“So this time Labour’s beating the housing drum, playing to its constituents who don’t and will probably never own a home, by getting at the fat cats that do. To an extent it’s a politics of envy. Only trouble is to play that game you’ve got to be on firm ground and Andrew Little’s example actually made him the envy of those struggling to get on to the home ownership ladder.”…..
Soper has always been a dog. Will never forget the time he tried to take over a meeting between Winnie and John McCain in Washington DC for some bitchiness he harboured against Winnie. Winnie turned Rotty’. Ordered the scruffy terrier hack out of the room. Was beautiful to watch the hack roundly fail in his attempt to look ‘Da Man’……
“And with his promise this week to cut the tax dodges for landlords, rents are bound to rise making it even harder for those who are trying to scrape together an ever increasing deposit.”
and from http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/05/its_land_not_owners_who_are_the_problem.html
Problem for me with this uneducated sensationalism is that it is based on a very small minority of landlords that would be negatively geared ( and for those landlords in the 50+ properties would be companies that should losses be incurred would carry over these until profitable when they would be liable for taxes so this is not applicable for to such companies),
Some of those individuals who are incurring losses, the IRD has legislation that these would not comply as a profitable going concern and that their “business case” is based on loss making but compensated by a capital gain, and under this situation the capital gain is taxable income.
And the situation of being negatively geared has been reduced with banks requiring 40% deposit, so the 80-95% mortgage does not apply.
Remember he is one of the gnats lapdogs and his misses got her job with Duncan because she is buddy wuddy with uncle john and the gnats and by the way what is the age difference as he is quick to put the boot into others this fellow.
I switch of anything he is on, sop- a he is just as bad if not worse than listening to Larry Williams on the radio same old bias self opinionated and one sided bullshert
Then we have hoskings using his TV role state owned TV1 to advocate for the gnats he has been a bit quieter since his mate uncle john left hooray!
Back in the day I was unfortunate enough to have some mutual friends with this horrible little man and wound up at a dinner party with him. The food was beautiful but the conversation was dire thanks to him! What a self opinionated loudmouthed ethic-free twit!
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?
You’d think the tourism industry would have a wee shufti over at the dairy wallahs, take a deep breath, and ask themselves how they’re going to avoid the same problems with rapid and unmanageable expansion.”…..
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?”
It’s the famous Anglo-American economic tradition to make cheap bulk commodities, which we inherited and have always held to.
DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.
“DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.”
Get a reality check Ad. No one is going to to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
More the Nats don’t want to upset all their donors in the lower end of the tourism industry. I think that’s what you mean by “the goose that lays the golden egg”
Reality is that if a $100 border tax is going to kill the profit on a tour operator’s punter, there’s fuck all for the country in that punter either.
We’ve got a government, and industry that is only interested in numbers, more more and more. Nothing about yield, just greater numbers.
Lucky then we have bloggers like No Right Turn to give us the real information.
“National is finally promising to tackle the housing crisis by building some houses, with plans to “build 34,000 new Auckland houses”. Except that when you scratch the surface, its not all its cracked up to be. Firstly, those houses are being built by demolishing 8,300 existing homes, so the total is only 26,000. Secondly, it includes already announced and underway (and in some cases, built) projects in Tamaki, Northcote and Point England – so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline. Thirdly, two thirds of those houses will be sold to speculators rather than being state houses – so we’re looking at a program to bulldoze and sell off state homes. And finally, its over ten years, with a deadline on the never-never so National can avoid accountability – just as with their climate change, renewable electricity, and water quality promises. In short, its the usual story: PR as a substitute for policy, spin as a substitute for action. Because the goal isn’t to fix the bloody problem, but simply to generate positive headlines.”
It is no right turn that is not telling the truth.
In particular suggesting that two thirds will be sold to speculators. Unless of course you consider first home buyers to be speculators.
Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? It is all about what will happen in the next ten years. It makes sense to aggregate them so people get a sense of the actual scale. Otherwise it is all lost in piecemeal announcements.
Yes, some houses are being demolished, and frankly about time. Tonah St for instance is really substandard housing.
“Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? ”
Ummm..? Misleading for the sake of deception, perhaps? Putting lipstick on a pig is the baser expression.
” so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline” says, I/S. He directs us to think this strategy has been used before by the National Party for reasons we can only guess at.
It is all about the plans for the next ten years. The fact some of it has been previously announced (Northcote, Tamaki) does not change that it is all about the next ten years.
One of my concerns about Nationals housing plans was that there had been a plethora of announcements, and it almost impossible to work out the overall plan.
Amy Adams has done everyone a favour by pulling it all together, then announcing it as an overall plan.
That means it is possible to compare the packages of both major parties, which has now been done, including on the lead item of The Standard.
Because there have been previous announcements, you know some of the houses will be started within the next year, rather than just planned.
On reflection I imagine Labours housing plans also include these projects.
Then why’s it including all their plans for the last nine years? (Which didn’t work either)
One of my concerns about Nationals housing plans was that there had been a plethora of announcements, and it almost impossible to work out the overall plan.
I’m reasonably certain that’s done on purpose so that they can continue to lie in all of the confusion that they create.
Because there have been previous announcements, you know some of the houses will be started within the next year, rather than just planned.
Ah, no, we don’t know that. Many of the ones that have been announced haven’t been built and never will be. Managed to funnel lots of wealth to some National’s major donors though.
On reflection I imagine Labours housing plans also include these projects.
@ Wayne But when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling.
Most of the houses in question will be sold at market value; the others are “affordable” at $650k. Little was spot-on on Morning Report this AM when he said this was “smoke and mirrors”.
What’s interesting here is that people like Hoskin say the Labour/Green bloc will not win the election on the housing issue yet Amy Adams finds it necessary to lie through her teeth with announcements like this to defend the government’s position.
I love Labour’s new policy to abolish tax write-offs for housing speculators. A strong and bold policy that will push resources into productive investment. This “mum and dad” investors terminology is crap-they are speculators buying houses whether they are buying one extra house or ten.
“when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling”
How is it a lie when Amy Adams has it front and centre of her press release?
Who cares ! national screwed over akl so badly it’s a ceremonial position with virtually no actual power and control.
Hide and key made sure that they appointed the CCO chiefs of which I note some rats already jumping ship such as akl transport.
Other mates like Jim, I plundered kiwirail, Quinn enjoy highly paid do nothing roles also, goffs just making noise and pointing out the obvious really which gets the nactiods and their media muppets all frothy and righteous.
Ethiopia ahead of NZ on Childrens Rights Statistics/Index, NZ standing at 158th out of 165, it is sobering reading ?
We are not going particularly well with our young people here in NZ especially with our 94,000 unemployed youth aged between 15-24 years old, but we do hold the Rugby World Cup ?
“The Government has confirmed that countries not signed up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the United States, will be able to reap the benefit of concessions New Zealand has made on pharmaceuticals.
Yet New Zealand will not benefit from better access to the US market in return, because president Donald Trump pulled it out of the pact.”
Oh the intel came from Israel? No wonder they were mad about the Russians getting hold of it. They don’t want Baathist Syria to beat Salafism, they want it to fall to Salafism, so that they have the pretext to pour the IDF out of the Golan heights and annex some more Lebensraum for their US, UK, and RSA born ‘settlers’. Then they will ‘miraculously’ make some ‘archaeological’ ‘discoveries’ within said Lebensraum which proves that ancient Hebrews once lived there, which is generally their out of the can pretext for taking other people’s land on a permanent basis
[lprent: You appear to have missed the point of the post – which was about missing the point. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Bigotry? Continue, I’m looking forward to it. You do realise that some of us need more than just SJW buzzwords to do much more than raise an eyebrow, right?
Why do you think I said that about SMs response to CJ?
Context boy, context!
Now your projecting and deflecting like a rank amateur who can’t comprehend the relevance of context vs ‘at least be funny’ when throwing a naked insult
Brakes are on the handle bars, and no amount of back peddle can prevent the inevitable
Dude, we’re not two gentlemen meeting in a sparring contest with mutual respect.
I regard you as a vacuous jerk whose ego writes cheques his IQ can’t cash. You don’t deserve graciousness, and I require neither your respect nor your approval. In fact, affirmation from such a source would normally require deep introspection as to where my life went astray.
Here of course it’s all about choice for union busting sake.
Another week, another round of evidence that providing parents with more “school choice,” especially the kind that lets them opt out of public schools, is not a very effective vehicle for ensuring students improve academically or that taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely.
The latest evidence comes from a study of the voucher program in Washington, DC that allows parents to transfer their children from public to private schools at taxpayer expense. The study found that students “who attended a private school through the program performed worse on standardized tests than their public school counterparts who did not use the vouchers,” reports the New York Times.
This study adds to others – from Ohio, Indiana, and Louisiana – finding that school vouchers have negative impacts on students.
Despite these results, many proponents of school choice contend the purpose of school choice was never about generating better results. It’s about choice for choice’s sake.
So Russia has done and is doing more to fight isis than anyone else and trump shares intelligence on isis and this is somehow a problem? Only if you buy into the russia as supreme evil meme. Trump has done plenty wrong but collaborating on the battle against isis is eminently sensible. This and his stance on tpp. Some say even a broken clock is correct twice…
[lprent: It looks like you missed the point of the post as well. Perhaps you could try reducing your self-indulgent wanking some time and actually read what people write. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Comey memos coming out now – trump toast – death by 1000 cuts and we are up to 100 or so by now – not bad for just over 100 days. Whatever you do don’t mention Russia that peace loving utopia where everyone has a full tummy – Putin must be slysmiling at all this trumpstuff.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Read that a few days back and did some digging. There’s a prof at Washington University looks at ‘deep time’. The story goes like this – each mass extinction has been accompanied by rises in atmospheric CO2. (One was an impact that also had increasing CO2 levels)
The CO2 has come from basalt flows in the past. (eg – the Siberian Traps). Today we’ve got industry smoke stacks and cars. Anyway. As temp increases, the poles heat far faster than the tropics, the temperature differential that drives ocean currents is lost and oxygen doesn’t get mixed into the deep ocean.
As the existing oxygen in the ocean is used up, they become stagnant and a breeding ground for bacteria that give off hydrogen sulphide. And that then kills just about everything everywhere. (Mammals more so than reptiles apparently which was why we got dinosaurs – off the back of mammals getting ‘totaled’ 200 odd million years back)
Anyway, as that’s unfolding, that same loss of temperature differential kills the jet stream. And that means that weather doesn’t form or move. (The jet stream is already slowing and meandering which is giving rise to prolonged droughts etc)
The figure of 1000ppm was suggested as the atmospheric concentration that accompanies all that crap…not necessarily the level that triggers it. We’re at 400+ and rising at about 2ppm per year.
With current warming, we have ‘locked in’ sea level rise of over 1 metre with some respected quarters suggesting we may be looking at 1.5m by as soon as 2050. Now, how much of the worlds agriculture is on flood plains – ie, at sea level?
Will National’s willingness to proceed with the TPP (as initially negotiated) become a major election issue?
McClay said countries would discuss whether the TPP as negotiated should stay in place – NZ’s preferred route – or the deal should be renegotiated now the US has quit.
The existing text of the TPP has all the toxic rules a good number of New Zealanders opposed. Bringing into question the Government’s position. Moreover, how badly will it hurt National in the polls?
Shocking. Would be good for Labour to publicly condemn Natz wasting time and money trying to resurrect this zombie deal that is NOT a good deal for NZ especially destructive for copy write and medicine and for the neanderthal ISDS clauses.
Shocking indeed. And yes, the silver lining is the opposition should be able to capitalize off this.
The Government is taking a risk trying to resurrect this with the elections only months away. There is a good chance voters will express their discontent at the polling booths come election day.
Did the insult posing as a question lift your self esteem?
I don’t spend energy trying to rationalize such ‘events’, because really…who ‘knows’
You don’t!
Prententing to ‘know’, or trying to rationalize…is fruitless IMO
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: Perhaps if you’d read the post and the notice at the end of it then you would have realized what it was about and not irritated me by blathering irrelevant nonsense. ]
Trump is bowing down to his masters. Sharing confidential information from Five Eyes, and carrying on in an unprecedented manner with the Kremlin stooges in the White House as photos show, which were not meant for the eyes of US citizens. This latest breech by by Trump is a big concern not only to the Democrats in Congress but Trump’s fellow Republicans. Why is Trump so friendly with the Russians? Perhaps it has something to do with who has been financing TTO. Money laundering out of Russia and big loans from a German bank, has given Trump massive support when his commercial empire was crumbling.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Trump noise show continues. Pense for President! Wow, Israeli secrets divulged to Russia and leaked to the press. Coz Russoa would have told then too! Are we saying Russia leaked them to undermine Trump and give Pense the Whitehouse, thought Russia and Israel weren’t friendly, why would Russia want a fundamental christian in the Whitehouse when the far christian rig are one of Isreals biggest friends. So, who leaked and why can Trump trust nobody.
If Trump makes a habit of disclosing ‘facts’, on top of his fake facts, he’ll just put Congres and allies out of sorts and Pense in charge. Like that wasn’t the plan!
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Parsing the difference between the DGAF lies coming from some parts of the Chump administration, and the ordinary misdirection by weasel words of those with at least a vestigial sense of shame that makes them want to later be able say “I didn’t technically lie”.
Who’s doing the collection, sales bottling marketing distributio, Taking the risk on capital etc I suggest that where the profits go, the public resource just enjoys a royalty, ie the water
What’s with the Auditor General Martin Mathews now in the firing line by Winnie. Winnie says under his watch as Head of the Ministry of Transport a female employee embezzled three quarters of a million. She was brought to the attention of Mr Mathews on more than one occasion over financial anomalities but he did not intervene. Now he is our Auditor General. It could only happen in New Zealand. I wonder how much auditing is being done and how much scrutiny is being applied to the nation’s books these days. Wonders will never cease. No wonder Winnie is having an apoplexy tiss wizz over it.
All parties are to blame – the committee who selected him had Trevor Mallard representing Labour along with other representatives – Little says nobody was aware of this happening in the MOT when the decision was made to elect him Auditor General. . WTF
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Don Franks Now Covid-19 restrictions allow gatherings of a hundred, an urgent hui needs calling. A special conference of the Council of Trade Unions. Today, workers face the greatest attack on employment, pay and conditions since the depression, we need a strong united union voice. As it stands now, organised ...
George Henderson New Zealand schools have introduced a climate change resource that suggests children “eat less meat and dairy”, even though teachers will not know how much meat or dairy any child in their care has eaten. Opinion pieces in the papers have called for the reduction of meat and ...
Questioning the number of district health boards in New Zealand has got to the extent that “too many DHBs” has become a perceived truth requiring no further elaboration. It is rarely challenged by policy advisers, academics, and journalists. But when one drills down further it becomes clear that the number ...
The emergence of a new National party leader, seemingly out of nowhere, has – not surprisingly – raised a number of questions as to who Todd Mulller actually is and what makes him tick. He has been an MP for some time but seems to have hidden his light under ...
Costa Rica has become the first country in Central America to recognise same-sex marriage: The first same-sex weddings have taken place in Costa Rica, the first Central American country to equalise its marriage legislation. A lesbian couple became the first to tie the knot in a ceremony that took ...
There's a new twist in the Winston Peters secret donation story. It appears that a significant chunk of NZ First's secret laundered donations goes straight into the pockets of the people administering the scheme: Tens of thousands in donor's funds given to the New Zealand First Foundation were spent paying ...
Is Todd Muller the Ned Flanders of the National Party? This is how he’s been characterised by political commentator Gordon Campbell, who suggests the change in leadership is, in Simpsons terms, akin to swapping the scary and cruel Monty Burns for Homer Simpson’s compassionate but conservative neighbour. There’s almost a ...
We all know that many so-called journalists and political commentators in New Zealand work directly or indirectly for political parties or for certain political factions. This was obviously the case when pundit for hire Matthew Hooton launched a campaign against then National Party leader, Simon Bridges, over their numerous polling ...
Let's Roll! The easy victory over a Bridges-led National Party which the Left had every cause to anticipate just a few days ago is no longer in the offing. Our enemy’s position has changed. His numbers are swelling. A rapid thrust to the left, followed by an audacious outflanking manoeuvre ...
New National Party leader Todd Muller has been interviewed about his policies, and has promised to restart offshore fossil fuel exploration if elected: The Bay of Plenty MP rolled former leader Simon Bridges last week, but says the party has not changed its stance on previous promises. "That is ...
Anyone who keeps an eye on evidence around cannabis and public health will be familiar with the Christchurch Health and Development Study. It's one of two local longitudinal studies frequently cited with respect to cannabis and youth development. But in a new article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, it is ...
In the age of covid we are Jacinda’s team of five million, except for some. There has rarely been a more blatant case of discrimination against beneficiaries than Grant Robertson’s announcement yesterday that people who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus will receive weekly payments of $490 per week for 12 weeks and $250 per week for part time ...
It was 75 years ago this month that Germany surrendered and the Allies celebrated VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Millions of people around the world had been killed and many more injured or captured. It was an end to war not just for Europeans, but their allies too, in countries across Africa. But its impact is ...
Hon Shane Jones, NZ First List MP based in Northland New Zealand First MP Hon Shane Jones has today announced his candidacy for the electorate of Northland. Speaking at a New Zealand First meeting in Kerikeri, Northland, Mr Jones said it was a privilege to be selected by the Party ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced two diplomatic appointments: New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Consul-General to Hong Kong. “As New Zealand recovers from COVID-19, our diplomatic and trade networks are more important than ever. That is ...
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...
We’re confident in the ability of Kiwi businesses to succeed in the face of COVID-19, and our Government is committed to doing our bit to enable that success. Kiwi businesses have always been innovative and resilient, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proven this yet again. Many businesses are finding new, creative ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its first tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. The includes all sitting New Zealand First Members of Parliament except Clayton Mitchell MP who earlier today announced he will not be seeking re-election. In alphabetical order they are: MP ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Tauranga New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell has decided not to seek re-election in this year’s General Election. “After serious consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided to pursue other passions in my life and spend a lot ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced that new Lockheed Martin Super Hercules aircraft would replace the outdated and costly 1960s Hercules fleet. The $1.521b project will include a flight simulator for staff training and other supporting infrastructure. "This fleet will ensure the Defence Force can continue to support New Zealand's ...
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has described Labour's original COVID-19 commercial rent dispute proposal as "poorly targeted". Justice Minister Andrew Little hasannounced a temporary law changeto force commercial landlords and renters to consider COVID-19 in disputes over rent issues, almost two months after the Government first floated the idea. But ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First acknowledges that some small businesses have been struggling to meet fixed costs due to the loss of revenue by COVID-19. We also know some businesses are at greater risk of insolvency when they cannot come to a reasonable ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First is disappointed that the removal of the spousal deductions has had to be delayed by the Ministry fo Social Development, due to COVID19 workload pressures. “New Zealand First has always stood for fairness when it comes to superannuation ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First On the steps of Parliament today the Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters received a petition from registered nurse Anna Maria Coervers, requesting an amendment to the Protection for First Responders Bill which will ensure the legislation also include registered ...
It's been a busy seven days as we start to rebuild New Zealand together. From delivering extra support for small businesses, to investing in our artists and arts organisations, to cutting red tape on home DIY projects, we're rolling out our plan to get the economy and New Zealand moving ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says alert level 2 restrictions have to be discussed during today's Cabinet meeting. Thousands gathered across the country, including at Parliament, yesterday forBlack Lives Matter marcheswhere social distancing and mass gathering rules were flouted. Mr Peters said the breaching of Alert Level 2 rules at ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Owned Enterprises KiwiRail’s Northland rail upgrade steps up another gear today and will help Northland recover from the impacts of COVID-19, State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters says. The Government is investing $204.5 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to ...
“Today and every day we stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, friends and community who feel pain and fear about his untimely death at the hands of Minneapolis police”, said Green Party Co-leader and Māori Development spokesperson Marama Davidson. ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation The West Coast forests of Mount Te Kinga at Kotuku Whakaoho/Lake Brunner are the latest predator free project to receive Government funding, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
The Green Party says major freshwater reforms announced today provide the strongest ever protections of our waterways, to help ensure the next generation can swim in the rivers of Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Megan Woods, Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Health Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods, and Health Minister David Clark today announced a COVID-19 vaccine strategy, ...
Budget 2020 is about rebuilding together, supporting jobs, getting business moving and the books back into the black. It’s an integral part of our COVID-19 economic response, and our plan to grow our economy and get New Zealand moving again.Here’s a quick look at the five top things you ...
The Green Party is pleased to reveal its candidate list for the upcoming election. With a mix of familiar faces and fresh new talent, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to lead the Greens back into Government. ...
The Coalition Government has approved $206 million in essential upgrades at Ōhakea Air Base. Defence Minister Ron Mark said the money would be spent on improving old infrastructure. He said safety issues would be addressed, as well as upgrades to taxiways, accommodation and fresh, storm and waste water systems. "This ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First “I am not persisting with this case just for myself, but for all people who have had their privacy breached. Privacy of information is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Without it our society truly faces a bleak future. We now ...
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...
Extra 40,000 businesses to be eligible for wage subsidy extension Small business cashflow support application period extended The Government is today announcing further support for businesses that continue to be affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as the broader economy becomes one of the most open in the world following ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport aircraft will be purchased to replace the existing fleet, Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “Last year, Cabinet selected these aircraft as the preferred option to replace the current Hercules fleet. Procurement of the Super Hercules has been ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage is celebrating World Environment Day with an announcement of a major step towards Wairarapa Moana being recognised as an internationally significant wetland. “Wairarapa Moana is an ecosystem of 10,000 hectares of wetland and open water that provides a home for indigenous fish, birds and ...
New public housing that will save tenants money in energy bills, and provide warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, is setting the standard for the Government’s future public housing programme, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. Dr Woods opened the new Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities complex, which has a ...
A new-look Police graduation ceremony to take account of COVID19 health rules has marked the completion of training for 57 new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash attended this afternoon's ceremony, where officers of Recruit Wing 337 were formally sworn in at the Royal New Zealand Police College without the normal support of ...
Mobile traders and truck shops must adhere to responsible lending requirements Interest rate cap on high-cost loans Lenders prohibited from offering further credit to an applicant who has taken two high-cost loans in the past 90 days The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, has signalled an end ...
94% of firms say wage subsidy had positive impact on cashflow 62% of firms say support helped to manage non-wage costs like rent A survey of business that have received the Government’s wage subsidy show it has played a significant role in saving jobs, and freed up cash flow to ...
New legislation introduced to Parliament today will support growth and assist businesses on the road to economic recovery, said Revenue Minister Stuart Nash. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill proposes that businesses can get tax deductions for ‘feasibility expenditure’ on new investments,” said Mr ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has welcomed the first release of funds from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced as part of Budget 2020. Sport NZ has announced that $4.6 million in funding will go to the Wellington Phoenix, NZ Warriors, Super Rugby teams and the ANZ Premiership ...
An iconic New Zealand tourism attraction and the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations are the first recipients of support from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The plan includes a Strategic Tourism Assets Protection ...
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the COVID-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. A temporary amendment to the Property Law Act will insert a clause in commercial leases requiring a fair ...
The Minister for Small Business says new data from Xero highlights the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises as we move into economic recovery. Last month Government ministers wrote to significant private enterprises and the banking industry to request they join efforts by government agencies to ...
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. During term 3, the Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools following the ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court. “Any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody is taken very seriously. The charges today reflect the gravity of the ...
$196 million for Crown Research Institutes $150 million for R&D loan scheme $33 million for Māori research and development opportunities $12 million for the Nationally Significant Collections and Databases $10 million to help maintain in-house capability at Callaghan Innovation New Zealand’s entrepreneurs, innovators and crown researchers will benefit from a ...
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. “The wellbeing of students and teachers is a priority. As we are all aware, COVID-19 has created massive disruption to the school system, and the Government ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through ...
The deadline for landlords to include detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Homes Standards, so tenants can see the home they are renting is compliant, has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2020. The Healthy Homes Standards became law on 1 July 2019. The Standards are ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little today announced details of further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I am pleased to announce Paula Rose QSO OStJ as Deputy Chief Commissioner for a term of five years commencing on 15 June 2020,” said Andrew Little. “I am also pleased to announce the ...
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects as New Zealand recovers from COVID-19 Apprentices working in all industries ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will finally start to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas pollution as it was originally intended to, because of changes announced today by the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw. The changes include a limit on the total emissions allowed within the ETS, rules to ensure ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List provides an abundance of examples that Pacific people’s leadership capability is unquestionable in Aotearoa. “The work and the individuals we acknowledge this year highlights the kind of visionary examples and dedicated community leadership that we need ...
The Government is backing a new $27 million project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production and New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our economy. During and ...
Applications have opened for 2021 Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships, which will support more Māori and women to pursue careers in forestry science, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones. “I’m delighted Te Uru Rākau is offering Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships for the third year running. These ...
The Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List once again highlights the dedication by many to looking after our native plants and wildlife, including incredible work to restore the populations of critically endangered birds says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Anne Richardson of Hororata has been made an Officer of the New ...
The Government will invest $10 million from the One Billion Trees Fund for large-scale planting to provide jobs in communities and improve the environment, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Forestry Minister Shane Jones have announced. New, more flexible funding criteria for applications will help up to 10 catchment groups plant ...
Organisations that support women are invited to apply to a new $1,000,000 fund as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “We know women, and organisations that support women, have been affected by COVID-19. This new money will ensure funding for groups that support women and women’s rights,” said Minister for ...
Healthier waterways are front and centre in a new project involving more than 300 King Country sheep, beef and dairy farmers. The Government is investing $844,000 in King Country River Care, a group that helps farmers to lift freshwater quality and farming practice, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Yesterday ...
A major funding package for libraries will allow them to play a far greater role in supporting their communities and people seeking jobs as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19. “Budget 2020 contains over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs,” says Internal Affairs ...
A jobseekers programme for the creative sector and four new funds have been set up by the Government to help our arts and music industry recover from the blow of COVID-19. Thousands of jobs will be supported through today’s $175 million package in a crucial economic boost to support the ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has welcomed the First Reading of a Bill that will make legislative changes to further improve the veterans’ support system. The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill No 2, which will amend the Veterans’ Support Act 2014, passed First Reading today. The bill addresses a number of ...
Views sought on Order in Council to help fast track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, will be seeking public written comment, following Cabinet approving the drafting of an Order in Council aimed at fast-tracking the reinstatement of the ...
The law setting out New Zealanders’ basic civil and human rights is today one step towards being strengthened following the first reading of a Bill that requires Parliament to take action if a court says a statute undermines those rights. At present, a senior court can issue a ‘declaration of ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today reiterated the deep concern of the New Zealand Government following confirmation by China’s National People’s Congress of national security legislation relating to Hong Kong. “New Zealand shares the international community’s significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand ...
Thousands of artists and creatives at hundreds of cultural and heritage organisations have been given much-needed support to recover from the impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern announced today. “The cultural sector was amongst the worst hit by the global pandemic,” Jacinda ...
Key New Zealand assets will be better protected from being sold to overseas owners in a way contrary to the national interest, with the passage of the Overseas Investment (Urgent Measures) Bill. The Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, also cuts unnecessary red tape to help attract ...
Setting higher health standards at swimming spots Requiring urban waterways to be cleaned up and new protections for urban streams Putting controls on higher-risk farm practices such as winter grazing and feed lots Setting stricter controls on nitrogen pollution and new bottom lines on other measures of waterway health Ensuring ...
The Government is on the verge of reaching its target of state sector boards and committees made up of at least 50 percent women, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa. For the first time, the Government stocktake measures the number of Māori, ...
Does a move to Covid-19 Level 1, that Cabinet is considering tomorrow (Monday, June 8), mean back-to-normal for 290,000 rental property owners and managers, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today. The Covid-19 Response (Urgent Management) Act, ...
ANALYSIS:By Denis Muller of theUniversity of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. On June 3 the Times published in its opinion section an ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Noble, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Three quarters of a million Australian children are likely to be experiencing employment stress in the family as a result of COVID-19. This is on top of around 615,000 children whose families were ...
Spice up the classic banana muffin with a subtle touch of star anise.These muffins came about one rainy Saturday when the cupboards were bare and there was nothing much left in the fruit bowl aside from some very sad-looking bananas. Fortunately we know sad bananas result in the best kind ...
For years, Work and Income has been telling New Zealanders they couldn’t get the benefit until their redundancy payments ran out. Turns out, it was wrong.What’s all this then?Work and Income has long told New Zealanders receiving redundancy payments that they weren’t eligible for the benefit until their redundancy money ...
New Zealand writer Anna Rankin reports from Los Angeles. Last Friday afternoon, I went downtown to a protest outside the enormous Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on 1st Street. The LAPD had set up cordons, placing orange cones across streets to block traffic. Arms crossed, they stood with a wide ...
Until the sudden closure of Bauer Media in April, Simon Farrell-Green was the editor of HOME, New Zealand’s oldest architecture magazine. Here he explains what comes next.Being the editor of a major architecture magazine was the best job I ever had. I got it in 2016, after a career spent ...
A global success story or an overly generous, unsustainable scheme that is doing lasting damage to our fish stocks? Ethan Neville looks at the ongoing debate over New Zealand’s fishing quota management system. The management of our fisheries is a touchy topic – and why wouldn’t it be? New Zealanders ...
By RNZ News Thousands of people were protesting across Australia today to oppose the deaths of Indigenous people in police custody. It comes as Black Lives Matter protests are held around the world after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in the US ...
Wrapping everyone in a blanket of love, whakapapa and mauri for Matariki is the brave, exuberant and generous fabric art of Maungarongo Te Kawa, writes Amanda Thompson.E te AtuaNau enei rau harakeke he taongaTukuna ki a matouKia tika o matou mahiKo Papatuanuku e takoto neiTuturu WhakamauaKia tina, tinaHui eTaiki e.‘Karakia ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...
It’s not often that someone graduates from university one year and becomes a senior economist commentating on national media the next. George Driver investigates the meteoric rise of the high-flying Brad Olsen.Google “senior economist Brad Olsen” and you’ll find him quoted in no fewer than 167 articles in the past ...
As public sentiment turned against Uber Eats, a new local operation emerged promising a more ethical alternative to help New Zealand’s struggling hospitality industry. But now Eat Local NZ has suspended trading after falling out with its Australian partner Mr Yum. So what happened?A dispute between local hospitality platform Eat ...
By Budi Sutrisno in Jakarta As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as ...
Edward Cullen became a vampire to survive the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Now a new Twilight novel looms and Laura Surynt, a New Zealander living in the UK, wants to live forever too. As I lay in bed this morning watching Instagram stories, Tayi Tibble told my reluctant little Capricorn ...
Over the lockdown period, thousands of people joined a Facebook group dedicated to remembering the nightlife of inner-city Auckland. Its creator Simon Grigg explains why it touched a chord in lockdown.Within a few days of The Lost Nightlife of Inner-city Auckland Facebook page accidentally going live on May 12, we ...
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...
WATCH: In a candid interview on Sky Sport, Dame Susan Devoy talks on her concern for rising sports stars, the state of NZ squash, and the spectre of racism. Dame Susan Devoy is proudly still “a little terrier who fights for the underdog”. “I have been doing it all my life and ...
Of the huge funding boost coming for early childhood education, Playcentre has been left with just the crumbs, writes Kate Barber. Amidst all the celebration of the $430m funding boost for early childhood education (ECE) announced in this year’s budget, little attention was paid to the plight of Playcentre. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vikrant Minhas, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide Although bacteria are single-celled and microscopically small, they still need energy to survive, just like us. One of the most efficient ways of acquiring energy for bacteria is through sweet, soluble carbohydrates: sugars. In fact, ...
PACIFIC PANDEMIC DIARY:By David Robie Three cartoonists had especially poignant takes on the tragic and toxic political aftermath of martyr George Floyd’s brutal killing under the knee of a white American policeman in Minneapolis last week. The Boston Globe’s Christopher Weyant featured a split frame contrasting a red-capped “Make ...
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis?There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monika Sarder, Senior Strategic Analyst, Monash University Algorithmic decision-making has enormous potential to do good. From identifying priority areas for first response after an earthquake hits, to identifying those at risk of COVID-19 within minutes, their application has proven hugely beneficial. But ...
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Thomas, Associate professor, Flinders University We have seen ten days of protests in the United States over the death of George Floyd. While thousands of people have gathered to express their outrage peacefully, some demonstrations have been marred by vandalism and ...
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...
Auckland writer Caroline Barron has a terrific book out today called Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death. Here, she writes about the memoirs that have been a balm, a lesson, or both. Throughout my life, I’ve sought solace between the covers of books, particularly memoirs. There, I’ve learnt ...
An exclusive interview with Steve McSteverson about his traumatic and tragic ordeal this week.Many New Zealanders are struggling with the news that a children’s book not commissioned or authorised by Jacinda Ardern was advertised in a newsletter for children’s books. This horrific attack on New Zealanders whose ears are permanently ...
Air New Zealand staff are dismayed and angered at the company’s announcement to cut a further $150 million from their wage bill. On Friday, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, made the announcement to employees, who are still ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr. Bodean Hedwards, Lecturer, Monash University This week the leaders of India and Australia reaffirmed their mutual interest in closer diplomatic and economic ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their long-delayed Thursday “virtual summit”: ...
The Herald reported this morning that MediaWorks was on the verge of selling its TV assets to US TV giant Discovery – but an internal email and senior source suggest the story may have been premature.A senior MediaWorks source has emphatically denied a report in the NZ Herald that a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gery Karantzas, Associate professor in Social Psychology / Relationship Science, Deakin University Life in lockdown has been tough on many relationships. But negotiating the transition back to “normal” as restrictions continue to lift could also be a challenge for couples. So what ...
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Adelaide HomeBuilder is a good idea gone bad. It is possibly the most complex and least equitable program the government could have devised to deliver construction jobs. It gives $25,000 to people who already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Keller, Professor of Cognitive Science, Western Sydney University The coronavirus pandemic has silenced the world’s concert halls and opera theatres. Organisations specialising in live performance face an existential crisis under current restrictions on social gatherings, with up to 75% of people ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, wearing his Sport and Recreation ministerial hat, can show he can be a big spender and draw voters’ attention to his largess each time he dispenses money from the funds under his control – or the control of an agency within his ministerial bailiwick. Yesterday he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Scott Morrison wants to overhaul the skills workforce to ensure a better post-COVID-19 recovery. But there may not be enough people with the necessary skills to do so. And travel restrictions, which ...
As we transition out of a Covid-focused world and prepare for what comes next, New Zealand’s ICT industry is gearing towards growth.From app development helping track the Covid-19 virus to website engineering keeping businesses in touch and online, ICT knowledge has been crucial to keeping New Zealand working over the ...
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...
Ten days is too long. That from insurance claimant advocate, Ali Jones. EQC has today made contact with homeowners via email after accidentally releasing confidential details of 8000 insurance claims on May 26. Jones says although she has not received ...
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 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin Classics, $24)Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. The other day, ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin. The conversation around the 2020 covid19 pandemic has been widely framed as ‘health versus the economy’. It has been quite political, with people leaning to the left emphasising ‘health’, and people leaning to the right emphasising ‘the economy’. A couple of weeks ago ...
Sam Brooks pays tribute to Alex Rider, and the new TV series that (finally) captures the spirit of the books.“What if James Bond was a teenager?”The concept for Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series is so simple but so brilliant. There’s a reason why the franchise has managed to sustain 12 ...
Analysis - The PM resists pressure to move immediately to level 1, Winston Peters' tactics play into the hands of the Opposition and the government at last works out a commercial rent solution, writes Peter Wilson. ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHAFrom Washington DC Federal charges against the four protectors of the Venezuelan Embassy, who defended the building in Washington DC against violent opposition crowds for several weeks between April 10 and May 16 of 2019, were completely dropped in a case that ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHA Editorial TeamFrom Washington DC The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) joins the Black Alliance for Peace[1] and other pro-democracy organizations throughout the world in calling for the United Nations to address the systemic violations of human rights by the police and ...
Being shot by police had a profound, transformational effect on Rob Mokaraka’s life in more ways than you’d expect. A new documentary, airing on Māori TV at 7.30pm on Sunday, explores the work he’s done to heal his own mind and to ensure nobody has to go through the same ...
Human rights watchdog TAPOL has condemned the demand by Indonesian prosecutors seeking 17 and five years imprisonment for West Papuan activists Buchtar Tabuni and Irwanus Uropmabin. On June 2, the Jayapura District Prosecutor’s Office issued 33 pages containing charges against the defendant Irwanus Uropmabin. In the document, the Public Prosecutor ...
The arrival of Dan Carter is far from the first time the ever-struggling Auckland team has hoped to turn around its fortunes with a star signing, writes Jamie Wall.New Zealand rugby Twitter is a generally desolate place, especially lately given that there’s been nothing to talk about ever since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity US President Donald Trump delivered an address this week in which he threatened military action on the nation. Then he walked to the nearby St John’s Episcopal Church ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Why do we burp? We sometimes also burp before meals, why does this happen? — Ahaana, age 7 That is a really interesting question, Ahaana! There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Bell-James, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland After years of litigation, Australia’s highest court will today make a major decision on the fate of the controversial proposed expansion to the New Acland Coal mine in Queensland. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Williams, Associate Professor in Urban Ecology and Urban Horticulture, University of Melbourne Tomorrow is the first World Green Roof Day. Cities around the world will celebrate the well-documented environmental, economic and social benefits of green roofs. New ground-level green spaces are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Senior Lecturer, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Robodebt isn’t the only measure the government should consider withdrawing. Late last Friday, after a long press conference from the prime minister which avoided any mention of the topic, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Harvard University’s Alberto Alesina died suddenly of a heart attack on May 23. He was 63. His long-time colleague and friend Larry Summers wrote that before him, “there was no academic field of political economy. Today, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University What keeps democracies together? As America burns, Brazilians die and Europe braces for another wave of the coronavirus, the question assumes an alarming immediacy. If the answer is complicated in one way, it is ...
Open Mike 17/05/2017 
Tom Farr in an excellent article on Medium presents in-depth the central arguments around prostitution decriminalisation, unionisation, and its conceptualisation as work, specifically from a socialist perspective The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic facing numerous countries across the world is undoubtedly a dire time for anyone who in some way depends on ...1 hour ago
You’ve got to wonder why the New Zealand Police undertook an armed response teams (ARTs) trial in the first place? Of course there was the Christchurch mosque terrorism attack, but that was an isolated incident and therefore cannot be used as an excuse to arm Police. What this trial does ...9 hours ago
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 31 through Sat, June 6, 2020 Editor's Choice The world must seize this opportunity to meet the climate challenge As current and former central bankers, we believe the pandemic offers ...15 hours ago
The 60 Years of New Zealand Television celebrations, such as they were, seemed to rely heavily on the classics: here we go again with Lynn of Tawa, A Week of It and the Country Calendar spoofs. Wonderful highlights of our televisual past, to be sure, but after hearing Paul Holmes’ ...1 day ago
The Two Americas Collide: You gotta love the Americans marching for George Floyd and the fragile promises of the US Constitution. But, you also gotta keep your eye on the pale rider in the White House, and understand that behind him Hell follows.THE FRAGILITY of democracy’s promise is becoming clearer ...2 days ago
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...2 days ago
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...2 days ago
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...2 days ago
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ... 4 days ago
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...4 days ago
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...5 days ago
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...6 days ago
Image credit: Writing an Article vs. Writing a Blog Post: What’s the Difference? I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is ... 6 days ago
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...1 week ago
Hon Shane Jones, NZ First List MP based in Northland New Zealand First MP Hon Shane Jones has today announced his candidacy for the electorate of Northland. Speaking at a New Zealand First meeting in Kerikeri, Northland, Mr Jones said it was a privilege to be selected by the Party ...7 hours ago
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...2 days ago
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...3 days ago
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...2 days ago
...3 hours ago
The Spanish-owned contractor behind the stalled Transmission Gully Public Private Partnership is accused of abandoning projects in Australia. ...4 hours ago
ANALYSIS: By Denis Muller of the University of Melbourne When a newspaper with the authority of The New York Times chooses to publish a party-political essay calculated to further inflame the violence wracking cities across America, serious questions arise. On June 3 the Times published in its opinion section an ...9 hours ago
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...10 hours ago
New Zealand writer Anna Rankin reports from Los Angeles. Last Friday afternoon, I went downtown to a protest outside the enormous Los Angeles Police Department headquarters on 1st Street. The LAPD had set up cordons, placing orange cones across streets to block traffic. Arms crossed, they stood with a wide ...16 hours ago
Tania Tapsell is replacing MP Anne Tolley as National's candidate for the East Coast. ...1 day ago
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...1 day ago
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...2 days ago
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...2 days ago
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...2 days ago
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Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis? There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...2 days ago
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...2 days ago
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A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...2 days ago
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...2 days ago
The depths of journalism.
Barry Soper pimping for this wretched government.
“So this time Labour’s beating the housing drum, playing to its constituents who don’t and will probably never own a home, by getting at the fat cats that do. To an extent it’s a politics of envy. Only trouble is to play that game you’ve got to be on firm ground and Andrew Little’s example actually made him the envy of those struggling to get on to the home ownership ladder.”…..
it’s embarrassing to read.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11857277
Soper has always been a dog. Will never forget the time he tried to take over a meeting between Winnie and John McCain in Washington DC for some bitchiness he harboured against Winnie. Winnie turned Rotty’. Ordered the scruffy terrier hack out of the room. Was beautiful to watch the hack roundly fail in his attempt to look ‘Da Man’……
“And with his promise this week to cut the tax dodges for landlords, rents are bound to rise making it even harder for those who are trying to scrape together an ever increasing deposit.”
and from
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/05/its_land_not_owners_who_are_the_problem.html
Problem for me with this uneducated sensationalism is that it is based on a very small minority of landlords that would be negatively geared ( and for those landlords in the 50+ properties would be companies that should losses be incurred would carry over these until profitable when they would be liable for taxes so this is not applicable for to such companies),
Some of those individuals who are incurring losses, the IRD has legislation that these would not comply as a profitable going concern and that their “business case” is based on loss making but compensated by a capital gain, and under this situation the capital gain is taxable income.
And the situation of being negatively geared has been reduced with banks requiring 40% deposit, so the 80-95% mortgage does not apply.
Remember he is one of the gnats lapdogs and his misses got her job with Duncan because she is buddy wuddy with uncle john and the gnats and by the way what is the age difference as he is quick to put the boot into others this fellow.
I switch of anything he is on, sop- a he is just as bad if not worse than listening to Larry Williams on the radio same old bias self opinionated and one sided bullshert
Then we have hoskings using his TV role state owned TV1 to advocate for the gnats he has been a bit quieter since his mate uncle john left hooray!
Back in the day I was unfortunate enough to have some mutual friends with this horrible little man and wound up at a dinner party with him. The food was beautiful but the conversation was dire thanks to him! What a self opinionated loudmouthed ethic-free twit!
Williams, Hoskings Garner or Soper?
Soper – and I ignore Garner totally – he’s as thick as a brick!
Have you heard his sidekick Richardson. He makes Garner look intelligent and Hosking appear left wing.
No – heaven help us, I haven’t! Is he related to Ruth perhaps?
Never listen to ZB or watch TVNZ or watch Garner in the morning.
Makes for a less polluted day.
The heights of journalism.
Rachel Stewart speaking truth to power.
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?
You’d think the tourism industry would have a wee shufti over at the dairy wallahs, take a deep breath, and ask themselves how they’re going to avoid the same problems with rapid and unmanageable expansion.”…..
Read it all here.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11856866
“What is it about New Zealand’s economic mentality that is so fatally and stupidly drawn to boom and bust?”
It’s the famous Anglo-American economic tradition to make cheap bulk commodities, which we inherited and have always held to.
DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.
“DoC should make it clear that all New Zealand citizens and residents can do any Great Walk free of charge, and charge the bejeezus out of the tourists.”
Get a reality check Ad. No one is going to to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Many countries charge a “tourist tax” and don’t kill that goose, Johan. There’s no reason why NZ shouldn’t, ‘cept National.
Well past time that DoC started to make some proper gold out of them – out of tourists.
More the Nats don’t want to upset all their donors in the lower end of the tourism industry. I think that’s what you mean by “the goose that lays the golden egg”
Reality is that if a $100 border tax is going to kill the profit on a tour operator’s punter, there’s fuck all for the country in that punter either.
We’ve got a government, and industry that is only interested in numbers, more more and more. Nothing about yield, just greater numbers.
The dominate ideology – Liberal economics.
It’s amazing how a headline can hide the truth.
‘Govt to build 34,000 homes.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11857181
Lucky then we have bloggers like No Right Turn to give us the real information.
“National is finally promising to tackle the housing crisis by building some houses, with plans to “build 34,000 new Auckland houses”. Except that when you scratch the surface, its not all its cracked up to be. Firstly, those houses are being built by demolishing 8,300 existing homes, so the total is only 26,000. Secondly, it includes already announced and underway (and in some cases, built) projects in Tamaki, Northcote and Point England – so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline. Thirdly, two thirds of those houses will be sold to speculators rather than being state houses – so we’re looking at a program to bulldoze and sell off state homes. And finally, its over ten years, with a deadline on the never-never so National can avoid accountability – just as with their climate change, renewable electricity, and water quality promises. In short, its the usual story: PR as a substitute for policy, spin as a substitute for action. Because the goal isn’t to fix the bloody problem, but simply to generate positive headlines.”
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2017/05/the-usual-story.html
Sadly, however, many people will not read past the Herald Editor’s headline.
And therein lies the problem.
Any progressive government must reform the media so corporations do not have their present level of control over the message people hear,
It is no right turn that is not telling the truth.
In particular suggesting that two thirds will be sold to speculators. Unless of course you consider first home buyers to be speculators.
Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? It is all about what will happen in the next ten years. It makes sense to aggregate them so people get a sense of the actual scale. Otherwise it is all lost in piecemeal announcements.
Yes, some houses are being demolished, and frankly about time. Tonah St for instance is really substandard housing.
“Yes it is an aggregation of all prior announcement, plus new ones. Whats wrong with that? ”
Ummm..? Misleading for the sake of deception, perhaps? Putting lipstick on a pig is the baser expression.
” so they’re back to re-announcing old news to get a new headline” says, I/S. He directs us to think this strategy has been used before by the National Party for reasons we can only guess at.
Why is it misleading?
It is all about the plans for the next ten years. The fact some of it has been previously announced (Northcote, Tamaki) does not change that it is all about the next ten years.
One of my concerns about Nationals housing plans was that there had been a plethora of announcements, and it almost impossible to work out the overall plan.
Amy Adams has done everyone a favour by pulling it all together, then announcing it as an overall plan.
That means it is possible to compare the packages of both major parties, which has now been done, including on the lead item of The Standard.
Because there have been previous announcements, you know some of the houses will be started within the next year, rather than just planned.
On reflection I imagine Labours housing plans also include these projects.
Then why’s it including all their plans for the last nine years? (Which didn’t work either)
I’m reasonably certain that’s done on purpose so that they can continue to lie in all of the confusion that they create.
Ah, no, we don’t know that. Many of the ones that have been announced haven’t been built and never will be. Managed to funnel lots of wealth to some National’s major donors though.
i doubt it.
” piecemeal announcements” indeed.
And 8,300 is “some”?
That’s some “some”!
@ Wayne But when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling.
Most of the houses in question will be sold at market value; the others are “affordable” at $650k. Little was spot-on on Morning Report this AM when he said this was “smoke and mirrors”.
What’s interesting here is that people like Hoskin say the Labour/Green bloc will not win the election on the housing issue yet Amy Adams finds it necessary to lie through her teeth with announcements like this to defend the government’s position.
I love Labour’s new policy to abolish tax write-offs for housing speculators. A strong and bold policy that will push resources into productive investment. This “mum and dad” investors terminology is crap-they are speculators buying houses whether they are buying one extra house or ten.
“when they are demolishing 8,000 houses as part of the 34,000 this is simply lying. You could at least acknowledge this Wayne or you are simply trolling”
How is it a lie when Amy Adams has it front and centre of her press release?
https://beehive.govt.nz/release/govt-build-34000-new-houses-auckland
That’s Tonar St, for those that don’t live in the Shore bubble.
its called recycling Ed
Now Phil Goff has ensured he is a one term mayor, anyone got any idea on a good replacement?
Who cares ! national screwed over akl so badly it’s a ceremonial position with virtually no actual power and control.
Hide and key made sure that they appointed the CCO chiefs of which I note some rats already jumping ship such as akl transport.
Other mates like Jim, I plundered kiwirail, Quinn enjoy highly paid do nothing roles also, goffs just making noise and pointing out the obvious really which gets the nactiods and their media muppets all frothy and righteous.
Yeah, I noticed that. Typical neo-liberal giving away our wealth without even consulting with us.
Ethiopia ahead of NZ on Childrens Rights Statistics/Index, NZ standing at 158th out of 165, it is sobering reading ?
We are not going particularly well with our young people here in NZ especially with our 94,000 unemployed youth aged between 15-24 years old, but we do hold the Rugby World Cup ?
which index?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11857119
Seems odd, even if they did go by worst case.
[citation needed]
“The Government has confirmed that countries not signed up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, including the United States, will be able to reap the benefit of concessions New Zealand has made on pharmaceuticals.
Yet New Zealand will not benefit from better access to the US market in return, because president Donald Trump pulled it out of the pact.”
Brilliant.
Oh the intel came from Israel? No wonder they were mad about the Russians getting hold of it. They don’t want Baathist Syria to beat Salafism, they want it to fall to Salafism, so that they have the pretext to pour the IDF out of the Golan heights and annex some more Lebensraum for their US, UK, and RSA born ‘settlers’. Then they will ‘miraculously’ make some ‘archaeological’ ‘discoveries’ within said Lebensraum which proves that ancient Hebrews once lived there, which is generally their out of the can pretext for taking other people’s land on a permanent basis
[lprent: You appear to have missed the point of the post – which was about missing the point. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Didn’t do a very good job of hiding your bigotry there CJ.
Bigotry? Continue, I’m looking forward to it. You do realise that some of us need more than just SJW buzzwords to do much more than raise an eyebrow, right?
What a little mind you have!
Says the chap who uses his pseudonym to count his brain cells…
That’s your incorrect interjection, seeking an opportunity…and flailing once again…
Because you ‘don’t understand’, is not an excuse..
At least make a funny interjection, if you must continue to be wrong!
I totally understood that your entire comment was to say stunned mullet had a little mind.
And now when it’s flipped back you say “at least make a funny interjection”.
Does your hypocrisy cause your stupidity, or vice versa?
Gordon Bennett, that’s poor
Why do you think I said that about SMs response to CJ?
Context boy, context!
Now your projecting and deflecting like a rank amateur who can’t comprehend the relevance of context vs ‘at least be funny’ when throwing a naked insult
Brakes are on the handle bars, and no amount of back peddle can prevent the inevitable
Why do you think I made the comment about your pseudonym matching your number of brain cells?
Context, dear boy, context!
And please don’t call me “context boy” in the future. It’s not like you wear a cape and insist everyone calls you “Cogent Argument Man”.
Good job, McFlock
That was quite a funny retort!
Well, the first one went over your head, so I had to make it obvious and use an old Zucker/Abrams pattern.
No surprise in the lack of graciousness..
Obvious….Yes, quite so!
Dude, we’re not two gentlemen meeting in a sparring contest with mutual respect.
I regard you as a vacuous jerk whose ego writes cheques his IQ can’t cash. You don’t deserve graciousness, and I require neither your respect nor your approval. In fact, affirmation from such a source would normally require deep introspection as to where my life went astray.
Yellow-eyed penguins will disappear from mainland within 40 years, warn researchers
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/south-island/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503933&objectid=11857519
Here of course it’s all about choice for union busting sake.
Another week, another round of evidence that providing parents with more “school choice,” especially the kind that lets them opt out of public schools, is not a very effective vehicle for ensuring students improve academically or that taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely.
The latest evidence comes from a study of the voucher program in Washington, DC that allows parents to transfer their children from public to private schools at taxpayer expense. The study found that students “who attended a private school through the program performed worse on standardized tests than their public school counterparts who did not use the vouchers,” reports the New York Times.
This study adds to others – from Ohio, Indiana, and Louisiana – finding that school vouchers have negative impacts on students.
Despite these results, many proponents of school choice contend the purpose of school choice was never about generating better results. It’s about choice for choice’s sake.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/05/evidence-school-choice-hurts-student-performance.html
So Russia has done and is doing more to fight isis than anyone else and trump shares intelligence on isis and this is somehow a problem? Only if you buy into the russia as supreme evil meme. Trump has done plenty wrong but collaborating on the battle against isis is eminently sensible. This and his stance on tpp. Some say even a broken clock is correct twice…
[lprent: It looks like you missed the point of the post as well. Perhaps you could try reducing your self-indulgent wanking some time and actually read what people write. ]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Stop triggering people with reality bro.
Comey memos coming out now – trump toast – death by 1000 cuts and we are up to 100 or so by now – not bad for just over 100 days. Whatever you do don’t mention Russia that peace loving utopia where everyone has a full tummy – Putin must be slysmiling at all this trumpstuff.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Thanks just saw all the movement to om ☺
I like how he insulted us, but not you 🙂
Yeah I liked that too ☺
Me too
Four legs good, two legs bad, etc.
Realpolitik good, woo woo bad.
woo woo goes the train
blah blah go the putinescca
Still can’t Mossad the Assad; still can’t put the boot in the Putin.
Oceans are at the ‘edge’ of losing all oxygen
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=11855362
Read that a few days back and did some digging. There’s a prof at Washington University looks at ‘deep time’. The story goes like this – each mass extinction has been accompanied by rises in atmospheric CO2. (One was an impact that also had increasing CO2 levels)
The CO2 has come from basalt flows in the past. (eg – the Siberian Traps). Today we’ve got industry smoke stacks and cars. Anyway. As temp increases, the poles heat far faster than the tropics, the temperature differential that drives ocean currents is lost and oxygen doesn’t get mixed into the deep ocean.
As the existing oxygen in the ocean is used up, they become stagnant and a breeding ground for bacteria that give off hydrogen sulphide. And that then kills just about everything everywhere. (Mammals more so than reptiles apparently which was why we got dinosaurs – off the back of mammals getting ‘totaled’ 200 odd million years back)
Anyway, as that’s unfolding, that same loss of temperature differential kills the jet stream. And that means that weather doesn’t form or move. (The jet stream is already slowing and meandering which is giving rise to prolonged droughts etc)
The figure of 1000ppm was suggested as the atmospheric concentration that accompanies all that crap…not necessarily the level that triggers it. We’re at 400+ and rising at about 2ppm per year.
With current warming, we have ‘locked in’ sea level rise of over 1 metre with some respected quarters suggesting we may be looking at 1.5m by as soon as 2050. Now, how much of the worlds agriculture is on flood plains – ie, at sea level?
I’ll stop now…;-)
Will National’s willingness to proceed with the TPP (as initially negotiated) become a major election issue?
McClay said countries would discuss whether the TPP as negotiated should stay in place – NZ’s preferred route – or the deal should be renegotiated now the US has quit.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/92664440/the-us-is-set-to-reap-the-benefits-of-nz-concessions–without-joining-tpp
The existing text of the TPP has all the toxic rules a good number of New Zealanders opposed. Bringing into question the Government’s position. Moreover, how badly will it hurt National in the polls?
Shocking. Would be good for Labour to publicly condemn Natz wasting time and money trying to resurrect this zombie deal that is NOT a good deal for NZ especially destructive for copy write and medicine and for the neanderthal ISDS clauses.
Shocking indeed. And yes, the silver lining is the opposition should be able to capitalize off this.
The Government is taking a risk trying to resurrect this with the elections only months away. There is a good chance voters will express their discontent at the polling booths come election day.
Did the insult posing as a question lift your self esteem?
I don’t spend energy trying to rationalize such ‘events’, because really…who ‘knows’
You don’t!
Prententing to ‘know’, or trying to rationalize…is fruitless IMO
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: Perhaps if you’d read the post and the notice at the end of it then you would have realized what it was about and not irritated me by blathering irrelevant nonsense. ]
Well the so called oligarchical kleptocracy,turned down a protection racket.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/saudis-russia-sochi-olympics-terrorism-syria-2013-8?r=US&IR=T
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Whoa man, commentary like this is now designated ‘RT speak’.
Trump is bowing down to his masters. Sharing confidential information from Five Eyes, and carrying on in an unprecedented manner with the Kremlin stooges in the White House as photos show, which were not meant for the eyes of US citizens. This latest breech by by Trump is a big concern not only to the Democrats in Congress but Trump’s fellow Republicans. Why is Trump so friendly with the Russians? Perhaps it has something to do with who has been financing TTO. Money laundering out of Russia and big loans from a German bank, has given Trump massive support when his commercial empire was crumbling.
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Trump noise show continues. Pense for President! Wow, Israeli secrets divulged to Russia and leaked to the press. Coz Russoa would have told then too! Are we saying Russia leaked them to undermine Trump and give Pense the Whitehouse, thought Russia and Israel weren’t friendly, why would Russia want a fundamental christian in the Whitehouse when the far christian rig are one of Isreals biggest friends. So, who leaked and why can Trump trust nobody.
If Trump makes a habit of disclosing ‘facts’, on top of his fake facts, he’ll just put Congres and allies out of sorts and Pense in charge. Like that wasn’t the plan!
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
heh
Parsing the difference between the DGAF lies coming from some parts of the Chump administration, and the ordinary misdirection by weasel words of those with at least a vestigial sense of shame that makes them want to later be able say “I didn’t technically lie”.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/16/15646836/mcmaster-trump-russia-lie
It’s our water and our wildlife, therefore if we are going to allow this shouldn’t the profits also be ours?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/92665865/controversial-west-coast-water-bottling-operation-awarded-final-resource-consents
Yep. More NZ public resources going into private hands.
Who’s doing the collection, sales bottling marketing distributio, Taking the risk on capital etc I suggest that where the profits go, the public resource just enjoys a royalty, ie the water
if it goes bust who do you think will pick up the tab to dismantle the crumbling ruins?
That would be fine if it was billed at the same rate as we have to pay Metrowater here in Auckland…. but it’s more billed in magic bean territory.
Aside from that there is beauty and prosperity in having an untouched natural resource.
Some things should not be modified.
The claytons trade agreement persists.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2017/05/gordon-campbell-on-dealing-with-japan-over-the-tpp/
Another outcome from overseas investment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/92687101/silver-ferns-farms-to-cut-fairton-plant-but-keep-pelt-house
What’s with the Auditor General Martin Mathews now in the firing line by Winnie. Winnie says under his watch as Head of the Ministry of Transport a female employee embezzled three quarters of a million. She was brought to the attention of Mr Mathews on more than one occasion over financial anomalities but he did not intervene. Now he is our Auditor General. It could only happen in New Zealand. I wonder how much auditing is being done and how much scrutiny is being applied to the nation’s books these days. Wonders will never cease. No wonder Winnie is having an apoplexy tiss wizz over it.
All parties are to blame – the committee who selected him had Trevor Mallard representing Labour along with other representatives – Little says nobody was aware of this happening in the MOT when the decision was made to elect him Auditor General. . WTF