everyone's thoughts on Winston's latest attempt at a political comeback?
I have no doubt NACT will rule him out in the near future, should the left also?
As for his rhetoric around He Puapua, Three Waters and co-governance. When will we wake up and realize that this is politically unpalatable for most and the legislation is undoubtedly going to be ripped up as soon as possible?
Why are the left prepared to die on that bridge? Wouldn't something like poverty and hardship be more palatable and less of a vote loser?
There is no point looking back after the election with regret and wonder why divisive policy wasn't dropped as the polls continued to fall. Act on it now and cast it aside!
At least pretend that the contest next year isn’t a foregone conclusion.
Anybody who uses the word 'woke' to mean anything other than emerging from sleep, is a lazy bullshit artist. Anybody who says the English language is being extinguished is a mischevious shit-stirrer. Anybody who compares Co governance to apartheid has lost the right to not be laughed at as a matter of course. But the fact that his drivel is reported without automatic derision shows what an impressive propaganda hit job is being done on the government.
We have a few posters here of that age? Should we discount their opinion because of age? If people like what he has to say they may or may not vote for him. I would like to point out that NZ just recently elected a young dude as Mayor of Gore, and one of Rotorua councilors is quite young and was just out of school when he got elected first time around a few years back, Fisher Wang.
I have to say AB, when I am feeling a bit lazy I use the word woke as a shorthand method. I think most of us use words as shorthand. It is a bit quicker than saying people who view everything through a very narrow ideological lens interpreting every event in a way that fits their narrow authoritarian paradigm.
For example the ignoramus who said Shakespeare was a canon of imperialism. ……. and questions whether Shakespeare was the "most relevant for decolonizing NZ". So this is a very good example of wokedom. This festival has been running for nearly 30 years, the PM and Melanie Lynskey and 140,000 other school students have attended and it involves adapting Shakespeare to our current world. Shakespeare……the greatest living playright ever! The writer who manages to write about universal human nature better than anyone!
I am really glad Sam Neil, Robyn whatshername from the Westie programme and Michael Hurst have come up swinging against the stupidity of this decision. Deciding not to fund it, o.k. but doing so because of a crazy ideological lens some idoit has viewed Shakespeare through is an embarrasment.
What does woke mean?….it is simply a lazy shorthand imo….and overused.
Everybody has prejudice, and most of it understandable (though not necessarily correct), if you take the effort to understand it….most dont
It is understandable if someone has been raped say would have a negative opinion of men….in your interaction with that person you would consider the opinion in context. I have a prejudice against politicians (among other prejudices)…i am aware of the prejudice and self censor on many occasions but not always…anyone who knows me will treat my statements with that knowledge,,,as it should be, but importantly as it used to be.
We appear to have abandoned the concept of prejudice….to our detriment
Bias has become a moral virtue and replaced religious dogma & instruction to fill up the vacuum of and satisfy our need for certainty and direction. To avoid social awkwardness and gain acceptance, approval, and belonging we have turned to truly cringeworthy behaviour, which some not only justify and approve of but even actively encourage, particularly in that shadow world on social media that seems to dominate our on-line existence. The irony is that while I type these words I’m staring at a screen …
Yes, it's good that a great range of people have strongly criticised the decision, including various leftie/greenie actors, with extensive coverage of their opinions across all media, voices being freely and openly raised without any fear of consequences … legal, professional, social, any.
Which is kinda funny, because this sounds a lot like very free speech. The thing those bogeyman "woke" demons won't allow us any more. Somebody forgot to tell all those people who are exercising their freedom, loudly.
I’m not so bothered by a few grating comments from a couple (?) of external funding assessors of Creative NZ. The Shakespeare show will go on despite the minor funding shortfall and some other applicants were more fortunate in getting funded this round. The unspoken implication is that because it is not Shakespeare it has to be culturally inferior. Go figure.
Anybody who uses the word ‘woke’ to mean anything other than emerging from sleep, is a lazy bullshit artist
No, I'd say you're the intellectually lazy bullshit artist … either that or you're completely clueless.
Woke is the perfect term for the dogmatic Critical Theory cult now culturally (& increasingly politically) hegemonic … short, snappy, initially adopted with some gusto by the ID Pols cadre themselves but now hitting a raw nerve & deeply upsetting to you / them (highlighting that the wider public have formed a very negative view of your crude, distorted dogma & its grotesque unfairness).
Woke authoritarians would have us believe Critical Theory ID politics is all about "anti-racism" & "anti-sexism" in the most broadly-defined & vaguest of terms … but, of course, it refers to a very specific, extreme & highly discriminatory dogma serving the interests of a segment of the middle class & guaranteed to create whole new forms of social injustice on a significant scale.
An elite, authoritarian, profoundly anti-democratic vanity project in which the professional-managerial class wields all the power & apparently gets to decide which swathes of working & lower-middle class people are to be systematically scapegoated into second-class status with few if any human rights & which segments will be greatly privileged.
Tough shit, for instance, if you're low income & not Maori. The affluent Pakeha Woke, the inheritors of colonial wealth, have you in their sights for full-scale scapegoating & associated projection of guilt … you’ll be put through hell & blamed for it.
You're nothing more than elitist users & abusers of the majority, outrageously indulging in ostentatious moral posturing despite your conspicuous lack of morality & ethics.
A guide to the prophet about how to sell a narrative
SOCO Rule: Less is More
In order to be clear and to the point, and to ensure your audience hears what you have to say, your first step in crafting a message is creating what we call a SOCO—a Single Overriding Communications Objective. Then create up to three key points that support the SOCO.
Don't confuse your audience by trying to tack on additional messages. Instead, stick to your SOCO…. [+]
Don’t sabotage yourself by trying to tack additional messages onto the three key points of your SOCO. Too many messages mean your audience will retain nothing. Stick to the point: don’t confuse your message by inserting difficult information or counterproductive associations.
The SOCO defines the objective of your communication, while the key messages explain that objective. The SOCO acts like a compass, ensuring that your message is always headed in the right direction, and gives you something to fall back on when faced with external noise, such as questions from journalists or your audience that may be drawing you off track. A SOCO can help you turn every difficult question into an opportunity to restate your message and come back to your point.
Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
While creating a SOCO is the most important step, it’s no good if you use it once, or just once in a while. A SOCO must be consistent, and repeated at every opportunity. Remember: you and your team may be a bit sick of your message once you’ve got it crafted and have used it a few times in speeches or press releases. But your potential audience is bigger than that, and remembering your message is not their top priority. Repetition is key to success.
Use your SOCO at every opportunity, sticking as close to the original language as possible. And just about the time you may be utterly bored, the public will start to wake up to your SOCO. The equation is simple: mention nine points once, and nothing will be remembered. Mention three points three times, and one thing may be remembered.
So if you want to overcome information overload, define your SOCO, create three key points in support of it, repeat every chance you get, and rely on your SOCO as a defense against being drawn off-track.
For my part I think he blew it whining about Covid response, and Shane Jones proved not to have the voter appeal to turn it around.
We have Winston to thank, apparently, for scotching the CGT, according to Shaw, and he has also said something to the effect that NZF's position was a bought policy.
I'm over Winston – but then I was over him when he backstabbed the Alliance to put National into government, having sworn blue and purple that he would not.
When it comes to political grandstanding and soap-boxing there’s no greater gaslighter than Winston Peters. If any minor party can get over the 5% threshold it is his; the others have no show in hell, IMO.
It was National who signed up to the UN "directive" on indigenous rights. The public service developed He Puapua accordingly. What actually happens is still determined by those in government.
Co-governance of the environment/conservation has not been a problem where it has been applied so far – and prevents the problems that emerge from councils not doing their job.
Councils cannot raise the money required to finance the necessary investment in water infrastructure (some because of debt caps, others lack of ratepayers). Owning their own assets won't change that.
I have no doubt NACT will rule him out in the near future, should the left also?
You've conflated National and ACT, and that's wrong. Seymour can "rule him out" because he can say anything for a headline, but Luxon is going to say "almost inconceivable". "Almost" means not. Or he'll say "not my intention" or "not planning" to work with Winston … again, meaningless.
It's quite disheartening that the same nonsense gets taken seriously every 3 years. Why does anybody believe empty words? Why do we always repeat the same game?
Scenario: 121 seats (one extra electorate for Maori Party). National plus ACT have 60. NZF are there, Maori Party are there.
If (in your "no doubt" prediction) Luxon has "ruled out" NZF, then he must choose the Maori Party. Or lose.
We know exactly what National MPs would say about that. NZF would be un-ruled out before breakfast.
''If (in your "no doubt" prediction) Luxon has "ruled out" NZF, then he must choose the Maori Party. Or lose.''
I have been thinking about this scenario for some time. Luxon going with the Maori Party would decimate support for both parties. Luxon in such a situation should refuse to form a government. Should Labour cobble together something, it wouldn't last a three year term and we'd be back at the polls in no time for a resounding Tory win. I doubt Luxon would have the balls to do that. He would pay with loss of voter support.
I actually agree with you on that (although I don't believe my own scenario will happen, it's just a "if push comes to shove" thought experiment).
National's longer-term interests would be to let Ardern cobble a government together. But leaders think short-term, because they probably won't get another chance.
More to the point, with the current leadership of TPM, it would be a cold day in hell before they would choose National/Luxon over Labour/Ardern.
If they are in a 'kingmaker' role, there is no doubt which way they will go – only doubt about what policy concessions they'll achieve.
Of course, they could choose to sit on the cross-benches – and make Labour come to them to negotiate each piece of legislation. I have no idea whether Ardern (or Luxon for that matter) would find that situation workable for forming a government. (I have my doubts – but it has worked overseas – i.e. minority governments have been formed)
Do you really think that their party vote will drop below about 33,000, ie a bit less than they got in 2020, but they will still win another electorate seat?
Cancer vaccines have been around for some time but mRNA vaccines for treatment of cancer are relatively new, of course, and the initial results look very promising.
It is slightly depressing to see our main strong democracies UK and US and much of EU sliding hard rightwards into incoherence and broken checks and balances, while China's single party CCCP re-elects its leader without dissent for another 5 years.
Few democracies can withstand comparison to China for giving order in a chaotic and economically depressed world.
Average age at (first) marriage was on a straight line progression upwards from 1975 to 2007. No deviation (either way) during either the Muldoon or the Rogernomic years.
Age at marriage went from an average of about 27 in 1984 to about 28.5 in 1990 (for men – women are consistently about 3 years younger) – then continued upwards to a peak of 32.5 in 2007 – and has been virtually static ever since (well, a very slight dip in 2011)
Wayne Brown seems to be spoiling for a fight with the government even though his 3 waters opposition had been clearly stated beforehand. Given National are probably the next government, I think it's a prudent move not to spend any rate payer money. Why waste resources? BUT, what if Labour holds on to power?
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 2 The Life of Dai by Dai Henwood and Jaquie Brown (HarperCollins, $39.99) 3 A Life Less Punishing by Matt Heath (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 4 Waitohu by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $35) ...
The German Greens are still finding it tough to support electricity generation from their existing nuclear power plants. Not sure why they are making this so hard. Winter snow starts in a couple of weeks.
German Greens lay out nuclear power position amid federal government infighting | News | DW | 15.10.2022
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I understand what engineers are doing.
Where? You show scant evidence of this in anything I have seen. Where for instance is anything mentioned of the billions of dollars being spent on sustainability programs and development?
I wrote extensively on the Kaya Identity some time back – which is located absolutely at the core of this question – and summarised again in my comment above. Crickets.
Keep in mind I am still an author and you have a long standing pattern of harassing me by abusing your power of moderation with vague and unspecified allegations.
[I’m under no obligation to write about anything, nor am I under obligations to spend my time addressing issues that other people raise. I also don’t need to defend myself against the shit you make up about my views, politics and motivations. Just like all the other authors, we choose what we write about and how we spend our time here. If you wanted genuine engagement on these issues, all you had to do was come back with your questions and points without the harping at me, or telling me what I should be writing about or doing. Banned from all my posts for the rest of the year – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Should those two young kids ever get a degree and go to work, they will figure soon that it is better to work on an actual completed project that actually changes the world for good.
If, with an activist criminal record, the two of them prefer to work for a pittance at some activist group then they will remain in righteous penury.
Canned soup for dinner it will be.
Many leaders/almost leaders have started out on their path as activists – Nelson Mandela, Bernie Sanders, Jeremy Corbyn.
Nothing too much wrong with an activist youth – before you know any better.
@weka
My argument was concise and accurate – green activism puts all of it's energy into telling us either there are too many people, or the people need to consume less and reduce their standards of living. The first two terms of the Kaya Identity.
The first is a moral question – if your plan requires fewer humans to succeed – fail.
If your plan requires everyone to live in a poorly defined hippie poverty forever – then fail.
People who want to solve the problem put all of their energy into either improving energy energy efficiency or reducing the amount of carbon required to produce energy. The last two terms of the Kaya Identity.
Your response is a mix of incomprehension and abuse of power. Gives me zero confidence in your motives.
I have no problem with you putting out your arguments on TS, even the ones I disagree with. Sometimes there is an issue where your comments are off topic under my posts but like with any other commenter this is easily resolved by moving them to OM.
But making up things about my beliefs is not acceptable.
I'm also not willing to deal anymore under posts with the near constant picking at me as an author. eg in your comment you again question my motivations instead of just arguing your points about the topic.
None of what I have just said is outside of the normal way things happen here.
Sometimes there is an issue where your comments are off topic
My comment was by any sane definition entirely on topic – indeed if went concisely to the heart of the matter. You just didn't like it.
Until the Green Party's around the world drop their irrational opposition to nuclear energy I will continue to loudly question their motives and those who support them.
Actual nuclear physicist on topic:
I was talking generally about some comments being off topic. I didn't say your comment in the Sunflowers | Oil post was off topic. If it was I would have moved it.
I don't even remember what the comment was tbh. Having a very busy few days. But again, you think it's appropriate to define my views, and each time you put those little jabs in, it confirms that I need to set a boundary.
Here's another youtube video from a scientist.
TL;DW: Both sides of the nuclear power argument have an agenda.
Nuclear Power
Pro: Climate friendly, takes up little space, produces on demand.
Cons: Expensive, Non-renewable, won't have significant influence on climate change within the next 20 years, Unpopular.
Is Nuclear Power Green? It's complicated.
Cons: The nuclear industry has a demonstrated inability to manage to solving their plant lifetime waste issues.
When you look at the footprint through centuries of high level waste half- life, then the space issue is large.
After it demonstrates an ability to stop their chamical and radiological pollution for half a century then it might be worth looking at. For theoment all thatbis apparent is that there has been 70 years of preety dangerous accilmulating pollution.
Only really a problem if you want it to be:
And this really only applies to the early generation PWR reactors that utilise their fuel very inefficiently. There are several ways to build 4th Gen reactors that consume almost all their fuel (including waste from older reactors) and create a much smaller waste volume that only needs safe-keeping for a few hundred years. Geologic storage is perfectly appropriate for this.
It would also be helpful if anti-nuc greenies would stop raising irrational fears about storage sites and allowed some to go ahead as the Finnish have done.
I have outlined this at least a dozen times here over the past few years, but the 'waste problem' keeps getting trotted out – even when the risk it poses is tiny compared to the climate change problem it addresses.
That really isn't my point. After all you can go back over the last 70 years and see exactly the same kinds of claims being made about every reactor type and their waste.
You can assert this. However you cannot point to a single place where this has been tried for long enough to find out. Now I’m not an engineer by training. However my science degree is in earth sciences. And I’d assert to say that an engineer who asserts that is a just a fool. They are arguing without sufficient evidence to support that claim. Every long term nuclear dump site I know of so far has had unsolved problems before, at or after end-of-plant-life.
Nuclear disposal of even medium levels has never been tried in geological terms. All we have had is things like dropping waste into the oceans – and now becoming a problem when we now work the deep ocean areas for comms lines – because the containment has failed. We’ve had above ground waste leaking into ground water systems. We’ve had closed nuclear plants dropping low and medium level waste on land by sea shores in rusting iron barrels.
Basically we have had experiments done by bloody pig-ignorant engineers who haven’t put in the controls to find out what their experiments did after they got them off their hands.
There have been 70 years to demonstrate that waste can be minimised and that the disposal is safe. It hasn't been demonstrated.
Instead we have waste piling up in dangerous locations and so far (as far as I am aware) exactly one open disposal storage that looks like it may be viable. The one that just opened in Finland. About 70 years after the first reactor. In 3-4 decades we’ll have some idea if it will work. I’d also note that they have put in extensive experimental monitoring – it is just as interesting to me if they manage to maintain that for long enough to get useful results.
I'm perfectly happy to have builds of a few demonstration reactors based on new principles. To test new disposal techniques. But I also require evidence that these techniques actually work before building more.
But those will require decades of testing to prove that they actually work and don't have process bugs is the only way that counts – as monitored tests. They are many decades of testing away from the kind of wide deployment you’re talking about.
Deploying site systems that don't have viable plans for the whole operational lifespan of the plant, and to its disposal is how the nuclear industry got in this mess – and you appear to be wanting to repeat the stupid experiment?
And it isn’t like we are lacking alternatives that have had decades of continuous testing in wind, solar, various geological battery systems, etc. The only thing that hasn’t been fully tested yet is using lithium battery banks – and the testing for that is slowly making it clear what the issues are.
The unknown risks – the ones that really really cost at and after end-of-life are becoming known. Wheras the nuclear industry is still fumbling in the dark ages of just starting to try to find that out.
It isn’t the ‘greenies’ that you should be concerned about. There aren’t that many technical people outside of the nuclear engineering fanboys who think that the nuclear industry has done their job well enough to be trusted with dangerous materials at scale.
Their outright scepticism about the long-term value of nuclear technologies in open economies has fuelled the body politic’s scepticism. In the closed economies the devastation of whole landscapes by previous generations of engineers with no long-term time horizons has even managed to convince their current day engineers that there may a be few issues about how they operate on a biological and geological basis.
Wind and solar are cheaper than nuclear so it is far from irrational opposition from the Greens.
NZ is lucky that it has massive base load capacity from hydro and thermal
SWB is cheaper and faster in the short term but nuclear provides a more stable supply with far fewer capacity and operational constraints.
@RedLogix
I like the way the guy who has been the biggest defender of the 20/21 Century Western Capitalist/Imperialist project here on the TS…an ideological project that in its brief tenure as chief hegemony of the planet has squandered the one and only blimp in human history that provided us with free energy, for short term gratifications and capital gains with absolutely no long term aims or visions for the future of humanity (except maybe for their capacity to produce or more importantly consume ) much less the planet (except maybe for the amount that can be extracted from it)…the ideology that now that is on its death bed, leaves us with a Climate Armageddon as our inheritance…this same guy comes on TS all righteous…the gall.
Though I will say this…following that death cult (and defending it all the way) over the cliff right into the fires raging below shows the dedication of real fundamentalist that’s for sure…which I guess I can respect on a certain level, as I too am a fundamentalist…the difference being my ideology is the correct one…Socialism.
Sorry I forgot to add that the neocolonial hegemony defended so valiantly by our friend is of course also extremely racist….as was recently encapsulated rather nicely in a recent speech by EU foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell…
"Europe is a garden," Mr Borrell said in a speech in Belgium, but "most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden".
https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/10/16/eus-borrell-under-fire-for-calling-outside-world-a-jungle/
Gutless abuser of privilege.
It looks like global pension funds are in trouble, their bonds (historic asset) are falling in value as interest rates rise. Yet because of (short version) investment decisions they are having to sell some of their assets. So it's not looking good for share markets. Some see a winter of energy shortage hardship in Europe followed by government and financial industry sector in crisis mode managing both the sustainability of some pension funds and the blow back of yet another private market failure.
PS Don't panic (ours should be fine – Kiwi Saver is a new scheme thus has smaller sized liabilities to continuing inputs).
https://bryangould.com/truss-and-luxon/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=truss-and-luxon
Is Luxon capable of learning from the mistakes of other hard right Tories?
I doubt it. If the Natz win in ’23 (God forbid) then we’re probably going to go the same way the UK will over the next few months.
At least, we can’t say we weren’t warned!
I see Jacinda has not ruled out working with Winston Peters. That's strange given the narrative the Left, and everyone else for that matter, tar him with. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. The problem for Peters is ACT has most of his policies covered.
I call BS on your claim about NZF policies cf. ACT. You haven’t provided a single link and example.
You also failed to support your claim about Jacinda Ardern not ruling out NZF/WP.
Still, you may find it strange when you’ll get modded in the near future; you’re one of the laziest and sloppiest commenters on this site.
My apologies. I thought a general across media news item did not need a link.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/476809/pm-jacinda-ardern-responds-to-winston-peters-attacks-on-labour-government
https://waateanews.com/2021/09/29/opinion-is-a-rising-act-a-threat-to-maori/
You can bet we are going to have social unrest in this country if National come to power.
Thank you for the link to Ardern’s comments.
Where is the comparison of at least one major NZF policy with ACT? It is clear that you believe your own reckons but that doesn’t make it true for the rest of us. In fact, from the replies it appears you’re wrong. Lift your game!
I don’t bet, last of all on ‘social unrest’.
So yes just to clarify… Jacinda Ardern and Labour have not ruled out working with Winston Peters and NZF.
Winston Peters is for higher wages and training of local workers before immigration. Neither is ACT policy. NZF has only one bottom line for coalition (whether National or Labour) – no inclusion of ACT or Greens.
I said ''most.'' However, I should have been more circumspect. These points from Winston's speech.
''1-First – to defend one law for all in our country, and
2-First – to defend democracy of our country.''
That covers much ground between ACT and NZ First when formulating policy,
It's the nexus that has the majority of NZers concerned even if they intend voting Left.
Now if you were a swing voter, where would you put your vote? On an old campaigner who has stuffed the country around on numerous occasions? Who's capricious behaviour has turned many voters off for life? Or would you want a young politician who has worked hard. Who isn't scared to call bs when it's needed. And isn't scared to stand up to Maoridom and the Left? Better yet, if you like Winston's policies, but can't stomach voting for him, ACT has a similar focus around law and order and democracy. Those are the two big concerns with voters in my opinion.
People are writing Winston off. I wouldn't, especially if he comes to an accord with all those small one issue political parties. It would be a political beast made in hell, but It would probably cross the 5% line.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/10/watch-and-read-winston-peters-full-speech-at-new-zealand-first-party-conference.htmlhttps://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/10/watch-and-read-winston-peters-full-speech-at-new-zealand-first-party-conference.html
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/10/watch-and-read-winston-peters-full-speech-at-new-zealand-first-party-conference.html
Sure, he is one law for all majority rule.
The old unreconstructured assimilationist …
He has a chance – there is still a 1-2% base. And he will be going for 1% from ACT, 1% from National, 1% from Labour and 1% from the fringe parties (3 to 2%). Most in the provinces. Better than 50/50.
The attention might take oxygen from TOP (now less likely to get from 2 to 5%), but help the MP (now more likely to get 4 seats c2.5-3%).
''The old unreconstructed assimilationist''
In my view you either have democracy, or you don't. If you argue democracy is the tyranny of the majority in favour of European, then what's the alternative for Maori? Maori already have special privileges plus all rights given to European. Although historically that has not been the case.
Tomorrow on TV One is the Doco 'No Maori Allowed' It's about historical racism in Pukekohe. That should keep the troops happy.
The restraint on majority is in the civil liberties and human rights protections (whether formed in a constitution, or a Crown in parliament system). That might well include indigenous peoples and those with Treaty rights.
That is not correct. Until very recently Maori could not build individual homes on their land. It is still collective homes.
They had to fit in with our world view. Now we are being asked to consider theirs and be more fair….. kicking and swearing begins by a racist few or by those who hold the cake!!
That is true, very true. However, I considered that historical when I wrote my comments. But there's still problems. Maori have discovered an age old Pakeha problem – bureaucracy.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/468122/the-land-laid-bare-why-maori-can-t-build-on-their-whenua
Nothing to do with race. Anyone trying to build on collectively owned land encountered the same problem. More than a few hippie communities ran into exactly the same story.
Equal rights is necessary but not sufficient as many social, economic, and health indicators have shown.
.
As long as affluent middle class professionals like your good-self volunteer to do all the suffering & sacrifice (in health / housing) for 'Equity' … then fine … but we both know it won't even remotely be you & your chums … it'll be poorer, lower & low-middle-income non-Maori – already greatly financially disadvantaged – who'll be transformed & scapegoated into second class citizenship with few if any rights (my Parents currently being the perfect example).
People who, despite being born into poverty or low income families, have always been law-abiding, civic-minded, done the right thing, thought of others … will be the ones you viciously scapegoat & punish … absolutely fucking guaranteed. Albeit, of course, assiduously camouflaged as some great moral cause.
Fortunately, some relatively recent polling (Aug 2021) conducted on an issue that is essentially a proxy for the broad idea of 'Equity' (as opposed to Equality) suggests most New Zealanders aren't prepared to be conned by Critical Theory BS. The 2021 Lord Ashcroft poll found that even a majority of Maori Party & Green voters supported universalist ideas rather than policies pushing ethnic discrimination.
Like I say, the Woke middle-class are not “The Left” … you’re a self-interested Upper-Middle Vanity Project … and your relentless moral posturing is so transparently phoney.
"Poorer, lower & low-middle-income non-Maori" being "transformed & scapegoated into second class citizenship with few if any rights" sounds terrifying. Is there a Kiwi demographic or historical perspective that illustrates just how bad things could get for "non-Maori"?
https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/19-03-2022/danyl-mclauchlan-on-too-much-money-a-book-about-what-divides-us
“Wokescenti”
You win some, you lose some – we all 'move on'.
.
Right, so you're confirming that affluent middle-class professionals like yourself – the genuinely privileged – are determined to scapegoat poorer non-Maori … and transform them into second-class citizens …
… and you’ll (rather desperately) deploy very crude comparisons (lacking all context) between Maori & non-Maori as a whole (as opposed to looking specifically at poorer & low-middle Pakeha/Asians) to buttress your decidely vicious & self-interested objective … got it … good to have it on record.
Who are you addressing here Swordfish? Your bitterness is becoming too personal. Are you saying discussing inequities is "Woke"? If so look in the mirror, because most of us " Self interested Upper Vanity Project…. etc…..' came from poor homes who valued Education… You know.. the "Woke" of their generation.
Get a grip.
Thank you swordfish. That needed to be said. You are 100% right. However, there's a plethora of people ready to tell you why you are wrong. I too fear for the collateral damage such attitudes bring,
You parents do have a house, pal. Surely that is something to be grateful for.
sigh
Not another SF story!!
WP loves you![heart heart](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/heart.png?x42494)
.
Try for something a little more cogent & plausible than the horrendously pompous dismissal "sigh"
Soooo Upper-Middle … soooo Russell Brown …. sooo "why do I possess such unusually refined sensibilities … I'm too morally good for this world"
Simply asking you to be a little less Brideshead Revisited.
Now, if we can get back to poorer non-Maori and how the affluent Woke are looking to systematically scapegoat them in health, housing & so on … preferably without too much in the way of Sigh.
??? I provided statistical information about the absolute life expectancy and wealth of different ethnic groups in NZ. Don't understand why this equates (in your mind) to scapegoating (blaming?) "poorer non-Māori" for anything, let alone transforming them into "second class citizens."
I really miss Mum – she was an inspiration and offered wise counsel. I've been been taking care of Dad at home for nine months now as he slowly loses his memory and independence – he's depressed, and occasionally experiments with VSED for a day or two – such is life.
.
Doubt it … in broad terms, there's the potential for ACT to hoover up anti-Woke Nats (& possibly swing-voters) … while NZF (or some new Party … preferably a trad Social Democratic one) wins over a segment of disillusioned anti-Woke Labour voters.
[No doubt both parties will be looking to supplement their support from the fringe]
For quite a few years now, NZF has attracted (& lost) far more former Labour voters than Nats … hence, in terms of their voting-base, they’re essentially part of the centre-left constellation … so they'll be aiming first & foremost for those 2020 Lab supporters who have voted NZF in the past [there’s quite a few of them & most of them haven’t died in the interim].
See my 4.01pm post below as to recent NZF voter preferences.
I don't see ACT taking any more National "trigger issue" voters than they have already (they led the debate on these issues not National) – and certainly not any centrist who reads their manifesto. Both ACT and Greens will have to campaign well to hold their current poll support level.
There was a suggestion on radio NZ (possibly a throw-away comment!) that both NZF and ACT are in favour of seeking to do away with the Treaty of Waitangi. Sorry I was driving and cannot recall the time when the comment was made.
Not plausible, more likely the effect of it via taking the Treaty out of legislation – new legislation, or 1986, or even 1975.
https://www.tearawhiti.govt.nz/assets/Tools-and-Resources/Providing-for-the-Treaty-of-Waitangi-in-legislation.pdf
NZF may well do the Left a huge favour by getting 4.9%
Then Nat/ACT would get 2-3 extra seats and that might be enough …
The important thing is for Labour to match National and Greens to match ACT and have the MP provide the difference.
SPC…you miss the point.
I think around 80% of the NZF vote is from the Right. So if NZF get 4.9 percent 3.9% of the Right's vote is wasted but only 1% of the Left's is wasted, giving a significant advantage to the Left in the distribution of seats under MMP.
It's more balanced than that.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/09/winston-peters-mum-on-coalition-but-voters-make-preferences-clear.html
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/09/newshub-poll-winston-peters-returns-as-kingmaker.html
Nyet … see my 3:54pm comment above.
Of course Ardern hasn't "ruled out" NZF. Is this your first election? How old are you?
In 1996 Winston attacked Labour and National and vice-versa, and in the end NZF did a deal with National.
In 2005 Winston attacked Labour and National and vice-versa, and in the end NZF did a deal with Labour.
In 2017 Winston attacked Labour and National and vice-versa, and in the end NZF did a deal with Labour.
In 2023 it's unlikely NZF will get over 5%, but if they do … NZF will do a deal with either National or Labour if they need to.
The only time NZF were "ruled out" was when John Key calculated (correctly) that National could get a majority without NZF. He got the support of 3 other parties.
If you think Luxon or Ardern will choose to lose rather than do a deal with Peters if they have to, you've no understanding at all of politicians or MMP.
''Of course Ardern hasn't "ruled out" NZF. Is this your first election? How old are you?''
Well, deary, fairly old. I was just pointing out the political hypocrisy that goes on. Winston is slagged off by all, then if he's needed politically, all of a sudden that dog whistling is ok. It never ceases to amaze me. But more so coming from Labour who are meant to have a paternalistic eye on, and special relationship with, Maori.
Again, learn from history. Nothing new here.
Winston built a career on attacking "sickly white liberals", scratching itches from the Treaty to immigration. Everyone knows who he is and what he does. It didn't begin in 2022.
He was Deputy PM under Ardern for 3 years, because the alternative was worse. Do you think Labour voters regret that decision? Do you think they wish National had been in government for a 4th term, in a pandemic, ?
That's the same decision as always, and no party – Labour or National has ever chosen opposition instead.
Shudder- they would have screwed that up even worse than they did with the GFC. In my lifetime, National seem to make a fetish of wanting to doing doing exactly the wrong thing in every crisis from the UK joining the EEC to covid-19.
Those idiotic statements about what they wanted to do during covid were insane. Release border controls before the population was vaccinated- just because some of their business mates were too thick to run their businesses over the net. They wanted to do it just before the artival of beta, delta, and omnicon…
The only political group that was stupider was Act and their parasitical shills in the taxpayers union.
Such nonsense. Even on this site not all (!) are slagging off WP. More importantly, neither Ardern nor Labour have been slagging him off either; they’re simply giving him the least amount of political oxygen. You’re also losing the plot with your biased anti-Māori rhetoric; you sound like an ardent NZF or ACT supporter with very little to say and a whole lot of hot air and bluster.
And that just shows that NZF has understood one thing. In opposition you attack all the parties that are not you, after all the party is representing its voters. In this case NZF doing stuff and saying stuff on behalf of its voter base. And neither a Labour or a National voter has to like a damn word he utters. After every election however any and all parties should seek to be admitted to the governing team. Specially the third parties.
Any party that rules out potential coalition partners on the grounds of their purity boundaries is self – selecting out from governing and pushing their agenda and promoting change. So why bother voting for people who self – select out long before anyone has cast any votes.
Voice to skull expose on You Tube, not Rumble.
The story censored in western MSM for decades – this was first admitted by the DOD during Desert Storm (used on the Iraqi army) and has been a conspiracy theory ever since.
Asian media has reported its use by Chinese police on dissidents there.
Remembering Dr Patrick Flannagan and his Neurophone, This opened the way for many other devices that followed. Once the military gets hold of an invention, its use for humanity is stifled.
How to strangle to death one of our largest rivers through regulatory neglect.
A Year On, What Has ECan Done About The Rakaia? | Newsroom
Regulatory neglect is as Kiwi as Dave Dobbyn.
Not really neglect is it? It's corruption. National replaced elected ECan members to obtain non-enforcenment, same as Max Bradford was sent in to steal public power assets. And it will keep happening until those responsible face serious consequences – ie never if major parties have anything to do with it.
Things that are unexpected.
this little shortmovie that is just generally very good, excellent casting, beautiful storytelling. If someone needs a wee pick me up, this is one.
Just watched. Excellent!
I hesitate to say this – as I know that many Standardistas regard Kiwiblog as anathema.
However, a contributor there, PaulL – has been running a fact-based series of posts – analysing the impact of tax and benefit policies on low income households – often referred to as the welfare trap.
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2022/10/effective_marginal_tax_rate_index.html
They (so far at least) seem to be fairly politically neutral – and focused more on stating the issues, rather than identifying solutions (I gather the 'solutions' come later in the series – but he's already said there are no wave the magic wand answers out there)
But I've found them to be the most useful summary of the issues that I've yet seen (especially the graph visualizations of actual financial impacts on households)
And – particularly useful in challenging the 'just work more hours, get a pay increase' rhetoric, which is prevalent.
The spreadsheet he's made is really useful, it's clear we really need to look at how the abatements work they're effectively punitive especially if you have to re pay at end of year.
I've debated him, on Kiwiblog. It was eons ago.
This is about the debate within National since John Key accepted Labour's 2005 WFF tax credits approach in 2008 (because there was no other way to get working families out of poverty …).
It's not so much caring, as a realisation that WFF tax credits helped make their low wage/with growth via immigration policy more palatable.
As it did under the Helen Clark years. There is a reason Labour brought this benefit/tax in for families, and N never repealed it and will not repeal it in the future.
At some stage Government either need to regulate the pricing of flats/houses, or we need to flood the market with rentals build by the goverment and maintained by the government, and any citizen has a right to apply for such a flat irrespective.
Frist. cap the accom benefit. Declare a max and make that public.
Second. build faster, more and where people are. stop moving homeless people around to warehouse in motels and expect them to find housing and jobs in places that historically have been struggling for a long time, and that in the case of some over the last few years have lost most of their local industries to covid and the resulting fall out.
Third. if we can spend 3000 grand a week for shitty motel room somewhere without jobs and support, why not rent a house/flat directly – and cap it at market rent – non of that free market where the government gets milked as if they were a commercially used lactator.
Right now and for a while the onus has been/is on business to pay higher and higher wages in order to keep up with a price inflation that has very little to do with businesses actually. Why should businesses be responsible to increase wages so that their staff manages to keep up with someones ursurius demands of rent? Why would the government not come in and finally regulate that market via rent caps or setting rent mirrors that need to be adhered too?
Honestly, you can have a min wage of 50 bucks make 2000 per week and still need government assistance and not be free of the fear of homelessness if your weakly rent is 1800.
And fwiw, with inflation doing what it does, it will get worse by the week.
I thought that his posts were interesting reading. Maybe it just needs to be looked at from an angle where the questions is not partisan, but one that identifies an issue and how to fix it. Or we can just complain about parties that change every other year, and watch it go worse a little more one homeless family at a time, one poor family at a time.
The difference is that Labour keep reducing the cost of WFF tax credits by increasing the MW and working towards living wage, fair pay and industry awards (bus drivers … ). To have more for other spending.
Sure given the major problem is now the cost of renting and lifting the WFF tax credits and or AS in a tight market enables landlords to raise rents, we have to move to non income related policy (as we have with food in schools).
So for me it's also a rent freeze (and some extra support in terms of tax credits and AS for those at lower incomes/benefits etc) and more income related housing. One way to do that is to buy up houses off private landlords (who are losing their right to claim mortgage interest as a cost).
It always boils down to the same. If you can not control the costs or won't it matters not how much your after tax income is, it wont be enough.
"families"
I think you mean families with children.
Families with dependent partners get the privilege of paying more tax than the same income if both were working and no help.
Sabine how do you control costs? When oil fertilizer lead the charge. Oil rose 39% in May alone. (Google).
Can you please provide a link to a senior MP actually stating that?
Not an MP, Cameron Bagrie supposed independent economist, recently employed by ANZ and Key.
It is part of the rights mantra and what they did last time, along with using lots of immigrants to compete for work and the 90 day rule to cap wages for the poor, plus take away all rights to discuss work conditions.
Then they lied and raised GST. So not much trust for their promises. Sorry Alwyn, I am not digitally smart, but you will find it if you care to google.
"recently employed by ANZ and Key."
Your definition of recent is certainly pretty generous.
Cameron resigned from the ANZ in 3 October 2017. That is five years ago. By coincidence it was the same month that John Key was appointed to the New Zealand ANZ Board. I really don't think that they would have been involved with the ANZ together, do you?
Thanks for that link.
Good to see some comparisons being made, instead of blanket assumptions being offered and discussed.
With that framing in place there is about zero chance of employment policy being effectively implemented. The problem with the framing is it walks straight passed availability of work in assuming incentives to enter work are relevant. The relevant factors for people going from welfare to work are actually, can they find it given their skill set and location, does it offer enough hours given their total income, can they get it given their limited employment history. If work was available which removed these hurdles then many on welfare would prefer employment, just for the pro social factors. If it was flexible enough a lot of invalid welfare recipients would also be part of that.
The framing of human employment preferences as marginally motivated doesn't describe human psychology. When this answer arrives from macro economic models they assume full employment (equilibrium market state) as an outcome.
I'm not sure what 'framing' you're referring to. Perhaps you could give an example.
From my reading of the figures – the point was that, for a significant % of the lower paid workforce (especially those with children), employment, additional hours, and even pay rises, are of marginal benefit (cash-in-hand-at-the-end-of-the-pay-period benefit).
That's the biggest hurdle that needs to be addressed. I don't know whether there is an employment policy which addresses this.
Right now – work is available (boy is it available! – at least in Auckland – which is, after all 1/3 of the population – so fairly significant). Employers will bend over backwards to find hours and shifts that work for you. If you can turn up reliably, and do the work – employment history doesn't matter.
Those barriers certainly existed in the past (and may again in the future) – but aren't a big reality right now.
However. It seems as though the benefit abatement rates are an absolute killer. It costs to go to work (clothes, food, transport, childcare – that's massive) – it would seem to me, that many people quite possibly can't afford to get a job – at or even quite a bit above – minimum wage.
Yet when benefit rates were much higher unemployment was lower. There has been consistent framing that you need a gap. Buying into this framing help keeps benefit rates down.
Once you work out that that framing is not true then there is no reason against increasing benefit rates to make people's lives better and to ironically make them less fatigued, better fed, better mentally and in fact more suited to going to work.
The trouble is that the bureaucrats have also been brainwashed into this thinking as well. Remember MSD's advice to government in response to giving a bigger benefit increase as per WEAG was that this gap needed to be maintained.
Both National and Labour think this. Bunch of numpties.
Mike Treen pointed this out some time ago.
"The Labour government was implicitly accepting the argument that there needs to be a big gap between the benefit and a job to motivate people to work. There is in fact no evidence for that. Sweden has the highest sole parent benefit in the world yet had the highest percentage of sole parents in work. New Zealand had much lower unemployment when benefits were much higher as a percentage of the average wage."
https://unitenews.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/the-true-horrifying-depths-of-nz-child-poverty/
"But to cut real wages the employer thinks he needs the gap to grow between wages and welfare payments. You have to make living on a benefit as miserable as possible.
In 1991, National savagely cut the rates of all benefits, including the invalids and sickness benefits. The harshest cuts were for the unemployed.
The unemployment benefit was cut by 25% for young people, 20% for young sickness beneficiaries, and 17% for solo parents. They abolished the family benefit and made many workers ineligible for the unemployment benefit with a stand down period of up to a six months. The 1992 benefit cuts were worth approximately $1.3 billion – about the same size of each of the tax cuts handed out in 1996 and 1998. Unemployment benefits were stopped for 16 and 17 year-olds and the youth rate for 18 & 19 year-olds extended to the age of 25.
Benefits as a percentage of the average wage fell significantly after 1985.The single person unemployment benefit dropped from 42 to 30% of the average wage by 1996. National Super for a married couple went from 85% to 72%. A domestic purposes benefit for a parent with one child went from 80% to 53%. The benefit for an unemployed couple with two children went from 95 to 69% of the average wage. "
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/09/19/benefit-cuts-designed-to-help-cut-wages-as-well/
Marginal benefit is a framing of the issue, its an assumption that this is the primary motivator to human behaviour around employment. As a country we have been down the road with the policies which follow from that assumption before. There are no alternatives to this outcome because the concept is to create a significant gap in income between employed and unemployed status. We will start there and end up cutting welfare to even below minimum budgets put forward by actual nutritionists (yes, we did that as a nation), starving people into work.
You may well be sanguine with the countries level of unemployment, but there are a bunch of things to consider around this.
1) Our official theory of unemployment makes zero sense. It is claiming we are more than 100% employed. Now realistically when you make an estimate for a maximum and its exceeded you would conclude that your estimate for that maximum was clearly incorrect. But apparently this doesn't behave as an actual limit.
Here's a more technical explanation of the same.
https://larspsyll.wordpress.com/2021/01/02/nairu-a-harmful-fairy-tale-2/
2) In making this assumption we've decided it makes best sense to go without the output of 50,000 more people. That's an extraordinarily large amount of real output, and ongoing work history, we are giving away to a framing which is demonstrably incoherent.
3) New Zealand has had lower unemployment rates previously. Just this happened is an era when both political parties discussed full employment as a policy choice and the modern NAIRU concept wasn't known as an acronym.
4) The unemployment rate is only a measure of some/no employment. It doesn't measure under-employment which indicates a much larger waste (real output the country is going without) which is on-going. Including under-employment its a reasonable estimate that NZ real output could be a full 11% higher.
5) Unemployment rates vary regionally. There are some areas and cohorts where the rate is still in double figures.
6) Registering unemployed in statistics requires that those people are actively looking for work. Any unemployment rate above zero indicates there are people who can't find work.
All of these points indicate the same thing, the framing (and you purportedly didn't notice) obfuscates and invisibilizes a huge amount of ongoing waste of real output. That same framing has a history of really perverse economic policy in NZ. As I said, if that framing is adopted the results have about zero chance resulting in effective employment policy.
"If you can turn up reliably, and do the work – employment history doesn't matter.", I find this level of non-thinking astounding. Hint, the unemployed people are the applications which you already rejected (trivially) for lack of employment history. The ones who turn up reliably and do the work are employed.
In turn, I also find this level of wilful blindness astounding.
We are at a time when employers are crying out for workers. They are raising wages (well above the minimum), being totally flexible on hours and conditions (part-time – not a problem!) and certainly not rejecting applications for lack of employment history.
Yes. That may not always be the case in the future. And it may not be the case in some areas of NZ (I can only talk about the situation in Auckland – which as I pointed out has 1/3 of NZ population – so is fairly significant).
We even have situations where schools in South Auckland are struggling to retain their 16+ kids to get qualifications, because they can walk into jobs paying well above minimum wage. [Of course, the schools are rightfully concerned over their long-term prospects]
If people are not employed – under those conditions – then we need to be looking at the barriers – and the abatement rate of benefits, appears to be one of the strongest.
Nor, has there been as far as I can see, any mention of a requirement for 'full employment' or any variation thereof. Indeed, the original poster specifically discusses under-employment (and the barriers that the abatement rates for benefits, accom supplement and WFF) put in the way of increasing work hours. Child-care costs are also a huge barrier for Mums (and it almost always is Mums) with pre-schoolers. The 20 hours-free policy goes nowhere near accounting for the actual cost of child-care.
And, yanno. It's pretty self-evident that the majority of people go to work to make a living. If going to work, working more hours, or getting a pay rise, makes you worse off then that's a pretty major dis-incentive, right there.
I don't know of anyone who goes to work out of the kindness of their heart with the sole desire to make their employer wealthier, or to decrease their cost to the government (a truly abstract concept).
And while there are lots of other social benefits to working – they don't outweigh the cold hard reality, that you have to pay your bills at the end of the fortnight.
I can tell you (from experience) that there is no budgeter like a single mum who has to juggle every cent on a weekly basis – and who knows considerably more than her WINZ manager about the costs and disincentives of that extra hour of part-time work.
It seems to me that the 'framing' is coming from you, rather than the actual original poster.
Is there anything in the actual posts that you factually disagree with?
Because, if we (as a country) can't even agree on what the issues are – then you're right – the chances of having an effective employment policy are indeed zero.
As I have highlighted the framing is an obvious issue. In your latest reply it has some how invisibilized the fact that current official government policy is to add ~50,000 unemployed. That appears incompatible with any coming benefits from marginal rate changes. Its also invisibilized full employment as a political choice, and that this outcome is not a policy pursued by the govt. Obviously those issues are quite relevant to employment policy, as are their costs which dwarf anything relating to marginal employment choices.
Here's a highly relevant thing relating to marginal employment arguments. Did you know they imply that unemployment is therefore voluntary?
https://larspsyll.wordpress.com/2017/01/10/unemployment-delusion/
Ultimately this framing sets on a path discussed by Keynes.
https://larspsyll.wordpress.com/2016/05/03/price-rigidities-and-unemployment/
The assumption is that there is a trade off made between leisure (e.g unemployment) and work. The marginal difference between these is supposedly the cause of unemployment. I have in no way been claiming people go to work to make employers wealthy and that's a complete strawman anyway, your author is talking about the marginal rates relating to employment.
Now I'm fully happy with your belief that there are some minor tinkering's around the edges which are carrot policies, rather than stick. But you should clearly be aware of the prior art hanging around these policy discussions, that this is ultimately a discussion about creating a significant gap in pay between employed and unemployed, and that if this is taken seriously the implementation will surely be of the stick form and quite destructive, that has been the prior outcome in well known cases. That also remains fully consistent with present belief systems around welfare policy (as DoS describes quite well).
"certainly not rejecting applications for lack of employment history."
They are still rejecting them though. Some because the applicants are Maori or Pacifika, some because they are older, some because they have children, some because they are on benefit, some because they want experience, some because they want/need to retain a pool of local seasonal workers, some because of union affiliation, some to put pressure on the government, some because they don't want to spend money on training, some because they are over-qualified, some because they are pregnant, some because they have trolled their facebook pages, some because they have previously taken out a personal grievance against an employer, some because they have a collective black-list they add to and pass around, some cause they have a foreign sounding name……………….
And then there's those employers no one really wants to work for – shitty employer, unsociable hours, lack of safe public transport, dangerous conditions…..
My son's friend, a good kid, always worked, never been in trouble lost his job when his employer closed. Applied for hundreds of jobs over six months. Most time never got a reply. More rejections the more he struggled. Committed suicide. Some of those employers he applied to were in media bleating about how they couldn't get staff.
Watching Free Speech Nation, which is covering the 16th Battle of Ideas Festival in London, so diverted on to the website:
The Battle of Ideas.
Sounds both necessary and useful.
Sounds anti-historical.
We live in a time when censorship seems more prevalent …
When was the time when there was more freedom, less censorship? Name a point in history, this mythical, magical past.
Obviously it's not the 19th century, the 1950s, or any time before the internet. When was it?
before 5 years ago?
Trump ushered in an era of more freedom? With the Supreme Court?
(the event referred to is in London, so I assume we're talking globally here, which in effect means in the West, because there's not much freedom everywhere from China to Russia to Iran).
Definitely before the dictionary definition of a woman as an "adult, human female" became "hate speech".
.
You are joking … surely ???
Massive move toward censorship, elitism, authoritarianism & anti-majoritarianism over the last 6-7 years … driven by a self-interested Woke professional-managerial class (essentially opposed to democratic norms & genuine Social Democracy) … hand-in-hand with Big Tech Oligarchs.
The arrogant commandeering of centre-left parties by a dogmatic, anti-democratic segment of the middle-class making fundamental changes rapidly (& preferably by stealth) reminds me so much of the Leninist vanguard tactics of the Rogernomes through the mid-late 80s.
Where, Brexit in the UK, red MAGA cap Trumpism in the USA, Bill English taking over from John Key, or do you mean females speaking up on Twitter and in MSM ….
100% Swordfish.
"Obviously it's not the 19th century, the 1950s, or any time before the internet."
Location, location . location….may be important to the context.
Pre internet (and pre instant media) most conversation was local and in person….self censoring was and is dependent on repercussions. if you were unfortunate enough to live in a totalitarian state then the repercussions were real, but in a democracy much less so
No longer
What's everyone's thoughts on Winston's latest attempt at a political comeback?
I have no doubt NACT will rule him out in the near future, should the left also?
As for his rhetoric around He Puapua, Three Waters and co-governance. When will we wake up and realize that this is politically unpalatable for most and the legislation is undoubtedly going to be ripped up as soon as possible?
Why are the left prepared to die on that bridge? Wouldn't something like poverty and hardship be more palatable and less of a vote loser?
There is no point looking back after the election with regret and wonder why divisive policy wasn't dropped as the polls continued to fall. Act on it now and cast it aside!
At least pretend that the contest next year isn’t a foregone conclusion.
Anybody who uses the word 'woke' to mean anything other than emerging from sleep, is a lazy bullshit artist. Anybody who says the English language is being extinguished is a mischevious shit-stirrer. Anybody who compares Co governance to apartheid has lost the right to not be laughed at as a matter of course. But the fact that his drivel is reported without automatic derision shows what an impressive propaganda hit job is being done on the government.
Oh common on, there a few prophets of the word woke on this very site preparing the way for right wing tendency.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/2158/national-party-advertisement
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/video/dancing-cossacks
Well said AB. See my 4.9% post above.
At 77 yo surely his appeal will wane?
We have a few posters here of that age? Should we discount their opinion because of age? If people like what he has to say they may or may not vote for him. I would like to point out that NZ just recently elected a young dude as Mayor of Gore, and one of Rotorua councilors is quite young and was just out of school when he got elected first time around a few years back, Fisher Wang.
I have to say AB, when I am feeling a bit lazy I use the word woke as a shorthand method. I think most of us use words as shorthand. It is a bit quicker than saying people who view everything through a very narrow ideological lens interpreting every event in a way that fits their narrow authoritarian paradigm.
For example the ignoramus who said Shakespeare was a canon of imperialism. ……. and questions whether Shakespeare was the "most relevant for decolonizing NZ". So this is a very good example of wokedom. This festival has been running for nearly 30 years, the PM and Melanie Lynskey and 140,000 other school students have attended and it involves adapting Shakespeare to our current world. Shakespeare……the greatest living playright ever! The writer who manages to write about universal human nature better than anyone!
I am really glad Sam Neil, Robyn whatshername from the Westie programme and Michael Hurst have come up swinging against the stupidity of this decision. Deciding not to fund it, o.k. but doing so because of a crazy ideological lens some idoit has viewed Shakespeare through is an embarrasment.
What an international laughing stock we are.
There is a word that appears to have fallen out of use (or been erroneously replaced) that is important…prejudice.
'Woke' is yet another form of it.
Here's another definition of 'woke'.
"alert to injustice in society, especially racism."
Woke Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › woke
The meaning of WOKE is aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).
I’d say its antonym would be unaware, racist, stupid, uncaring, inattentive………
The meaning of 'woke' is the ignorance of context….or prejudice
So, woke really means asleep, at the wheel?
What does woke mean?….it is simply a lazy shorthand imo….and overused.
Everybody has prejudice, and most of it understandable (though not necessarily correct), if you take the effort to understand it….most dont
It is understandable if someone has been raped say would have a negative opinion of men….in your interaction with that person you would consider the opinion in context. I have a prejudice against politicians (among other prejudices)…i am aware of the prejudice and self censor on many occasions but not always…anyone who knows me will treat my statements with that knowledge,,,as it should be, but importantly as it used to be.
We appear to have abandoned the concept of prejudice….to our detriment
Bias has become a moral virtue and replaced religious dogma & instruction to fill up the vacuum of and satisfy our need for certainty and direction. To avoid social awkwardness and gain acceptance, approval, and belonging we have turned to truly cringeworthy behaviour, which some not only justify and approve of but even actively encourage, particularly in that shadow world on social media that seems to dominate our on-line existence. The irony is that while I type these words I’m staring at a screen …
Perhaps we should abandon the net en masse…but we dont.
Not if it means we have to go back to church 😉
Yes, it's good that a great range of people have strongly criticised the decision, including various leftie/greenie actors, with extensive coverage of their opinions across all media, voices being freely and openly raised without any fear of consequences … legal, professional, social, any.
Which is kinda funny, because this sounds a lot like very free speech. The thing those bogeyman "woke" demons won't allow us any more. Somebody forgot to tell all those people who are exercising their freedom, loudly.
I’m not so bothered by a few grating comments from a couple (?) of external funding assessors of Creative NZ. The Shakespeare show will go on despite the minor funding shortfall and some other applicants were more fortunate in getting funded this round. The unspoken implication is that because it is not Shakespeare it has to be culturally inferior. Go figure.
.
No, I'd say you're the intellectually lazy bullshit artist … either that or you're completely clueless.
Woke is the perfect term for the dogmatic Critical Theory cult now culturally (& increasingly politically) hegemonic … short, snappy, initially adopted with some gusto by the ID Pols cadre themselves but now hitting a raw nerve & deeply upsetting to you / them (highlighting that the wider public have formed a very negative view of your crude, distorted dogma & its grotesque unfairness).
Woke authoritarians would have us believe Critical Theory ID politics is all about "anti-racism" & "anti-sexism" in the most broadly-defined & vaguest of terms … but, of course, it refers to a very specific, extreme & highly discriminatory dogma serving the interests of a segment of the middle class & guaranteed to create whole new forms of social injustice on a significant scale.
An elite, authoritarian, profoundly anti-democratic vanity project in which the professional-managerial class wields all the power & apparently gets to decide which swathes of working & lower-middle class people are to be systematically scapegoated into second-class status with few if any human rights & which segments will be greatly privileged.
Tough shit, for instance, if you're low income & not Maori. The affluent Pakeha Woke, the inheritors of colonial wealth, have you in their sights for full-scale scapegoating & associated projection of guilt … you’ll be put through hell & blamed for it.
You're nothing more than elitist users & abusers of the majority, outrageously indulging in ostentatious moral posturing despite your conspicuous lack of morality & ethics.
A guide to the prophet about how to sell a narrative
For my part I think he blew it whining about Covid response, and Shane Jones proved not to have the voter appeal to turn it around.
We have Winston to thank, apparently, for scotching the CGT, according to Shaw, and he has also said something to the effect that NZF's position was a bought policy.
I'm over Winston – but then I was over him when he backstabbed the Alliance to put National into government, having sworn blue and purple that he would not.
When it comes to political grandstanding and soap-boxing there’s no greater gaslighter than Winston Peters. If any minor party can get over the 5% threshold it is his; the others have no show in hell, IMO.
I have no doubt NACT will rule him out in the near future, should the left also?
You've conflated National and ACT, and that's wrong. Seymour can "rule him out" because he can say anything for a headline, but Luxon is going to say "almost inconceivable". "Almost" means not. Or he'll say "not my intention" or "not planning" to work with Winston … again, meaningless.
It's quite disheartening that the same nonsense gets taken seriously every 3 years. Why does anybody believe empty words? Why do we always repeat the same game?
Scenario: 121 seats (one extra electorate for Maori Party). National plus ACT have 60. NZF are there, Maori Party are there.
If (in your "no doubt" prediction) Luxon has "ruled out" NZF, then he must choose the Maori Party. Or lose.
We know exactly what National MPs would say about that. NZF would be un-ruled out before breakfast.
''If (in your "no doubt" prediction) Luxon has "ruled out" NZF, then he must choose the Maori Party. Or lose.''
I have been thinking about this scenario for some time. Luxon going with the Maori Party would decimate support for both parties. Luxon in such a situation should refuse to form a government. Should Labour cobble together something, it wouldn't last a three year term and we'd be back at the polls in no time for a resounding Tory win. I doubt Luxon would have the balls to do that. He would pay with loss of voter support.
I actually agree with you on that (although I don't believe my own scenario will happen, it's just a "if push comes to shove" thought experiment).
National's longer-term interests would be to let Ardern cobble a government together. But leaders think short-term, because they probably won't get another chance.
More to the point, with the current leadership of TPM, it would be a cold day in hell before they would choose National/Luxon over Labour/Ardern.
If they are in a 'kingmaker' role, there is no doubt which way they will go – only doubt about what policy concessions they'll achieve.
Of course, they could choose to sit on the cross-benches – and make Labour come to them to negotiate each piece of legislation. I have no idea whether Ardern (or Luxon for that matter) would find that situation workable for forming a government. (I have my doubts – but it has worked overseas – i.e. minority governments have been formed)
"(one extra electorate for Maori Party)"
Do you really think that their party vote will drop below about 33,000, ie a bit less than they got in 2020, but they will still win another electorate seat?
Cancer vaccines have been around for some time but mRNA vaccines for treatment of cancer are relatively new, of course, and the initial results look very promising.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300714215/a-vaccine-for-cancer-by-2030-covid-vaccine-pioneers-say-yes
The Stuff article, as per usual, does not contain links to primary original sources of information.
Below are links to a highly informative piece on the trial and primary investigator and the meeting abstract and have much better links embedded:
https://www.mskcc.org/news/can-mrna-vaccines-fight-pancreatic-cancer-msk-clinical-researchers-are-trying-find-out
https://meetings.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/209198
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/130157595/emissions-levy-plan-final-nail-in-coffin-for-farmers
So this caring be kind governments own report says it will cause a raise in mental health issues but are most likely to charge on ahead?
Also letting the government set the price means farmers are at the mercy of the the government of the day.
Behold Emperor Xi.
It is slightly depressing to see our main strong democracies UK and US and much of EU sliding hard rightwards into incoherence and broken checks and balances, while China's single party CCCP re-elects its leader without dissent for another 5 years.
Few democracies can withstand comparison to China for giving order in a chaotic and economically depressed world.
Few citizens live in greater fear of their government than the Chinese – there, fixed it for you.
Fear and prosperity and stability.
Democracies falter unless their delivery competes with the dividends of autocracy.
Then they've been faltering since the 80s, when Rogergnomics impoverished NZ so badly age at marriage jumped about 10 years.
I doubt rogernomics increased marriage age?
More like the changing morals and norms of society, and those liberated woman 😉
Not what a human development course was saying.
Average age at (first) marriage was on a straight line progression upwards from 1975 to 2007. No deviation (either way) during either the Muldoon or the Rogernomic years.
Age at marriage went from an average of about 27 in 1984 to about 28.5 in 1990 (for men – women are consistently about 3 years younger) – then continued upwards to a peak of 32.5 in 2007 – and has been virtually static ever since (well, a very slight dip in 2011)
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/marriages-civil-unions-and-divorces-year-ended-december-2020
Wayne Brown seems to be spoiling for a fight with the government even though his 3 waters opposition had been clearly stated beforehand. Given National are probably the next government, I think it's a prudent move not to spend any rate payer money. Why waste resources? BUT, what if Labour holds on to power?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300714638/auckland-mayor-wayne-brown-asks-watercare-to-tighten-pursestrings-ignore-three-waters