Elizabeth Warren's healthcare proposal really isn't Medicare-for-all, it's more like Medicare-for-all-who-want-it. And that's a very good thing.
What she has laid out in detail as a first stage is ambitious, makes it feasible to expand coverage to a lot of people that are now under-covered or not covered. It's politically achievable through a combination of executive action and budget reconciliation, meaning it can get passed with a bare majority in the senate even if the filibuster remains. (There is a second stage that really is Medicare-for-all, but anybody that actually see the real world, even if just through a telescope, will immediately understand that it simply ain't gonna happen in the next couple of decades.)
Most importantly, it avoids the trap of making the half of Americans covered by employer sponsored health insurance think they are going to be forced to give it up.
But it does carry the risk of being insufficient for purity progressives and the congenitally disgruntled that would rather give power to the right's regressive agenda than accept real progress that falls short of their politically unattainable ideal.
To me the bigger risk is she's viewed as a tax-and-spend wonk with too-big policies and not the ability to win the states that enabled Trump to be in power. That's the more important purity contest. Much as I love wonks.
Currently Medicare is funded by a payroll tax of around 3% (alongside a payroll tax around 12% for Social Security) that applies to income up to about $140k pa then disappears (much like the ACC earner levy here disappears for income over around $130k).
Making the Medicare expansion relatively modest opens the door to the possibility of funding it by lifting or removing the threshold at which it stops getting applied, and possibly extending it to other forms of income such as dividends.
Then the argument could become that it's not adding to ordinary people's taxes, instead it's making the bosses making millions pay the same taxes as ordinary people that they've been escaping until now.
In contrast, Bernie embraces the entire tax-and-spend vibe by being explicit that middle-class taxes are gonna rise to pay for his ideas. Which is why he's not going to rise beyond having a small-but-enthusiastic portion of the Dem base.
The Stuff piece about his decision kinda highlights that it's not a lack of commitment and vision that's holding Greens back from being transformational, it's a lack of votes that denies them the parliamentary numbers and power to be transformational. Whoever replaces Gareth into going to run smack into the exact same constraint.
But whoever is next on the list now is kinda moot. He's retiring at the coming election, not before. No doubt there will be a new list drawn up by then with a lot more position changes than just that one.
The Defence Force refused to be interviewed, but in a statement said it "takes its responsibility to ensure areas used by New Zealand forces are free of unexploded ordnance very seriously".
…But locals point out it is now six years since New Zealand left Afghanistan and question why the work hasn't been carried out already.
Yeah very seriously indeed NOT – I wonder what their spin will be on this and who will misremember important items and communication this time. Rotten.
"I was just a working class kid from Gisborne who cared about girls and cars and rugby more than politics that somehow fell into a passion for environmentalism, somehow got to Parliament. So I've always pinched myself, the fact that I'm here."
""As I reflect across 20 years of activism I realise that I've spent 20 years winning campaigns, but each one's kind of like chopping off the head of the hydra. There's always another equally important campaign right behind it. I've spent 20 years fighting the symptoms, not the source."
And
"Across my 10 years here, things have actually got worse. Emissions have increased, we are still losing a hundred million tons of topsoil every year – our most precious resource – homelessness is growing," Hughes says.
"I don't think the Government has been transformational. There's been pockets of transformation, but you know, I don't think historians are gonna look back at it and say 'This was a turning point on the scale of the 1930s or 1980s'. And I think that's desperately needed."
"It's a disappointment that we aren't seeing the change I think we need. As a father, I'm desperately worried about the future of the world."
At the aggregate, progress remains on track. We have better nutrition, medicines, homes and playthings.
But at the collective level many things have changed. While Boomers grew up in an era of very low-income inequality and state mechanisms that assisted them with education, housing supply, and infrastructure, the same is not true for future generations.
The majority Boomer political consensus that guides our politics is individual and short-term. The reforms of the 1980s entrenched this, and reversed many of the past fixes to society's problems.
To me, the core neolib value of selfishness has driven too many New Zealanders to pass wealth to their own children (house deposits, loan-free education, etc) while our governments have steadily reduced any redistribution to broader society. People voted those governments back in. Culture industries reinforced the ideology. Inequality thrived.
Boomers have disproportionately had the power to do something different if they chose to, just by life stage and demographic shifts over their lifetimes. The following generations are now quite naturally asking why they did not. And my, doesn't that hit a raw nerve.
At least name the person you’re quoting and point to (as in mention) the website.
Some readers of this site may want to read it or more of it and don’t suffer from the same conflict as you do. In fact, they would copy & paste more or less the whole thing here to draw attention 😉
When you quote, you have to provide a little more than just the quote, please.
Edit: providing information allows for fact-checking and guards against people making up shit. You’d be surprised how often this happens! We don’t want (our) politicians to make up shit and we have to have similar expectations of others and ourselves IMO.
Maybe, or maybe they would want to read it for themselves and make up their own minds. We’re not parrots and this is not an echo-chamber nor are we a Borg-collective of like-minded obedient conforming entities toeing some (party?) line. I’d like to think that being as inclusive and diverse as possible creates the most interesting environment and basis for progressive politics. Maybe I’m dreaming.
Either way, just quoting a one-sentence tease like Robert did was just plain mean. Especially since the URL included the necessary info for those uninterested in considering alternative views.
Feeling internally conflicted is a sure sign for being (more) open and transparent (and inclusive) in order to avoid wrong-footing people. Comments here should not read like ‘headlines’ and clarity is key IMO.
My comments may seem an over-reaction but it goes to one of re-occurring issues on and of this site, which is that of inappropriate attribution, e.g. quoting/citing without source, paraphrasing without making it clear, putting words/thoughts/intentions into people’s comments, et cetera. The list is actually quite long because it goes to the core issue of commenting from only or largely one PoV, i.e. your own. Politicians must feel this conflict and tension a lot and the two referendums next year give some support to this notion. For example, this piece in Stuff by Thomas Coughlan: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/117450429/two-years-in-parliament-groans-under-the-weight-of-difficult-social-lawmaking
This is normally a blog where the comments are typically in the zone of reasonable. But not today.
Dial it back, otherwise it makes it impossible for the comments section to have actual debate, as opposed to abuse.
[not sure what you are referring to there Wayne, but if there is something specific the mods should know about please link below. – 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.]
PhD in International Law from Christ's College Cambridge in 1988. According to a "free encyclopedia" entry last edited on 10 November 2019, at 09:13 (UTC) and available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Just because the subject matter is outside your range of sensibilities does not make it any less worthy of reflection and discussion.
Pity. Your responses in person to the Operation Burnham Inquiry earned you quite a bit of kudos here a month or two ago, and now you spoil it by throwing sticks at a few people having a reasonable conversation.
I'm not ok with TS commentariat being a small number of commenters, many of whom like to bitch at each other. The kaupapa here is robust debate and that transcends party politics. I disagree with most things Wayne says, but he has a long history of bringing political points to the commentariat that encourage robust debate. If we excluded people like him and were left with just the people that want to bitch at each other, it would be a pretty sad place.
The point I appreciate about Wayne's comment is that how we talk here can encourage debate or make it less likely. Given how few people have been commenting lately, it looks to me like there are reasons for people to stay away. That with the low number of authors* is an issue for the site, now and long term. I'd appreciate it if you could have a think about those things.
*I'm one of the authors who writes in part to stimulate discussion, so it's demoralising when commenters appear to not care about the wellbeing of the community.
Fair enough – I don't really like what you and incog are trying to do to the place – I think you take it too serious and have pretensions on what you think happens here – but that's just my opinion. I can't really be bothered with the tension from you two so I'll take a break from here for a while.
I found it pretty hard going too. Nothing that can be engaged with but nevertheless with barbs. I rate marty's presence here, but honestly, given the state of the commentariat and the low number of authors, there's a limit to how much ad hom shit like this I can take before my modding becomes more self-preservation as much as anything. Often people really don't get what it takes to keep TS running, but dumping on authors and mods seems really self-defeating.
What was in yesterday's open mike or anywhere else recent was pretty tame compared to stuff that's appeared here in the past. Including some really vicious stuff directed personally at Wayne.
Maybe Wayne was replying to a comment that subsequently got deleted?
I thought it wasn't out of the norm for here either, but commenting was just starting to pick up so it was disappointing seeing two regulars think that their personal issues were more important than making a good space for everyone.
you and bwaghorn (who copped a ban). But that was just yesterday, it could have been any of a number of regulars. My concern here is about the health and vitality of the commentariat (vis a vis my comment at 7.5.1.1.2 above)
"In summary, National has failed to demonstrate it understands the climate crisis, our gains from responding to it and the pivotal importance of the Zero Carbon Bill in tackling it."
Thanks for trying weka…sometimes I am astounded at the depth of my technical ineptitude…but I have managed to convince the predictive text function that no, I am meaning 'weka' not 'weak'.
The people of the West Coast March for their right to poison the air, water and turn pristine landscapes into apopylptic wastelands
Let's face it. All they care about is profit. They hate clean water, trees and National parks. They will strip mine the whole area and burn down every tree to get that sweet sweet coin.
They could just start planting hemp. Start producing body parts for the new Porsche, or produce bio fuel,or the stuff to make batteries for electric vehicles. Make Monsanto free cloth, Sequester some carbon and heal the soil and rivers. Make healthy drinks or super food.
This rally is more important than the Beehive rally of the farmers last week protesting about arable land going into forestry.
Labour aren't going to win back any farmer votes, because they barely had any in the first place.
But the Labour Party in no small part was formed on the West Coast out of miners. Damien O'Connor is the local MP.
Just like Southland when the Tiwai Point smelter closes down, the West Coast has had rescue packages before but with continued decline they need even more "transition" plans i.e. more public money. Enter stage right … Shane Jones one would hope.
I hope they figure out how dumb selling the West Coast dairy company was. Fucking moronic.
I'd like to see more pressure put onto the government to come up with transition plans for regions like this.
These companies need to be forced into paying for their polluting products so they learn to minimise the amount of their products ending up in the Sea ultimately that is were it all ends up. They must pay a bounty so it will be profitable for people to recycle the stuff.
Big plastic polluters accused of cynically backing US recycling day
America Recycles Day promoted by EPA is brainchild of not-for-profit backed by companies that produce plastic products
But critics point out that the initiative is the brainchild of Keep America Beautiful, a not-for-profit founded and backed by large companies that produce vast quantities of plastic products that end up as pollution.
Current backers include Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Pepsico, and Altria, the tobacco giant formerly known as Phillip Morris. Decades of campaigns by the group have emphasized individual responsibility for plastic recycling, which data reveals to be a largely broken system.
Coca-Cola is world's biggest plastics polluter – again
“Just like the fossil fuel industry, corporate polluters have been using recycling to justify ever-increasing production of single-use packaging, while taxpayers and cities are left to foot the bill,” said Denise Patel, the US and Canada program director of Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
“Lower-income communities and communities of color, who are the hardest hit and the least responsible, bear the brunt of a model that has brought us to the brink of the waste and climate crisis
The wealthiest people of the World must pay more tax so that all the problems created by their massive companies harvesting their wealth can be minimized.
Taxing wealth is an idea now thrust to the center of the Democratic primary. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both put forward wealth tax plans that would hit the nation's richest citizens with steeper taxes in a bid to reduce inequality and pay for their progressive agendas.
The plans have generated fierce blowback among some economists, Wall Street financiers and leading corporate leaders like Bill Gates, who argue that a wealth tax would stifle economic growth and hurt investment.
It's an argument that echoes back to the 19th century, when the brutal system of slavery was locked into the engine of the American economy, according to two economists at the University of California in a recent book
The World needs to investigate and invest in Renewable energy solutions to clean up the mess we will leave our Grandchildren.
In Finland, a start-up wants to produce hydrocarbons using renewables
Soletair Power says it will integrate its system into buildings. Petri Laakso, the firm's CEO, explained to CNBC's "Sustainable Energy" that city air could be pushed through a ventilation unit and a carbon capturing unit, resulting in less carbon dioxide indoors. The firm's electrolyzer and synthesis unit would then be utilized to produce hydrocarbons.
If the building were connected to a gas grid, Laakso said, "you could provide synthetic methane, which you can pump into (the) gas grid." The grid could be used for energy storage or as a filling station for cars, he added.
Whether Soletair Power's concept becomes a fixture on buildings remains to be seen, but the idea is generating interest.
In April 2019, it announced it had secured 500,000 euros (around $551,630) in seed funding from the Wärtsilä Corporation to "pilot and commercialize its concept" of boosting air quality in buildings through the capture and conversion of carbon dioxide into "synthetic renewable fuel.
Te Waiata is a great way to let tangata know what the true feeling of the nation is.
I ignore the ignorant times have changed.
Like I have said before whanau tangata whenua have to run for Council seats so Our voices will be heard 3 years is a lot of time to plan the mahi.
I know what they are talking about Homeless Kaumatua the rents are spiking. We have discrimination because we're Maori and age discrimination as well.
Ka pai Kiri Mana Wahine you have been a bright shining Star from Maoridom.
That’s awesome a Ap to help our Rangatahi show there sports skills to the world
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Coasters Turn Out In Droves: It’s precisely the widening gulf between those with actual experience of things like guns, chainsaws and drilling machines, and those who regulate their use, that accounts for the angry crowd at Greymouth’s Messenger Park on Sunday, 17 November 2019. In the rarefied atmosphere where decisions ...
There are perennial arguments about the circumstances of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and in particular whether more than one shooter is required by the evidence (such as the Zapruder film). Those who know little about physics frequently claim that the sharp backwards motion of JFK’s head as ...
Apparently, some people enjoy washing their cars. Each to his or her own, I suppose. I mean, some people like duck shooting, some people follow Coronation Street, and some people’s idea of a good day out is to sit on a grass bank at Seddon Park and watch cricket all ...
Last week we learned that New Zealand First had apparently tried to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Today in Question Time Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had his ...
Finally, governments seem slowly to be beginning to act on climate change. But its not enough. While they're publicly signing up to targets, they're planning to destroy the world by continuing fossil fuel extraction:The world’s nations are on track to produce more than twice as much coal, oil and gas ...
Stuff has begun interviewing NZ First's secret donors, and it turns out that its as bad as we expected. They start with racing industry figure Garry Chittick, who is predictably grumpy about NZ First's coalition choices. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the list of pork NZ First has effectively given its ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
The chairman of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, Wayne Brown, has hit back at critics of his group’s recommendations to relocate the Ports of Auckland cargo operations to Whangarei’s deepwater port of Northport. The working group's recommendation to close Auckland waterfront to all but cruise ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
New Zealand tertiary students with top grades and a passion for space will once again be offered the opportunity to work with the world’s best and brightest at NASA, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Recipients of the New Zealand Space Scholarship are nominated by the Ministry of Business, ...
Our Seas Our Future welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s announcement that the Government is aiming to phase out another round of single-use hard plastics, made of PVC and Polystyrene. ...
The Fraudster exposes the life and crimes of a million dollar conwoman Award-winning investigative team Stuff Circuit’s latest documentary exposes the cautionary tale of a woman who ripped off New Zealand businesses and government agencies, and a justice ...
Press Release 8 December 2019 Auckland, 8 December 2019 : The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, presented the 262-page report on ‘Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand’ to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet should make a policy decision tomorrow that Auckland’s car and container port must close by 31 December 2029, Waterfront 2029 Spokesperson Michael Goldwater said today. ...
In light of increasing public concern over the harmful effects of plastic pollution, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, is presenting the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report.For much ...
The Absolute Book is one of our picks of the year and you should buy it for someone you love for Christmas. A story that sticks like a biddi-bid, Elizabeth Knox said on Twitter the other day. Here, she writes about the books that stuck in her own psyche – ...
The government would argue it’s on track to reduce child poverty significantly by the next reporting round, and culture change is well underway at Work and Income. But change at WINZ is a slow-moving process. Pip Colgan is an advocate at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), which means she spends a ...
Frozen 2 is out, but more importantly the soundtrack is available for your kids to play on repeat. Sam Brooks ranks the songs by how likely it is that they’ll sing them into your face for the foreseeable future.Parents and caregivers, get your loins girded because Frozen 2 is here. The film ...
Five New Zealanders from across culturalspaces explain what it is they love about basketball.Historically, basketball has always held a relatively small but special in Aotearoa’s sporting landscape. The NBL was established in 1981, giving provinces the chance to duke it out for national supremacy. In 2002 the Tall Blacks ...
After 40 years at the frontline, the University of Otago's Professor Marie Crowe discusses her research on treatments beyond medicine to alleviate symptoms of mood disorders like bipolar and depression. ...
Everything you need to know about the suspension of buses in Auckland and the industrial action standoff that it springs from.What’s going on?Yesterday saw the cancellation of thousands of bus trips and a lot of people standing around at Auckland bus stops looking puzzled after services operated by NZ Bus ...
ASMS message to DHB Chairs and appointees The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
“CEAC – University of Auckland asks ‘Can democracy survive’? Subject; Can democracy survive? https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/12/03/can-democracy-survive-.html Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated (CEAC) Press release 8th December ...
The Minister of Health’s announcement to appoint a new chair to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has come as a surprise and with some disappointment, especially given he had personally asked me to stand again with his confidence to continue in ...
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...
Tis the season for hangovers, so we convinced some of New Zealand’s most experienced consumers of food and/or drink (OK, Spinoff staff and a bunch of chefs/hospo people) to share their tried-and-true culinary remedies.A hangover is a very individual thing. For some, it manifests as a splitting headache and extreme ...
Before Britain’s Got Talent: Champions hits our screens tonight, let’s take a fond look back at some of the show’s weirdest and most wonderful acts.Place your hands on your Golden Buzzer, because Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions kicks off this weekend. Champions is BGT bigger and better than it’s been before, ...
Following the raging success of the 2018 non-goat ethical Christmas gift guide, here for you today – responsibly wrapped in reusable gift wrap – is the 2019 list of ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, or charitable gift ideas to satisfy all kinds of family members and budgets.Budget Category: ‘Can we pay ...
Lime brought e-scooters to Auckland and changed the way we travel in less than a year. Now, the council is replacing it and Wave with three new contenders. Josie Adams goes to the Lime warehouse to say goodbye to the original scooters.In a warehouse in Eden Terrace, almost a thousand ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology More than a year ago, the world was shocked by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui’s attempt to use CRISPR technology to modify human embryos and make them resistant to HIV, which led to the birth ...
Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi has apologised to the Prime Minister for his messages to Jason Kerrison regarding an immigration case, but will not lose his job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University The decision to merge the Department of Communications and the Arts with Transport, Infrastructure and Regional development (dropping the “Arts” entirely) ends a year in which Australian politics has been deeply confused over its ...
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland When you find dinosaur skeletons, how can you tell how old the dinosaur was? Like, if the skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur? – Henry, aged 8. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
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 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
This week a petition with more than 15,000 signatures was presented at parliament to Nicola Willis, MP and opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Education. Also attending were Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and Hon Nikki Kaye. ...
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he ...
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire.There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown music than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever ...
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media; Minister ofCommerce and Consumer Affairs;Minister of Government Digital Services; Associate Minister forHousing; MP for Mana.The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power ...
The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
As Christmas is near, it’s time to set the record straight on some of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of employment law that apply to the festive season. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
The Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta has announced changes to prevent Māori wards being voted down by referendums are off the table, saying she believes such a change is not possible within the coalition. ...
It’s officially the festive season, and what does that mean? An office Secret Santa with a budget of $20 and you’ve picked your boss. Instead of settling for a bottle of average wine and a ribbon, follow our essential guide on what to get those unique workmates.At last year’s Secret ...
The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
A woman who went on a Tinder date with the man who murdered Grace Millane tells her story, and issues a warning to other women to trust their instincts when something doesn’t feel right.First published on Newshub.co.nzI went on a date with Grace Millane’s killer while her body lay in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gottfried Lechner, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, University of South Australia Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond University According to the latest figures, homicides in Australia are at historic lows and compare well against international trends. So what do the trends tell us and why is the homicide rate in Australia declining? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy O’Rourke, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland Welcome to the next article in our Designing Hospitals series, where we explore how architecture and design shape our hospitals and medical centres. Today, we look at what Indigenous people tell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results are bad news for Australian students, parents, employers and policymakers. Pretty much everyone. Australian 15-year-olds are now below the OECD average in mathematics, and our results in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Clode, Senior Research Fellow in Creative Writing, Flinders University It is only mid-November but we have to walk early to avoid the heat. A northerly wind picks up clouds of dust and pollen, sending dirty billows across the paddocks. The long ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital.New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...
An alliance of top researchers is trying to keep New Zealand ahead of complex health challenges from overuse of antibiotics, threats to freshwater quality and emerging infectious diseases. ...
The birthplace of the Labour Party is once again at the forefront of a new movement, this time harnessing the power of the collective to step away from coal towards a low carbon future.Blackball is a small place with a huge history. This week the town, 29 kilometres from Greymouth, ...
Life expectancy is increasing all the time, and now actuaries and retirement experts say young people need far more information on what they’ll need to do with their money if they live to 100. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. The message from the Retirement Income Interest Group of the New ...
Open mike 17/11/2019 
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Michael Schulson When Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...1 day ago
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...2 days ago
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New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...2 days ago
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Elizabeth Warren's healthcare proposal really isn't Medicare-for-all, it's more like Medicare-for-all-who-want-it. And that's a very good thing.
What she has laid out in detail as a first stage is ambitious, makes it feasible to expand coverage to a lot of people that are now under-covered or not covered. It's politically achievable through a combination of executive action and budget reconciliation, meaning it can get passed with a bare majority in the senate even if the filibuster remains. (There is a second stage that really is Medicare-for-all, but anybody that actually see the real world, even if just through a telescope, will immediately understand that it simply ain't gonna happen in the next couple of decades.)
Most importantly, it avoids the trap of making the half of Americans covered by employer sponsored health insurance think they are going to be forced to give it up.
But it does carry the risk of being insufficient for purity progressives and the congenitally disgruntled that would rather give power to the right's regressive agenda than accept real progress that falls short of their politically unattainable ideal.
https://slate.com/business/2019/11/elizabeth-warren-health-care-transition-medicare-for-all.html
To me the bigger risk is she's viewed as a tax-and-spend wonk with too-big policies and not the ability to win the states that enabled Trump to be in power. That's the more important purity contest. Much as I love wonks.
Currently Medicare is funded by a payroll tax of around 3% (alongside a payroll tax around 12% for Social Security) that applies to income up to about $140k pa then disappears (much like the ACC earner levy here disappears for income over around $130k).
Making the Medicare expansion relatively modest opens the door to the possibility of funding it by lifting or removing the threshold at which it stops getting applied, and possibly extending it to other forms of income such as dividends.
Then the argument could become that it's not adding to ordinary people's taxes, instead it's making the bosses making millions pay the same taxes as ordinary people that they've been escaping until now.
In contrast, Bernie embraces the entire tax-and-spend vibe by being explicit that middle-class taxes are gonna rise to pay for his ideas. Which is why he's not going to rise beyond having a small-but-enthusiastic portion of the Dem base.
With Gareth Hughes retiring, all results being equal who is next on the Green Party list?
The Stuff piece about his decision kinda highlights that it's not a lack of commitment and vision that's holding Greens back from being transformational, it's a lack of votes that denies them the parliamentary numbers and power to be transformational. Whoever replaces Gareth into going to run smack into the exact same constraint.
But whoever is next on the list now is kinda moot. He's retiring at the coming election, not before. No doubt there will be a new list drawn up by then with a lot more position changes than just that one.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117439116/outgoing-green-mp-gareth-hughes-says-the-government-has-not-been-transformational
Whoops a daisy:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/117411799/blast-from-new-zealand-firing-range-ammunition-kills-afghan-children
Yeah very seriously indeed NOT – I wonder what their spin will be on this and who will misremember important items and communication this time. Rotten.
Well, I didn't know that!
"I was just a working class kid from Gisborne who cared about girls and cars and rugby more than politics that somehow fell into a passion for environmentalism, somehow got to Parliament. So I've always pinched myself, the fact that I'm here."
Gareth Hughes
Gareth, who's retiring from politics, also said:
""As I reflect across 20 years of activism I realise that I've spent 20 years winning campaigns, but each one's kind of like chopping off the head of the hydra. There's always another equally important campaign right behind it. I've spent 20 years fighting the symptoms, not the source."
And
"Across my 10 years here, things have actually got worse. Emissions have increased, we are still losing a hundred million tons of topsoil every year – our most precious resource – homelessness is growing," Hughes says.
"I don't think the Government has been transformational. There's been pockets of transformation, but you know, I don't think historians are gonna look back at it and say 'This was a turning point on the scale of the 1930s or 1980s'. And I think that's desperately needed."
"It's a disappointment that we aren't seeing the change I think we need. As a father, I'm desperately worried about the future of the world."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/117439116/outgoing-green-mp-gareth-hughes-says-the-government-has-not-been-transformational
Ha!
Shamubeel Eaqub brings the crossover with those generational frustrations that have popped up again:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117422673/baby-boomers-had-a-chance-to-help-younger-generations-they-didnt
To me, the core neolib value of selfishness has driven too many New Zealanders to pass wealth to their own children (house deposits, loan-free education, etc) while our governments have steadily reduced any redistribution to broader society. People voted those governments back in. Culture industries reinforced the ideology. Inequality thrived.
Boomers have disproportionately had the power to do something different if they chose to, just by life stage and demographic shifts over their lifetimes. The following generations are now quite naturally asking why they did not. And my, doesn't that hit a raw nerve.
"Let's be clear, defining people by generation is as stupid as a vegan burger but since that is the way the game is now played, I'll play."
Whoever wrote that seriously lacks the ability to self-reflect. Seriously.
Link please.
It’s one of those “do not link” situations, so I’m conflicted.
At least name the person you’re quoting and point to (as in mention) the website.
Some readers of this site may want to read it or more of it and don’t suffer from the same conflict as you do. In fact, they would copy & paste more or less the whole thing here to draw attention 😉
When you quote, you have to provide a little more than just the quote, please.
Edit: providing information allows for fact-checking and guards against people making up shit. You’d be surprised how often this happens! We don’t want (our) politicians to make up shit and we have to have similar expectations of others and ourselves IMO.
For those readers on phones that might be interested enough to search for it:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/117392407/damien-grant-quit-whinging-millennials-boomers-built-your-houses-and-endured-actual-nuclear-war
But maybe the information that it's a Damien Grant piece will tell them all they might want to know without going any further.
Maybe, or maybe they would want to read it for themselves and make up their own minds. We’re not parrots and this is not an echo-chamber nor are we a Borg-collective of like-minded obedient conforming entities toeing some (party?) line. I’d like to think that being as inclusive and diverse as possible creates the most interesting environment and basis for progressive politics. Maybe I’m dreaming.
Either way, just quoting a one-sentence tease like Robert did was just plain mean. Especially since the URL included the necessary info for those uninterested in considering alternative views.
Feeling internally conflicted is a sure sign for being (more) open and transparent (and inclusive) in order to avoid wrong-footing people. Comments here should not read like ‘headlines’ and clarity is key IMO.
My comments may seem an over-reaction but it goes to one of re-occurring issues on and of this site, which is that of inappropriate attribution, e.g. quoting/citing without source, paraphrasing without making it clear, putting words/thoughts/intentions into people’s comments, et cetera. The list is actually quite long because it goes to the core issue of commenting from only or largely one PoV, i.e. your own. Politicians must feel this conflict and tension a lot and the two referendums next year give some support to this notion. For example, this piece in Stuff by Thomas Coughlan: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/117450429/two-years-in-parliament-groans-under-the-weight-of-difficult-social-lawmaking
It's all I would have needed.
This is normally a blog where the comments are typically in the zone of reasonable. But not today.
Dial it back, otherwise it makes it impossible for the comments section to have actual debate, as opposed to abuse.
[not sure what you are referring to there Wayne, but if there is something specific the mods should know about please link below. – 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.]
Classic! I think you might have misplaced your comment, Wayne; was it intended for the National Party Homepage?
What did you folk say to set him off like that?
We might take this as your boilerplate response to anything even vaguely socially responsible Wayne.
If you actually have anything specific to criticize you really ought to put it out there.
Tree planting?
I thought he might be having a go at Gareth in fact – might have pricked the balloon of his vanity, especially given the new child deaths likely to go on his slate. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/403448/blast-from-nz-firing-range-ammunition-kills-afghan-children
It'll take a few trees to make that right.
Yes,Mr Mapp
Dr Mapp.
PhD in International Law from Christ's College Cambridge in 1988. According to a "free encyclopedia" entry last edited on 10 November 2019, at 09:13 (UTC) and available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Mapp
That was uncalled for Wayne Mapp.
Just because the subject matter is outside your range of sensibilities does not make it any less worthy of reflection and discussion.
Pity. Your responses in person to the Operation Burnham Inquiry earned you quite a bit of kudos here a month or two ago, and now you spoil it by throwing sticks at a few people having a reasonable conversation.
lol mapp having a paddy – trying to distract like a typical ex politician
Or maybe he was reading yesterday's OM and saw a couple of long term regulars trashing the place again by being shits to each other.
trashing the place again? lol – ban the bastards that'll bring more nice people like wayne in…
Working on it … 😉
I'm not ok with TS commentariat being a small number of commenters, many of whom like to bitch at each other. The kaupapa here is robust debate and that transcends party politics. I disagree with most things Wayne says, but he has a long history of bringing political points to the commentariat that encourage robust debate. If we excluded people like him and were left with just the people that want to bitch at each other, it would be a pretty sad place.
The point I appreciate about Wayne's comment is that how we talk here can encourage debate or make it less likely. Given how few people have been commenting lately, it looks to me like there are reasons for people to stay away. That with the low number of authors* is an issue for the site, now and long term. I'd appreciate it if you could have a think about those things.
*I'm one of the authors who writes in part to stimulate discussion, so it's demoralising when commenters appear to not care about the wellbeing of the community.
Fair enough – I don't really like what you and incog are trying to do to the place – I think you take it too serious and have pretensions on what you think happens here – but that's just my opinion. I can't really be bothered with the tension from you two so I'll take a break from here for a while.
as you wish marty. I'm sorry you don't appreciate my posts and comments.
I am dumbfounded by this comment, which doesn’t give anything useful to engage with 🙁
I found it pretty hard going too. Nothing that can be engaged with but nevertheless with barbs. I rate marty's presence here, but honestly, given the state of the commentariat and the low number of authors, there's a limit to how much ad hom shit like this I can take before my modding becomes more self-preservation as much as anything. Often people really don't get what it takes to keep TS running, but dumping on authors and mods seems really self-defeating.
What was in yesterday's open mike or anywhere else recent was pretty tame compared to stuff that's appeared here in the past. Including some really vicious stuff directed personally at Wayne.
Maybe Wayne was replying to a comment that subsequently got deleted?
I thought it wasn't out of the norm for here either, but commenting was just starting to pick up so it was disappointing seeing two regulars think that their personal issues were more important than making a good space for everyone.
I feel you may be talking about me – is that correct?
you and bwaghorn (who copped a ban). But that was just yesterday, it could have been any of a number of regulars. My concern here is about the health and vitality of the commentariat (vis a vis my comment at 7.5.1.1.2 above)
you and b both bring important perspectives to this place, so I don't really get why you both do that other stuff.
"In summary, National has failed to demonstrate it understands the climate crisis, our gains from responding to it and the pivotal importance of the Zero Carbon Bill in tackling it."
No surprises there
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/11/17/911072/we-did-this-oram
Just listened to "Two Cents Worth " on Natrad. Needed tissues.
Rhymes with wankers….
(Prostrate I am owing to lack of linking ability. Happy for someone to explain to me how to do the link thing from my phone. Single syllables please.)
It's basically the same as on a computer, but the technique for copying and pasting one a touch screen is a bit different.
Thanks for trying weka…sometimes I am astounded at the depth of my technical ineptitude…but I have managed to convince the predictive text function that no, I am meaning 'weka' not 'weak'.
I'm off to find a Young Person.
Thanks for reminding us of that….its too easy to forget
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/two-cents-worth/story/2018722089/the-banks-the-swaps-and-the-suicide-box
Meanwhile, a black man in Texas still faces execution for a crime that he probably didn't commit.
https://taskandpurpose.com/trump-frees-clint-lorance
The contrast in cases says it all.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12285880
The people of the West Coast March for their right to poison the air, water and turn pristine landscapes into apopylptic wastelands
Let's face it. All they care about is profit. They hate clean water, trees and National parks. They will strip mine the whole area and burn down every tree to get that sweet sweet coin.
Profit should never be put before our landscapes.
Wow. A Party Political Broadcast on behalf of the Soimon Party.
Truly balanced reporting, as one would expect from the Herald.
They could just start planting hemp. Start producing body parts for the new Porsche, or produce bio fuel,or the stuff to make batteries for electric vehicles. Make Monsanto free cloth, Sequester some carbon and heal the soil and rivers. Make healthy drinks or super food.
This rally is more important than the Beehive rally of the farmers last week protesting about arable land going into forestry.
Labour aren't going to win back any farmer votes, because they barely had any in the first place.
But the Labour Party in no small part was formed on the West Coast out of miners. Damien O'Connor is the local MP.
Just like Southland when the Tiwai Point smelter closes down, the West Coast has had rescue packages before but with continued decline they need even more "transition" plans i.e. more public money. Enter stage right … Shane Jones one would hope.
I hope they figure out how dumb selling the West Coast dairy company was. Fucking moronic.
I'd like to see more pressure put onto the government to come up with transition plans for regions like this.
How come they are able to spread mischief lies and more damned lies without any explanation or clarity on just what is going to happen.
Was it a rally organised by National or did Bridges just turn up?
Kia Ora 1 News.
The weather is getting more Mana because of human cause Global Warming.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
That's is needed a new 40 room mental health unit.
Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa need to have a say in what happens to their Taonga Wai in their area.
Its good to see Te Tangata Whenua of Australia making a stand for getting respected and Human rights for justice.
Ka kite Ano
These companies need to be forced into paying for their polluting products so they learn to minimise the amount of their products ending up in the Sea ultimately that is were it all ends up. They must pay a bounty so it will be profitable for people to recycle the stuff.
Big plastic polluters accused of cynically backing US recycling day
America Recycles Day promoted by EPA is brainchild of not-for-profit backed by companies that produce plastic products
But critics point out that the initiative is the brainchild of Keep America Beautiful, a not-for-profit founded and backed by large companies that produce vast quantities of plastic products that end up as pollution.
Current backers include Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Pepsico, and Altria, the tobacco giant formerly known as Phillip Morris. Decades of campaigns by the group have emphasized individual responsibility for plastic recycling, which data reveals to be a largely broken system.
Coca-Cola is world's biggest plastics polluter – again
“Just like the fossil fuel industry, corporate polluters have been using recycling to justify ever-increasing production of single-use packaging, while taxpayers and cities are left to foot the bill,” said Denise Patel, the US and Canada program director of Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
“Lower-income communities and communities of color, who are the hardest hit and the least responsible, bear the brunt of a model that has brought us to the brink of the waste and climate crisis
Link to above post
Ka kite Ano.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/14/america-recycles-day-plastic-pollution-cover
The wealthiest people of the World must pay more tax so that all the problems created by their massive companies harvesting their wealth can be minimized.
Taxing wealth is an idea now thrust to the center of the Democratic primary. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have both put forward wealth tax plans that would hit the nation's richest citizens with steeper taxes in a bid to reduce inequality and pay for their progressive agendas.
The plans have generated fierce blowback among some economists, Wall Street financiers and leading corporate leaders like Bill Gates, who argue that a wealth tax would stifle economic growth and hurt investment.
It's an argument that echoes back to the 19th century, when the brutal system of slavery was locked into the engine of the American economy, according to two economists at the University of California in a recent book
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://amp.businessinsider.com/how-wealth-tax-opposition-rooted-in-rhetoric-of-southern-slaveowners-2019-11
The World needs to investigate and invest in Renewable energy solutions to clean up the mess we will leave our Grandchildren.
In Finland, a start-up wants to produce hydrocarbons using renewables
Soletair Power says it will integrate its system into buildings. Petri Laakso, the firm's CEO, explained to CNBC's "Sustainable Energy" that city air could be pushed through a ventilation unit and a carbon capturing unit, resulting in less carbon dioxide indoors. The firm's electrolyzer and synthesis unit would then be utilized to produce hydrocarbons.
If the building were connected to a gas grid, Laakso said, "you could provide synthetic methane, which you can pump into (the) gas grid." The grid could be used for energy storage or as a filling station for cars, he added.
Whether Soletair Power's concept becomes a fixture on buildings remains to be seen, but the idea is generating interest.
In April 2019, it announced it had secured 500,000 euros (around $551,630) in seed funding from the Wärtsilä Corporation to "pilot and commercialize its concept" of boosting air quality in buildings through the capture and conversion of carbon dioxide into "synthetic renewable fuel.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/11/18/in-finland-a-start-up-wants-to-produce-hydrocarbons-using-renewables.html
Kia Ora 1 News.
Looks good that the Ihumatao issues are looking like being sorted.
I admire the Prince many years of commitment to conservation.
That's the way the Government has to have the tools laws to protect Aotearoa sovereignty the new is needed.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Te Waiata is a great way to let tangata know what the true feeling of the nation is.
I ignore the ignorant times have changed.
Like I have said before whanau tangata whenua have to run for Council seats so Our voices will be heard 3 years is a lot of time to plan the mahi.
I know what they are talking about Homeless Kaumatua the rents are spiking. We have discrimination because we're Maori and age discrimination as well.
Ka pai Kiri Mana Wahine you have been a bright shining Star from Maoridom.
That’s awesome a Ap to help our Rangatahi show there sports skills to the world
Ka kite Ano