What a pity Richie Allen can’t resist the cheap shot of having a go at royalty being wealthy. There were large areas of Britain owned by desert arabs back in the 1970s and the cities themselves have lots of money to direct this or that way and perhaps there are people who would have a direct line to the planning and regulation of these buildings who need finger pointing if he is looking for a target.
Yay stunned mullet is back. An unfortunate thing for those who like to measure
the value of their contributions against others on TS. Where will the drive come from to up the standards if measured against the minus level of this troll? We’ll never get over the high jump with him around, we’ll be stuck with the limbo dancers forever in limbo.
One of the horrifying plans of the Natz is to change our state housing to the UK style ‘social housing’. That’s the housing that just burned alive women and children and entire families in London. The Kensington council is apparently sitting on a 300 million pound contingency fund, so it wasn’t a lack of funds that led to the disaster.
The first clue National are doing this is always in their name. They are changing the name from Labour’s ‘state housing’ to National’s ‘social housing’.
National are now selling off or even giving it away our state houses to private developers, government ‘friendly’ charities, government friendly allies, so the state house land is changed from affordable housing for the most vulnerable, to profit driven development opportunities to opportunists who after leaky building will be only too willing to go with the cheapest options.
The next wave of Natz will be to put some sort of housing ‘management’ company in (which of course will be paid for) for the government and council to hide from any responsibility for the development and it’s effects.
To gauge the results, look at the USA and UK, citizens in the same country or community at war or totally removed from each other and being burnt alive in ones recently refurbished social housing home, while 200 fire appliances wait helplessly at the bottom.
Here’s what’s happened with housing in the UK
Grenfell Tower will forever stand as a rebuke to the right
“The refurbishment was carried out on behalf of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) which has managed all of the public housing owned by Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council since 1996.
On Friday, The Times of London reported that spending just another $8000 would have seen the entire tower fitted out with fire resistant cladding…..
It has also emerged that the four most senior staff at the KCTMO, who managed the tower, were potentially paid in excess of $1 million annually.
According to The Times, the not-for-profit paid its “key management personnel” £650,794 ($1,094,456) in 2015-16.
The company has not confirmed how many of its staff are “key”. However, only four senior executives are listed in its accounts.
Shared among four people, their individual salaries would be £163,000 ($274,000) each. British Prime Minister Theresa May’s annual salary is less than that at £142,500.”
National are now selling off or even giving it away our state houses to private developers, government ‘friendly’ charities, government friendly allies, so the state house land is changed from affordable housing for the most vulnerable, to profit driven development opportunities to opportunists who after leaky building will be only too willing to go with the cheapest options.
With the uk it is a result of devoluted responsibility initiated by the Blair government.
It was, in fact, Tony Blair’s Labour government which promoted separating the management of the stock from the local authority’s housing and homelessness duties.
I never understood the logic of this proposition. It weakened the local authority’s ability to deliver on its legal responsibilities, while at the same time leaving tenants confused about the division of responsibilities between the owner of the housing (the local authority) and the managing body. Elected councillors could offload responsibility by referring complainants to the managing organisation – something many councillors were relieved to be able to do
a website for which I take full personal responsibility for content.
Also on this above-mentioned website are copies of my key legal submissions, as an Appellant in my own name, so people can read them for themselves.
The main reason I organised the setting up of this website, was to counter the defamatory lies about myself being spread by Suzette Maree Dawson, which she has published on her own private websitehttp://occupysavvy.com
Suzette Maree Dawson published on her above-mentioned private website a statement by Ben Cooney (‘Redstar’) during his livestream video coverage of the protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) protest on 8 December 2012:
“There’s Penny Bright – SIS informant”.
The FACTS are, that I was one of 12 people responsible for organising Auckland anti-Springbok Tour protests in 1981, I was named in Muldoon’s SIS list as a ‘subversive’, and have never been able to get a copy of my SIS file.
If people think I’m going to put up with these sorts of filthy defamatory lies, when I have had a proven track record going back over 40 years as an activist – think again.
I strongly recommend that those involved in the ‘protest’ / ‘activist’ movement, exercise commonsense and due diligence?
If people come from nowhere, with no proven track record in the ‘protest’ / ‘activist’ movement, and make a beeline for controlling the message, or means of getting the message out – act in ways which cause dissension or conflict within the group, spread misinformation / disinformation about people, without facts and evidence to back it up – BEWARE!!!
Being involved in ‘media’ gives such people the ability to mix and mingle and take photos from inside the ranks of the ‘protest’ movement.
Where exactly are those photos going?
BEWARE of those who act like the 1%, without openness, transparency or democratic accountability.
Why is it that as a (successful) Appellant in the Occupy Auckland Appeal, I cannot post this information up on the Occupy Auckland facebook page?
WHO are ‘Admin’ currently responsible for the Occupy Auckland facebook page, and why am I being blocked?
I doubt that Internet Party will make much headway. Those that voted for, or who would have thought about voting for them will probably be swayed by Gareth Morgans lot.
And having a leader sitting in a flat in Moscow, ‘leading’ her party via Skype isnt the same as leading in person.
Germany wouldn’t bother fielding their best players if they had to meet a similarly ranked football nation so did the mighty AB’s play a first choice side or use a more developmental approach ?
It may just be an amazing example of 2 teams oceans apart in skill, fitness and coaching paired together in a sport that’s globally not even top 5 and often has these one sided matches.
The Pacific Island teams would be much more competitive if the IRB allowed them to pick from the plethora of rugby talent in New Zealand to represent them.
I watched, I thought it was good, but it was a rubbish clash.
It reminded me of the Harlem Globetrotters and those martial arts demonstrations where people pretend to hit each other. Entertaining but not really what the game is all about.
But yeah, it was great to watch the ABs pretending to be Harlem Globetrotters. Show-offs. I don’t think the Lions have too much to worry about yet. Steve Adam’s team would wipe the floor with the Globetrotters. If the All Black Warriors dominate tonight I think the Lions should throw the towel in and spend the rest of the tour pub-crawling with their fans.
The AB’s are basically becoming the Harlem Globetrotters, given the fact the the NZRU has been organising meaningless matches in Chicago, Hong Kong, Japan,etc with Ireland and Australia respectively.
These is nothing wrong with playing such exhibition matches, but I think a Barbarians style side is more suited to that sort of thing.
I think people that were involved in sport when in their formative years are the ones that often go on to have a long-lasting interest.
It conditions us like music, hearing the music we listened to when teens takes us back there. When a team has a few combinations and one gets pulled off, it’s a shared buzz that feels good to recall. Like listening to Pink Floyd.
One of the neat things about NZ is how access to any sport is available to all of us, regardless of background. The Chinese owned resort being developed near me is to have 100’s of villas. It is cheaper for someone living in Beijing to play golf for a week on Karikari Peninsula than in Beijing.
Have a chat to the prez of any the yachting clubs around NZ. Heaps of them just a Google away. Tell them of your burning desire to learn to sail and your minimal budget. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a club that didn’t push a few doors open for you or your kid. This is what happens at the clubs I’ve been associated with, most rugby clubs will have a cupboard of assorted sizes of boots somewhere. I suspect there are more than a few nod and a wink scholarships on the go.
I played cricket as a kid and the club had all the gear for poorer families like ours, so it was just paying subs and buying cheap white clothing. It was also free at school, as was softball, tennis and a host of other sports.
Yachting is available to anyone who is willing to help the boat owner antifoul.
Poor kids get into ski-ing as lifties.
Every State school has a cricket team.
Tennis is even easier. Courts and rackets can be used for a few dollars.
Every sport takes time and money to get to the top. Which makes any elite sport the almost exclusive domain of the well off.
Cricket and tennis are pretty much available to everyone, even those from low socio economic backgrounds. Certainly not elitest, well not in the mind’s eye of the well grounded.
At secondary school, for summer games, the choice was cricket, tennis or athletics. Opting for the easy life, I chose cricket.
Save for facing a few deliveries before letting one slip through the gate to rattle the timbers and back to the boundary for a well deserved rest to wait out the innings, or standing in the outfield miles from the pitch, occasionally waiting for a ball to roll up and throw it back, it’s the perfect lazy man’s game.
It’s not just the formative years in sport that imprint a long lasting interest in that sport.
I’m also of the impression that the government of the day for those who are 13-19 is also imprinted on them as well. Anecdotally, my peers were living under a labour government, and the majority are rather left leaning supporting nearly anyone but National/ACT.
OTOH, a young cohort I know through volunteering activities grew up under National and wholeheartedly support them as a good government. Despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Hard to believe in one of the richest countries in the world, in one of the richest cities in the world and in one of the richest boroughs in the world, that parents have to throw their kids out the window in a fire, to save them, because Tory right wing government policy seems to have allowed a continuation of deregulation, exploitation and profiteering to foster rather than basic safety and common sense in their city. Sadly it looks like the poor kid is going to be an orphan even though she survived.
Miracle of four-year-old girl who was caught by hero after being thrown from the tower
Sadly as well, they will probably find nobody responsible, as all the many people who made the decisions that led to this manslaughter will be deemed to be ‘doing their job’.
Yep, stupidity, profiteering and policy wonks who allowed this situation to happen and many more to be in danger, will be isolated, because it will be found to be completely legal to kill people in this way under a right wing government – profit before people.
Van Beynen’s article trying to scare people off socialist policies uses a common argument by the right and it’s one I don’t really know how to answer. That during the 1970s and 80s New Zealand’s economy was in crisis struggling to pay it’s way and I think inflation was very high. So something had to be done, hence Government budget cuts and state sell offs, etc.
My question is and it’s probably already been answered here many times, but how would the left have averted these economic crises? How could we have got through the 80s retaining full and high employment, good wages and New Zealand industries and a healthy economy?
I think it was inevitable that at some stage we were going to need to gear our economy to that of our potential major trading partners, the rest of the world. I think Rogernomics got that right.
But there is more than one way to skin a cat and I fear Roger Douglas and his team selected the ‘pointy stone’ method. Get there in the end, sort of, but crikey what a mess.
‘Full employment capitalism’ will, of course, have to develop new social and political institutions which will reflect the increased power of the working class. If capitalism can adjust itself to full employment, a fundamental reform will have been incorporated in it. If not, it will show itself an outmoded system which must be scrapped.
Reading the whole piece (only 5 pages) is kind of enlightening. I had a bit of too and fro with NicNz (?) a while back. We disagreed whether capitalism can create and maintain full employment (an aspect of social democracy) without a backlash where ‘monied interests’ essentially cut off their noses to spite their tails. With full employment, they make more money but have lower margins and much, much less power than they’d expect under liberal capitalism.
The 1980s was an assault on the power of the working class. That’s all it was, although it wasn’t presented as such – we got fed all the red herrings of TINA.
I think the playing field is changing, full employment a sunset aspiration.
I fib to my Father. “Putting in long hours Dad, burning the midnight oil, hoping to get out for a few hours fishing late Sunday afternoon.”
To my Dad, hours on the grindstone is a measure of a man’s value and worth. It worked well for him. He looks about his mates and believes that the ones that have ruined their backs through hard Yakka have got the formula right. To a degree he is right, it’s generally his mates with crook backs that groan all the way to Europe and back.
Since my Dad’s generation we’ve had the ‘Don’t work harder work smarter’ thing come along. This concept appealed to me, I found a way. I much prefer gas-bagging on a blog to balancing tyres at Beaurepaires.
Soooo….while we were once pursuing full employment, I wonder if these days we shouldn’t be looking for ways for us to cost effectively do less. Well not less, but teaching a kid to play a ukulele rather than doing a wheel alignment on a Pulsar.
By George David Mac I think you’ve got it. Soooo….while we were once pursuing full employment, I wonder if these days we shouldn’t be looking for ways for us to cost effectively do less. Well not less, but teaching a kid to play a ukulele rather than doing a wheel alignment on a Pulsar.
Everyone go to primary and learn the basics in any way that suits their learning style – able to write, express thoughts, describe a project from start to finish and then manufacture it to finality, though not abolutely perfectly.
Know your basic maths, show how to apply it practically.
Describe a page of a fictional novel and what the writer was trying to say.
Describe a page of non-fiction and what elements of the events the author has focussed on.
Then at intermediate choose an interest and spend six months on finishing off a goal while still doing schoolwork. But also write up the practices used to do the project. The goal would be to finish and to overcome problems.
A sort of Myth Busters approach.
The emphasis would be applied knowledge and gaining knowledge as the project continued and which would be applied to progressing it. It would be to finish something even if it wasn’t perfect.
By George David Mac I think you’ve got it. Soooo….while we were once pursuing full employment, I wonder if these days we shouldn’t be looking for ways for us to cost effectively do less. Well not less, but teaching a kid to play a ukulele rather than doing a wheel alignment on a Pulsar.
Everyone go to primary and learn the basics in any way that suits their learning style – able to write, express thoughts, describe a project from start to finish and then manufacture it to finality, though not abolutely perfectly.
Know your basic maths, show how to apply it practically.
Describe a page of a fictional novel and what the writer was trying to say.
Describe a page of non-fiction and what elements of the events the author has focussed on.
Then at intermediate choose an interest and spend six months on finishing off a goal while still doing schoolwork. But also write up the practices used to do the project. The goal would be to finish and to overcome problems.
A sort of Myth Busters approach.
The emphasis would be applied knowledge and gaining knowledge as the project continued and which would be applied to progressing it. It would be to finish something even if it wasn’t perfect. Learning how to direct your own life and get satisfaction from your own creative efforts is what we will soon need with the constant disintegration of our local enterprise by undercutting from overseas imports.
Today I met a man who lost his job unexpectedly mid life and was at a loss living in the country but not a farmer, what to do? He and his wife set themselves to make some wooden craft things, now he has a business making beautiful jigsaw-pieced toys, works of art in themselves – animals, fairy tale designs, flowers in a vase, a Hundertwasser building, all beautifully coloured by his wife. Anyone interested (they cost about $25 or so) just ask and I’ll put up his info.
We have to spend locally and support ourselves and our own enterprise in a spiral effect, that goes round and round and finally can go off to other areas. That is what sustainable living will be like. Not as glossy for some, but very vibrant with people taking interest in their neighbours’ skilled output, instead of damning their neighbour for being unemployed in the free market which is oxymoronic.
This is just to register this USA person was in NZ in April and seemed to have some good ideas on getting local support enterprise groups going.
She also is speaking on the Campbell Latta discussion What Next on TV1.
That during the 1970s and 80s New Zealand’s economy was in crisis struggling to pay it’s way and I think inflation was very high.
It was because even Keynesian Capitalism had failed. That was true around the world and not just in NZ.
But the politicians listened to the capitalists and went backwards to more capitalism, the type of capitalism that had brought about the staggering poverty of the 19th century and brought about the Great Depression. The inevitable result of which was the increasing poverty that we’ve seen over the last few decades and the Great Recession.
The way we needed to go was further away from capitalism.
Why do you always avoid saying what this alternate approach is Draco ie you want a communist Marxist state, just say it draco it will avoid many having to put up with your long winded and repeated daily rants
It seems a fair point – the opposite of capitalism is communism? For some that duality is true. What about you draco. If not capitalism (which I hate) what??? And sure a hypothetical and a real example would work for me.
It seems a fair point – the opposite of capitalism is communism? For some that duality is true.
The world isn’t a duality.
I want to get rid of ownership of land (not that we own land in NZ), houses and business as it causes so much inequality as Piketty proved. Ownership is the heart of capitalism same as it was the heart of feudalism. And that basis for society goes back thousands of years and every single society that used it has collapsed due to the wealth going in increasing amounts to the owners.
Necessities (housing, food, education, etcetera) should be provided by the state to ensure that everyone has a reasonable living standard. Work that people do is paid but there’s also a maximum income preventing runaway wealth accumulation.
Stop the banks from creating money and all money to be created by the government and spent into the economy. A UBI of course as a fundamental part of the monetary flow.
Extraction of resources to be done by the state on an as need basis with the acceptance that those resources are limited and need to be husbanded rather than sold off as fast as possible as is done now.
Reduction of farming to enough to feed us with the rest returned of the land to the wild with limits on population growth.
Increased automation to reduce the need for physical labour while also increasing the number of people in R&D. That automation would include the building of factories to produce what as much as possible here in NZ from our own resources. It’s physically impossible for an offshore factory to produce anything cheaper than we could. These factories would also be state owned but run by cooperatives – or maybe not even state owned but ‘self-owned’.
The private sector would supply ‘nice to haves’ through cooperative businesses that are ‘self-owned’. The workers would work and administer the business. Loans would be taken out and repaid by the business and not the workers.
People would be encouraged to join groups that they’re interested in that would be fully resourced for R&D and innovation.
Then what do you want in a couple of sentences that would realistically work, please don’t sprout Germany or Scandinavia, simply benificaries or the other side of excessive Southern Europe debt, consumption and government deficits.
Toasted ice cream, there’s an idea Bill , maybe toasted waffles, hot chocolste sauce with ice cream center Just need to be a little more creative bill and think a bit more lateral, outside your pre disposed paradigm and bias😀
It wasn’t that Keynesian had failed per se – but we had lazy fools in power who thought Keynesianism means you can do any damned thing you please. Now we have opposite kind of lazy fools, who think neo-liberalism means you can do any damned thing you please.
Actually, whichever of these twin gods you worship, you must try to maximize the positive results for citizens from your interventions, if you wish to be a be a credible government. NZ hasn’t had a credible government in quite some time.
I agree Stuart. We need to find a way for the guy that currently owns a taxi to retain his business when his taxi starts driving itself. Stop the $ from funneling into a big faceless money hole called Uber.
We need to find a way for the guy that currently owns a taxi to retain his business when his taxi starts driving itself.
The business was driving. Once the taxi drives itself they no longer have a business.
IMO, once the taxi starts driving itself it should become just another aspect of public transport with automatic optimisation of the transportation. In other words, I wouldn’t be able to take one from where I live to the middle of the city. I’d get taken to the nearest train/bus station instead.
Why don’t we just do what it takes to prosper between the goalposts we’ve got? I keep getting the feeling that the quality of your life is somehow geared to my wallet.
We are surrounded by abundance in this beautiful county of ours Draco. We just need to get better at getting more of us hooked into that abundance.
Declaring “OK all you pickers, you now have equal shares in this Kiwifruit Farm” it sounds like a free lunches solution.
Production bonuses and incentives, hell yes, more of it. Give me a good reason to pick hard all day, give me 2k at the end of the week and I’m in.
MVB trots out the usual old chestnuts, about how it took 6 weeks to get the phone on, and how the watersiders and ferry workers would go on strike every 5 mins. They must have some master Word document somewhere that they copy and paste accordingly.
He could have asked to be posted to a more cheaper rural area? At least on the force, they would have helped him with relocation costs.
If he cannot afford to live in Auckland on a policeman’s salary, then how is he going to live on a student allowance. And it is harder to get into the finance industry than it is the police force.
Done well, satire is a thing of extraordinary beauty.
Like political cartoons, it can ram home raw public sentiment with such brutal efficiency that it leaves the object of ridicule reeling.
Of course, the best satire is done so cleverly, and so close to the bone, that its targets often don’t recognise it as satire at all. So it was with a Twitter account that started appearing on my timeline a few weeks back.
Whoever @pureNZdairy happened to be, he was great at getting every clean water lover – which these days is most New Zealanders – wound up like a taut line of new farm fencing.
Using hashtags like #toomanyrivers or #toomanytownies, he self-described as “Just a dairy industry PR guy, telling the Real Pure NZ DAIRY story”, and spoke just like the dairy industry folks that I’ve spent a lifetime around.
As a result, I fell for it too. Hook, line and sinker.
Elizabeth Warren puts the slipper into a bankster.
“Why should anyone believe you?”
2006: Bank CEO says it's safe to deregulate his bank2008: His bank gets $1.4B bailoutYesterday: He's back asking for deregulationWatch: pic.twitter.com/h9SjvdAd7o— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 16, 2017
Absolutely. She is an awful human being. Reminded me of a number of politicians here with no moral compass.
Notice how despite any question she was asked, she basically ignored it and returned time and again to her script. The interviewer (good her!) tried but it’s hard to reason with the Maybot.
Well, I think you guys are being a bit harsh. As pointed out by the interviewer (at around 6:55), there are 4000 high rises, and as May responded, the government has managed to identify them. That’s awesome.
I have zero time for right wing scum like May but ffs she is a politician – nuff said. I listened to her and thought that it was a no win interview for her – she could have said anything and it still would have been rubbished.
It is time for her to resign – she cannot survive and she knows it.
Yeah Marty, you’re right, tough interview to do that one. I couldn’t of done it, I’d be a blubbing mess.
It’s like she was icy cold, a disconcerting disconnect. Talking of the horror like she was reviewing a movie. But yeah, some people need to put a face on like that so they’re not blubbing messes.
She, and I’d suggest the entire government and whatever local authority bodies there may be, are completely out of their depth.
On top of that, I could guess it came as a bit of a shock to May that someone could have a house burn down and wind up with nothing at all. I mean, if it happened to her, she’d file an insurance claim and move into another property. She might pull down on some investments or whatever in the short term to fund the cost and inconvenience of setting things up.
In her world, the worst case scenario likely involves getting mummy and daddy or “George” to provide a private loan of some description – maybe make one of their ‘second’ cars available, and possibly pull in a favour or two from their good friends the lawyer, the school principle, the city councillor, the undertaker, the real estate agent…
Well, I think you are being more than a bit kind Bill. The one good thing is that the longer she clings to power, more UK voters will (hopefully) wonder: ” Is this the best the Tories have got?”
Efforts to ensure the victims aren’t naked or starving 2 days after the catastrophe is the action plan of someone addressing a jolly nuisance.
“The Fire Service is looking into it.” A leader that gave a genuine damn would have a list of the buildings clad in that death skin on their desk 20 minutes after hearing of the fire. The occupants of those 4000 other buildings must be leaning out their windows tapping the cladding. ‘So what’s this then?’
A pair of top White House officials is pushing to broaden the war in Syria, viewing it as an opportunity to confront Iran and its proxy forces on the ground there, according to two sources familiar with the debate inside the Donald Trump administration.
Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council, and Derek Harvey, the NSC’s top Middle East advisor, want the United States to start going on the offensive in southern Syria, where, in recent weeks, the U.S. military has taken a handful of defensive actions against Iranian-backed forces fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Their plans are making even traditional Iran hawks nervous, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has personally shot down their proposals more than once, the two sources said.
People love complaining and being shocked. Shit happens, but not in front of me sort of thing. A woman in USA passes out in the toilet and they rush her out on a narrow stretcher to where there is room to give her assistance. It upset some other passengers, who don’t know the difference between underwear and being truly naked, it must be the ‘Victorian’ effect of people who have never been desensitised by television and films.
It was a trauma that she suffered but other passengers’ feelings were paramount –
“‘They’ should have”………..
“One described her as being “dragged down the aisle” on a tarp-like stretcher, partially clothed, in front of the other passengers. She was described as naked from the waist down, although the airline says she was wearing underwear.
Art Endress told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “The EMT was out of line. The flight attendants could have thrown a blanket on her.”
Attempts to revive Hines failed and she later died.”
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan defended emergency workers.
He told People: “When we boarded, the patient was in the rear of the plane and our effort was focused on getting her out and onto the jet bridge. If she were conscious we could have used an aisle chair, which is like a wheelchair, but we used a device that first responders all over the country use when you’re dealing with someone in a narrow space.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/93715517/us-airline-accused-of-dragging-partiallyclothed-dying-woman-off-flight
Court records raise big questions: Was Castile targeted by police? Or was he just a careless or unlucky driver?
An NPR analysis of those records shows that the 32-year-old cafeteria worker who was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in a St. Paul, Minn., suburb, was stopped by police 46 times and racked up more than $6,000 in fines. Another curious statistic: Of all of the stops, only six of them were things a police officer would notice from outside a car — things like speeding or having a broken muffler
We notice how people are accepting of low conditions for others who have problems, like trip up, flout the rules and you don’t deserve to be treated like a person. I found a stuff piece about a poor person who had no creds being charged $370 pw for a one bedroom place.
But this is the extra corkscrew, the shower is mounted on the wall over the toilet. And another oddment, the title in the address bar doesn’t hold the title, just the number of the item. It is as if it is too negative about the truth so you just get – http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/93767001
and not – Community support worker horrified at unit with shower over toilet.
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Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
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Empty, land-banked luxury mansions next to the charred ruins of the Grenfell ‘Austerity Tower’ – where poor people were burned alive.
How hideous is THAT?
‘Regeneration’ =
GENTRIFICATION.
Every time you hear the word ‘Regeneration’ – alarm bells should scream a warning, loudly and clearly …….
BEWARE!
‘Regeneration’ is yet another form of WAR on the POOR!
#RegenerationIsGentrification
#StopThisWarOnThePoor
https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/16/theresa-may-scared-grenfell-survivors-finished-austerity-cameron-osborne
Richie Allen Show’s latest coverage of Grenfell Tower – talking about the issues the mainstream media won’t touch
What a pity Richie Allen can’t resist the cheap shot of having a go at royalty being wealthy. There were large areas of Britain owned by desert arabs back in the 1970s and the cities themselves have lots of money to direct this or that way and perhaps there are people who would have a direct line to the planning and regulation of these buildings who need finger pointing if he is looking for a target.
Yay Penny’s back.
How would you describe the contribution you make to the forum?
About the same as your mother’s contribution to the gene pool.
Classy.
Yay stunned mullet is back. An unfortunate thing for those who like to measure
the value of their contributions against others on TS. Where will the drive come from to up the standards if measured against the minus level of this troll? We’ll never get over the high jump with him around, we’ll be stuck with the limbo dancers forever in limbo.
One of the horrifying plans of the Natz is to change our state housing to the UK style ‘social housing’. That’s the housing that just burned alive women and children and entire families in London. The Kensington council is apparently sitting on a 300 million pound contingency fund, so it wasn’t a lack of funds that led to the disaster.
The first clue National are doing this is always in their name. They are changing the name from Labour’s ‘state housing’ to National’s ‘social housing’.
National are now selling off or even giving it away our state houses to private developers, government ‘friendly’ charities, government friendly allies, so the state house land is changed from affordable housing for the most vulnerable, to profit driven development opportunities to opportunists who after leaky building will be only too willing to go with the cheapest options.
The next wave of Natz will be to put some sort of housing ‘management’ company in (which of course will be paid for) for the government and council to hide from any responsibility for the development and it’s effects.
To gauge the results, look at the USA and UK, citizens in the same country or community at war or totally removed from each other and being burnt alive in ones recently refurbished social housing home, while 200 fire appliances wait helplessly at the bottom.
Here’s what’s happened with housing in the UK
Grenfell Tower will forever stand as a rebuke to the right
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/16/grenfell-tower-rebuke-right-rampant-inequality
Social housing routs…
“The refurbishment was carried out on behalf of Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) which has managed all of the public housing owned by Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council since 1996.
On Friday, The Times of London reported that spending just another $8000 would have seen the entire tower fitted out with fire resistant cladding…..
It has also emerged that the four most senior staff at the KCTMO, who managed the tower, were potentially paid in excess of $1 million annually.
According to The Times, the not-for-profit paid its “key management personnel” £650,794 ($1,094,456) in 2015-16.
The company has not confirmed how many of its staff are “key”. However, only four senior executives are listed in its accounts.
Shared among four people, their individual salaries would be £163,000 ($274,000) each. British Prime Minister Theresa May’s annual salary is less than that at £142,500.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11877802
National are now selling off or even giving it away our state houses to private developers, government ‘friendly’ charities, government friendly allies, so the state house land is changed from affordable housing for the most vulnerable, to profit driven development opportunities to opportunists who after leaky building will be only too willing to go with the cheapest options.
With the uk it is a result of devoluted responsibility initiated by the Blair government.
It was, in fact, Tony Blair’s Labour government which promoted separating the management of the stock from the local authority’s housing and homelessness duties.
I never understood the logic of this proposition. It weakened the local authority’s ability to deliver on its legal responsibilities, while at the same time leaving tenants confused about the division of responsibilities between the owner of the housing (the local authority) and the managing body. Elected councillors could offload responsibility by referring complainants to the managing organisation – something many councillors were relieved to be able to do
https://theconversation.com/yes-the-grenfell-tower-fire-is-political-its-a-failure-of-many-governments-79599
In Auckland the last of the mohicans is still up to his new wave tricks.
http://www.interest.co.nz/property/88335/auckland-mayor-phil-goff-calls-introduction-building-warranty-or-insurance-scheme
Social housing? Lester and Eagle are at it too.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/93410105/council-asks-developers-to-convert-innercity-buildings-into-affordable-apartments-and-it-will-be-landlord
Don’t know how many others frequent The Canary but this made my morning.
Poor Theresa needs your help
+1 Grey Area
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11877476
Suzie Dawson is the new head of the Internet party.
Just when you couldn’t take them any less seriously.
I take her more seriously than I take you James.
Yeah – I’d pick folk like you would be her target demographic.
BEWARE folks!
Suzie Dawson is the new ‘Leader’ of the Internet Party!
In my considered opinion, Suzette Maree Dawson is a fraud.
What on earth did ‘Suzie Dawson’ EVER do an ‘activist’ in New Zealand – that caused her to flee to Russia?
What is Suzie Dawson’s proven track record as an ‘activist’ in New Zealand?
How long has Suzie Dawson been an ‘activist’ and what has she ever done?
Here’s why I hold this VERY strong opinion about Suzette Maree Dawson:
http://www.indymedia.org.nz/articles/715
“….Please be advised, that as an Appellant in my own name, at no time did I express an opinion as a ‘Spokesperson’ for Occupy Auckland.
A copy of the Appeal decision of High Court Justice Ellis is available on
http://www.occupyaucklandvsaucklandcouncilappeal.org.nz
a website for which I take full personal responsibility for content.
Also on this above-mentioned website are copies of my key legal submissions, as an Appellant in my own name, so people can read them for themselves.
The main reason I organised the setting up of this website, was to counter the defamatory lies about myself being spread by Suzette Maree Dawson, which she has published on her own private websitehttp://occupysavvy.com
Suzette Maree Dawson published on her above-mentioned private website a statement by Ben Cooney (‘Redstar’) during his livestream video coverage of the protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) protest on 8 December 2012:
“There’s Penny Bright – SIS informant”.
The FACTS are, that I was one of 12 people responsible for organising Auckland anti-Springbok Tour protests in 1981, I was named in Muldoon’s SIS list as a ‘subversive’, and have never been able to get a copy of my SIS file.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0711/S00086.htm
If people think I’m going to put up with these sorts of filthy defamatory lies, when I have had a proven track record going back over 40 years as an activist – think again.
I strongly recommend that those involved in the ‘protest’ / ‘activist’ movement, exercise commonsense and due diligence?
If people come from nowhere, with no proven track record in the ‘protest’ / ‘activist’ movement, and make a beeline for controlling the message, or means of getting the message out – act in ways which cause dissension or conflict within the group, spread misinformation / disinformation about people, without facts and evidence to back it up – BEWARE!!!
Being involved in ‘media’ gives such people the ability to mix and mingle and take photos from inside the ranks of the ‘protest’ movement.
Where exactly are those photos going?
BEWARE of those who act like the 1%, without openness, transparency or democratic accountability.
Why is it that as a (successful) Appellant in the Occupy Auckland Appeal, I cannot post this information up on the Occupy Auckland facebook page?
WHO are ‘Admin’ currently responsible for the Occupy Auckland facebook page, and why am I being blocked?
…..”
Sooo you’re not voting Internet part this year then ?
Something a bit weird about using people’s full names a lot, Penelope Mary Bright.
You’ve made the same desperate smear here earlier this year: https://thestandard.org.nz/the-return-of-kim-dotcom-and-the-internet-party-and-the-nz-journalist-seeking-asylum-in-russia/
It’s no more convincing this time. Get a life.
Sounds like you belong togeathor
I doubt that Internet Party will make much headway. Those that voted for, or who would have thought about voting for them will probably be swayed by Gareth Morgans lot.
And having a leader sitting in a flat in Moscow, ‘leading’ her party via Skype isnt the same as leading in person.
Is this New Zealand’s very own link to Russia in the upcoming election or am I missing something?
Do you have anything positive politically to contribute?
http://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/93781380/lions-tour-lions-should-be-afraid-after-ominous-all-blacks-send-chilling-message–uk-media
An amazing example of sporting excellence.
Germany wouldn’t bother fielding their best players if they had to meet a similarly ranked football nation so did the mighty AB’s play a first choice side or use a more developmental approach ?
It may just be an amazing example of 2 teams oceans apart in skill, fitness and coaching paired together in a sport that’s globally not even top 5 and often has these one sided matches.
Parfle, jimbo.
The Pacific Island teams would be much more competitive if the IRB allowed them to pick from the plethora of rugby talent in New Zealand to represent them.
I watched, I thought it was good, but it was a rubbish clash.
It reminded me of the Harlem Globetrotters and those martial arts demonstrations where people pretend to hit each other. Entertaining but not really what the game is all about.
But yeah, it was great to watch the ABs pretending to be Harlem Globetrotters. Show-offs. I don’t think the Lions have too much to worry about yet. Steve Adam’s team would wipe the floor with the Globetrotters. If the All Black Warriors dominate tonight I think the Lions should throw the towel in and spend the rest of the tour pub-crawling with their fans.
The AB’s are basically becoming the Harlem Globetrotters, given the fact the the NZRU has been organising meaningless matches in Chicago, Hong Kong, Japan,etc with Ireland and Australia respectively.
These is nothing wrong with playing such exhibition matches, but I think a Barbarians style side is more suited to that sort of thing.
Do you thinking parroting NZ sporting success shows that right wing nut jobs are true New Zealanders?
Yes Paul dear, or Ed or what ever
I think people that were involved in sport when in their formative years are the ones that often go on to have a long-lasting interest.
It conditions us like music, hearing the music we listened to when teens takes us back there. When a team has a few combinations and one gets pulled off, it’s a shared buzz that feels good to recall. Like listening to Pink Floyd.
One of the neat things about NZ is how access to any sport is available to all of us, regardless of background. The Chinese owned resort being developed near me is to have 100’s of villas. It is cheaper for someone living in Beijing to play golf for a week on Karikari Peninsula than in Beijing.
Not all sports are available to everyone.
Yachting?
Skiing?
Cricket?
Tennis?
do you like any sport ed?
Yes
why?
Why do I like some sports?
Thought this was a political blog.
Just trying to get some context to your views and postings. It is okay to do that – the thought police won’t don us in for frivolous thinking.
Pidgeon racing?
Machine Gun target shooting?
Darts?
I give up
ed ‘s list won’t be long – 🙂
sheep dog trials (flat)
ice dancing
non verbal rap battles
He especially likes it when the sheepdogs are found guilty of class oppression.
😆
Don’t know what I did to incur your wrath mm.
Is it my view that there are too many neoliberals in the Labour Party?
Ì was just being silly
Yep, all those sports Ed.
Have a chat to the prez of any the yachting clubs around NZ. Heaps of them just a Google away. Tell them of your burning desire to learn to sail and your minimal budget. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a club that didn’t push a few doors open for you or your kid. This is what happens at the clubs I’ve been associated with, most rugby clubs will have a cupboard of assorted sizes of boots somewhere. I suspect there are more than a few nod and a wink scholarships on the go.
That goes against his presumptive views – please don’t confuse him. He likes thinking that people won’t help.
Glad you are all speaking for me.
This cartoon by Emerson sums the lot of you up.
https://mobile.twitter.com/rodemmerson/status/875789296728289280/photo/1
I played cricket as a kid and the club had all the gear for poorer families like ours, so it was just paying subs and buying cheap white clothing. It was also free at school, as was softball, tennis and a host of other sports.
Yachting is available to anyone who is willing to help the boat owner antifoul.
Poor kids get into ski-ing as lifties.
Every State school has a cricket team.
Tennis is even easier. Courts and rackets can be used for a few dollars.
Every sport takes time and money to get to the top. Which makes any elite sport the almost exclusive domain of the well off.
Cricket and tennis are pretty much available to everyone, even those from low socio economic backgrounds. Certainly not elitest, well not in the mind’s eye of the well grounded.
At secondary school, for summer games, the choice was cricket, tennis or athletics. Opting for the easy life, I chose cricket.
Save for facing a few deliveries before letting one slip through the gate to rattle the timbers and back to the boundary for a well deserved rest to wait out the innings, or standing in the outfield miles from the pitch, occasionally waiting for a ball to roll up and throw it back, it’s the perfect lazy man’s game.
It’s not just the formative years in sport that imprint a long lasting interest in that sport.
I’m also of the impression that the government of the day for those who are 13-19 is also imprinted on them as well. Anecdotally, my peers were living under a labour government, and the majority are rather left leaning supporting nearly anyone but National/ACT.
OTOH, a young cohort I know through volunteering activities grew up under National and wholeheartedly support them as a good government. Despite all the evidence to the contrary.
Food for thought.
Hard to believe in one of the richest countries in the world, in one of the richest cities in the world and in one of the richest boroughs in the world, that parents have to throw their kids out the window in a fire, to save them, because Tory right wing government policy seems to have allowed a continuation of deregulation, exploitation and profiteering to foster rather than basic safety and common sense in their city. Sadly it looks like the poor kid is going to be an orphan even though she survived.
Miracle of four-year-old girl who was caught by hero after being thrown from the tower
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11878164
Sadly as well, they will probably find nobody responsible, as all the many people who made the decisions that led to this manslaughter will be deemed to be ‘doing their job’.
Yep, stupidity, profiteering and policy wonks who allowed this situation to happen and many more to be in danger, will be isolated, because it will be found to be completely legal to kill people in this way under a right wing government – profit before people.
Van Beynen’s article trying to scare people off socialist policies uses a common argument by the right and it’s one I don’t really know how to answer. That during the 1970s and 80s New Zealand’s economy was in crisis struggling to pay it’s way and I think inflation was very high. So something had to be done, hence Government budget cuts and state sell offs, etc.
My question is and it’s probably already been answered here many times, but how would the left have averted these economic crises? How could we have got through the 80s retaining full and high employment, good wages and New Zealand industries and a healthy economy?
I think it was inevitable that at some stage we were going to need to gear our economy to that of our potential major trading partners, the rest of the world. I think Rogernomics got that right.
But there is more than one way to skin a cat and I fear Roger Douglas and his team selected the ‘pointy stone’ method. Get there in the end, sort of, but crikey what a mess.
Kalecki from 1943…
http://delong.typepad.com/kalecki43.pdf
Reading the whole piece (only 5 pages) is kind of enlightening. I had a bit of too and fro with NicNz (?) a while back. We disagreed whether capitalism can create and maintain full employment (an aspect of social democracy) without a backlash where ‘monied interests’ essentially cut off their noses to spite their tails. With full employment, they make more money but have lower margins and much, much less power than they’d expect under liberal capitalism.
The 1980s was an assault on the power of the working class. That’s all it was, although it wasn’t presented as such – we got fed all the red herrings of TINA.
I think the playing field is changing, full employment a sunset aspiration.
I fib to my Father. “Putting in long hours Dad, burning the midnight oil, hoping to get out for a few hours fishing late Sunday afternoon.”
To my Dad, hours on the grindstone is a measure of a man’s value and worth. It worked well for him. He looks about his mates and believes that the ones that have ruined their backs through hard Yakka have got the formula right. To a degree he is right, it’s generally his mates with crook backs that groan all the way to Europe and back.
Since my Dad’s generation we’ve had the ‘Don’t work harder work smarter’ thing come along. This concept appealed to me, I found a way. I much prefer gas-bagging on a blog to balancing tyres at Beaurepaires.
Soooo….while we were once pursuing full employment, I wonder if these days we shouldn’t be looking for ways for us to cost effectively do less. Well not less, but teaching a kid to play a ukulele rather than doing a wheel alignment on a Pulsar.
By George David Mac I think you’ve got it.
Soooo….while we were once pursuing full employment, I wonder if these days we shouldn’t be looking for ways for us to cost effectively do less. Well not less, but teaching a kid to play a ukulele rather than doing a wheel alignment on a Pulsar.
Everyone go to primary and learn the basics in any way that suits their learning style – able to write, express thoughts, describe a project from start to finish and then manufacture it to finality, though not abolutely perfectly.
Know your basic maths, show how to apply it practically.
Describe a page of a fictional novel and what the writer was trying to say.
Describe a page of non-fiction and what elements of the events the author has focussed on.
Then at intermediate choose an interest and spend six months on finishing off a goal while still doing schoolwork. But also write up the practices used to do the project. The goal would be to finish and to overcome problems.
A sort of Myth Busters approach.
The emphasis would be applied knowledge and gaining knowledge as the project continued and which would be applied to progressing it. It would be to finish something even if it wasn’t perfect.
Sorry. I don’t know how this half-baked idea got into this post. Below is the fully-baked one, with a cherry on top.
By George David Mac I think you’ve got it.
Soooo….while we were once pursuing full employment, I wonder if these days we shouldn’t be looking for ways for us to cost effectively do less. Well not less, but teaching a kid to play a ukulele rather than doing a wheel alignment on a Pulsar.
Everyone go to primary and learn the basics in any way that suits their learning style – able to write, express thoughts, describe a project from start to finish and then manufacture it to finality, though not abolutely perfectly.
Know your basic maths, show how to apply it practically.
Describe a page of a fictional novel and what the writer was trying to say.
Describe a page of non-fiction and what elements of the events the author has focussed on.
Then at intermediate choose an interest and spend six months on finishing off a goal while still doing schoolwork. But also write up the practices used to do the project. The goal would be to finish and to overcome problems.
A sort of Myth Busters approach.
The emphasis would be applied knowledge and gaining knowledge as the project continued and which would be applied to progressing it. It would be to finish something even if it wasn’t perfect. Learning how to direct your own life and get satisfaction from your own creative efforts is what we will soon need with the constant disintegration of our local enterprise by undercutting from overseas imports.
Today I met a man who lost his job unexpectedly mid life and was at a loss living in the country but not a farmer, what to do? He and his wife set themselves to make some wooden craft things, now he has a business making beautiful jigsaw-pieced toys, works of art in themselves – animals, fairy tale designs, flowers in a vase, a Hundertwasser building, all beautifully coloured by his wife. Anyone interested (they cost about $25 or so) just ask and I’ll put up his info.
We have to spend locally and support ourselves and our own enterprise in a spiral effect, that goes round and round and finally can go off to other areas. That is what sustainable living will be like. Not as glossy for some, but very vibrant with people taking interest in their neighbours’ skilled output, instead of damning their neighbour for being unemployed in the free market which is oxymoronic.
This is just to register this USA person was in NZ in April and seemed to have some good ideas on getting local support enterprise groups going.
She also is speaking on the Campbell Latta discussion What Next on TV1.
https://bealocalist.org/stephanie-rearick/
It was because even Keynesian Capitalism had failed. That was true around the world and not just in NZ.
But the politicians listened to the capitalists and went backwards to more capitalism, the type of capitalism that had brought about the staggering poverty of the 19th century and brought about the Great Depression. The inevitable result of which was the increasing poverty that we’ve seen over the last few decades and the Great Recession.
The way we needed to go was further away from capitalism.
Why do you always avoid saying what this alternate approach is Draco ie you want a communist Marxist state, just say it draco it will avoid many having to put up with your long winded and repeated daily rants
Have you anything positive to add or are you just trolling a left wing political website?
Yes Paul dear, Ed or what ever
Why would you think that I want a Marxist state?
If I wanted that I would have said so. Marx may have been right in his critique of capitalism but he got many things wrong in his solution.
And, no, neither the USSR nor China were/are Marxist. Marx would have been disgusted by them.
Red knows that.
She’s just trolling.
It seems a fair point – the opposite of capitalism is communism? For some that duality is true. What about you draco. If not capitalism (which I hate) what??? And sure a hypothetical and a real example would work for me.
The world isn’t a duality.
I want to get rid of ownership of land (not that we own land in NZ), houses and business as it causes so much inequality as Piketty proved. Ownership is the heart of capitalism same as it was the heart of feudalism. And that basis for society goes back thousands of years and every single society that used it has collapsed due to the wealth going in increasing amounts to the owners.
Necessities (housing, food, education, etcetera) should be provided by the state to ensure that everyone has a reasonable living standard. Work that people do is paid but there’s also a maximum income preventing runaway wealth accumulation.
Stop the banks from creating money and all money to be created by the government and spent into the economy. A UBI of course as a fundamental part of the monetary flow.
Extraction of resources to be done by the state on an as need basis with the acceptance that those resources are limited and need to be husbanded rather than sold off as fast as possible as is done now.
Reduction of farming to enough to feed us with the rest returned of the land to the wild with limits on population growth.
Increased automation to reduce the need for physical labour while also increasing the number of people in R&D. That automation would include the building of factories to produce what as much as possible here in NZ from our own resources. It’s physically impossible for an offshore factory to produce anything cheaper than we could. These factories would also be state owned but run by cooperatives – or maybe not even state owned but ‘self-owned’.
The private sector would supply ‘nice to haves’ through cooperative businesses that are ‘self-owned’. The workers would work and administer the business. Loans would be taken out and repaid by the business and not the workers.
People would be encouraged to join groups that they’re interested in that would be fully resourced for R&D and innovation.
“The world isn’t a duality.”
some say it is and some it isn’t 🙂
Thanks for the reply – Be good to see this as a guest post imo.
Maybe once I’ve finished my degree.
Then what do you want in a couple of sentences that would realistically work, please don’t sprout Germany or Scandinavia, simply benificaries or the other side of excessive Southern Europe debt, consumption and government deficits.
Ah, so you’re admitting to being too stupid to understand what I’ve already written.
Sounds. A lot like communism to me, why are you to afraid just to say it, would avoid you having to write a war and peace epistle to explain your self
Why would I call it something that it isn’t so that you can just write it off without thought?
Not that you’ve ever given any indication of being able to think.
A ‘communist Marxist state’ you say? How many contradictions can you squeeze into three words there Red? 😉
Next you’ll be saying you went to the local ice cream place and got the hump when they said they couldn’t serve you a ‘toasted ice-cream Tuesday’
Toasted ice cream, there’s an idea Bill , maybe toasted waffles, hot chocolste sauce with ice cream center Just need to be a little more creative bill and think a bit more lateral, outside your pre disposed paradigm and bias😀
It wasn’t that Keynesian had failed per se – but we had lazy fools in power who thought Keynesianism means you can do any damned thing you please. Now we have opposite kind of lazy fools, who think neo-liberalism means you can do any damned thing you please.
Actually, whichever of these twin gods you worship, you must try to maximize the positive results for citizens from your interventions, if you wish to be a be a credible government. NZ hasn’t had a credible government in quite some time.
I agree Stuart. We need to find a way for the guy that currently owns a taxi to retain his business when his taxi starts driving itself. Stop the $ from funneling into a big faceless money hole called Uber.
Many countries ban uber
The networking is cool. Bankrolling a 300ft boat for Mr Uber sux.
The business was driving. Once the taxi drives itself they no longer have a business.
IMO, once the taxi starts driving itself it should become just another aspect of public transport with automatic optimisation of the transportation. In other words, I wouldn’t be able to take one from where I live to the middle of the city. I’d get taken to the nearest train/bus station instead.
Nah, the business is providing a personal transport service to anyone with $5 a km to spend. The car is just his bag of tools.
You remember the time when there were typing pools?
If that was true then why not have the state do it and have him go do something more productive than sitting at home being a parasite?
The majority of NZers don’t want the state running business Draco.
It’ll take a hostile coup Colonel D….Have you got a Che T Shirt?
The state wouldn’t be because it wouldn’t be a business but a public service.
I have, got the classic red on khaki.
Why don’t we just do what it takes to prosper between the goalposts we’ve got? I keep getting the feeling that the quality of your life is somehow geared to my wallet.
We are surrounded by abundance in this beautiful county of ours Draco. We just need to get better at getting more of us hooked into that abundance.
Declaring “OK all you pickers, you now have equal shares in this Kiwifruit Farm” it sounds like a free lunches solution.
Production bonuses and incentives, hell yes, more of it. Give me a good reason to pick hard all day, give me 2k at the end of the week and I’m in.
If it’s a driverless electric car, more like $1/km for profit-based companies, less for shared and public transport.
Yeah but the cab owner has a sick Mum in Bologna, it’s $5. Save him to your favourites, your fifth ride is free.
MVB trots out the usual old chestnuts, about how it took 6 weeks to get the phone on, and how the watersiders and ferry workers would go on strike every 5 mins. They must have some master Word document somewhere that they copy and paste accordingly.
Here’s a little bit of plausible denial corruption.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/jobs/government-council/other/listing-1349990490.htm
Gotta love NZ and how it works, the beige revolution has sunk it’d teeth in here real well.
Good luck getting young people out voting, as it just got a little harder to get them enrolled.
Prediction – youth vote in the Auckland region just not going to produce any significant numbers.
An Auckland police officer has had to quit the job he loves, because he can’t afford to live in our biggest city on a police pay cheque.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11877760
poor thing.
let’s hope he will make more money in finance 🙂
He could have asked to be posted to a more cheaper rural area? At least on the force, they would have helped him with relocation costs.
If he cannot afford to live in Auckland on a policeman’s salary, then how is he going to live on a student allowance. And it is harder to get into the finance industry than it is the police force.
Yes I wondered about why he didn’t relocate too.
Rachel Stewart: Satire catches old guard off guard
Excellent read, cheers,draco.
Elizabeth Warren puts the slipper into a bankster.
“Why should anyone believe you?”
https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/875808277149372416
May.
What a dreadful person.
Absolutely. She is an awful human being. Reminded me of a number of politicians here with no moral compass.
Notice how despite any question she was asked, she basically ignored it and returned time and again to her script. The interviewer (good her!) tried but it’s hard to reason with the Maybot.
Well, I think you guys are being a bit harsh. As pointed out by the interviewer (at around 6:55), there are 4000 high rises, and as May responded, the government has managed to identify them. That’s awesome.
She didn’t reply to any question asked
the questions were idiotic
I have zero time for right wing scum like May but ffs she is a politician – nuff said. I listened to her and thought that it was a no win interview for her – she could have said anything and it still would have been rubbished.
It is time for her to resign – she cannot survive and she knows it.
Yeah Marty, you’re right, tough interview to do that one. I couldn’t of done it, I’d be a blubbing mess.
It’s like she was icy cold, a disconcerting disconnect. Talking of the horror like she was reviewing a movie. But yeah, some people need to put a face on like that so they’re not blubbing messes.
May was responsible for the reduction of 1000’s of firefighters in the area.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/election-tories-labour-corbyn-fire-service-dangerous-cuts-a7773826.html
She oversaw, and continues to oversee the reduction of medical and Primary Health facilities in the whole of the UK and including Central London
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/16/most-of-central-london-hospital-to-be-sold-off-secret-plans-reveal
May knows she does not have the sympathy of the unwealthy, those whom her continued austerity have hurt the most.
I feel no sympathy for her. She brought this on herself.
Of course she didn’t.
She, and I’d suggest the entire government and whatever local authority bodies there may be, are completely out of their depth.
On top of that, I could guess it came as a bit of a shock to May that someone could have a house burn down and wind up with nothing at all. I mean, if it happened to her, she’d file an insurance claim and move into another property. She might pull down on some investments or whatever in the short term to fund the cost and inconvenience of setting things up.
In her world, the worst case scenario likely involves getting mummy and daddy or “George” to provide a private loan of some description – maybe make one of their ‘second’ cars available, and possibly pull in a favour or two from their good friends the lawyer, the school principle, the city councillor, the undertaker, the real estate agent…
Well, I think you are being more than a bit kind Bill. The one good thing is that the longer she clings to power, more UK voters will (hopefully) wonder: ” Is this the best the Tories have got?”
And they’ll look at Boris and say “… yup”.
Efforts to ensure the victims aren’t naked or starving 2 days after the catastrophe is the action plan of someone addressing a jolly nuisance.
“The Fire Service is looking into it.” A leader that gave a genuine damn would have a list of the buildings clad in that death skin on their desk 20 minutes after hearing of the fire. The occupants of those 4000 other buildings must be leaning out their windows tapping the cladding. ‘So what’s this then?’
A picture is worth a thousands words:
https://www.indy100.com/article/theresa-may-jeremy-corbyn-grenfell-fire-survivors-firefighters-compare-pictures-7791821?utm_source=indy&utm_medium=top5&utm_campaign=i100
Which of these shows the most compassion?
Even the Queen made it to Grenfell Tower
https://www.indy100.com/article/grenfell-tower-hrh-queen-elizabeth-fire-security-theresa-may-concerns-reaction-7793161
Spot the leader.
The peace dividend.
/
A pair of top White House officials is pushing to broaden the war in Syria, viewing it as an opportunity to confront Iran and its proxy forces on the ground there, according to two sources familiar with the debate inside the Donald Trump administration.
Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council, and Derek Harvey, the NSC’s top Middle East advisor, want the United States to start going on the offensive in southern Syria, where, in recent weeks, the U.S. military has taken a handful of defensive actions against Iranian-backed forces fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Their plans are making even traditional Iran hawks nervous, including Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has personally shot down their proposals more than once, the two sources said.
https://www.justsecurity.org/42230/trump-administration-weighs-confronting-irans-proxies-syria/
I’ll show my age by posting this, but A Tribe Called Quest still one of the best hip hop acts in the world.
This is a wee gem, which actually confronts politics of divide and conquer.
People love complaining and being shocked. Shit happens, but not in front of me sort of thing. A woman in USA passes out in the toilet and they rush her out on a narrow stretcher to where there is room to give her assistance. It upset some other passengers, who don’t know the difference between underwear and being truly naked, it must be the ‘Victorian’ effect of people who have never been desensitised by television and films.
It was a trauma that she suffered but other passengers’ feelings were paramount –
“‘They’ should have”………..
“One described her as being “dragged down the aisle” on a tarp-like stretcher, partially clothed, in front of the other passengers. She was described as naked from the waist down, although the airline says she was wearing underwear.
Art Endress told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “The EMT was out of line. The flight attendants could have thrown a blanket on her.”
Attempts to revive Hines failed and she later died.”
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport spokesman Patrick Hogan defended emergency workers.
He told People: “When we boarded, the patient was in the rear of the plane and our effort was focused on getting her out and onto the jet bridge. If she were conscious we could have used an aisle chair, which is like a wheelchair, but we used a device that first responders all over the country use when you’re dealing with someone in a narrow space.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/93715517/us-airline-accused-of-dragging-partiallyclothed-dying-woman-off-flight
Which Black Guy got killed by a cop? And which cop got away with this killing?
The courts have effectively decriminalised the killing of innocent young black people by poilice.
Guilty of DWB.
Court records raise big questions: Was Castile targeted by police? Or was he just a careless or unlucky driver?
An NPR analysis of those records shows that the 32-year-old cafeteria worker who was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in a St. Paul, Minn., suburb, was stopped by police 46 times and racked up more than $6,000 in fines. Another curious statistic: Of all of the stops, only six of them were things a police officer would notice from outside a car — things like speeding or having a broken muffler
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/15/485835272/the-driving-life-and-death-of-philando-castile
We notice how people are accepting of low conditions for others who have problems, like trip up, flout the rules and you don’t deserve to be treated like a person. I found a stuff piece about a poor person who had no creds being charged $370 pw for a one bedroom place.
But this is the extra corkscrew, the shower is mounted on the wall over the toilet. And another oddment, the title in the address bar doesn’t hold the title, just the number of the item. It is as if it is too negative about the truth so you just get – http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/93767001
and not – Community support worker horrified at unit with shower over toilet.