In the 1970s and early 1980s the Muldoon govt, began the process of cutting back the School Dental Service. Two successive governments continued this process and in the 1990s they were phased out altogether.
The system that was put in its place was not as efficient nor did it cover the full spectrum of NZ children so many thousands missed out altogether. Add to that, the education school dental nurses regularly conducted in the classrooms disappeared which had been helpful for the kids and their parents.
The only positive of the last few decades is the fluoridation of the drinking water – something my generation never had – but it has to be backed up with education and regular checks.
Spot on Anne. The destruction if the school dental service was a travesty. Going back there would be an amazing move, but a mammoth, and probably insurmountable task.
My mum worked at the murder house too, from the early 50’s until pretty much the end
Your mum lasted much longer than me. I did my five years "moral obligation" after graduating then shot off to greener pastures and to see the world. When I returned joined the Meteorological Service.
Funny thing… once a SDN always a SDN. Bet you've got well cared for teeth. 😀
A media that doesn't regurgitate every distraction National have would be a start. The average punter probably doesn't give a F as to which suit sits at the top of the OECD club.
Collins shambolic performance, the 'fat' comments and the fact that she is still leading National is the story IMO and shows how owned the media are.
Look at the interview with Liddell with Jack Tame on Sunday morning. I didn't give him the time of day until I watched that. He may have been the only sane person in the room and held on because leaving would have left the White House in an even bigger mess as I think he thought he could modify the worst aspects of what could have happened.
The OECD head needs to be an organiser not a dreamer.
Many people would balk at [checks notes] kidnapping children with no way of returning them to their parents, and making toddlers defendants in court cases.
I do not condone that sort of behaviour. It would have taken more than Liddell to stop such a brutal policy. I would have a different opinion if it was a policy from Liddell.
The dude was in the room. He can leave that workplace at any time. He knew what was going on, and even if he spoke out against it he's still happy to work there.
He's not a cook. He's part of the shitgibbon's regime. You don't get to have the words "Deputy white house chief of staff for policy" in your title and claim innocence about what the white house does.
Edit: and I mean “claim innocence” even in the meaning that the people who were in any way involved in some of those policies, not to mention the negligent homicide of a quarter of a million people, should go to gaol. I doubt they will, but they bloody should.
If Liddell is found to have been lying this will not go unnoticed when it comes to selection for a top job. Liddell has to live with the choices he made.
The biggest swamp has been the White House under Trump and Biden has to drain it.
Does that actually show that Liddell is good at anything more than self-promotion and ducking anything inconvenient to his narrative? Y'know, the usual traits for a corporate ladder-climber?
The fact he did not walk when children were separated from their parents, that families have such limited access to loved ones separated because of the wall, that he congratulated himself on "not losing his soul" , his credibility… not so much imo.
To be fair, Patricia, he did say he disagreed with that policy and acted to put a stop to it. If you can do something to change bad stuff maybe it is more ethical to stay
He may claim he acted to stop the policy. That's certainly a convenient claim to make right now. But I'm not aware of any evidence for any slowdown in the policy due to his claimed actions.
To me, that interview with Tane was more like an interview for the top job at the OECD.
Yes, he's sane which is in his favour but I agree with Patricia Bremner. He aligned himself to a corrupt president and a corrupt regime yet he did not admit they were corrupt. Tells me he can't be trusted.
Edit: There was an article in the Herald today (can’t find it online) about how Trump and his team planned all along to attack the integrity of the election going back to 2016, and you can’t tell me Liddell didn’t know what was going on.
Lol I think it's been mentioned here once or twice.
But then that was 20 years ago, and who knows whether she knew they were lies (if Powell didn't, for example).
The dude is still working for the Orange Child-Stealer right now, and knew what was going on. And the best he can say is that if there had been a vote, he wouldn't have voted for it.
I seem to remember the basis of the accusations that blair is a war-criminal..' are ‘cos he knew bush jnr was peddling lies…and yet he played right along…w.m.d.'s..?..anyone..?
And even if true, I'm not sure it's alleged Ardern was at a meeting of eleven Downing St officials where the topic "let's start a war on Iraq even though we're pretty sure they don't have WMDs" and the best thing she can say in her defence is "but if they had asked for a show of hands, I don't think I would have voted in favour of it".
Trump has always surrounded himself with sycophants and loyalists and more so in recent times. What bothers me slightly about Liddell is that he still has his job with the Don. This suggests that he’s either an extremely smooth and skilled political operator, he’s a very convincing actor or he’s a true Trumpian loyalist.
Don't think so Chris. "what a tiny cog she would be – "we were in a unit of 80, and we were one of many units" – and that the connection to Blair was zilch.
She says it herself if you look at her own archived bio on Labours website.
[Please provide the link to “her own archived bio on Labours website” that Jacinda Ardern was “a senior policy advisor to him” or face the usual consequence for making up stuff, thanks – Incognito]
DO you have a link because I can't find anything that says anything of the sort
Ardern moved to London where she became a senior policy adviser in an 80-person policy unit of then-British prime minister Tony Blair. (She did not meet Blair in London, but later at an event in New Zealand in 2011 she questioned him about the invasion of Iraq." Ardern was also seconded to the Home Office to help with a review of policing in England and Wales.
"She then moved overseas to London, where she worked as a senior policy advisor for British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the UK Cabinet Office. She was also seconded to the Home Office to assist with a review of policing in England and Wales."
Thank you for the links. You said she was an advisor to Blair, your links dont say that, specifically mentions "London" and "uk cabinet office" which if you had read the article I linked to, Jacinda said "she never met Blair in person at that time – " the Cabinet Office is massive" and as Rapunzel pointed out, her wiki page said she was part of an "80-person policy unit"
I'm very happy with that it clarifies it perfectly as the Labour one by Ardern herself makes no mention of Blair at all and the 2nd is a 3rd person account from Waikato uni. She is not responsible as to why it was termed like that by the person who compiled it. They are Not the Same at all Chris.
[Thank you for providing the links. However, your first link doesn’t state what you claimed @ 3.3.1.2 and 3.3.1.2.2.1:
“My time working abroad as a Senior Policy Advisor in London and as President of an International Youth organisation, has shown me how much we’ve achieved relative to other countries.”
In other words, your assertion was made up. If you want to avoid being moderated for these seemingly trivial offences then at least you should include a link and quote literally rather than paraphrasing and ‘massaging’ the words and meanings to suit your narrative – Incognito]
No Chris T, she was nearer the bottom of the hierarchy – more like a junior assistant to a senior policy adviser. I recall her saying that she didn't even work in the same building and never actually met Blair.
Ardern isn't particularly keen to support him to head the OECD, but then again, based on her pre-PM CV I wouldn't hire her for more than a policy advisor.
Agreed. Spotlight on him and he plays nice. Look who he's in bed with. I knew a mobster once who always came across as a 'good guy', till his gang told him to do heinous things and he obeyed.
Thinking about Russian fishermen and industry relations between them and NZ. Which reminded me of the 1986 sinking of the Mikhail Lermontov (named after a Russian poet, so they had some feeling for this ship.) This from wikipedia:
The Picton pilot, Don Jamison (who was also a Picton harbourmaster), piloted the ship out of Picton. His presence, and his knowledge of the area, should have assured the safety of MS Mikhail Lermontov.
The resulting legal actions seemed comparatively low-key considering the magnitude of the damage and the wilful negligence of a supposed senior experienced mariner.
Passengers brought cases against the parties and in Wikipedia there is an explanation of the legal aspects of one which would thrill the socks off of legal beagles I should expect. This is one part: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Mikhail_Lermontov#Court_case
The now-abolished forms of action cast a long shadow: a claim for money had and received evolved from the writ of indebitatus assumpsit, a legal fiction that the parties had an implied agreement that upon discharge for breach or frustration that the subject matter of the original agreement would be returned.
Interestingly, though he was asked to give up his pilot's licence, and did, within two years he had an executive position in the company that took over from the harbour board. Not bad for a pom bringing a wrecking ball skill to us. He became harbourmaster and general manager of Port Marlborough Ltd in October 1988, when the company took over the commercial operation of the port from the previous harbour board. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/lermontov-pilot-retires/IBMQZZQLLOYER6TVZG27E7VKUI/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/4664013/25-years-on-ship-pilot-still-silent
The Ministry of Transport held a preliminary inquiry immediately after the sinking, led by Captain Steve Ponsford. The Express reported on March 7, 1986, that the inquiry found Mr Jamison was responsible, but Mr Ponsford would not say what explanation Mr Jamison gave him for trying to take the ship through the passage.,,,
The Marlborough Harbour Board and the ship's owners came to an out-of-court settlement for damages…
Mr Prebble said on the 20th anniversary of the sinking that he had written to the Russians to offer an inquiry, but was told it was not necessary.
(The ministry also wrote to Mr Jamison and suggested "very strongly" that he surrender his pilot's licence, which he did.)
Mr Jamison was not charged because New Zealand-registered pilots working on foreign ships could not be prosecuted. The law has since been changed.
Mr Ponsford recommended that no formal investigation be held, which was backed by then transport minister Richard Prebble.
Mr Prebble said on the 20th anniversary of the sinking that he had written to the Russians to offer an inquiry, but was told it was not necessary…
Mr Jamison later applied for and was re-issued his pilot's licence. He worked for Strait Shipping for a decade before retiring in 2001.
The Mikhail Lermontov's captain, Vladislav Vorobyov, who was not on the bridge when the ship hit the rocks, was given a suspended four-year jail sentence after an inquiry in the former Soviet Union.
We would never have heard the end of it if it was an Australian, UK or USA ship. It was such a stupendous boob that a conspiracy with the USA to confound Russia by organising this mishap seems wild but not improbable. Alternatively Jamison had some medication in him that upset his equilibrium.
This item shows how government can't hive off everything to bloody private business who treat us like casualties to cast aside when the business charity goes under for some reason or many.
The barbarians responsible for this shit should get the triple-whammy, courts martial, criminal prosecution and then off to The Hague with the pricks.
When Dr Crompvoets warned Lieutenant General Campbell in early 2016 that special forces insiders were disclosing to her abhorrent war crimes allegations, he urged her to keep digging and “write it all down”.
“We're not talking about a couple of fog of war events that were, you know, perhaps confusing to understand," Dr Crompvoets recalls. "This is deliberate repeated patterns of behaviour.”
It could have gone another way. Two generals, Lieutenant General Campbell and Jeff Sengelman, had in 2015 commissioned Dr Crompvoets to examine cultural failings in the special forces, especially the poor relations between the nation’s two elite fighting arms, the SAS and the Commandos.
[…]
Dr Crompvoets' April 2016 report to generals Campbell and Sengelman described conduct that the military insiders she spoke to likened to the Abu Ghraib affair, the Iraq prisoner torture scandal that enveloped the US military in 2004. The crimes disclosed in her interviews with Australian special forces included alleged "competition killing and blood lust" and "the inhumane and unnecessary treatment of prisoners".
In her interview with The Age, the Herald and 60 Minutes, she says some allegedly unlawful behaviour, such as summary executions, were “celebrated and normalised, and almost a rite of passage for some people”.
Some of the men she spoke to, such as a soldier who described two unarmed teens having their throats allegedly slit and their bodies disposed of in a river, were in mental anguish. Others were emotionless as they explained how the mistreatment of prisoners became routine as small groups of special forces began writing their own rules of war.
Yeah – though that might reinforce the self-protective mechanism of mythologising it as exceptional, 'bad apples', etc. When in fact it was completely predictable from the day the planes hit the towers on 9/11, and culturally-speaking, as Australian as barbecued prawns.
Scud would have some interesting anecdotes and points about that. The people carrying out brutality are also attacking their own sense of values, their own worth. When they surface and look at themselves they will not believe they could do that, or they just wear their actions like an armour and play the hard man for the rest of their lives. 'Mental anguish' or 'emotionless', their bodies have survived but has their unique mind? They are just fodder for the generals. But it might be the only job they can get in the future
Yep, they're now ruined individuals. Those perpetuating the culture of callousness and murder should most definitely be on trial. Destroying lives is not a matter of duty.
They include strengthening Brand New Zealand, prioritising sustainability, and more partnership between government and industry.
Nash said too often ratepayers and taxpayers have picked up the bill of the impact of tourism on infrastructure and the environment.
He said the full cost of tourism needs to be priced into the visitor experience.
…
"We must attract high value and high spending visitors who buy into our own vision of sustainability. We must therefore deliver high quality visitor experiences and exceed our visitors expectations," he said.
Big talk from a pollie. He is describing something that is similar to what citizens hope they’ll get from government. Better pollies who exceed the citizens expectations. I think their remuneration is adequate though – now just perform you luvvies.
Poor areas may not be able to attract the higher-paying tourists. The government may have to step in with infrastructure not just take taxes from the takings and make them the pot of gold that the locals go to for needed amenities.
Pretty blunt language from Nash, and the day after industry darling Jucy went tits up.
Jucy being the anthesis of everything Nash was talking about. But Nash was also describing a very large part if the industry at all levels that try to provide good quality, socially responsible tourism experiences.
We’re not sorry to see Jucy go, and hope the rest of that end of the industry follows them, and very pleased to see the minister spelling it out.
I think you are wrong because the influx of young people, generally just out of Uni is a huge benefit to our and their understanding of our culture and we theirs.
They are also the future return visitors when they have more money and will spend more, as they almost without exception fall in love with NZ and NZers.
If we are to discourage and make it difficult for them to do their OE then the reverse applies, young Kiwis not being able to affordably travel. To say you can only come here if you pay the outlandish fucking prices resorts and hotels charge then we have fallen into the elitist realm, which is not the Kiwi way.
I think Nash was also referring to the side of the industry where about the only spending in NZ$ is the diesel that goes into the bus and the rates and electricity on the hotel. Everything else goes directly to, or through, the overseas owned inbound operator.
It may turn out to be a self limiting situation any way, who is going to want to be crammed into a low-cost airliner, tour coach or cruise ship once this is all over. Doubtful this end of tourism has a business any more. It's going to be a long time before anything like the low cost travel we've enjoyed in the last 10 years, if ever. Insurance availability and price will slow international travel for a long time too, even with a vaccine.
So the international visitors we see will be paying a lot more to get here, hence will tend to be wealthier and will probably prefer to stay in a flasher hotel or lodge than a packpacker van. Same will apply to outbound NZ tourism, it will be harder and more expensive, so there will be less.
The minister was as much spelling out reality to the industry as stating policy.
Were Jucy adding any value to NZ or cannibalising the industry and country. They've gone under, other more responsible operators are still going and in some cases quite well, Wayfare (Real Journeys / Fiordland Travel), Tourism Holdings, Skyline, Trojan.
Bottom line, everyone in the industry should have known it was going to stop soon for whatever reason, pandemic, good old recession or whatever. Some had the business planning to adapt and keep going, others were caught with their pants down.
And what about ordinary Kiwis who just want to go on an average holiday, but can't afford it any more because they can't compete with overblown tourist prices and events?
…what about ordinary Kiwis …. Indeed. Made an overnight trip to Whangarei, so we required a reasonably wheelchair accessible motel unit.
Tentatively booked one by phone and promised to call in before noon to pay….just as well as the unit was pokey and the parking completely unsuitable. Office person argued with me and proceeded to tell me that she could have let that room three times and 'we a late cancellation fee policy'…despite it being barely noon when we arrived.
We left…figuring this is a Monday night how busy can they be?…and became increasingly alarmed as every motel sported a No Vacancy sign. Apart from Casa Grot…for which we forked out 145 bucks for the night.
Any sympathy I may have had for motel accommodation providers has evaporated. They are doing so well they don't even have to try and maintain standards.
Not too flash for the millions afflicted with autoimmune disorders, though.
Not actually that worrisome IMO. The patient suffered from an autoimmune disorder which likely contributed to what we saw. Mutations in this patient should not be considered to be comparable with those in the population at large. https://t.co/FUHk0RJsCl
The new coronavirus resurged again and again in the body of an infected man, eventually killing him while showing evidence of fast-paced evolution.
Manuela Cernadas and Jonathan Li at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and their colleagues followed the course of COVID-19 in a 45-year-old man with a long-standing autoimmune disorder, who was on a medication regimen that included powerful immunosuppressants (B. Choi et al. N. Engl. J. Med. https://doi.org/fhv8; 2020). Roughly 40 days after the man first tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, follow-up tests indicated that the virus was dwindling — but it surged back, despite antiviral treatment.
The man’s infection subsided and then returned twice more before he died, five months after his first COVID-19 diagnosis. Genomic analysis showed that the man had not been infected multiple times. Instead, the virus had lingered and quickly mutated in his body.
Labours motto looks set to become "let's do this but not till after we leave office"
Ardern was defending Rogernomics today while ruling out any intervention in house prices or the reserve bank calling both muldoonist is just…. I wanna smash my keyboard.
I criticize her a lot but I've been defending her lately hoping beyond hope that a majority labour govt would surprise us all but at this point the list of things she's ruling out is getting so long Peter Jacksons probably going to turn it into a 9 part film series. I'm starting to think Labour was the handbreak on NZF and The Greens (in a way those two parties have more in common with each other than they do with labour ie building up the state, abolishing neoliberalism)
This is going to be long term bad for labour and the left, like Obama she excited an entire generation and promised transformation but unlike obama she told us capitalism had failed. We've seen what happens when you get peoples hopes up and then give them the finger once in power they get angry or stay home.
Ardern and Labour/ National are really giving the next generation of voters the middle finger atm and I think long term both parties are going to suffer the consequences for it unless they start acting, which I hope if enough pressure is applied that they will see the sense and get the political will to do so especially on housing and poverty but it's increasingly unlikely. We're not asking for much just basic center left tweaks to benefit rates and restrictions and reforms in the housing market.
Labours the party of reform , people flock to labour when the system needs correcting not because they want them to keep everything the same.
How on Earth can the Government interfere in house prices? By freezing them ? That turned out really well under Muldoon with prices and wages, eh.
What you are asking for is a command economy and they are disasterous, particulary for the less well off.
Doing what they are doing, by building a lot more public housing and assisting the young into their own homes is about all that can be done to achieve the goals we want. Maybe you want Labour to forcibly buy rentals off landlords and sell them at half price to those needing housing. Instead of critisising come up with some solutions that aren't pie in the sky and ridiculously unworkable.
Regulating one product is not the same as an across the board regulation of all wages and prices.
Building more public housing is indeed what they should be doing. But price controls on houses would make ghost houses less attractive as an investment. Once those go back on the rental market, should help the housing crisis.
Tune in 25th Nov, you will get the summary of intent in the speech from the throne delivered by the Governor General on behalf of the Prime Minister.
Then Jacinda and her family will shortly after have a Christmas break. I hope she is not begrudged that after such a turbulent year.
The Pandemic is not over, in fact it is surging out of control in many areas of the world, and we are fortunate to have dodged that.
There will be side affects caused by the Pandemic and the monetary policy, as Jacinda Ardern said, "This did not come with a manual, and we must be ready to pivot and to listen to the science."
Frustration at the pace of change is real, but so is a battle for stability in an unstable world.
Dude on The Panel just now suggested that stamp duty on second properties, introduced at a week's notice, would help the housing crisis. Can someone please explain how?
Apparently you have to pay Stamp Duty when you buy the house but at 2% money it's not much of a handbrake. Oh God ,2% money, thats what my parents had in 1948 with State advances, when my wife and I bought 35 years later it only took months to rocket to over 20%. FFS stop complaining about cheap money, remember 20% is all the deposit needed to buy a first home now, not a years mortgage every bloody year.
That seems to show the bigger picture, it isn't just the price of the houses, our shamefully low wage, non-unionised, casualised work force is part of the picture.
A couple of other ideas I have seen on TS, property investors should be limited to new builds and/or 30 or 40% deposit for folk who are not going to reside in the dwelling.
can you please explain this argument? The PM and Ministers are making policy decisions every day and announcing them. Why should we not critique those?
Can somebody please tell the PM and her freshly anointed Ministers that they are no longer the Caretaker Government and that it’s ok to get moving with the mandate? Thank you so much.
Yep just more fuel on the fire, this govt is already showing it is at best status quo and likely to preside over one of the largest jumps in house prices and private debt bubbles in NZ history.
Its a long way from the first Lab govt and Jacinda aint no Mickey Savage or Norm Kirk.
Instead of pouring cheap credit into the banks (inevitability to be lent on property) im sure the aforementioned Labour leaders would have been announcing additional payments to beneficiaries and the working poor.
Technically the Gov hasnt poured cheap credit into the banks. thats monetary policy and independent but they havnt done anything to offset the impact to their shame…and yes they could increase benefits especially in light of the increased minimum wage
We're are the authorities when you need them people trying to run me off the road every day O that's right it the spy's and under cover cops trying to run me off the roads and pulling a lot of other BULLSHIT against me and my Whanau.
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Sometimes it’s smaller, intensive studies that shed light on issues. Just reported results of daily sampling of COVID-19 patients indicate patients with the B.1.1.7 variant first observed in Kent, UK may have a longer infection compared to patients infected with non-B.1.1.7 variants. This is the variant seen in NZ’s most ...
Redline has just passed one million views – as I start writing this we have reached 1,000,015 views. It took us nearly seven years to reach our first 500,000 and just three months short of three years to reach our second 500,000, with 2019 being our best year, with over ...
. . As the rest of the world was perceived to be “going to hell in a handbasket with an out-of-control pandemic; ructions in Europe as Britain copes with “Brexit” chaos; Trumpism in the United States climaxing with the 6 January mob-led coup attempt in Washington’s Capitol; a deadly ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Feb 14, 2021 through Sat, Feb 20, 2021Editor's ChoiceQ&A: Is Elizabeth Kolbert’s New Book a Hopeful Look at the Promise of Technology, or a Cautionary Tale?The Pulitzer Prize-winning ...
Session Thirty-Five. We have had some in-game and out-of-game indication that we are drawing to the end of the Dreamland adventure… which has lasted since the fourth session. Getting back to the Waking World will require some mental adjustment, especially considering that Annalax has spent thirty-odd sessions not ...
A Friend In Need: I have grown up, and grown old, within earshot of New Zealand’s public broadcaster. Through times of peace and plenty, through days of tumult and recrimination, it has been a constant and reliable presence. The calm and authoritative voices of Radio New Zealand kept their fellow ...
This article, authored by Dr Lisa Schipper, Dr Morgan Scoville-Simonds, Dr Katharine Vincent and Prof Siri Eriksen, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Feb 10, 2021. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments posted on Carbon Brief. Photo by ...
. . As the rest of the world was perceived to be “going to hell in a handbasket with an out-of-control pandemic; ructions in Europe as Britain copes with “Brexit” chaos; Trumpism in the United States climaxing with the 6 January mob-led coup attempt in Washington’s Capitol; a deadly resurgent ...
by Georgina Blackmore Instead ask the government to separate the two issues caught under the heading of “Conversion Therapy”. 1) Gay Conversion Therapy which is what 99.9% of people believe this petition is about. It is a ban I personally support. 2) Gender Identity Conversion Therapy which doesn’t have any ...
The burning of books has a long history. That it no reason why we should add to it.If you want to get Burning of the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack from the National Library you may have to hurry. It is in the overseas nonfiction section; many books ...
by Daphna Whitmore After promising to tackle poverty, housing, transport, and climate issues in 2017, and failing on all these measures, Labour has moved to a Helen Clark “promise little and disappoint less” style of government. Poverty – perversely called “child poverty” by Ardern – has worsened under Labour. Much ...
This is one of those subject matters better suited to a thesis than a blog post, and far smarter people than I have tackled the question in a more detailed and accurate manner. But it’s a question that’s been running around in my brain for a fortnight or so. ...
Chris Fogwill, Keele University; Alan Hogg, University of Waikato; Chris Turney, UNSW, and Zoë Thomas, UNSWThe world experienced a few centuries of apocalyptic conditions 42,000 years ago, triggered by a reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles combined with changes in the Sun’s behaviour. That’s the key finding of our ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jan Ellen Spiegel Colorado is no stranger to drought. The current one is closing in on 20 years, and a rainy or snowy season here and there won’t change the trajectory. This is what climate change has brought. “Aridification” is what ...
Sweet Surrender: By 1933, Adolf Hitler was the last political leader left standing, and his Nazis the only party Germany had yet to try. It was ever thus. Dictators and dictatorships succeed by being the only medicine a desperately sick nation hasn’t swallowed; the only strength that hasn’t failed.NOT ALL ...
"I know what you're not thinking!" Thanks to their polling agency and the participants in its focus-groups, the Labour leadership possesses a great deal more information about the Kiwis clamouring for action on the housing and inequality fronts than most journalists and lobbyists.ACCORDING TO PEOPLE “in the know”, Labour is ...
James Higham, University of OtagoThe Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s second tourism report urges the government to take advantage of the disruption caused by COVID-19 to transform the tourism industry. Titled “Not 100% – but four steps closer to sustainable tourism”, it builds on commissoner Simon Upton’s 2019 “Pristine, ...
My column over at Newsroom this week points out the fairly obvious. The government can add daily saliva testing for everyone at the border to the existing testing regimen. If daily testing winds up proving the swab tests to be redundant, ditch the swab tests when we find that out. ...
Geoengineering heats up Sorry, that was irresistible. By chance in this edition of New Research are two intriguing papers including different perspectives on the subject of geoengineering, a topic increasingly arousing emotions. Happily both of these papers are open access and free to read. A third article underlines that enthusiasm ...
Tamra Burns Loeb, University of California, Los Angeles; AJ Adkins-Jackson, Harvard University, and Arleen F. Brown, University of California, Los AngelesRacial and ethnic minority communities that lack internet access have been left behind in the race to get a COVID-19 vaccine. The average monthly cost of internet access, about ...
Zach St. GeorgeThe first and only time Steve Jackson spoke to Bill Critchfield was in the late 1980s. Critchfield, an authority on the conifers of North America, was at home recovering from a heart attack. Jackson, then a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University, had called looking for advice on how ...
Richelle Butcher, Massey University; Britta Denise Hardesty, CSIRO, and Lauren Roman, CSIROPlastic in the ocean can be deadly for marine wildlife and seabirds around the globe, but our latest study shows single-use plastics are a bigger threat to endangered albatrosses in the southern hemisphere than we previously thought. You ...
On Monday, the US Congress failed to hold former President Donald Trump accountable for inciting an attempted coup against the US constitution. So now someone is doing it privately, in the traditional American way: suing him: Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, the former president’s personal lawyer, have been accused ...
The media this morning was full of hopeful stories about how the current lockdown may have been a "false alarm" and an over-reaction and how it would all be over soon (I bet those journalists and editors all feel pretty stupid now). But along the way, National's Michael Woodhouse let ...
Jen Purdie, University of OtagoAs fossil fuels are phased out over the coming decades, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) suggests electricity will take up much of the slack, powering our vehicle fleet and replacing coal and gas in industrial processes. But can the electricity system really provide for this ...
Nearly twenty years after they first arrived, the last New Zealand troops will finally be leaving Afghanistan in May: New Zealand troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by May 2021. The current deployment consists of six Defence Force personnel - three deployed to the Afghanistan National Army Officer Academy, ...
I’m a bit of an ETS-absolutist. Or at least a carbon-pricing absolutist, in a place the size of NZ. I think the Weitzman reasons for preferring a carbon tax to an ETS are second-order relative to political economy considerations, and any weight at all put on switching costs makes it ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson Despite the speed bump posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is rolling toward completion of its Sixth Assessment Report, the latest in a series that began in 1990. IPCC’s assessments, produced by many hundreds of scientists volunteering countless hours, ...
On Friday (5 February) we went for a walk in the Karangahake Gorge, and were very happy to discover (during the Windows Walk) that there are glow-worms in the darker parts of the mine workings. (Strictly speaking they’re glow-maggots as they’re the larvae of small flies/midges, but that is perhaps ...
Alysha JohnsonThey say a good day is a busy day, and aboard the R/V Falkor (Seafloor to Seabirds in the Coral Sea – Schmidt Ocean Institute), almost every day is busy! On this particular day, we deployed a CTD, which stands for Conductivity, Temperature and Density. It is ...
This is a transcript of a speech by developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton delivered at on 29 November 2020 for the ‘Feminist Academics Talk Back!’ meeting. This talk was originally published by womentalkback.org Sex denialists have captured existing journals We are dealing with a new religion Thank you for the ...
We know that when our rural communities do well, all of New Zealand benefits. Labour is committed to supporting our regions so that, together, we can achieve even more. Here are just some of the ways we’re backing rural communities. ...
Government data today shows that the wealthiest New Zealanders aren’t paying their fair share of tax, whilst everyone else chips in, Green Party spokesperson on Finance Julie Anne Genter said today. ...
The Green Party welcomes the change in the Reserve Bank’s remit to consider the impacts on housing when making financial decisions, but housing affordability shouldn’t be left to the Reserve Bank, Green Party Co-leader and Housing spokesperson Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Green Party welcomes the passing of the Local Electorate Act Māori Wards Amendment Bill which ensures Māori have a say on local issues across Aotearoa New Zealand. ...
New UMR research reveals that 69 percent of New Zealanders agree that the government should increase the amount if income support paid to those on low incomes or not in paid work. ...
The Green Party are celebrating the Labour Government bringing forward the timeline to ban conversion therapy, and will push to ensure any draft bill properly protects all of our Rainbow communities. ...
The Green Party is joining the call for ‘brave policy action’ to address rapidly increasing inequality in New Zealand, which is likely to be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
Green MPs currently in Auckland, Marama Davidson, Chlöe Swarbrick and Golriz Ghahraman, will remain in Auckland for the next 72 hours. Those in Auckland today for Big Gay Out who have flown home will self-isolate for 72 hours. These decisions will be subject to any new information that may arise ...
It’s Pride month, and as we celebrate our LGBTIA+ community, we’re taking the next steps towards a more inclusive Aotearoa. From investing in mental health services to banning harmful conversion therapy, we’re building a New Zealand where everyone can be safe, healthy and happy. ...
The Green Party strongly condemns the revelation that Air New Zealand may have provided assistance and maintenance to Saudi Arabian vessels involved in committing atrocities in Yemen. ...
A Deed of Settlement has been signed between Ngāti Maru and the Crown settling the iwi’s historical Treaty of Waitangi claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The Ngāti Maru rohe is centred on the inland Waitara River valley, east to the Whanganui River and its ...
With a suite of Government income support packages available, Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni is encouraging people, and businesses, connected to the recent Auckland COVID-19 cases to check the Work and Income website if they’ve been impacted by the need to self-isolate. “If you are required to ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed her condolences at the passing of long-serving former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare. “Our thoughts are with Lady Veronica Somare and family, Prime Minister James Marape and the people of Papua New Guinea during this time of great ...
The Government is backing a new project to use drone technology to transform our understanding and protection of the Māui dolphin, Aotearoa’s most endangered dolphin. “The project is just one part of the Government’s plan to save the Māui dolphin. We are committed to protecting this treasure,” Oceans and Fisheries ...
Major water reform has taken a step closer with the appointment of the inaugural board of the Taumata Arowai water services regulator, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says. Former Director General of Health and respected public health specialist Dame Karen Poutasi will chair the inaugural board of Crown agency Taumata Arowai. “Dame ...
New funding announced by Conservation Minister Kiri Allan today will provide work and help protect the unique values of Northland’s Te Ārai Nature Reserve for future generations. Te Ārai is culturally important to Te Aupōuri as the last resting place of the spirits before they depart to Te Rerenga Wairua. ...
Today the Government has taken a key step to support Pacific people to becoming Community Housing providers, says the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio. “This will be great news for Pacific communities with the decision to provide Pacific Financial Capability Grant funding and a tender process to ...
Conservation Minister Kiri Allan is encouraging New Zealanders to have their say on a proposed marine mammal sanctuary to address the rapid decline of bottlenose dolphins in Te Pēwhairangi, the Bay of Islands. The proposal, developed jointly with Ngā Hapū o te Pēwhairangi, would protect all marine mammals of the ...
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges. Two of the appointees will take up their roles on 1 April, replacing sitting Judges who have reached retirement age. Kirsten Lummis, lawyer of Auckland has been appointed as a District Court Judge with jury jurisdiction to ...
Government announces list of life-shortening conditions guaranteeing early KiwiSaver access The Government changed the KiwiSaver rules in 2019 so people with life-shortening congenital conditions can withdraw their savings early The four conditions guaranteed early access are – down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s disease and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder An alternative ...
The Reserve Bank is now required to consider the impact on housing when making monetary and financial policy decisions, Grant Robertson announced today. Changes have been made to the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee’s remit requiring it to take into account government policy relating to more sustainable house prices, while working ...
The Labour Government will invest $6 million for 70 additional adult cochlear implants this year to significantly reduce the historical waitlist, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Cochlear implants are life changing for kiwis who suffer from severe hearing loss. As well as improving an individual’s hearing, they open doors to ...
The Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill passed its third reading today and will become law, Minister of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta says. “This is a significant step forward for Māori representation in local government. We know how important it is to have diversity around ...
The Government has added 1,000 more transitional housing places as promised under the Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan (HAP), launched one year ago. Minister of Housing Megan Woods says the milestone supports the Government’s priority to ensure every New Zealander has warm, dry, secure housing. “Transitional housing provides people ...
A second batch of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived safely yesterday at Auckland International Airport, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. “This shipment contained about 76,000 doses, and follows our first shipment of 60,000 doses that arrived last week. We expect further shipments of vaccine over the coming weeks,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni has today announced $18 million to support creative spaces. Creative spaces are places in the community where people with mental health needs, disabled people, and those looking for social connection, are welcomed and supported to practice and participate in the arts ...
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little today welcomed Moriori to Parliament to witness the first reading of the Moriori Claims Settlement Bill. “This bill is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work from all the parties involved. “I am delighted to reach this significant milestone today,” Andrew ...
22,400 fewer children experiencing material hardship 45,400 fewer children in low income households on after-housing costs measure After-housing costs target achieved a year ahead of schedule Government action has seen child poverty reduce against all nine official measures compared to the baseline year, Prime Minister and Minister for Child Poverty ...
It’s time to recognise the outstanding work early learning services, kōhanga reo, schools and kura do to support children and young people to succeed, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins says. The 2021 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards are now open through until April 16. “The past year has reminded us ...
Three new Jobs for Nature projects will help nature thrive in the Bay of Plenty and keep local people in work says Conservation Minister Kiri Allan. “Up to 30 people will be employed in the projects, which are aimed at boosting local conservation efforts, enhancing some of the region’s most ...
The Government has accepted all of the Holidays Act Taskforce’s recommended changes, which will provide certainty to employers and help employees receive their leave entitlements, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said the Government established the Holidays Act Taskforce to help address challenges with the ...
The Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and faster than expected economic recovery has been acknowledged in today’s credit rating upgrade. Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today raised New Zealand’s local currency credit rating to AAA with a stable outlook. This follows Fitch reaffirming its AA+ rating last ...
Tena koutou e nga Maata Waka Ngai Tuahuriri, Ngai Tahu whanui, Tena koutou. Nau mai whakatau mai ki tenei ra maumahara i te Ru Whenua Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga mate ki te hunga mate Apiti hono tatai hono, Te hunga ora ki te hunga ora Tena koutou, Tena ...
The Minister of Justice has reaffirmed the Government’s urgent commitment, as stated in its 2020 Election Manifesto, to ban conversion practices in New Zealand by this time next year. “The Government has work underway to develop policy which will bring legislation to Parliament by the middle of this year and ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage and Social Development Hon Carmel Sepuloni today launched a new Creative Careers Service, which is expected to support up to 1,000 creatives, across three regions over the next two years. The new service builds on the most successful aspects of the former Pathways to ...
Overseas consumers eager for natural products in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic have helped boost honey export revenue by 20 percent to $425 million in the year to June 30, 2020, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says. “The results from the latest Ministry for Primary Industries’ 2020 Apiculture Monitoring ...
Thanks to more than $10-million in new services from the Government, more rangatahi will be able to access mental health and addiction support in their community. Minister of Health Andrew Little made the announcement today while visiting Odyssey House Christchurch and acknowledged that significant events like the devastating earthquakes ten ...
Two month automatic visitor visa extension for most visitor visa holders Temporary waiver of time spent in New Zealand rule for visitor stays Visitor visa holders will be able to stay in New Zealand a little longer as the Government eases restrictions for those still here, the Minister of Immigration ...
The Tourism and Conservation Ministers say today’s report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) adds to calls to overhaul the tourism model that existed prior to COVID19. “The PCE tourism report joins a chorus of analysis which has established that previous settings, which prioritised volume over value, are ...
The Government is providing certainty for the dietary supplements industry as we work to overhaul the rules governing the products, Minister for Food Safety Dr Ayesha Verrall said. Dietary supplements are health and wellness products taken orally to supplement a traditional diet. Some examples include vitamin and mineral supplements, echinacea, ...
The Government is joining the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (the Budapest Convention), Justice Minister Kris Faafoi and Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications Dr David Clark announced today. The decision progresses a recommendation by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terror attack to accede to ...
Attorney-General David Parker announced today that an appointment round for Queen’s Counsel will take place in 2021. Appointments of Queen’s Counsel are made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Attorney-General and with the concurrence of the Chief Justice. The Governor-General retains the discretion to appoint Queen’s Counsel in ...
The new Resurgence Support Payment passed by Parliament this week will be available to eligible businesses now that Auckland will be in Alert Level 2 until Monday. “Our careful management of the Government accounts means we have money aside for situations like this. We stand ready to share the burden ...
A dry run of the end-to-end process shows New Zealand’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is ready to roll from Saturday, when the first border workers will receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says. “The trial run took place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch yesterday afternoon, ahead of the ...
From June this year, all primary, intermediate, secondary school and kura students will have access to free period products, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti announced today. The announcement follows a successful Access to Period Products pilot programme, which has been running since Term 3 last ...
The latest update shows the Government’s books are again in better shape than forecast, meaning New Zealand is still in a strong position to respond to any COVID-19 resurgence. The Crown Accounts for the six months to the end of December were better than forecast in the Half-year Economic and ...
The Department of Conservation’s (DOC) new Heritage and Visitor Strategy is fully focused on protecting and enhancing the value of New Zealand’s natural, cultural and historic heritage, while also promoting a sustainable environmental experience, Conservation Minister Kiri Allan says. “It has been a quarter of a century since DOC first developed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare have announced that New Zealand will conclude its deployment of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to Afghanistan by May 2021. “After 20 years of a NZDF presence in Afghanistan, it is now time to conclude ...
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. This is a special time in our country. A little over a week ago, it was the anniversary of the signature by Māori and the British Crown of Te Tiriti O Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), a founding document in ...
The Government is in contact with relevant authorities in Turkey following the arrest of a former Australian and New Zealand dual citizen there, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “Contingency planning for the potential return of any New Zealander who may have been in the conflict zone has been underway for ...
Fatigue, depression, pain, puking – Mark Graham explains how life is still impacted by his concussion, over a year later.A friend of mine wrote a wonderful piece on his life being “shattered by two punches” and his attempts to piece it back together again.It made me cry.Timothy Giles described his ...
Mānuka honey producers have been reaping the profits of selling pots of gold in recent years, but now there’s a surplus of non-mānuka varieties as beekeepers stockpile, hoping prices will recover. The NZ Herald’s Jane Phare looks at why the country is oozing with honey, in this Herald Premium article.It ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – Author Margaret Mills speaking at the launch of The Nine Lives of Kitty K at Waiheke Library today. IMAGE: David Robie Introduction for the book launch of The Nine ...
Analysis: One new case was enough to force Auckland back into lockdown less than a week after it returned to Level 1. Marc Daalder explains why New Zealand has dealt with nearly a dozen border failures and minor community outbreaks of Covid-19. Only a couple have resulted in an alert ...
Auckland returns to level three lockdown for seven days as of 6am Sunday February 28, with the rest of the country going to level two. Here’s what the experts are saying, via the Science Media Centre.Shaun HendyWith new cases detected in the family of a Papatoetoe High School student, Auckland ...
A new community case in Auckland today has prompted the announcement that the city is to return to alert level three, and the rest of the country level two, from 6am on Sunday. Here’s the latest.What’s happening?Auckland is to move to alert level three from 6am on Sunday, February 28. ...
As of 6am on Sunday February 28, Auckland moves to level three, with the rest of the country going to level two, for seven days. For the latest official advice see here.What happened?A new case, known as “case M”, is a sibling of a student at Papatoetoe High School, which is ...
The discovery of a new community case that can't be definitively linked to existing cases has forced Auckland back to Level 3, Marc Daalder reports Auckland is returning to Level 3 for seven days and the rest of New Zealand will escalate to Level 2 for the same period from ...
In deciding to move Auckland out of lockdown, Jacinda Ardern has decided to take on more risk than she might have previously, Marc Daalder writes New Zealand's approach to the pandemic so far has been a conservative, risk-averse one. Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson has previously spelled out the ideology of ...
Businesses with workers needing to cross the Alert Level boundary near Auckland will need evidence of permitted activity or an exemption. Travel documents that were issued earlier this month remain valid. Any business with workers that have lost ...
Another cased of COVID-19 in the community was not the news anyone wanted to hear on a Saturday evening, Mayor Goff said tonight. “I understand Aucklanders’ frustration at having to return to Level 3 lockdown, with the disruption it causes to everyone’s ...
Last weekend at the sun-drenched soundshell in the Botanic Gardens, Wellington, The Spinoff joined Verb Wellington to present the Garden Party and it was heaps of fun.Photography by Rebecca McMillan On February 20 and 21, a brand new summer festival sprung into life. Held at Wellington Botanic Gardens ki Paekākā, The ...
Our Beehive Bulletin … With the Maori wards issue taken care of through legislation rushed egregiously into law under urgency, control of the country’s water supply is high on the agenda for action by champions of the treaty “partnership”. Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāi Tahu have joined forces in proceedings against ...
What’s the best way to get adults reading? Get them reading when they’re children – and there’s no better place to start than the Unity Children’s Bestseller Chart.AUCKLAND1 Sapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 1, The Birth of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari and David Vandermeulen, and illustrator Daniel Casanave (Jonathon ...
"The lab assistants developed various amphetamine habits, Linda in HR started sleeping with her co-workers’ wives, a few of the guys from down in IT went undercover as recruits in local criminal organisations and were instantly murdered": a vision from Wellington writer Jordan Hamel There are nine different incident reports, ...
Rebecca Wadey used to love the wellness industry. Now she doesn’t know who to trust.This story was first published on Ensemble. I love a bit of woo woo.As a former wellbeing editor, I’ve interviewed countless experts on how to achieve a work-life balance and live a life of optimal energy. I’ve ...
What do you get if you mix a little bit of Persona with a little bit of Musou? A whole lot of fun.In general, I’m not a fan of artistic crossovers – more often than not, the new work ends up compromising what made each individual component great – but ...
Linda Burgess, who has just spent a fortune on a ball of fluff, reflects on the animals who have left paw prints on her heart.Childhood pets?I don’t come from a particularly animal-loving family and when I was five or six I had to argue persuasively, plead even, to adopt Rastus ...
By Scott Waide in Lae, Papua New Guinea Sir Michael was a man of many titles. He was father, grandfather and chief. As a tribal leader, he was Sana, the peacemaker. His influence and his reputation extended beyond Papua New Guinea’s border to the Pacific and other parts of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Howe, Honorary Professor, Department of Sociology, Macquarie University, Macquarie University The Governor General was handed the report of the aged care royal commission on Friday. It will be made public in the coming week. Overlaying its considerations has been Australia’s 909 ...
Michelle Langstone went to meet the revered and feared chef expecting to meet a tyrant. Portraits by Simon Day.You know when Tony Astle is about to tell you a good story by the way his eyes start to gleam with mischief, and how he leans forward to rest his elbows on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Selway, Macquarie University The largest and most destructive earthquakes on the planet happen in places where two tectonic plates collide. In our new research, published today in Nature Communications, we have produced new models of where and how rocks melt in ...
Analysis: The government wants the Reserve Bank to curb house prices, Parliament passes the Māori wards bill, and an MP gets away with a rude word in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon discuss the week in politics. This week Michelle and Paddy discuss the continued probe into the culture of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Adelaide This is the second of two articles on the past and future of the university campus. The “dreaming spires” of Oxford University that Matthew Arnold romanticised in 1865 still have a powerful ...
The finance minister spoke to Auckland businesspeople today on the state of the economy a year after Covid-19 landed, and how he hopes to take on another crisis. Toby Manhire went along.Virtual presentations in place of in-the-flesh speeches have become commonplace in these pandemic days, but it wasn’t Covid that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University The government earlier this year released a discussion paper exploring how an Indigenous Voice to government might work. The Voice ...
Immigration New Zealand is standing by its decision to grant a visa to the partner of Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March and says the application was treated "like any other". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathalie Collins, Academic Director (National Programs), Edith Cowan University Business etiquette has one golden rule: treat others with respect and care. The same is true for encouraging cyber safety at work, on everything from password security to keeping valuable information like tax ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Bryant, Professor & Director of Traumatic Stress Clinic, UNSW Although Australia is now largely COVID-free, the repercussions of the pandemic are ongoing. As the pandemic enters its second year, many people will be continuing to suffer with poor mental health, or ...
Auckland Council has signed off on a new strategy to make it easier to recycle or get rid of inorganic waste, but according to South Auckland community leaders, it doesn’t go far enough.Tucked a few streets back from former prime minister William Massey’s beautiful old homestead in Māngere East is ...
With crowd-friendly dance tunes and affordable drinks, a new dancehall and bar opening tonight is hoping to make going out more accessible for Aucklanders.“In many ways, it’s fucking stupid opening a nightclub in the middle of a global pandemic,” says Sam Walsh, one of the three owners of a new ...
Water New Zealand says the establishment of the new Taumata Arowai board is an important milestone in the journey towards safer drinking water for all New Zealanders. The Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta has announced that former ...
The PM says there are "many, many people" being treated as contacts of the latest Covid-19 community case, but the government is willing to go further than usual to keep the country at level 1. ...
Listen: This week's Extra Time podcast from RNZ dissects the women's White Ferns' cricket challenge against England, the men's Black Caps vs Australia and the start of Super Rugby The White Ferns have a battle on their hands to fight their way back into their one-day series against England - ...
Our Beehive Bulletin … While Housing Minister Megan Woods was being grilled at Question Time in Parliament about the government’s performance in her portfolio domain, the Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito Williams Sio, was announcing new initiatives to provide housing. Attorney-General David Parker, meanwhile, was announcing the appointments of three ...
Asia Pacific Report Papua New Guineans awoke this morning to great sadness, reports the PNG Post-Courier. As the bells tolled with the sad news of the passing of the much beloved statesman and the founding father of the nation, newsfeeds and social media were abuzz with shock, grief, sadness and ...
In remarks for a Monetary Policy Statement presentation to the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce today, Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr has elaborated on the direction received from the Minister of Finance, to have regard to house price sustainability ...
Critic's Chair: Guy Somerset watches the first of four documentaries on the allegations against Woody Allen in his years in the Farrow household, and hears the air of truth in the early testimonies against him. Of all the witness statements with the air of truth about them in the first ...
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 Gangland: New Zealand’s Underworld of Organised Crime by Jared Savage (HarperCollins, $37)“It’s hard for me to imagine ...
A poem by New York-based Aotearoa poet Evangeline Riddiford Graham.Gingerbread HouseThe revolution has arrived. We get the email. MeanwhileI am moving deck chairs to make sure you are comfortable in shade. Our neighboursays it like a complaint: We don’t know anyone who is sickor dead. The taxi driver says hospitals ...
Playwright Alex Lodge on being in love with someone who’s from a different world than you.Have you read anything by Kurt Vonnegut Jr? I’m not here to judge you if you haven’t. He’s one of those writers who all the white boys in university say you “have to read” as ...
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2. Are parents to busy to be able to take children to a dental appointment if the the dental service does not go to a school?
3. Does the dental model need to change with access to treatment?
4. Is oral hygiene not being learned in the home, the importance of brushing teeth and not over doing the sugar?
I can give you the short answer but if you want the long answer:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5534465/
It will take you most of the day to read it.
In the 1970s and early 1980s the Muldoon govt, began the process of cutting back the School Dental Service. Two successive governments continued this process and in the 1990s they were phased out altogether.
The system that was put in its place was not as efficient nor did it cover the full spectrum of NZ children so many thousands missed out altogether. Add to that, the education school dental nurses regularly conducted in the classrooms disappeared which had been helpful for the kids and their parents.
The only positive of the last few decades is the fluoridation of the drinking water – something my generation never had – but it has to be backed up with education and regular checks.
Yes, I was a School Dental Nurse in the 1960s.
I will read the link.
I can see why you would have an interest in the delivery of dental care.
Spot on Anne. The destruction if the school dental service was a travesty. Going back there would be an amazing move, but a mammoth, and probably insurmountable task.
My mum worked at the murder house too, from the early 50’s until pretty much the end
Your mum lasted much longer than me. I did my five years "moral obligation" after graduating then shot off to greener pastures and to see the world. When I returned joined the Meteorological Service.
Funny thing… once a SDN always a SDN. Bet you've got well cared for teeth. 😀
Collins saying the govt should be supporting Chris Liddell to chair the OECD.
Collins would though a Trump yes man fuelled by the Coal and Oil industries a Conservative.
We need new ideas not old lacķy's who will no doubt promote a Conservative agenda.
Not sure what your issue with Liddell is.
Jealousy?
Liddell seems like a good bloke. Maybe guilt by association – what was he thinking?
A media that doesn't regurgitate every distraction National have would be a start. The average punter probably doesn't give a F as to which suit sits at the top of the OECD club.
Collins shambolic performance, the 'fat' comments and the fact that she is still leading National is the story IMO and shows how owned the media are.
Look at the interview with Liddell with Jack Tame on Sunday morning. I didn't give him the time of day until I watched that. He may have been the only sane person in the room and held on because leaving would have left the White House in an even bigger mess as I think he thought he could modify the worst aspects of what could have happened.
The OECD head needs to be an organiser not a dreamer.
Yeah, saw that. Comes across as just a decent, intelligent, sane bloke.
Massive environmentalist as well apparently.
Liddell survived 4 years of Trump, the man has guts this is why I would give Liddell a go at being chair of the OECD.
guts but no principles.
Not many people with principles anywhere now days.
Many people would balk at [checks notes] kidnapping children with no way of returning them to their parents, and making toddlers defendants in court cases.
I do not condone that sort of behaviour. It would have taken more than Liddell to stop such a brutal policy. I would have a different opinion if it was a policy from Liddell.
The dude was in the room. He can leave that workplace at any time. He knew what was going on, and even if he spoke out against it he's still happy to work there.
He's not a cook. He's part of the shitgibbon's regime. You don't get to have the words "Deputy white house chief of staff for policy" in your title and claim innocence about what the white house does.
Edit: and I mean “claim innocence” even in the meaning that the people who were in any way involved in some of those policies, not to mention the negligent homicide of a quarter of a million people, should go to gaol. I doubt they will, but they bloody should.
If Liddell is found to have been lying this will not go unnoticed when it comes to selection for a top job. Liddell has to live with the choices he made.
The biggest swamp has been the White House under Trump and Biden has to drain it.
All of which counts against Liddell as deserving any public role, especially one involving multilateralism, ever again.
Does that actually show that Liddell is good at anything more than self-promotion and ducking anything inconvenient to his narrative? Y'know, the usual traits for a corporate ladder-climber?
The fact he did not walk when children were separated from their parents, that families have such limited access to loved ones separated because of the wall, that he congratulated himself on "not losing his soul" , his credibility… not so much imo.
To be fair, Patricia, he did say he disagreed with that policy and acted to put a stop to it. If you can do something to change bad stuff maybe it is more ethical to stay
He may claim he acted to stop the policy. That's certainly a convenient claim to make right now. But I'm not aware of any evidence for any slowdown in the policy due to his claimed actions.
To me, that interview with Tane was more like an interview for the top job at the OECD.
Yes, he's sane which is in his favour but I agree with Patricia Bremner. He aligned himself to a corrupt president and a corrupt regime yet he did not admit they were corrupt. Tells me he can't be trusted.
Edit: There was an article in the Herald today (can’t find it online) about how Trump and his team planned all along to attack the integrity of the election going back to 2016, and you can’t tell me Liddell didn’t know what was going on.
Yea….not too sure about this guy. He was certainly quite ok with Trump…did he tell himself everything was cool? Or just go with the "flow"…
Reminds me of "others" in the past..who were only following orders…and apparently didnt "know"
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/will-nz-back-chris-liddell-for-oecds-top-job
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-cabinet-officials-voted-2018-white-house-meeting-separate-migrant-n1237416
@ Jan m..I think that defence was tried at nuremberg..it didn't work then either..
Ardern worked as a senior policy advisor to Blair after his invasion of Iraq which was based on lies.
I take it you are just as critical of her?
Lol I think it's been mentioned here once or twice.
But then that was 20 years ago, and who knows whether she knew they were lies (if Powell didn't, for example).
The dude is still working for the Orange Child-Stealer right now, and knew what was going on. And the best he can say is that if there had been a vote, he wouldn't have voted for it.
I seem to remember the basis of the accusations that blair is a war-criminal..' are ‘cos he knew bush jnr was peddling lies…and yet he played right along…w.m.d.'s..?..anyone..?
And even if true, I'm not sure it's alleged Ardern was at a meeting of eleven Downing St officials where the topic "let's start a war on Iraq even though we're pretty sure they don't have WMDs" and the best thing she can say in her defence is "but if they had asked for a show of hands, I don't think I would have voted in favour of it".
Trump has always surrounded himself with sycophants and loyalists and more so in recent times. What bothers me slightly about Liddell is that he still has his job with the Don. This suggests that he’s either an extremely smooth and skilled political operator, he’s a very convincing actor or he’s a true Trumpian loyalist.
Don't think so Chris. "what a tiny cog she would be – "we were in a unit of 80, and we were one of many units" – and that the connection to Blair was zilch.
"I was working alongside small businesses"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96123508/jacinda-ardern-i-didnt-want-to-work-for-tony-blair
She was one of his senior policy advisors.
She says it herself if you look at her own archived bio on Labours website.
[Please provide the link to “her own archived bio on Labours website” that Jacinda Ardern was “a senior policy advisor to him” or face the usual consequence for making up stuff, thanks – Incognito]
You are wrong Chris. btw these are Jacinda's words that I quoted.
See my Moderation note @ 10:37 PM.
DO you have a link because I can't find anything that says anything of the sort
Ardern moved to London where she became a senior policy adviser in an 80-person policy unit of then-British prime minister Tony Blair. (She did not meet Blair in London, but later at an event in New Zealand in 2011 she questioned him about the invasion of Iraq." Ardern was also seconded to the Home Office to help with a review of policing in England and Wales.
1) Her own bio
https://web.archive.org/web/20081223024509/http://labourparty.org.nz/people/
2) Her uni
"She then moved overseas to London, where she worked as a senior policy advisor for British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the UK Cabinet Office. She was also seconded to the Home Office to assist with a review of policing in England and Wales."
https://www.waikato.ac.nz/study/success-stories/jacinda-ardern
Do you want more?
Thank you for the links. You said she was an advisor to Blair, your links dont say that, specifically mentions "London" and "uk cabinet office" which if you had read the article I linked to, Jacinda said "she never met Blair in person at that time – " the Cabinet Office is massive" and as Rapunzel pointed out, her wiki page said she was part of an "80-person policy unit"
I'm very happy with that it clarifies it perfectly as the Labour one by Ardern herself makes no mention of Blair at all and the 2nd is a 3rd person account from Waikato uni. She is not responsible as to why it was termed like that by the person who compiled it. They are Not the Same at all Chris.
I have done. Please see below.
[Thank you for providing the links. However, your first link doesn’t state what you claimed @ 3.3.1.2 and 3.3.1.2.2.1:
“My time working abroad as a Senior Policy Advisor in London and as President of an International Youth organisation, has shown me how much we’ve achieved relative to other countries.”
In other words, your assertion was made up. If you want to avoid being moderated for these seemingly trivial offences then at least you should include a link and quote literally rather than paraphrasing and ‘massaging’ the words and meanings to suit your narrative – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 12:08 AM.
No Chris T, she was nearer the bottom of the hierarchy – more like a junior assistant to a senior policy adviser. I recall her saying that she didn't even work in the same building and never actually met Blair.
She was a senior policy advisor to him.
No she wasn't Chris.
That's not what Liddel's CV says and you know it.
Ardern isn't particularly keen to support him to head the OECD, but then again, based on her pre-PM CV I wouldn't hire her for more than a policy advisor.
You're right, it's not what his CV says.
It's what glib self-serving interview answers about the cheeto-tinged skidmark smeared down his CV tells us about him.
Agreed. Spotlight on him and he plays nice. Look who he's in bed with. I knew a mobster once who always came across as a 'good guy', till his gang told him to do heinous things and he obeyed.
A dirtbag is a dirtbag. Lidell is culpable.
Two self-absorbed psychopaths scrap it out. Fantastic stuff. Keep going!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300160252/jamilee-and-billys-divorce-who-gets-the-money
The original story on Newsroom even has a photo of JLRs new beard, very entertaining read indeed!
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/jami-lee-and-billys-nasty-divorce?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=97d029e67e-Daily+Briefing+17.11.2020&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-97d029e67e-95522233
Thinking about Russian fishermen and industry relations between them and NZ. Which reminded me of the 1986 sinking of the Mikhail Lermontov (named after a Russian poet, so they had some feeling for this ship.) This from wikipedia:
The Picton pilot, Don Jamison (who was also a Picton harbourmaster), piloted the ship out of Picton. His presence, and his knowledge of the area, should have assured the safety of MS Mikhail Lermontov.
The resulting legal actions seemed comparatively low-key considering the magnitude of the damage and the wilful negligence of a supposed senior experienced mariner.
Passengers brought cases against the parties and in Wikipedia there is an explanation of the legal aspects of one which would thrill the socks off of legal beagles I should expect. This is one part: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Mikhail_Lermontov#Court_case
The now-abolished forms of action cast a long shadow: a claim for money had and received evolved from the writ of indebitatus assumpsit, a legal fiction that the parties had an implied agreement that upon discharge for breach or frustration that the subject matter of the original agreement would be returned.
Interestingly, though he was asked to give up his pilot's licence, and did, within two years he had an executive position in the company that took over from the harbour board. Not bad for a pom bringing a wrecking ball skill to us. He became harbourmaster and general manager of Port Marlborough Ltd in October 1988, when the company took over the commercial operation of the port from the previous harbour board. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/lermontov-pilot-retires/IBMQZZQLLOYER6TVZG27E7VKUI/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/4664013/25-years-on-ship-pilot-still-silent
The Ministry of Transport held a preliminary inquiry immediately after the sinking, led by Captain Steve Ponsford. The Express reported on March 7, 1986, that the inquiry found Mr Jamison was responsible, but Mr Ponsford would not say what explanation Mr Jamison gave him for trying to take the ship through the passage.,,,
The Marlborough Harbour Board and the ship's owners came to an out-of-court settlement for damages…
Mr Prebble said on the 20th anniversary of the sinking that he had written to the Russians to offer an inquiry, but was told it was not necessary.
(The ministry also wrote to Mr Jamison and suggested "very strongly" that he surrender his pilot's licence, which he did.)
Mr Jamison was not charged because New Zealand-registered pilots working on foreign ships could not be prosecuted. The law has since been changed.
Mr Ponsford recommended that no formal investigation be held, which was backed by then transport minister Richard Prebble.
Mr Prebble said on the 20th anniversary of the sinking that he had written to the Russians to offer an inquiry, but was told it was not necessary…
Mr Jamison later applied for and was re-issued his pilot's licence. He worked for Strait Shipping for a decade before retiring in 2001.
The Mikhail Lermontov's captain, Vladislav Vorobyov, who was not on the bridge when the ship hit the rocks, was given a suspended four-year jail sentence after an inquiry in the former Soviet Union.
We would never have heard the end of it if it was an Australian, UK or USA ship. It was such a stupendous boob that a conspiracy with the USA to confound Russia by organising this mishap seems wild but not improbable. Alternatively Jamison had some medication in him that upset his equilibrium.
Chant – 'War, war what's it good for?'
This item shows how government can't hive off everything to bloody private business who treat us like casualties to cast aside when the business charity goes under for some reason or many.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/430774/laura-fergusson-trust-accused-of-bias-in-membership-applicationsIt is widely speculated that the Laura Fergusson Trust will sell its Greenlane site to recoup losses.Those trying to save the site say membership applications are being rejected for suspect reasons.
Before its closure in August, Laura Fergusson Rehabilitation in Greenlane cared for thousands of Aucklanders with disabilities.
The barbarians responsible for this shit should get the triple-whammy, courts martial, criminal prosecution and then off to The Hague with the pricks.
When Dr Crompvoets warned Lieutenant General Campbell in early 2016 that special forces insiders were disclosing to her abhorrent war crimes allegations, he urged her to keep digging and “write it all down”.
“We're not talking about a couple of fog of war events that were, you know, perhaps confusing to understand," Dr Crompvoets recalls. "This is deliberate repeated patterns of behaviour.”
It could have gone another way. Two generals, Lieutenant General Campbell and Jeff Sengelman, had in 2015 commissioned Dr Crompvoets to examine cultural failings in the special forces, especially the poor relations between the nation’s two elite fighting arms, the SAS and the Commandos.
[…]
Dr Crompvoets' April 2016 report to generals Campbell and Sengelman described conduct that the military insiders she spoke to likened to the Abu Ghraib affair, the Iraq prisoner torture scandal that enveloped the US military in 2004. The crimes disclosed in her interviews with Australian special forces included alleged "competition killing and blood lust" and "the inhumane and unnecessary treatment of prisoners".
In her interview with The Age, the Herald and 60 Minutes, she says some allegedly unlawful behaviour, such as summary executions, were “celebrated and normalised, and almost a rite of passage for some people”.
Some of the men she spoke to, such as a soldier who described two unarmed teens having their throats allegedly slit and their bodies disposed of in a river, were in mental anguish. Others were emotionless as they explained how the mistreatment of prisoners became routine as small groups of special forces began writing their own rules of war.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/killings-of-afghans-happened-all-the-time-20201115-p56erx.html?
"…off to The Hague with the pricks"
Yeah – though that might reinforce the self-protective mechanism of mythologising it as exceptional, 'bad apples', etc. When in fact it was completely predictable from the day the planes hit the towers on 9/11, and culturally-speaking, as Australian as barbecued prawns.
Scud would have some interesting anecdotes and points about that. The people carrying out brutality are also attacking their own sense of values, their own worth. When they surface and look at themselves they will not believe they could do that, or they just wear their actions like an armour and play the hard man for the rest of their lives. 'Mental anguish' or 'emotionless', their bodies have survived but has their unique mind? They are just fodder for the generals. But it might be the only job they can get in the future
Yep, they're now ruined individuals. Those perpetuating the culture of callousness and murder should most definitely be on trial. Destroying lives is not a matter of duty.
#16
An interesting speech from Stuart Nash on the future of tourism:
Big talk from a pollie. He is describing something that is similar to what citizens hope they’ll get from government. Better pollies who exceed the citizens expectations. I think their remuneration is adequate though – now just perform you luvvies.
Poor areas may not be able to attract the higher-paying tourists. The government may have to step in with infrastructure not just take taxes from the takings and make them the pot of gold that the locals go to for needed amenities.
Pretty blunt language from Nash, and the day after industry darling Jucy went tits up.
Jucy being the anthesis of everything Nash was talking about. But Nash was also describing a very large part if the industry at all levels that try to provide good quality, socially responsible tourism experiences.
We’re not sorry to see Jucy go, and hope the rest of that end of the industry follows them, and very pleased to see the minister spelling it out.
I think you are wrong because the influx of young people, generally just out of Uni is a huge benefit to our and their understanding of our culture and we theirs.
They are also the future return visitors when they have more money and will spend more, as they almost without exception fall in love with NZ and NZers.
If we are to discourage and make it difficult for them to do their OE then the reverse applies, young Kiwis not being able to affordably travel. To say you can only come here if you pay the outlandish fucking prices resorts and hotels charge then we have fallen into the elitist realm, which is not the Kiwi way.
I think Nash was also referring to the side of the industry where about the only spending in NZ$ is the diesel that goes into the bus and the rates and electricity on the hotel. Everything else goes directly to, or through, the overseas owned inbound operator.
It may turn out to be a self limiting situation any way, who is going to want to be crammed into a low-cost airliner, tour coach or cruise ship once this is all over. Doubtful this end of tourism has a business any more. It's going to be a long time before anything like the low cost travel we've enjoyed in the last 10 years, if ever. Insurance availability and price will slow international travel for a long time too, even with a vaccine.
So the international visitors we see will be paying a lot more to get here, hence will tend to be wealthier and will probably prefer to stay in a flasher hotel or lodge than a packpacker van. Same will apply to outbound NZ tourism, it will be harder and more expensive, so there will be less.
The minister was as much spelling out reality to the industry as stating policy.
Were local companies other than Jucy innovating with capsule hotels etc?
Were Jucy adding any value to NZ or cannibalising the industry and country. They've gone under, other more responsible operators are still going and in some cases quite well, Wayfare (Real Journeys / Fiordland Travel), Tourism Holdings, Skyline, Trojan.
Bottom line, everyone in the industry should have known it was going to stop soon for whatever reason, pandemic, good old recession or whatever. Some had the business planning to adapt and keep going, others were caught with their pants down.
And what about ordinary Kiwis who just want to go on an average holiday, but can't afford it any more because they can't compete with overblown tourist prices and events?
…what about ordinary Kiwis …. Indeed. Made an overnight trip to Whangarei, so we required a reasonably wheelchair accessible motel unit.
Tentatively booked one by phone and promised to call in before noon to pay….just as well as the unit was pokey and the parking completely unsuitable. Office person argued with me and proceeded to tell me that she could have let that room three times and 'we a late cancellation fee policy'…despite it being barely noon when we arrived.
We left…figuring this is a Monday night how busy can they be?…and became increasingly alarmed as every motel sported a No Vacancy sign. Apart from Casa Grot…for which we forked out 145 bucks for the night.
Any sympathy I may have had for motel accommodation providers has evaporated. They are doing so well they don't even have to try and maintain standards.
Good luck to them attracting those big spenders…
Fine talk but what leverage is the Crown putting onto AirNZ.
And further from local governments to ports taking cruises.
And further on Immigration.
Thats the source of cheap bulk tours.
Not another year of failure to execute thanks Nash.
Not too flash for the millions afflicted with autoimmune disorders, though.
The new coronavirus resurged again and again in the body of an infected man, eventually killing him while showing evidence of fast-paced evolution.
Manuela Cernadas and Jonathan Li at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and their colleagues followed the course of COVID-19 in a 45-year-old man with a long-standing autoimmune disorder, who was on a medication regimen that included powerful immunosuppressants (B. Choi et al. N. Engl. J. Med. https://doi.org/fhv8; 2020). Roughly 40 days after the man first tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, follow-up tests indicated that the virus was dwindling — but it surged back, despite antiviral treatment.
The man’s infection subsided and then returned twice more before he died, five months after his first COVID-19 diagnosis. Genomic analysis showed that the man had not been infected multiple times. Instead, the virus had lingered and quickly mutated in his body.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00502-w
I would like to know the outcome if a person did not take immunosuppressant medication.
As for the mutation what actually caused it I would like to know and whether it just affected a particular autoimmune condition.
One of New Zealands covid deaths was a woman (50's?) on immunosuppressants for Lupus.
Labours motto looks set to become "let's do this but not till after we leave office"
Ardern was defending Rogernomics today while ruling out any intervention in house prices or the reserve bank calling both muldoonist is just…. I wanna smash my keyboard.
I criticize her a lot but I've been defending her lately hoping beyond hope that a majority labour govt would surprise us all but at this point the list of things she's ruling out is getting so long Peter Jacksons probably going to turn it into a 9 part film series. I'm starting to think Labour was the handbreak on NZF and The Greens (in a way those two parties have more in common with each other than they do with labour ie building up the state, abolishing neoliberalism)
This is going to be long term bad for labour and the left, like Obama she excited an entire generation and promised transformation but unlike obama she told us capitalism had failed. We've seen what happens when you get peoples hopes up and then give them the finger once in power they get angry or stay home.
Ardern and Labour/ National are really giving the next generation of voters the middle finger atm and I think long term both parties are going to suffer the consequences for it unless they start acting, which I hope if enough pressure is applied that they will see the sense and get the political will to do so especially on housing and poverty but it's increasingly unlikely. We're not asking for much just basic center left tweaks to benefit rates and restrictions and reforms in the housing market.
Labours the party of reform , people flock to labour when the system needs correcting not because they want them to keep everything the same.
How on Earth can the Government interfere in house prices? By freezing them ? That turned out really well under Muldoon with prices and wages, eh.
What you are asking for is a command economy and they are disasterous, particulary for the less well off.
Doing what they are doing, by building a lot more public housing and assisting the young into their own homes is about all that can be done to achieve the goals we want. Maybe you want Labour to forcibly buy rentals off landlords and sell them at half price to those needing housing. Instead of critisising come up with some solutions that aren't pie in the sky and ridiculously unworkable.
Regulating one product is not the same as an across the board regulation of all wages and prices.
Building more public housing is indeed what they should be doing. But price controls on houses would make ghost houses less attractive as an investment. Once those go back on the rental market, should help the housing crisis.
Tune in 25th Nov, you will get the summary of intent in the speech from the throne delivered by the Governor General on behalf of the Prime Minister.
Then Jacinda and her family will shortly after have a Christmas break. I hope she is not begrudged that after such a turbulent year.
The Pandemic is not over, in fact it is surging out of control in many areas of the world, and we are fortunate to have dodged that.
There will be side affects caused by the Pandemic and the monetary policy, as Jacinda Ardern said, "This did not come with a manual, and we must be ready to pivot and to listen to the science."
Frustration at the pace of change is real, but so is a battle for stability in an unstable world.
Can't have stability with an out of control housing crisis, or widening gap between ok and not ok in terms of standard of living.
Well said Patricia
ditto
Dude on The Panel just now suggested that stamp duty on second properties, introduced at a week's notice, would help the housing crisis. Can someone please explain how?
Apparently you have to pay Stamp Duty when you buy the house but at 2% money it's not much of a handbrake. Oh God ,2% money, thats what my parents had in 1948 with State advances, when my wife and I bought 35 years later it only took months to rocket to over 20%. FFS stop complaining about cheap money, remember 20% is all the deposit needed to buy a first home now, not a years mortgage every bloody year.
Some people would complain etc….
In the 90s, a 20% deposit was all that was needed and you could buy a house for $100,000 and beneficiaries could afford the mortgage.
That seems to show the bigger picture, it isn't just the price of the houses, our shamefully low wage, non-unionised, casualised work force is part of the picture.
A couple of other ideas I have seen on TS, property investors should be limited to new builds and/or 30 or 40% deposit for folk who are not going to reside in the dwelling.
This Labour govt seems to be looking more like the Fourth Labour govt than the First with every passing week…
The House isn't sitting yet!!
Sure, but given the tone so far tell me im wrong…
can you please explain this argument? The PM and Ministers are making policy decisions every day and announcing them. Why should we not critique those?
It's not the House you need to worry about.
It's a functioning Cabinet that's actually showing it's achieving stuff.
The trade deal they announced this week was began under National and driven by MFAT, and for which Labour in government played passenger.
Currently looks like this government won't actually get underway until February. That's a third of a year wasted since getting elected.
And even when they start, the legislative programme is negligible.
Ardern it's time to actually show you can execute real policy. Not just fold like origami every time there's something hard to do.
why won't they get underway until Feb?
Can somebody please tell the PM and her freshly anointed Ministers that they are no longer the Caretaker Government and that it’s ok to get moving with the mandate? Thank you so much.
Re j.ardern talking about house deposits.
I think we should steel ourselves for some more middle-class welfare..
quite possibly…sadly any gov assistance for deposit provision is likely to fuel property inflation even more
Yep just more fuel on the fire, this govt is already showing it is at best status quo and likely to preside over one of the largest jumps in house prices and private debt bubbles in NZ history.
Its a long way from the first Lab govt and Jacinda aint no Mickey Savage or Norm Kirk.
Instead of pouring cheap credit into the banks (inevitability to be lent on property) im sure the aforementioned Labour leaders would have been announcing additional payments to beneficiaries and the working poor.
Technically the Gov hasnt poured cheap credit into the banks. thats monetary policy and independent but they havnt done anything to offset the impact to their shame…and yes they could increase benefits especially in light of the increased minimum wage
We're are the authorities when you need them people trying to run me off the road every day O that's right it the spy's and under cover cops trying to run me off the roads and pulling a lot of other BULLSHIT against me and my Whanau.
Ka kite Ano