It’s a thoughtful idea Chairman, but I’d suggest a grocery voucher (no smokes or booze allowed) and credit on the power bill instead. That would still leave a bit extra in the pocket, full cupboards and power sorted.
JanM
There is a need to keep a clear head when doing something of a helpful nature for people in need. It is NOT unreasonable to take measures to ensure that people use the help in the most effective way to aid themselves and ease their lives, and those of who are dependent on them.
We know that we can all be tempted to do things which are not the best steps we should take, or use opportunities well. Cinny is just being realistic and you are using PC cant and not understanding people’s basic drives at all.
We know that we can all be tempted to do things which are not the best steps we should take, or use opportunities well.
And sometimes, for their health, people need to let their hair down. Such a double payment would, as far as I’m concerned, be for that precise purpose.
Is that not what Muldoon did some years/decades back ?
I would also suggest that it only applied to those simply on the Benefit/super and not to people with secondary pensions.
Observer Tokoroa
I thought that Jan M was patronising actually and now you. You are so much, that you can’t learn anything from someone who knows stuff and who has thought about that stuff.
The trouble with people like yourself is that you are too rigid, first you want people to have the greatest freedom with what you hand out. Then others who truly despise the struggling classes feel free to step in and say how useless the poor are because they didn’t use the help in the way that the rigid expect.
People often get quite despairing and give up trying to follow rules when they are hard up and live from day to day. They may become alcoholic which will soak up every dollar they are given, or spend extra funds at Christmas time on expensive toys that soon get broken, leaving not much left for afterwards.
An example – I believe in Glasgow the drinking men there had priorities for money – food, alcohol, gas or electricity, shoes, then rent. And the greatest of these is alcohol. But in NZ today as well, there will be credit card payments etc.
Don’t be so snotty some of you wet charity givers. When you want to do good, think around the problem just not chant slogans about freedom and the nobility and wisdom of adults. Everyone can fall into temptation of overspending, the housing and credit bubble is affecting the supposedly wealthy.
Why should those at the bottom with few comforts and kind consideration from the government re living wages, decent social hours etc etc – why I ask should they automatically direct their extra money where it needs to be, what about some fun for a change? Many of them would just buy a dozen of beer and fish and chips and have some fun for a change. Which is okay but something has to be held back for the other important things. And both partners in a family would need to show restraint also, something not always seen in domestic violence unhappy valley NZ.
In other words, people who haven’t had spare money for a while need to receive help with thought. Even Lotto winners of millions need help in controlling their spending – in a couple of years people can be back to hard times.
“In other words, people who haven’t had spare money for a while need to receive help with thought. ”
Totally agree.
And it does not undermine the leftie narrative…empowering people to be sensible and very, very careful with what they have. Encouraging people to think ahead is a good thing.
Teaching people budgeting skills is a good thing…and if you want proof of this from a leftie viewpoint…look what our right wing government did to those who need this help during these very, very tight times….
It does undermine the ‘leftie narrative’ actually. The whole concept of keeping a poorly paid ‘underclass’ to whom the wealthy can hand out charity as they see fit is a very right wing narrative
Except the state is made up of organisations that are most definitely not using an empowerment model. You know this from your experiences with Health and WINZ. And in the context of that, treating all beneficiaries as people incapable of making the best decisions for themselves, is at the least buying into the RW narrative JanM is talking about.
Trying to teach people budgeting skills when they don’t have enough income to live on is dehumanising, patronising and in the end a mindfuck where the people enforcing the teaching are the same people who made sure those people didn’t have enough to live on in the first place. Under those conditions if some beneficiaries want to blow their mythical Christmas bonus on beer or cigarettes or whatever else gives them some temporary relief, then let them, because the solutions to their problems and in fact society’s problems are not to be found in do-gooder classism.
weka
You contradict yourself, and also manage to support people in need going on a total splurge which would end up with them feeling worse than they started with none of the money left to do something valuable to them. Under those conditions if some beneficiaries want to blow their mythical Christmas bonus on beer or cigarettes or whatever else gives them some temporary relief, then let them,
Just go and binge is your answer is it? Instead what about a few bottles of beer, fish and chips and a visit to the $3 shop and op-shops and get max benefit. Is that a stupid, mean idea. Trying to ensure that they get a range of value from the one payment is nasty do-gooder classism is it?
Some of you people have no compassion or love for others, just slogans and social service teaching through tertiary training. A model to follow blindly. Also many people just offer charity with a bit of a sneer or have some PC filter that stops them seeing the reality of what the person actually both wants and needs.
You are getting mixed up with dissatisfaction of government policies in general with an example of practical help to particular people at a particular time.
and also manage to support people in need going on a total splurge which would end up with them feeling worse than they started with none of the money left to do something valuable to them.
Yes, I believe that beneficiaries have just as much right to self-medicate, make mistakes, fuck up, or make the best of a bad situation as anyone else.
You’re making an assumption that a splurge is always bad for someone. I disagree.
“Under those conditions if some beneficiaries want to blow their mythical Christmas bonus on beer or cigarettes or whatever else gives them some temporary relief, then let them,”
Just go and binge is your answer is it?
No, it’s my compassion. I’m not suggesting we mandate it.
Instead what about a few bottles of beer, fish and chips and a visit to the $3 shop and op-shops and get max benefit. Is that a stupid, mean idea.
How would the state make that happen?
Trying to ensure that they get a range of value from the one payment is nasty do-gooder classism is it?
No, treating all beneficiaries as the same, but separate from other NZers simply because they are reliant in welfare, and then controlling how they spend their money, in the guise of what is best for them, that’s the do-gooder classism.
Some of you people have no compassion or love for others, just slogans and social service teaching through tertiary training. A model to follow blindly.
‘you people’? My PhD is in welfare, and no, I’ve never been to uni, and many of my peers have been beneficiaries. I’m part of the underclass you are discussing.
Also many people just offer charity with a bit of a sneer or have some PC filter that stops them seeing the reality of what the person actually both wants and needs.
How about an opt-in option then. Beneficiaries choose whether they get their Christmas bonus as cash in the bank or a voucher.
You are getting mixed up with dissatisfaction of government policies in general with an example of practical help to particular people at a particular time.
No I’m not. My comments are all in response to the idea that the govt should pay via a conditional voucher rather cash. If you are talking about individuals needing and wanting specialist or targeted help that’s a different thing.
We should teach all the kids how to handle money/finance via the state education system, from say year five or six (stnd 3 & 4) onwards, building up skills for more complex understandings at high school.
Money is a fundamental part of life at the present, and so many are unable to handle it simply because they have not been given the skills, and it sucks. Just like how they push us out of the hospital with a new born and a lack of knowledge and then they wonder why some are having trouble copping.
I think as adults people can be more sensitive re money, deep down probably just embarrassed because they were not educated about it. But also maybe sensitive because no matter how they try they just can’t get ahead simply because housing cost is so high.
Financial care on the tv news every night, cut the sport segment in half lolz. Maybe that’s a way to teach the adults without financial knowledge, a how to segment sponsored by Kiwibank the bank our government uses (next government best ditch westpac for kiwibank, that move is long long over due) …
In summary of my big sidetracked novel lmao..
Grocery Voucher (possibly tax write off for WINZ), 2 week limit to spend it, automatically loaded on to their Community Services Card, because it is different in appearance from the current ‘green payment card’ checkout operators would be told that shoppers can buy whatever they like as long as it doesn’t require ID, such as booze etc.
There are special skills needed to live on an inadequate income, but the govt should not be the one to teach them (esp as they create the situation in the first place).
Grocery Voucher (possibly tax write off for WINZ), 2 week limit to spend it, automatically loaded on to their Community Services Card, because it is different in appearance from the current ‘green payment card’ checkout operators would be told that shoppers can buy whatever they like as long as it doesn’t require ID, such as booze etc.
Why should other NZs be allowed to spend their Christmas money on alcohol but not beneficiaries? Serious question.
“In other words, people who haven’t had spare money for a while need to receive help with thought. ”
Totally agree.
So make help available to those people then, if they want it. No need to treat all beneficiaries the same, or separate them off as a class because they are on welfare.
with a food voucher it’s usually a 3 day limit, 2 weeks is longer, maybe 4 would be better?
The money one would save from not having to buy food one could spend on booze or whatever they like.
Just brainstorming is all. Personally beneficary bashing disgusts me, what Paula did to those ladies now that just pure nasty.
TBH Drunk people gross me out, I’m not a boozer and have trouble understanding why everyone wants to get so wasted at christmas. Grow some herb it’s cheaper and the food becomes superb, no hang over, no aggression, no dramas, just be safe after all it is still illegal (the stupid it hurts it really does)
Anyways i’ve seen many things, but one of the worst is booze in the supermarket, if it wasn’t in the bloody supermarket or available to 18 yr old kids (thanks national for those laws, you dumb fucks – please excuse that outburst). It wouldn’t even be a stumbling block with the supermarket voucher idea.
“TBH Drunk people gross me out, I’m not a boozer and have trouble understanding why everyone wants to get so wasted at christmas.”
Yeah, but do you get that the thing that was proposed (voucher bonuses), would stop a beneficiary from having a glass of wine on Christmas day? Why the assumption that they would get totalled?
And why target beneficiaries and not all poor people?
“Yes, I believe that beneficiaries have just as much right to self-medicate, make mistakes, fuck up, or make the best of a bad situation as anyone else.”
Yes, but the outcomes of fuckups are soo much worse for those of us on very limited incomes.
And those who dole out that limited income to us do not care one tiny little bit if we fuck up. No amount of leftie one upmanship will change that.
And if it is not patently obvious that the government is determined to grind us to dust with their ‘welfare reforms’ and ‘social investment policies’ and ‘resilience building’…they care not for those who the system drives to despair or violence towards themselves or others. I can’t understand why more people don’t see this. This is war.
And since they don’t care…then we must. And one aspect of caring is sharing knowledge and experience about how to get through the really, really tough times…how to take another hit and suck it up…how to save the cents so they turn into dollars, how to derive joy and delight from free stuff…and if you get a few dollars extra…put it aside for the rent, the power, the food….because oh…the relief, of just being able to pay that one bill…
“Yes, I believe that beneficiaries have just as much right to self-medicate, make mistakes, fuck up, or make the best of a bad situation as anyone else.”
Yes, but the outcomes of fuckups are soo much worse for those of us on very limited incomes.
That’s true, but we’re not talking about people on very limited incomes, we’re talking about beneficiaries. Or you are suggesting that the govt apply this principle across the board to all people on low incomes?
And if it is not patently obvious that the government is determined to grind us to dust with their ‘welfare reforms’ and ‘social investment policies’ and ‘resilience building’…they care not for those who the system drives to despair or violence towards themselves or others. I can’t understand why more people don’t see this. This is war.
And since they don’t care…then we must. And one aspect of caring is sharing knowledge and experience about how to get through the really, really tough times…how to take another hit and suck it up…how to save the cents so they turn into dollars, how to derive joy and delight from free stuff…and if you get a few dollars extra…put it aside for the rent, the power, the food….because oh…the relief, of just being able to pay that one bill…
Of course (and I’m pretty sure those if us making the political argument against vouchers are well aware of the war). But the argument is centred around what the government should do, not what we can do, were the govt to give beneficiaries a Christmas bonus – give them cash or give them a conditional voucher.
“Because we beneficiaries need, really, really need to have our wits about us one hundred per cent of the time.”
Fuck, no pressure there then.
I appreciate what you are saying, and if that’s what works for you all power to you. I’m not going to lay that pressure on all beneficiaries though, and the only people responsible for the state of the country in this regard are the successive govts who implemented policies designed to make and keep people poor.
A grocery voucher would also be helpful. But the stipulations they contain is a little condescending. How would you feel if your employer paid you in vouchers, limiting where and how your pay could be spent?
I know of people with a food grant who have been questioned at the till by the nazi police (over important till operators) why they have kitchen/bathroom cleaners in their trolley and heaven forbid if you want some Vit.C to get you through the winter, also back to the hygiene products us females need on a monthly basis.
Whispering Kate, that really really blows, how horrible for the shopper going through that experience. I’d boycott said supermarket if they were do such things to people. Wankers. With that in mind i can see where you are coming from now.
Even shampoo and deodorant have been questioned. I don’t know where the till workers get their instructions from but its pretty obvious that the vulnerable and poor are not permitted even a smidgeon of a half decent lifestyle, heaven forbid that they may enjoy even a bit of fun on special occasions. We have regressed back to the dark ages in this country and are far from a civil society, it has become de rigueur these days to bash people when they are down, the new “in” thing to do.
Thank you for grasping what I was saying and explaining it better – lots of well-meaning people seem hard-wired to believe that charity is a reasonable alternative to justice. They don’t see the awful power game inherent in it
so get the extra week as a grocery voucher/rent/mortgage payment, power credit you know the basics and spend the cash on the kids. More cash for the kids pressies crikey one could even buy some pressies at the supermarket
I wasn’t implying wages should be paid in that way, I was merely suggesting they consider how condescending it would feel to be paid and limited in that way.
While a voucher for a Christmas bonus/gift may be quite common, and perfectly legal, the condescending implications can reduce its shine. Not that it wouldn’t be helpful and better than nothing at all.
I worked for a company back in the 1980s that gave out vouchers upon the completion of a major project that had been finished on budget and on time. Most unusual for large scale computer systems
We were told that if they gave us cash it would have to be declared as income and would be taxed. If the gave us vouchers it wouldn’t have to be declared and wasn’t taxable.
I didn’t really see the difference but I assumed they knew what they were talking about.
Is that still the case, at least for employees? Would benefit payments come into the same category?
I don’t know about benefit payments, but as far as wages go, a cash bonus is taxable, where as a voucher, which can not be redeemed for cash, up to the amount of $300 per quarter is not taxable and no need for FBT either.
True but that’s how they do it anyways at WINZ for a food grant. Monies is loaded onto a card, 3 days to spend it, must be spent where specified, the local supermarkets and not the local dairy etc.
With the food paid for people could use the extra cash how they pleased
Yes, they do. And it’s stigmatizing. We’ve all heard the stories (a number of which Whispering Kate highlighted above).
Contrary to the right-wing narrative, due to their low incomes, beneficiaries are generally adept at budgeting and making ends meet. A number of budgeting advisors would tell you it’s inadequate income levels that is the real issue.
Cinny you seem to be the constantly on the ball commenter here. From the rest it is just attack and how dare you apply some controls and rationality to extra payments to beneficiaries at Christmas. Or ignore the matter altogether and carry on about unfair government.
This was the original comment: JanM 1.1.1
17 December 2016 at 8:51 am
Careful, Cinny, that sounds a bit as though you are looking through a deficit lens. These are adults you are discussing, not ‘naughty children’.
Emotional stuff, critical of any attempt at thought. Any attempt at control of spending is an attack on good, noble people treated unkindly by an evil government. That’s it.
As in most things there is an element of truth. If commenters spent time considering that when they write, there might be really useful things come out of the tons of words that pour onto the site. Unfortunately mostly no. What’s my element of truth here. Probably 70 for 30 against.
interesting that the first thing comes to your mind that a poor person would treat themselves to a pack of fags or a bottle of vino. Perish the thought, and oh my gosh, what will the good church ladies thing?
So you would want to give the Christmas Bonus as a voucher or a credit on the power bill. great, so they use what ever benefit money they get to buy a pack of fags and a bottle of vine and maybe a gift for the kidlings.
you solved what? nothing.
but you got to play the narrative that people on a budget need budgeting help and would not possibly be sensible with their cash.
Which, frankly is a load of bs. Most people on a budget are very very careful how to spend it and how to make it go as far as possible, cause frankly when they reached the end of it its gone.
You also assume that people on low income/benefits don’t need pleasures in life but only the basic necessities to life cause poor. So no fags for mum, no beer for dad and no toys for kids.
What was that, a bonus for Christmas? Ahh, fuck it. Lets just call it a ‘hand out’, and before you get it you must go to a seminar telling you how to be appropriately poor and meek. You know, just so they know how to be great full n shit.
No. Christmas is a false construct of a rampant commercial/capitalist culture and should be eliminated.
God botherers can do their thing if they like…but they should also give consideration to the teachings of their Christ…what he would have to say about how society demands we all celebrate his birth?
I have no sympathy for foolish people who get sucked in by the Xmas hype…god, as a beneficiary I’d be even further up financial shit creek had I not have made the decision 40 plus years ago not to do Christmas.
While Christmas is a false construct, it’s rather ingrained, thus some can’t easily escape it.
It’s a hard one telling kids we don’t do Christmas while it’s marketed at and around them.
And as it does tend to lead a number further up that financial shit creek, a one off extra payment would really help. Perhaps saving some from resorting to those high interest loan-sharks and mobile truck shops targeting the vulnerable.
“It’s a hard one telling kids we don’t do Christmas while it’s marketed at and around them.”
yep…been there with three kids who went through the Catholic school system.
Very hard, but like other lessons we are obliged as parents to teach, once learned gives a lifetime of reward. Teaches them critical thinking, skepticism, and a strong and abiding resistance to gross advertising.
No, sorry Santa, I mean The Chairman, use those $$$ for some education programs on how to resist retail pressure and debt seduction.
While advocating the benefits of not doing Christmas and advising others against getting sucked in may work for some, it doesn’t help those that can’t help but to be lured in.
Moreover, it’s not like those on a benefit that can withdraw from Christmas can’t do with the extra payment.
I was just picturing the McDonald children being lectured on how they can’t have Christmas because it’s a false construct of a rampant commercial/capitalist culture.
Don’t know about your offspring PM, but mine were and still are quite capable of seeing the reason of it.
Change is hard….I know…
What really makes me laugh are those people who quite genuinely say to me…”Oh, you’re so lucky being able to not do Christmas, I wish I could do that!”
I guess in NZ christmas means summer holidays more than anything else, here we don’t buy into the commercial christmas, but the kids have a bit of fun learning new things making presents… go to the beach collect the shells and drift wood, come home make an outside wind chime for the grandparents for Christmas. Everyone is happy not one cent spent.
“We must eliminate Christmas. While we are at it we will destroy Good Friday and Easter Monday as well.”
As far as I can see James no one has mentioned eliminating any of these Christian festivals, what they are saying is, we don’t get sucked in by the crass commercial bullshit that goes with it. I cannot see anything bitter about that, in fact, no doubt it is better than feeling bitter in Feb when all the credit card bills arrive.
What is worshipped today is consumerism not Christianity and the new Cathedrals are the shopping malls, playing stupid Christmas songs and carols at this time of year to give the punters a “good” feeling to help to relieve them of their cash or to give the credit card another thrash.
I have never “celebrated” Christmas as such, but it does not stop the family having a good get together with friends at the end of the year. We enjoy ourselves and best of all come Feb we know that we will not receive any large credit bills.
Agree with Rosemary 200%.
Rosemary, Christmas – is actually a counterweight to all the hate and war as it proclaims love and peace to all. This has less to do with commercialism that was invented in the 50’s with a Coka Cola’s Santa Claus.
Christmas – is a word combining “Christ” as in the son of god and “mes” as in mass at church celebrates hope for those who are actually the poorest.
Unfortunately, a fat man in a red suit, a new Pagan culture has taken over the meaning and given it a make over.
The western countries worshiping only one god and it isn’t one in any gospel, have adopted this religious celebration and made it a commercial juggernaut.
I personally don’t participate in the stampede to the shopping centers but I do support the idea that this time of the year should make us stop for once and start thinking about our neighbors, families and relatives. Making sure that no one has to feel excluded and everybody has food and shelter.
I support the idea that basics like a home, food, power, clothing and a decent education should be available to all, all year round.
And we should all want these things for all, all year round.
In case it isn’t obvious…I really, really hate the whole christmas hypocrisy thing…why can’t we hold those aspirations foremost in our hearts and minds ALL the time?
Maybe it’s time to just bring benefit levels up to a livable level with the same increases that Super has enjoyed over the years… and ‘let’ beneficiaries manage their own Christmas spending.
Indeed. But it the meantime, this would be some instant help. Perhaps allowing some to avoid incurring debt and the fiscal struggle of paying off high interest loans for the rest of the year.
Not only would it be widely appreciated and helpful for beneficiaries, but as with increasing benefits, it would be a great PR move for a National Party.
Pray tell us.
What are these “fat bonuses” you talk about?
I presume they are things that are not documented in the pay and allowances that the MPs get.
Yes, I know it’s not listed as a bonus but it’s certainly going to come across as that as it’s going to be a rather large lump sum just in time for Xmas.
No it isn’t a “fat bonus”.
That is not to say that I don’t think many politicians are not overpaid. Back when I was younger I believe that an MP earned about as much as a teacher with something called a “position of responsibility. Councillors got almost nothing.
Now they all make long term careers of it and have to be dragged out kicking and screaming because it is more money that many of them could ever earn.
Notwithstanding a pay increase cannot be classed as a bonus. For one thing it isn’t even a one-off. It goes on and on forever.
Notwithstanding a pay increase cannot be classed as a bonus.
I did say that but, IMO, the backdating to July will act as one. It’s not as if politicians salaries can’t be planned in line with the new financial year.
Patrick Cockburn
Winner of the Martha Gellhorn Prize 2005
Winner of the James Cameron Prize 2006
Winner of the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2009
Foreign Commentator of the Year (Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards 2013)
Foreign Affairs Journalist of the Year (British Journalism Awards 2014)
Foreign Reporter of the Year (The Press Awards For 2014).
There was a period in 2011 and 2012 when there were genuinely independent opposition activists operating inside Syria, but as the jihadis took over these brave people were forced to flee abroad, fell silent or were dead.
It has just become more dangerous to be a foreign correspondent reporting on the civil war in Syria. This is because the jihadis holding power in east Aleppo were able to exclude Western journalists, who would be abducted and very likely killed if they went there, and replace them as news sources with highly partisan “local activists” who cannot escape being under jihadi control.
The foreign media has allowed – through naivety or self-interest – people who could only operate with the permission of al-Qaeda-type groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham to dominate the news agenda.
The precedent set in Aleppo means that participants in any future conflict will have an interest in deterring foreign journalists who might report objectively. By kidnapping and killing them, it is easy to create a vacuum of information that is in great demand and will, in future, be supplied by informants sympathetic to or at the mercy of the very same people (in this case the jihadi rulers of east Aleppo) who have kept out the foreign journalists. Killing or abducting the latter turns out to have been a smart move by the jihadis because it enabled them to establish substantial control of news reaching the outside world. This is bad news for any independent journalist entering their territory and threatening their monopoly of information.
There was always a glaring contradiction at the heart of the position of the international media: on the one hand it was impossibly dangerous for foreign journalists to enter opposition-held areas of Syria, but at the same time independent activists were apparently allowed to operate freely by some of the most violent and merciless movements on earth. The threat to Western reporters was very real: James Foley had been ritually beheaded on 8 August 2014 and Steven Sotloff a few days later, though long before then foreign journalists who entered insurgent-controlled zones were in great danger.
But the threat was just as great for a local persons living under insurgent rule who criticised their actions or ideas. This is made clear by an Amnesty International report published in July this year entitled Torture Was My Punishment. Philip Luther, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme of Amnesty International, says that in these areas civilians “live in constant fear of being abducted if they criticise the conduct of armed groups in power or fail to abide by the strict rules some have imposed”.
Any genuinely independent journalists or activists are targeted, according to the report. Speaking of Jabhat al-Nusra (which has renamed itself Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and was formerly the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda), a 24-year-old media activist called “Issa” said “they are in control of what we can and cannot say. You either agree with their social rules and policies or you disappear.”
“Ibrahim” who in 2015 organised a peaceful protest in support of the 2011 uprising. Such independent action was evidently unacceptable to Nusra who kidnapped him. He says: “I was taken to the torture room. They placed me in the shabeh position, hanging me from the ceiling from my wrists so that my toes were off the ground. Then they started beating me with cables all over my body… after the shabeh they used the dulab (tyre) technique. They folded my body and forced me to go inside a tyre and then started beating me with wooden sticks.”
Bassel, a lawyer in Idlib, said: “I was happy to be free from the Syrian government’s unjust rule, but now the situation is worse.” He criticised Nusra on Facebook and was immediately detained. Amnesty says the main armed opposition groups are equally severe on anybody differing from them.
There was a period in 2011 and 2012 when there were genuinely independent opposition activists operating inside Syria, but as the jihadis took over these brave people were forced to flee abroad, fell silent or were dead. In August 2013, I appeared on the same television programme as Razan Zaitouneh, a renowned human rights lawyer and founder of the Violations Documentation Centre which recorded crimes and atrocities. She was speaking by Skype from the opposition stronghold of Douma in north east Damascus where I had been the previous year, but it had become too risky for me to visit.
Zaitouneh was describing the sarin poison gas attack that had killed so many people in rebel-held districts of Damascus and denouncing the Syrian government for carrying it out. She was an advocate for the non-jihadi Syrian opposition, but she also criticised the Saudi-backed Jaish al-Islam movement that controlled Douma. On 8 December, its gunmen broke into her office and seized her and her husband Wael Hamada, and two civil rights activists: Samira al-Khalili, a lawyer, and Nazem al-Hamadi, a poet. None of the four have been seen since and are very likely dead.
It was convenient for the international media to broadcast the videos and Skype interviews from east Aleppo as if they had been given as freely as in Copenhagen or Edinburgh. To do otherwise would have damaged the credibility of the graphic and compelling material in which the speakers looked frightened, and with good reason, and there was the crackle of gunfire and the boom of exploding shells.
None of this was necessarily fake – but there were many omissions. There was no sign of the 8,000 to 10,000 armed fighters whom the UN estimated to have been in east Aleppo. In fact, I cannot recall seeing anybody with a gun or manning a fortified position in these heart-rending films. The only visible inhabitants of Aleppo are unarmed civilians, in complete contrast to Mosul where the Iraqi armed forces are battling thousands of Isis gunmen who are using the civilian population as human shields.
It would be simple-minded to believe that this very appealing and professional PR for the Syrian armed opposition is all their own work. Foreign governments play a fairly open role in funding and training opposition media specialists. One journalist of partly Syrian extraction in Beirut told me how he had been offered $17,000 a month to work for just such an opposition media PR project backed by the British government.
The dominance of propaganda over news in coverage of the war in Syria has many negative consequences. It is a genuine civil war and the exclusive focus of on the atrocities committed by the Syrian armed forces on an unarmed civilian population gives a skewed picture of what is happening. These atrocities are often true and the UN says that 82 civilians may have been summarily executed in east Aleppo last month. But, bad though this is, it is a gross exaggeration to compare what has happened in Aleppo to genocide in Rwanda in 1994 or the massacre in Srebrenica the following year.
There is nothing wrong or surprising about the Syrian opposition demonising its enemies and hiding negative news about itself. The Iraqi opposition did the same thing in 2003 and the Libyan opposition in 2011. What is much more culpable is the way in which the Western media has allowed itself to become a conduit for propaganda for one side in this savage conflict. They have done so by rebranding it as authentic partisan information they cannot check, produced by people living under the authority of jihadi movements that tortures or kills any critic or dissenter.
News organisations have ended up being spoon-fed by jihadis and their sympathisers who make it impossible for independent observers to visit areas they control. By regurgitating information from such tainted sources, the media gives al-Qaeda type groups every incentive to go on killing and abducting journalists in order to create and benefit from a news vacuum they can fill themselves.
There’s more propaganda than news coming out of Aleppo this week.
Apparently so.
There was a period in 2011 and 2012 when there were genuinely independent opposition activists operating inside Syria, but as the jihadis took over these brave people were forced to flee abroad, fell silent or were dead.
Oh, they had to flee or die because “jihadis.” And here was me thinking it was because of all that killing and torturing the Assad regime started on when faced with “genuinely independent opposition activists.” It does seem odd though that “jihadis” only started taking over after Assad had made it more than your life’s worth to be a democracy enthusiast.
It is a genuine civil war and the exclusive focus of on the atrocities committed by the Syrian armed forces on an unarmed civilian population gives a skewed picture of what is happening.
True, the western media isn’t getting any coverage of rebel atrocities, for the reasons Cockburn mentions. On the other hand, the jihadi groups carrying out atrocities aren’t claiming to be legitimate governments that should get to turn up at the UN and be treated as though they aren’t actually just a gang of murderers. Nor have they turned Aleppo into the most-destroyed city since Grozny (also a Russian special). The media focus would be on Assad and his Iranian and Russian patrons regardless of whether western media could cover jihadi atrocities or not.
Cockburn has much stronger credentials to comment on the situation in Syria than you.
Please explain your where your insights on the Middle East come from?
Y ears of experienceas an independent journalist ?
A PhD in modern Middle East politics?
Please explain the authority upon which you can dismiss Cockburn’s views with such assurance.
I sense readers of the Standard are reading your strong opinionated view supported by no actual substance.
And please today.
Express your view without recourse to aggro.
Pointing out your logical fallacies isn’t “aggro,” it’s “education.” Speaking of which, your comment above again attempts to argue from authority.
Instead of playing “my link is better than yours,” try arguing something yourself for a change. What in my comment do you believe was incorrect and why?
Paul, I wouldn’t bother responding to such a lame attempt at a wind-up. He knows it is in fact a competition, and that the hapless “Psycho Milt” is not even qualified to enter the arena.
By the way, just to clarify, I am not running Psycho Milt as a stooge. He is his own man. Sadly.
And there is a special breed of summer visitors: the super-wealthy who have built palaces that are left unoccupied for much of the year and who fly in – often literally, by plane to Mangere and then by helicopter to Waiheke – for a few weeks at the height of summer. There’s an undertone of disapproval – how wasteful! – when this phenomenon is discussed. But really it’s not that different from the usage pattern of the traditional Kiwi fibro bach: occupied for a few weeks at Christmas and left empty – and probably, back in the day, unlocked – the rest of the time.
But you can expect more super-wealthy to invade any time now. “For people with really phenomenal wealth, and I’m talking, by and large, not New Zealanders, this is a very attractive place and, post-Trump, becoming even more attractive,” says Hawkesby. “There are quite a few non-New Zealanders with substantial properties, but when they come into the village they wear Jandals, shorts and a T-shirt. They’re not coming in white linen. They sneak in, sneak out and don’t want to make a fuss. It’s not the Hamptons in that respect.”
I grew up believing that this was a country where everyone had a fair shot. I believed that if you got an education, and you worked hard, then you had just as much chance of getting ahead as anyone.
After making this programme I’ve come to realise that I was wrong—the world I grew up in has gone, and it’s been replaced with a new set of rules.
The thing is that we were all promised if we played by those rules—and suffered through those first few years of really hard times—then the fruits of the new economy would eventually begin to trickle down, and things would steadily improve for us all.
Three decades on, I wanted to find out if those promises have been kept.
Do you feel like you’ve had a fair share of the economic gains of the last thirty years? Does it feel like the ‘trickle down’ has got all the way down to you yet? Are things getting easier, or are they just getting harder?
This isn’t a documentary about other people’s lives… it’s about your life, and your children’s lives.
Nigel Latta (and possibly yourself) may well believe that 1970’s New Zealand was nirvana. I do not.
The changes of 1984 to 1992 were essential. New Zealand is much better for them. Yes there are more wealthy people, but overall New Zealand is better off. In fact income inequality has reduced in the last little while, and income distribution has been essentially the same for the last 25 years.
If the Left want to campaign for a modernised form of the 1970’s; fine. It would mean top taxes of 60%, govt spending of 40% of GDP, a much more extensive welfare state, and a much more regulated economy.
National is happy to have that contest. It will basically campaign on the economy as it is now. It will be a contest of freedom versus regulation
However, it is clear that Bill English will adjust current settings, but not in a radical way. Some more social spending (using the surpluses), but no increase in taxes, continuing to push for a more open trading economy (FTA’s), and I expect more focus on innovation.
The most noticeable income inequality is the comparison between the top and bottom deciles.
Wealth inequality is more of a problem. Income inequality feeds into it, but wealth inequality is harder to turn back. In NZ, Auckland particularly, there’s a noticeable difference between property owners and renters. Bernard Hickey recently wrote about how renters went backwards during the last 8 years, while property owners watched the value of their properties increase.
In New Zealand, income (and probably wealth) was being shared out more and more evenly from the 1950s up until the 1980s – but for the next two decades we had the developed world’s biggest increase in income inequality.
s the graph (at left) shows, in that time, the average income of someone in the richest 1% has doubled, from just under $200,000 to nearly $400,000 (adjusting for inflation). In contrast, the average disposable income for someone in the poorest 10% is only slightly higher than it was in the 1980s. (More details and the source of this graph can be found in Wealth and New Zealand, published by BWB.) That means many New Zealanders struggle to pay their bills and lead a decent life.
And in Auckland the numbers of people struggling, homeless, etc has noticeably risen in the last 8 years.
Nothing to be complacent about – everything to be concerned about . Needs more than some clever tweaking.
You are correct about wealth inequality (which as you note is different to income inequality). With rapidly increasing property prices wealth inequality has opened up, especially between renters and owners.
There are really the only two ways to change that.
The first is to increase housing supply which will flatten price increases, and may even reduce values a bit. The increase in supply seems to be happening, although it has taken some time to come through.
The second is to make it easier for first home buyers, especially those on lower incomes, to get into their first house. My solution would be a govt guarantee of interest rates for the first five years of the mortgage. For the lowest incomes, a guaranteed interest rate of 3% and for low to middle incomes 5%. The mortgages would still be bank mortgages, with the guarantee effectively being a payment to the bank of the difference between market interest rates ,and the guaranteed rate.
Without addressing the demand side (in fact, if successful your suggestion to assist first home-buyers would add to housing demand) supply would have to vastly increase to slow the rate of property price increases.
As for your suggestion, how do you suppose first home-buyers will attain the initial deposit to allow them to then enter the market and attain these lower interests rates you’re proposing?
Precisely. When house prices are where they’re now lowering interest rates won’t touch the sides. But don’t expect a response from Spray and Walk Away Wayne.
Hi Wayne -I wouldn’t support anything that involves borrowing money for a short term outcome as the same people who created that chasm in the first place will get fed some more of the hard earned money for higher profits.
The only way you can remedy the situation is by planning housing projects that include infrastructure with the aim that you do not require ac car to get your essential provisions, health care and some entertainment.
It also would mean that the planning needs to be done for the next 20-30 years – a feat that needs a corresponding vision – I don’t know any politician or even – god forbid – business person in this country that would qualify. Look at Auckland’s public transport system, already outdated and outgrown- this can only happen when the greedy meet the needy (for another term).
Yes. Needs regulations or taxes to stop land banking.
Possible rent caps as a short term measure – rents are rising faster than incomes and CPI. The Green Party in Ireland is asking for a cap of no rises more than 4% per year, as a short term measure.
Developers are only interested in building on new land, with big houses for the well-off. There’s no profit in smaller houses on already residential land. Lots of greenfields residential development happening in places like Orewa – but they will hardly be affordable.
Building projects aimed at increasing supply, in places like New Lynn, have not produced the amount of houses promised by now.
Need more safe, secure state housing – not with market rents. To pull down the rents & prices of houses.
House price inflation gives a inaccurate measure of the health of our economy. tourism, immigration, house price rises – not productive investments that will ensure a sustainable economy.
Man, top tax rate of 60%, govt spending 40% of GDP, extensive welfare state, more regulated economy sounds amazing. Probably more important to also have higher tax on capital and finance, but still, excellent ideas, and that government spending would certainly get a lot done for the country, a hell of a lot more efficiently than the useless private sector.
Your pitting of this as ‘freedom vs regulation’ is such bollocks. Neoliberal economics just gives freedom to people with high incomes and lots of capital. Low and middle income people are far worse off.
I’m also fairly sure your income distribution claim is bollocks too
And English has had years as finance minister to focus on innovation, yet the country’s R&D spend is the absolute pits. So your expectations will inevitably be dashed on the rocks of National’s incompetence.
1970s New Zealand may not have been a nirvana , but it was a hell of a lot better for most NZers than today.
Of course the rich are a lot better off now and you’re part of that group. So I’d expect a selfish rich person to regard the changes sine the 80s as good.
Factually off the mark comparison Wayne. Tax rates for most people today are higher than then …..
GST – 15% and Tax – 30% plus student loan for many – 12% = 57% for a lot of younger people
and much of the rest it’s 45% which used to be well up the bands. And the excessive charging for compulsory government services. Looked at the cost of getting a drivers license lately??
Only those on high incomes $150k are better off with the low tax rates.
New Zealand may be better off in $$$ ( depends what you measure ) but all the gains over the last 25 years have gone to the small top sector or been sent offshore to multinationals. The 1984 to 1991 reforms turbo charged income inequality and it’s never recovered. Most wages have barely shifted over the last 25 years while costs continue to rise.
As for the government being 40% of gdp spending ? Don’t forget to deduct the attached income (from better power prices for one).
And that would have to be better than sending the same amount of money to prop up dodgy services from greedy companies.
Oh I forgot to mention. Since there is a group like you doing so well they should be delighted to give back with higher tax rates – we could even have a 60%ter lapel badge sent out by the IRD
“The changes of 1984 to 1992 were essential. New Zealand is much better for them. Yes there are more wealthy people, but overall New Zealand is better off.”
Wayne, we were discussing student loans the other day and you pretty much spun the same line. I asked you a few questions…I’m awaiting answers…
“Wayne
How much did you pay to enroll for your first degree?
How much did you have to pay for accommodation and living expenses.
How much did you have to borrow from the government to pay for your university education?
You may just have known someone who trained for a trade while you were studying…law, was it? Anyway…how much did apprentices have to pay to train during the time you were studying?
Funny. don’t you think, that the loudest voices demanding today’s youth mortgage potentially their entire future to pay for their education are the privileged who got their education for free.
I firmly hope there is an especially hot zone in hell for those New Zealanders over fifty years old who do not hang their heads in shame at this betrayal of today’s youth.”
Those “essential changes” Wayne…what negative impacts did they have for you?
“Spray and Walk Away Wayne has left the building.”
Bugger!
Funny how he waxes all authoritative and fiscally on to it then avoids the real questions.
He’d argue he’s being impartial, taking a ‘big sky’ view. Typical of the privileged to ignore the damage done to lesser mortals.
I had an A Bursary plus an out of town accommodation bursary. Student fees were about 10% of the actual cost to the University of delivering the courses, (compared to fees being about 30% of the true costs today). I would note that only 10% of NZer’s went to University at that time.
I had a job the entire summer holiday, plus part-time work during the year (about 20 hours per week).
My possessions were personal plus a motorbike. No travel overseas or even to the South Island. I recall I seemed to be virtually broke most of the time, but I could afford to go to the movies.
At the end of my degree I had no debt, but also owned very little.
However, within one year of graduating we owned a house in Manurewa, on the basis of 10% deposit, some of which was borrowed from my wife’s parents. Because our income was low, we qualified for a 3% loan from what was then State Advances. But later, when buying my next house, interest rates were 15%.
By three or four years work (after returning from doing an LLM in Canada) I had hit the top tax rate of 60% which kicked in at $22,000 income. The top tax rate kicked in on way too low an income! That all changed with the election of the 1984 Labour govt, which in my view transformed the NZ economy in a fundamentally good way.
I personally think the combination of lower personal taxes and student loans makes much more sense than 60% taxes. There are much better incentive signals. We obviously now also have GST, but in large measure GST replaced a proliferation of sales taxes, many of them pretty high depending on the nature of the goods.
We did not have anything like the amount of personal possessions/household chattels which seem typical today..
My first overseas trip was when I went to Canada for postgraduate study.
New Zealand seemed a much poorer country than it is today, and much poorer than Canada. That is no longer true. New Zealand has done quite a bit of catching up in the last two decades, especially the last decade, since we did not have anything like the level of setback during the GFC that North America and Europe suffered.
Have a look at the 2017 Economist Yearbook for the comparative GDP per capita figures. We have passed the UK and France and are close to Germany. Not so long ago we had the same GDP per capita as Italy. They are now miles behind NZ.
So there is no betrayal of today’s youth. The only significant problem to be fixed is housing affordability, which is primarily an Auckland problem.
God, Paul…I’d have to go through it line by line…I consider it a win that he actually answered and showed his true colours…yet again.
Grrrr….
“At the end of my degree I had no debt, but also owned very little.”
Bully for bloody you, Wayne.
What kind of a country encourages it’s children to pursue a tertiary education AND to borrow in order to pay for it?
THEN, THEN change the narrative so that somehow it is the Government, made up of privileged prats who at the end of their degree had no debt, that is doing this generation a favour?
Then, then, increased GST (you vomited that up Wayne) and practically forced the young ones into compulsory Kiwisaver schemes by threatening them with no Superannuation like the privileged prats have.
“New Zealand seemed a much poorer country than it is today, ”
““seemed poorer” is more based on the limited amount of consumer goods available back then.”
You’re probably right…but that was not what I was thinking.
I well remember when those import restrictions were lifted and ‘luxury’ goods could be brought in to satisfy the lust of the new New Zealand upper class….
…and a deluge of crap for the masses to buy to give them the delusion of ‘wealth’.
“Incentive signals” to whom? The already privileged classes and their children?
An see Barry Coates on the way the OECD stats are misleading about NZ’s economy.
Misleading GDP figures, pumped up by property speculation and high immigration, have given the impression that all is well, masking our continued economic decline compared to OECD countries.
In fact, we are near the top of the OECD in hours worked, but near the bottom in terms of productivity. We’re working harder and working longer hours, but not working smarter. The result is that we’re getting more stressed, with less time for families and each other, while losing ground economically.
The latest analysis of labour productivity comes from the Productivity Commission, showing a cluster of related problems that are contributing to our low productivity. Firstly, there is low investment per worker. The Productivity Commission shows low investment in workers skills in 19 out of 24 industries, compared to Australia. With relatively low wage rates and more short term contracts, there is low investment in upgrading worker skills and improving technology. This is made worse by our education system failing to provide a decent education to kids in low decile schools and under-investing in vocational education and training opportunities.
Secondly, the Productivity Commission report shows that, instead of investing in productive enterprise, investment is going into tax-free speculation, such as residential housing. New Zealand’s diversion of capital into residential housing is far above the OECD average.
NOAA Issues ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Assessment on ‘Unprecedented’ Arctic Warming
If President-elect Donald Trump’s appointments of a “band of climate conspiracy theorists” weren’t already stoking fears for the ever-warming planet, the latest Arctic Report Card from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) may well provide the ignition.
The annual assessment, released Wednesday, finds that “persistent warming” is driving “extensive changes” to the region. In fact, the average air temperatures were “unprecendented”—the highest on observational record—and “Arctic temperatures continue to increase at double the rate of the global temperature increase,” NOAA states.
“Rarely have we seen the Arctic show a clearer, stronger, or more pronounced signal of persistent warming and its cascading effects on the environment than this year,” said Jeremy Mathis, director of NOAA’s Arctic Research Program. “While the science is becoming clearer, we need to improve and extend sustained observations of the Arctic that can inform sound decisions on environmental health and food security as well as emerging opportunities for commerce,” he added.
I am new to the mike so forgive me if I am re-visiting a subject that has been flogged to death but everytime I hear David Shearer speak as I did this morning talking to Kim Hill it re-ignites my anger with the Labour Party’s heirarchy that saw fit to dump him from his leadership role ….what a PM this guy would have made if given half a chance .A prime example of the short sighted and poll driven decision making so reminiscent of our recently departed PM . I thought the NZ Labour Party was better than that and my faith in them was rattled to the core over the issue and has still not returned sufficiently to award them my vote
Clive Blake
I am new to the mike so forgive me if I am re-visiting a subject that has been flogged to death but everytime I hear David Shearer speak as I did this morning talking to Kim Hill it re-ignites my anger with the Labour Party’s heirarchy that saw fit to dump him from his leadership role ….what a PM this guy would have made if given half a chance .
He wasn’t dumped – he resigned and he did so because he was failing badly as leader of Labour. Amazingly enough, IMO, Labour Party members don’t expect their leader to be a National Lite beneficiary basher.
Or you could just accept – like he seems to have – that whilst he is/might be a really nice guy – compassionate and wanting to put his humanitarian skills to good use, that he wasn’t really cut out for politics in today’s environment.
Let’s just give him whatever support we’re able in his new endeavours, but not try and reinvent history and paint him as something he wasn’t.
At that time and place, he was shit. Which is not to say, given a different, less toxic time and place – he might have been brilliant.
Who knows Clive, there might be a time in future when he’ll return (hopefully a little more charitable towards beneficiaries painting a roof)
That was an honest interview – if he’d told the spin doctors to take a hike from the start, he might have done better. What I detected (even if he didn’t actually say it) was that he lacked the self-confidence – or perhaps arrogance to pull it off. He was probably too ‘nice’. Instead of Fran Mould, he probably could have done with a Paul fucking Henry – or even that curmudgeon Edwards
I imagine during his experiences with the U.N. in the past, he caught a little bit of the “You don’t know how lucky we are”
I think he’s living in Rongotai or close to the border, so it would make sense.
However, it’s not that safe a seat as I could envisage a strong Green campaign in the seat.
In the article linked from Bomber’s post, KDC said that the Moment of Truth revealed something that should have lost key the 2014 election, if the MSM had written about the MoM accurately.
I watched the MoM, and saw no shocking revelations about Key. It was a fizzer in that respect,
Snowden did reveal that the NSA had a presence in NZ. That was the biggest revelation.
I also think KDC over-states the bias of NZ MSM. There are some good investigative pieces coming from the likes of David Fisher, Matt Nippert and John Campbell.
The extent of access the five eyes network had to NZers data, was laid out in the Moment of Truth.
This information showed the completeness of the lie Key told when discussing the new legislation. However, for most, the focus was on Kim Dotcom, and that point seemed to be ignored and forgotten.
There were two aspects to the Moment of Truth. The fizzer was in relation to KDC’s hype prior to the MoT, saying he was going to produce evidence Key lied about KDC’s arrest. This is what I meant when I said KDC’s MoT was a fizzer. KDC is responsible for over-shadowing the Greenwald-Snowden revelations, because he put himself at the centre of the MoT and made it all about him.
The stuff told by Greenwald and Snowden was riveting – and the right wing journos in NZ tended to dismiss that. Not all the MSM believed Key though, and some thought there was enough evidence to damn Key.
Andrea Vance reckoned the MoT did produce enough substance re-surveillance, and wasn’t interested in the KDC kerfuffle.
Snowden says New Zealand had access to X-KEYSCORE, the data harvesting programme at the centre of the global spying scandal which his whistle-blowing sparked last year.
Not only that, but the Government Communications Security Bureau contributed to its development and expansion.
Snowden also says the NSA operates a facility in Auckland. None of Snowden’s previous disclosures about the US, Canada, Australia and Britain have been disputed.
His assertions came after journalist Glenn Greenwald published details of Project Speargun – GCSB’s masterplan for mass surveillance. He backed up his reporting with NSA documents showing the operation was underway, and US and New Zealand spies were waiting for domestic legislation to complete the project.
In his captivating broadcast, Snowden raised two extremely important questions.
Firstly, why did Key not make details of Project Spearhead public during the public debate about the new spying laws?
That trashes Key’s claims about enhanced transparency on intelligence and security issues. evidence to support Snowden’s claim.
Dotcom set out to prove the Prime Minister a liar over moves to extradite the MegaUpload founder to the US.
But there were no killer punches landed on John Key. Neither was any conclusive evidence revealed proving Key knew about Dotcom well in advance of the Coatesville raid. Even the email that was flicked to the Herald as positive proof that Key was involved in a Hollywood plot to spirit Dotcom to the US, was quickly dismissed by Warners as a fake.
The mass surveillance issue was always a red herring, Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden presented no concrete evidence of privacy breaches, Julian Assange was a sideshow. Snowden’s revelation that the NSA had an operation in Auckland has to be followed up.
But Dotcom set out to demolish the Prime Minister’s credibility. He has spectacularly failed.
The hype around KDC was of Dotcom’s own making. He hyped up the MoT before hand, saying he would produce evidence to prove the plot against him by Key and Hollywood re-his arrest in NZ. He had been talking up for a long while that that at the MoT he would produce evidence that JK had lied about KDC and his arrest.
Just before the MoT he produced an email, and seemed to promise more in the MoT. But at the last minute he seemed to pull the plug on saying anything in the MoT. Then Warners’ claimed the email was fake.
That is why I am skeptical about KDC’s claims about a hack of the NZ government. He likes to grandstand. If it is a big secret to be revealed next year, why is KDC leaking about it?
Looking forward to it, NZ needs more transparency, much respect to those whom are pro-active towards it. Makes one reflect on an OM post a few months back
Re MOT.. Thoroughly enjoyed the moment of truth and build up, Amsterdam, Greenwald, Ed and Julian, wide awake sharers of information, intelligent and proactive, RESPECT.
NZ public found it all a bit hard to swallow however, perplexed with the media spin on it, so desperate were the mainstream to have click bait on DotCom that they missed the whole point, or maybe they simply suppressed valuable information, justifying their actions by saying the public are just not that interested. Least that’s how I saw it played out in 2014.
It wasn’t just the media spin, it was KDC’s own self-centred hype about his own case that muddied the waters.
I seem to recall it was Greenwald that told him to pull the plug on making the climax about the MoT about KDC’s own case. He thought it would over-shadow the important stuff from the Snowden papers. But, by then, KDC had already done the damage.
“We believe in giving people a voice and that we cannot become arbiters of truth ourselves, so we’re approaching this problem carefully,” Facebook’s News Feed VP Adam Mosseri wrote. “We’ve focused our efforts on the worst of the worst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain, and on engaging both our community and third party organizations.”
Seems reasonable and they’re certainly going about it in a careful and considered manner.
The conservatives seem to be concerned that their lies will be found out in near real time.
“A great piece from Wayne Hope…….”
AS ALWAYS.
He (also) has a good handle on the issue of “all those bloody foreigners and international students coming here taking all our jobs”
The Atlantic’s short documentary on the “alt-right” Neo Nazis, includes interview with Richard Spencer, current self-proclaimed front man of the “movement”:
” necessary to know that they exist and how they operate”…not really.
“Richard B. Spencer greeted an audience of more than 200 at an alt-right conference in Washington D.C. last month with the cry, “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” He was met with enthusiastic cheers and Nazi salutes”…oooh, 200 people.
Thats the same number that enjoyed the Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown first ever Festive Food & Craft Fair….. followed by a Cookery Demonstration.
The rebranding going on at the moment with the neo fascist right is quite astonishing, or at least the rebranding is interesting, what’s most astonishing has been the media’s propensity to lap it all up.
As for the hairdo, that fashy undercut is everywhere at the moment, I’m sporting a version of it myself and I’m certainly no neo-nazi. An example of the lengths to which the Alt-Right has gone to make themselves the mainstream as they’ve pivoted away from the “crazy” skinhead and Klansmen stereotypes towards a clean-cut well-dressed Hitler Youth look which the fashion world finds irresistible.
A good example of appropriation then, like Pepe the frog. Sometimes they seem ridiculous – some are trying to appropriate 80s digital music “ironically” as “fashwave” while others are split over whether they should boycott Star Wars films because they’re anti-fascist and have women in them, or watch them and root for the Empire/First Order.
Peter Williams evidently finds “Duterte Harry” and
his extradjudicial killings to be highly amusing
Advertisement for 6 o’clock News, TV1, 5:39 p.m., repeated at 5:47 p.m.
In a chirpy and amused tone, veteran autocue reader Peter Williams reads out the following teaser for tonight’s News:
“The new Philippines president personally confirms that he PERSONALLY KILLED three people in his war on drugs!”
Peter Williams, like his vacant-eyed colleagues, has never impressed me as someone who either knows much or thinks much about international politics. But he does know enough to realise that President Duterte of the Philippines is an official ally, and therefore even something as depraved as his killing of unarmed captives can be recounted in a chirpy and amused tone.
It’s not hard to imagine the lugubrious countenance Williams would strike, and the tone of grim admonition he would adopt if ever an official enemy, rather than an “ally” like Duterte, boasted of killing unarmed captives.
There have been many killings lately, the officer jokes, that these days you can easily get away with any kind of murder: “You can kill him, put masking tape on him and everybody is going to think that guy is a drug pusher.”
My little ideas for the big Cabinet announcement tomorrow:
1. Prime Minister Bill English: SIS, Tourism
2. Paula Bennett: Housing, Auckland Issues, Associate Finance
3. Stephen Joyce: Finance
4. Simon Bridges: Economic Development, and Transport
5. Nikki Kaye: Social Development, Education
6. Todd McClay: Trade, Foreign Affairs
7. Michael Woodhouse: Health
8. Chris Finlayson: Attorney-General, Treaty Negotations, and Arts+Culture
9. Judith Collins: Defence, Police
10. Dr Jian Yang: Minister of Tertiary Education, Associate Minister Foreign Affairs
11. Andrew Bayly: Ministry for Primary Industries (Forestry, Fisheries, Agriculture)
12. Gerry Brownlee: Chief Whip, Earthquake Recovery
13. Joanthan Coleman: Justice
14. Scott Simpson: Revenue
15. Alfred Ngaro: Corrections, Pacific island Affairs
16. Nick Smith: Conservation, Environment
17. Jamie-Lee Ross: Local Government
interesting Ad, is Nikki well enough to handle two big portfolio’s ? Please not Nick in environment/conservation. And Coleman doing Justice instead of Health, fascinating.
You reckon Tolley is a goner? Wonder whom will announce resignation for family reasons tomorrow, haven’t had any quitters for two whole days now lololz.
Do you know what time the announcement is tomorrow please? I’m curious as to the outgoing PM’s picks for the outgoing government.
Radio NZ are coving it from 3, with commentary thereafter.
I think Kaye is well on the mend, but if she wants to beg off, fine; I was thinking like a PM trying to keep the social investment framework integrated and accelerating. Those were the two portfolios to do it.
My dream is to sit down for an hour with the pair of them and have a free and honest discussion about why they didn’t sort the Family Carers issue before it went to the Tribunal in 2008.
They had all the facts and research at their fingertips, and chose to throw us to the National wolves.
Thanks, ladies. Your angry ranting in the House on the 17th May 2013 was nothing but crocodile tears.
Labour took exactly the same stance towards the carers sleepover case that started around the same time. They could’ve fixed it there and then but Labour let the unions and the providers scrap it out for years before the workers got what ended up being a pretty watered down form of justice.
Dyson tried to claim quite a bit of the glory from a number small wins in the disability sector that she in fact had fuck all to do with. She’s definitely another who needs to sling their hook.
Hah! What had me yelling at the radio during the sleepover case was that the very simplest of solutions would have been to do what ACC was doing at the time….a tax free allowance of about $80 -90 per night for non active sleepovers…instead of the pathetic $30 odd that IHC was paying under Miserly of Health. I understand that there is an hourly rate for both now.
Labour could’ve fixed it by renegotiating the contracts based on the true cost of wages. Instead they washed their hands saying it was an “employment” problem. Then when the workers were successful at the Employment Court Labour MPs started cheering “we won!” The whole thing was sickening to watch, including IHC as well, how as an employer they then took on the workers when they themselves argue for proper wages for care workers. It was a perfect opportunity for IHC to join with the workers to lobby government over the inadequate contracts. IHC’s position on that issue showed their true colours, consistent with how they’re colluding with the government to end state involvement in housing. IHC is evil to the core.
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
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. ...
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. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
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Should beneficiaries be given a Christmas bonus (a one off double payment) to help them through Christmas?
It’s a thoughtful idea Chairman, but I’d suggest a grocery voucher (no smokes or booze allowed) and credit on the power bill instead. That would still leave a bit extra in the pocket, full cupboards and power sorted.
Careful, Cinny, that sounds a bit as though you are looking through a deficit lens. These are adults you are discussing, not ‘naughty children’.
JanM
There is a need to keep a clear head when doing something of a helpful nature for people in need. It is NOT unreasonable to take measures to ensure that people use the help in the most effective way to aid themselves and ease their lives, and those of who are dependent on them.
We know that we can all be tempted to do things which are not the best steps we should take, or use opportunities well. Cinny is just being realistic and you are using PC cant and not understanding people’s basic drives at all.
And sometimes, for their health, people need to let their hair down. Such a double payment would, as far as I’m concerned, be for that precise purpose.
Is that not what Muldoon did some years/decades back ?
I would also suggest that it only applied to those simply on the Benefit/super and not to people with secondary pensions.
.
. Hi Greywarshark
. You are so patronising and dismissive towards JanM. It is true that not everyone is as wise as you, or as wise as Cinny.
But among the people you are despising by saying what they shall eat and drink, will be many who excel way and above you. Now and in the future.
Observer Tokoroa
I thought that Jan M was patronising actually and now you. You are so much, that you can’t learn anything from someone who knows stuff and who has thought about that stuff.
The trouble with people like yourself is that you are too rigid, first you want people to have the greatest freedom with what you hand out. Then others who truly despise the struggling classes feel free to step in and say how useless the poor are because they didn’t use the help in the way that the rigid expect.
People often get quite despairing and give up trying to follow rules when they are hard up and live from day to day. They may become alcoholic which will soak up every dollar they are given, or spend extra funds at Christmas time on expensive toys that soon get broken, leaving not much left for afterwards.
An example – I believe in Glasgow the drinking men there had priorities for money – food, alcohol, gas or electricity, shoes, then rent. And the greatest of these is alcohol. But in NZ today as well, there will be credit card payments etc.
Don’t be so snotty some of you wet charity givers. When you want to do good, think around the problem just not chant slogans about freedom and the nobility and wisdom of adults. Everyone can fall into temptation of overspending, the housing and credit bubble is affecting the supposedly wealthy.
Why should those at the bottom with few comforts and kind consideration from the government re living wages, decent social hours etc etc – why I ask should they automatically direct their extra money where it needs to be, what about some fun for a change? Many of them would just buy a dozen of beer and fish and chips and have some fun for a change. Which is okay but something has to be held back for the other important things. And both partners in a family would need to show restraint also, something not always seen in domestic violence unhappy valley NZ.
In other words, people who haven’t had spare money for a while need to receive help with thought. Even Lotto winners of millions need help in controlling their spending – in a couple of years people can be back to hard times.
“In other words, people who haven’t had spare money for a while need to receive help with thought. ”
Totally agree.
And it does not undermine the leftie narrative…empowering people to be sensible and very, very careful with what they have. Encouraging people to think ahead is a good thing.
Teaching people budgeting skills is a good thing…and if you want proof of this from a leftie viewpoint…look what our right wing government did to those who need this help during these very, very tight times….
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/305818/budgeting-service-funding-to-be-slashed
It does undermine the ‘leftie narrative’ actually. The whole concept of keeping a poorly paid ‘underclass’ to whom the wealthy can hand out charity as they see fit is a very right wing narrative
“It does undermine the ‘leftie narrative’ actually.”
Which bit?
’empowering people to be sensible and very, very careful with what they have’, or ‘Encouraging people to think ahead is a good thing.’
Or, ‘Teaching people budgeting skills is a good thing.’ ???
Except the state is made up of organisations that are most definitely not using an empowerment model. You know this from your experiences with Health and WINZ. And in the context of that, treating all beneficiaries as people incapable of making the best decisions for themselves, is at the least buying into the RW narrative JanM is talking about.
Trying to teach people budgeting skills when they don’t have enough income to live on is dehumanising, patronising and in the end a mindfuck where the people enforcing the teaching are the same people who made sure those people didn’t have enough to live on in the first place. Under those conditions if some beneficiaries want to blow their mythical Christmas bonus on beer or cigarettes or whatever else gives them some temporary relief, then let them, because the solutions to their problems and in fact society’s problems are not to be found in do-gooder classism.
weka
You contradict yourself, and also manage to support people in need going on a total splurge which would end up with them feeling worse than they started with none of the money left to do something valuable to them.
Under those conditions if some beneficiaries want to blow their mythical Christmas bonus on beer or cigarettes or whatever else gives them some temporary relief, then let them,
Just go and binge is your answer is it? Instead what about a few bottles of beer, fish and chips and a visit to the $3 shop and op-shops and get max benefit. Is that a stupid, mean idea. Trying to ensure that they get a range of value from the one payment is nasty do-gooder classism is it?
Some of you people have no compassion or love for others, just slogans and social service teaching through tertiary training. A model to follow blindly. Also many people just offer charity with a bit of a sneer or have some PC filter that stops them seeing the reality of what the person actually both wants and needs.
You are getting mixed up with dissatisfaction of government policies in general with an example of practical help to particular people at a particular time.
weka
You contradict yourself,
Where’s the contradiction?
and also manage to support people in need going on a total splurge which would end up with them feeling worse than they started with none of the money left to do something valuable to them.
Yes, I believe that beneficiaries have just as much right to self-medicate, make mistakes, fuck up, or make the best of a bad situation as anyone else.
You’re making an assumption that a splurge is always bad for someone. I disagree.
“Under those conditions if some beneficiaries want to blow their mythical Christmas bonus on beer or cigarettes or whatever else gives them some temporary relief, then let them,”
Just go and binge is your answer is it?
No, it’s my compassion. I’m not suggesting we mandate it.
Instead what about a few bottles of beer, fish and chips and a visit to the $3 shop and op-shops and get max benefit. Is that a stupid, mean idea.
How would the state make that happen?
Trying to ensure that they get a range of value from the one payment is nasty do-gooder classism is it?
No, treating all beneficiaries as the same, but separate from other NZers simply because they are reliant in welfare, and then controlling how they spend their money, in the guise of what is best for them, that’s the do-gooder classism.
Some of you people have no compassion or love for others, just slogans and social service teaching through tertiary training. A model to follow blindly.
‘you people’? My PhD is in welfare, and no, I’ve never been to uni, and many of my peers have been beneficiaries. I’m part of the underclass you are discussing.
Also many people just offer charity with a bit of a sneer or have some PC filter that stops them seeing the reality of what the person actually both wants and needs.
How about an opt-in option then. Beneficiaries choose whether they get their Christmas bonus as cash in the bank or a voucher.
You are getting mixed up with dissatisfaction of government policies in general with an example of practical help to particular people at a particular time.
No I’m not. My comments are all in response to the idea that the govt should pay via a conditional voucher rather cash. If you are talking about individuals needing and wanting specialist or targeted help that’s a different thing.
Re teaching people budgeting skills
We should teach all the kids how to handle money/finance via the state education system, from say year five or six (stnd 3 & 4) onwards, building up skills for more complex understandings at high school.
Money is a fundamental part of life at the present, and so many are unable to handle it simply because they have not been given the skills, and it sucks. Just like how they push us out of the hospital with a new born and a lack of knowledge and then they wonder why some are having trouble copping.
I think as adults people can be more sensitive re money, deep down probably just embarrassed because they were not educated about it. But also maybe sensitive because no matter how they try they just can’t get ahead simply because housing cost is so high.
Financial care on the tv news every night, cut the sport segment in half lolz. Maybe that’s a way to teach the adults without financial knowledge, a how to segment sponsored by Kiwibank the bank our government uses (next government best ditch westpac for kiwibank, that move is long long over due) …
In summary of my big sidetracked novel lmao..
Grocery Voucher (possibly tax write off for WINZ), 2 week limit to spend it, automatically loaded on to their Community Services Card, because it is different in appearance from the current ‘green payment card’ checkout operators would be told that shoppers can buy whatever they like as long as it doesn’t require ID, such as booze etc.
Maybe?
There are special skills needed to live on an inadequate income, but the govt should not be the one to teach them (esp as they create the situation in the first place).
Grocery Voucher (possibly tax write off for WINZ), 2 week limit to spend it, automatically loaded on to their Community Services Card, because it is different in appearance from the current ‘green payment card’ checkout operators would be told that shoppers can buy whatever they like as long as it doesn’t require ID, such as booze etc.
Why should other NZs be allowed to spend their Christmas money on alcohol but not beneficiaries? Serious question.
Why the 2 week limit?
“In other words, people who haven’t had spare money for a while need to receive help with thought. ”
Totally agree.
So make help available to those people then, if they want it. No need to treat all beneficiaries the same, or separate them off as a class because they are on welfare.
with a food voucher it’s usually a 3 day limit, 2 weeks is longer, maybe 4 would be better?
The money one would save from not having to buy food one could spend on booze or whatever they like.
Just brainstorming is all. Personally beneficary bashing disgusts me, what Paula did to those ladies now that just pure nasty.
TBH Drunk people gross me out, I’m not a boozer and have trouble understanding why everyone wants to get so wasted at christmas. Grow some herb it’s cheaper and the food becomes superb, no hang over, no aggression, no dramas, just be safe after all it is still illegal (the stupid it hurts it really does)
Anyways i’ve seen many things, but one of the worst is booze in the supermarket, if it wasn’t in the bloody supermarket or available to 18 yr old kids (thanks national for those laws, you dumb fucks – please excuse that outburst). It wouldn’t even be a stumbling block with the supermarket voucher idea.
Time for a change so much is broken.
Why have a time limit at all?
“TBH Drunk people gross me out, I’m not a boozer and have trouble understanding why everyone wants to get so wasted at christmas.”
Yeah, but do you get that the thing that was proposed (voucher bonuses), would stop a beneficiary from having a glass of wine on Christmas day? Why the assumption that they would get totalled?
And why target beneficiaries and not all poor people?
“Yes, I believe that beneficiaries have just as much right to self-medicate, make mistakes, fuck up, or make the best of a bad situation as anyone else.”
Yes, but the outcomes of fuckups are soo much worse for those of us on very limited incomes.
And those who dole out that limited income to us do not care one tiny little bit if we fuck up. No amount of leftie one upmanship will change that.
And if it is not patently obvious that the government is determined to grind us to dust with their ‘welfare reforms’ and ‘social investment policies’ and ‘resilience building’…they care not for those who the system drives to despair or violence towards themselves or others. I can’t understand why more people don’t see this. This is war.
And since they don’t care…then we must. And one aspect of caring is sharing knowledge and experience about how to get through the really, really tough times…how to take another hit and suck it up…how to save the cents so they turn into dollars, how to derive joy and delight from free stuff…and if you get a few dollars extra…put it aside for the rent, the power, the food….because oh…the relief, of just being able to pay that one bill…
“Yes, I believe that beneficiaries have just as much right to self-medicate, make mistakes, fuck up, or make the best of a bad situation as anyone else.”
Yes, but the outcomes of fuckups are soo much worse for those of us on very limited incomes.
That’s true, but we’re not talking about people on very limited incomes, we’re talking about beneficiaries. Or you are suggesting that the govt apply this principle across the board to all people on low incomes?
And if it is not patently obvious that the government is determined to grind us to dust with their ‘welfare reforms’ and ‘social investment policies’ and ‘resilience building’…they care not for those who the system drives to despair or violence towards themselves or others. I can’t understand why more people don’t see this. This is war.
And since they don’t care…then we must. And one aspect of caring is sharing knowledge and experience about how to get through the really, really tough times…how to take another hit and suck it up…how to save the cents so they turn into dollars, how to derive joy and delight from free stuff…and if you get a few dollars extra…put it aside for the rent, the power, the food….because oh…the relief, of just being able to pay that one bill…
Of course (and I’m pretty sure those if us making the political argument against vouchers are well aware of the war). But the argument is centred around what the government should do, not what we can do, were the govt to give beneficiaries a Christmas bonus – give them cash or give them a conditional voucher.
“Why should other NZs be allowed to spend their Christmas money on alcohol but not beneficiaries? Serious question.”
Because we beneficiaries need, really, really need to have our wits about us one hundred per cent of the time.
I’m serious…we are in midst of the fray, enemies are all around us and we must be vigilant. If we fall further…they will say its our fault.
I am not going to risk giving the bastards that pleasure.
(And also…its an awful lot of fun sitting back and watching pissed richer folk making arses of themselves.) 😉 🙂
“Because we beneficiaries need, really, really need to have our wits about us one hundred per cent of the time.”
Fuck, no pressure there then.
I appreciate what you are saying, and if that’s what works for you all power to you. I’m not going to lay that pressure on all beneficiaries though, and the only people responsible for the state of the country in this regard are the successive govts who implemented policies designed to make and keep people poor.
A grocery voucher would also be helpful. But the stipulations they contain is a little condescending. How would you feel if your employer paid you in vouchers, limiting where and how your pay could be spent?
+1. It’s also the idea that beneficiaries shouldn’t spend their bonus on ‘luxuries’.
I know of people with a food grant who have been questioned at the till by the nazi police (over important till operators) why they have kitchen/bathroom cleaners in their trolley and heaven forbid if you want some Vit.C to get you through the winter, also back to the hygiene products us females need on a monthly basis.
Whispering Kate, that really really blows, how horrible for the shopper going through that experience. I’d boycott said supermarket if they were do such things to people. Wankers. With that in mind i can see where you are coming from now.
Even shampoo and deodorant have been questioned. I don’t know where the till workers get their instructions from but its pretty obvious that the vulnerable and poor are not permitted even a smidgeon of a half decent lifestyle, heaven forbid that they may enjoy even a bit of fun on special occasions. We have regressed back to the dark ages in this country and are far from a civil society, it has become de rigueur these days to bash people when they are down, the new “in” thing to do.
To the grinch people……ever thought that an extra week of benefit might end up as Christmas presents for kids whom otherwise mightn’t get any ? FFS !
nailed it North.
Thank you for grasping what I was saying and explaining it better – lots of well-meaning people seem hard-wired to believe that charity is a reasonable alternative to justice. They don’t see the awful power game inherent in it
Pretty interesting to see the response to your original point.
Wasn’t it!
so get the extra week as a grocery voucher/rent/mortgage payment, power credit you know the basics and spend the cash on the kids. More cash for the kids pressies crikey one could even buy some pressies at the supermarket
Just brainstorming not pigeon holing
I would point out that paying wages in that manner is a breach of employment law.
A voucher for a Christmas bonus/gift, on the other hand, is quite common, and perfectly legal.
However, paying an extra $100 at Christmas would be easier than messing around with vouchers, so I’d suggest doing that anyway.
I wasn’t implying wages should be paid in that way, I was merely suggesting they consider how condescending it would feel to be paid and limited in that way.
While a voucher for a Christmas bonus/gift may be quite common, and perfectly legal, the condescending implications can reduce its shine. Not that it wouldn’t be helpful and better than nothing at all.
I worked for a company back in the 1980s that gave out vouchers upon the completion of a major project that had been finished on budget and on time. Most unusual for large scale computer systems
We were told that if they gave us cash it would have to be declared as income and would be taxed. If the gave us vouchers it wouldn’t have to be declared and wasn’t taxable.
I didn’t really see the difference but I assumed they knew what they were talking about.
Is that still the case, at least for employees? Would benefit payments come into the same category?
Good question Alwyn i wonder if a voucher for a beneficiary would fall under the same category.
I don’t know about benefit payments, but as far as wages go, a cash bonus is taxable, where as a voucher, which can not be redeemed for cash, up to the amount of $300 per quarter is not taxable and no need for FBT either.
supplementary benefits and grants are non-taxable income irrespective of the amount, a bonus could be set up like that.
Respect, alwyn. You weren’t an egg this time.
True but that’s how they do it anyways at WINZ for a food grant. Monies is loaded onto a card, 3 days to spend it, must be spent where specified, the local supermarkets and not the local dairy etc.
With the food paid for people could use the extra cash how they pleased
@ Cinny
Yes, they do. And it’s stigmatizing. We’ve all heard the stories (a number of which Whispering Kate highlighted above).
Contrary to the right-wing narrative, due to their low incomes, beneficiaries are generally adept at budgeting and making ends meet. A number of budgeting advisors would tell you it’s inadequate income levels that is the real issue.
Cinny you seem to be the constantly on the ball commenter here. From the rest it is just attack and how dare you apply some controls and rationality to extra payments to beneficiaries at Christmas. Or ignore the matter altogether and carry on about unfair government.
This was the original comment:
JanM 1.1.1
17 December 2016 at 8:51 am
Careful, Cinny, that sounds a bit as though you are looking through a deficit lens. These are adults you are discussing, not ‘naughty children’.
Emotional stuff, critical of any attempt at thought. Any attempt at control of spending is an attack on good, noble people treated unkindly by an evil government. That’s it.
As in most things there is an element of truth. If commenters spent time considering that when they write, there might be really useful things come out of the tons of words that pour onto the site. Unfortunately mostly no. What’s my element of truth here. Probably 70 for 30 against.
interesting that the first thing comes to your mind that a poor person would treat themselves to a pack of fags or a bottle of vino. Perish the thought, and oh my gosh, what will the good church ladies thing?
So you would want to give the Christmas Bonus as a voucher or a credit on the power bill. great, so they use what ever benefit money they get to buy a pack of fags and a bottle of vine and maybe a gift for the kidlings.
you solved what? nothing.
but you got to play the narrative that people on a budget need budgeting help and would not possibly be sensible with their cash.
Which, frankly is a load of bs. Most people on a budget are very very careful how to spend it and how to make it go as far as possible, cause frankly when they reached the end of it its gone.
You also assume that people on low income/benefits don’t need pleasures in life but only the basic necessities to life cause poor. So no fags for mum, no beer for dad and no toys for kids.
What was that, a bonus for Christmas? Ahh, fuck it. Lets just call it a ‘hand out’, and before you get it you must go to a seminar telling you how to be appropriately poor and meek. You know, just so they know how to be great full n shit.
http://morganfoundation.org.nz/the-myth-of-how-families-in-poverty-spend-their-money/?v=8e3eb2c69a18
No. Christmas is a false construct of a rampant commercial/capitalist culture and should be eliminated.
God botherers can do their thing if they like…but they should also give consideration to the teachings of their Christ…what he would have to say about how society demands we all celebrate his birth?
I have no sympathy for foolish people who get sucked in by the Xmas hype…god, as a beneficiary I’d be even further up financial shit creek had I not have made the decision 40 plus years ago not to do Christmas.
While Christmas is a false construct, it’s rather ingrained, thus some can’t easily escape it.
It’s a hard one telling kids we don’t do Christmas while it’s marketed at and around them.
And as it does tend to lead a number further up that financial shit creek, a one off extra payment would really help. Perhaps saving some from resorting to those high interest loan-sharks and mobile truck shops targeting the vulnerable.
“It’s a hard one telling kids we don’t do Christmas while it’s marketed at and around them.”
yep…been there with three kids who went through the Catholic school system.
Very hard, but like other lessons we are obliged as parents to teach, once learned gives a lifetime of reward. Teaches them critical thinking, skepticism, and a strong and abiding resistance to gross advertising.
No, sorry Santa, I mean The Chairman, use those $$$ for some education programs on how to resist retail pressure and debt seduction.
While advocating the benefits of not doing Christmas and advising others against getting sucked in may work for some, it doesn’t help those that can’t help but to be lured in.
Moreover, it’s not like those on a benefit that can withdraw from Christmas can’t do with the extra payment.
Must have been a laff riot at your place…
Geez…are you completely incapable of imagining any other way of life other than your own?
Go tell the 70% of the world’s religious who are not Christian how miserable their lives are.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups
I was just picturing the McDonald children being lectured on how they can’t have Christmas because it’s a false construct of a rampant commercial/capitalist culture.
Don’t know about your offspring PM, but mine were and still are quite capable of seeing the reason of it.
Change is hard….I know…
What really makes me laugh are those people who quite genuinely say to me…”Oh, you’re so lucky being able to not do Christmas, I wish I could do that!”
You can have a great time without succumbing to either the Christian BS or the crass overt commercialisation that it has turned into.
Love is the Answer Stop Buying Stuff 😀 This guy is for real, artist Matthew Silver, he is a genius, love his work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5f5KEhwMjs&list=RDE5f5KEhwMjs#t=61
I guess in NZ christmas means summer holidays more than anything else, here we don’t buy into the commercial christmas, but the kids have a bit of fun learning new things making presents… go to the beach collect the shells and drift wood, come home make an outside wind chime for the grandparents for Christmas. Everyone is happy not one cent spent.
We love the summer solstice
“We love the summer solstice”
21st December…harvest elephant garlic. 🙂
Wouldn’t that then be the marketers enforcing their views upon you and yours against your will? Should they really have the right to do that?
I don’t that they should.
“No. Christmas is a false construct of a rampant commercial/capitalist culture and should be eliminated”.
Well said Comrade.
We must eliminate Christmas. While we are at it we will destroy Good Friday and Easter Monday as well.
I feel for you – because it seems you are extremely bitter about a lot of things.
Lighten up – It dosnt need to cost much, and can be done without all the god bothering (as you put it).
Just enjoy some summer time with days off (for those of us who work) to spend with family and friends.
Why is it that you think that people who don’t believe in delusional BS are bitter about anything?
“…destroy Good Friday and Easter Monday as well.”
Now you’re talking!
And thanks for the ‘feelings’. Wasted, but the thought was there!
“We must eliminate Christmas. While we are at it we will destroy Good Friday and Easter Monday as well.”
As far as I can see James no one has mentioned eliminating any of these Christian festivals, what they are saying is, we don’t get sucked in by the crass commercial bullshit that goes with it. I cannot see anything bitter about that, in fact, no doubt it is better than feeling bitter in Feb when all the credit card bills arrive.
What is worshipped today is consumerism not Christianity and the new Cathedrals are the shopping malls, playing stupid Christmas songs and carols at this time of year to give the punters a “good” feeling to help to relieve them of their cash or to give the credit card another thrash.
I have never “celebrated” Christmas as such, but it does not stop the family having a good get together with friends at the end of the year. We enjoy ourselves and best of all come Feb we know that we will not receive any large credit bills.
Agree with Rosemary 200%.
Rosemary, Christmas – is actually a counterweight to all the hate and war as it proclaims love and peace to all. This has less to do with commercialism that was invented in the 50’s with a Coka Cola’s Santa Claus.
Christmas – is a word combining “Christ” as in the son of god and “mes” as in mass at church celebrates hope for those who are actually the poorest.
Unfortunately, a fat man in a red suit, a new Pagan culture has taken over the meaning and given it a make over.
The western countries worshiping only one god and it isn’t one in any gospel, have adopted this religious celebration and made it a commercial juggernaut.
I personally don’t participate in the stampede to the shopping centers but I do support the idea that this time of the year should make us stop for once and start thinking about our neighbors, families and relatives. Making sure that no one has to feel excluded and everybody has food and shelter.
Don’t forget it was the Chritsians who took over equinox celebrations and planted their story in its place.
Zeitgeist Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjHk9nKUNNs
I support the idea that basics like a home, food, power, clothing and a decent education should be available to all, all year round.
And we should all want these things for all, all year round.
In case it isn’t obvious…I really, really hate the whole christmas hypocrisy thing…why can’t we hold those aspirations foremost in our hearts and minds ALL the time?
god, I feel a carole coming on….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMN7zJ1k36U&index=9&list=PL8Z7cWD-PWoCrVpmoIlPQgjxUibiQaIx9
“I feel a carole coming on”
heh
Maybe it’s time to just bring benefit levels up to a livable level with the same increases that Super has enjoyed over the years… and ‘let’ beneficiaries manage their own Christmas spending.
Indeed. But it the meantime, this would be some instant help. Perhaps allowing some to avoid incurring debt and the fiscal struggle of paying off high interest loans for the rest of the year.
Another great reason for the UBI
UBI is unlikely to be enough to live on.
YES. I belief it would be one way of supporting those who have the least being able to participate and have especially children feeling included.
Politicians get fat bonuses, so why not…..
Not only would it be widely appreciated and helpful for beneficiaries, but as with increasing benefits, it would be a great PR move for a National Party.
Pray tell us.
What are these “fat bonuses” you talk about?
I presume they are things that are not documented in the pay and allowances that the MPs get.
Politicians have been granted a 2.49 per cent pay rise, back dated to July.
Yes, I know it’s not listed as a bonus but it’s certainly going to come across as that as it’s going to be a rather large lump sum just in time for Xmas.
No it isn’t a “fat bonus”.
That is not to say that I don’t think many politicians are not overpaid. Back when I was younger I believe that an MP earned about as much as a teacher with something called a “position of responsibility. Councillors got almost nothing.
Now they all make long term careers of it and have to be dragged out kicking and screaming because it is more money that many of them could ever earn.
Notwithstanding a pay increase cannot be classed as a bonus. For one thing it isn’t even a one-off. It goes on and on forever.
I did say that but, IMO, the backdating to July will act as one. It’s not as if politicians salaries can’t be planned in line with the new financial year.
citation please – I doubt what you are saying is true.
There’s more propaganda than news coming out of Aleppo this week.
Patrick Cockburn
Winner of the Martha Gellhorn Prize 2005
Winner of the James Cameron Prize 2006
Winner of the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 2009
Foreign Commentator of the Year (Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards 2013)
Foreign Affairs Journalist of the Year (British Journalism Awards 2014)
Foreign Reporter of the Year (The Press Awards For 2014).
There’s more propaganda than news coming out of Aleppo this week.
Apparently so.
There was a period in 2011 and 2012 when there were genuinely independent opposition activists operating inside Syria, but as the jihadis took over these brave people were forced to flee abroad, fell silent or were dead.
Oh, they had to flee or die because “jihadis.” And here was me thinking it was because of all that killing and torturing the Assad regime started on when faced with “genuinely independent opposition activists.” It does seem odd though that “jihadis” only started taking over after Assad had made it more than your life’s worth to be a democracy enthusiast.
It is a genuine civil war and the exclusive focus of on the atrocities committed by the Syrian armed forces on an unarmed civilian population gives a skewed picture of what is happening.
True, the western media isn’t getting any coverage of rebel atrocities, for the reasons Cockburn mentions. On the other hand, the jihadi groups carrying out atrocities aren’t claiming to be legitimate governments that should get to turn up at the UN and be treated as though they aren’t actually just a gang of murderers. Nor have they turned Aleppo into the most-destroyed city since Grozny (also a Russian special). The media focus would be on Assad and his Iranian and Russian patrons regardless of whether western media could cover jihadi atrocities or not.
Cockburn has much stronger credentials to comment on the situation in Syria than you.
Please explain your where your insights on the Middle East come from?
Y ears of experienceas an independent journalist ?
A PhD in modern Middle East politics?
Please explain the authority upon which you can dismiss Cockburn’s views with such assurance.
I sense readers of the Standard are reading your strong opinionated view supported by no actual substance.
And please today.
Express your view without recourse to aggro.
Pointing out your logical fallacies isn’t “aggro,” it’s “education.” Speaking of which, your comment above again attempts to argue from authority.
Instead of playing “my link is better than yours,” try arguing something yourself for a change. What in my comment do you believe was incorrect and why?
I’ll let readers of the Standard decide who has more authority on this issue; Patrick Cockburn or psycho milt.
Psycho Milt has the measure of you.
It’s not a competition
Paul, I wouldn’t bother responding to such a lame attempt at a wind-up. He knows it is in fact a competition, and that the hapless “Psycho Milt” is not even qualified to enter the arena.
By the way, just to clarify, I am not running Psycho Milt as a stooge. He is his own man. Sadly.
Ah Morrissey. If we’re talking lame, have you stalked any radio shows lately? lol
If you like, Paul, but sure, it’s still an honest, un biased, informed opinion.
PM exposes your lack of insight.
How? I put forward the insight of Patrick Cockburn.
What a patently absurd claim to make.
https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder838/54307838.jpg
Peter Swift is just gibbering.
The people who ate Syria
http://litci.org/en/rami-makhlouf-a-corruption-poster-boy/
you support the head choppers then?
New Zealand is becoming increasingly the country of the haves and have nots.
Extreme inequality – John Key’s legacy.
Is Waiheke the new Hamptons?
Nigel Latta made a programme on this
The new haves and have nots
Paul,
Nigel Latta (and possibly yourself) may well believe that 1970’s New Zealand was nirvana. I do not.
The changes of 1984 to 1992 were essential. New Zealand is much better for them. Yes there are more wealthy people, but overall New Zealand is better off. In fact income inequality has reduced in the last little while, and income distribution has been essentially the same for the last 25 years.
If the Left want to campaign for a modernised form of the 1970’s; fine. It would mean top taxes of 60%, govt spending of 40% of GDP, a much more extensive welfare state, and a much more regulated economy.
National is happy to have that contest. It will basically campaign on the economy as it is now. It will be a contest of freedom versus regulation
However, it is clear that Bill English will adjust current settings, but not in a radical way. Some more social spending (using the surpluses), but no increase in taxes, continuing to push for a more open trading economy (FTA’s), and I expect more focus on innovation.
The most noticeable income inequality is the comparison between the top and bottom deciles.
Wealth inequality is more of a problem. Income inequality feeds into it, but wealth inequality is harder to turn back. In NZ, Auckland particularly, there’s a noticeable difference between property owners and renters. Bernard Hickey recently wrote about how renters went backwards during the last 8 years, while property owners watched the value of their properties increase.
Some stats:
Stats NZ graph on income inequality 1982-2014
It went down during the Clark govt, and rose for most of the subsequent years to 2014.
An explanation from the inequality.or.nz site:
Understanding inequality
And in Auckland the numbers of people struggling, homeless, etc has noticeably risen in the last 8 years.
Nothing to be complacent about – everything to be concerned about . Needs more than some clever tweaking.
Everything that we see shows how capitalism brings about the worst possible outcomes for society.
Carolyn,
You are correct about wealth inequality (which as you note is different to income inequality). With rapidly increasing property prices wealth inequality has opened up, especially between renters and owners.
There are really the only two ways to change that.
The first is to increase housing supply which will flatten price increases, and may even reduce values a bit. The increase in supply seems to be happening, although it has taken some time to come through.
The second is to make it easier for first home buyers, especially those on lower incomes, to get into their first house. My solution would be a govt guarantee of interest rates for the first five years of the mortgage. For the lowest incomes, a guaranteed interest rate of 3% and for low to middle incomes 5%. The mortgages would still be bank mortgages, with the guarantee effectively being a payment to the bank of the difference between market interest rates ,and the guaranteed rate.
Without addressing the demand side (in fact, if successful your suggestion to assist first home-buyers would add to housing demand) supply would have to vastly increase to slow the rate of property price increases.
As for your suggestion, how do you suppose first home-buyers will attain the initial deposit to allow them to then enter the market and attain these lower interests rates you’re proposing?
Precisely. When house prices are where they’re now lowering interest rates won’t touch the sides. But don’t expect a response from Spray and Walk Away Wayne.
There are really the only two ways to change that.
There are always more solutions to a problem operating far from equilibrium.
The almost obvious solution in the interim is to reduce demand,ie unconstrained immigration of dubious qualities.eg
http://www.top.org.nz/new_zealand_migration_trends_what_the_data_says
Hi Wayne -I wouldn’t support anything that involves borrowing money for a short term outcome as the same people who created that chasm in the first place will get fed some more of the hard earned money for higher profits.
The only way you can remedy the situation is by planning housing projects that include infrastructure with the aim that you do not require ac car to get your essential provisions, health care and some entertainment.
It also would mean that the planning needs to be done for the next 20-30 years – a feat that needs a corresponding vision – I don’t know any politician or even – god forbid – business person in this country that would qualify. Look at Auckland’s public transport system, already outdated and outgrown- this can only happen when the greedy meet the needy (for another term).
And get the property developers out of the equation.
Yes. Needs regulations or taxes to stop land banking.
Possible rent caps as a short term measure – rents are rising faster than incomes and CPI. The Green Party in Ireland is asking for a cap of no rises more than 4% per year, as a short term measure.
Developers are only interested in building on new land, with big houses for the well-off. There’s no profit in smaller houses on already residential land. Lots of greenfields residential development happening in places like Orewa – but they will hardly be affordable.
Building projects aimed at increasing supply, in places like New Lynn, have not produced the amount of houses promised by now.
Need more safe, secure state housing – not with market rents. To pull down the rents & prices of houses.
House price inflation gives a inaccurate measure of the health of our economy. tourism, immigration, house price rises – not productive investments that will ensure a sustainable economy.
Man, top tax rate of 60%, govt spending 40% of GDP, extensive welfare state, more regulated economy sounds amazing. Probably more important to also have higher tax on capital and finance, but still, excellent ideas, and that government spending would certainly get a lot done for the country, a hell of a lot more efficiently than the useless private sector.
Your pitting of this as ‘freedom vs regulation’ is such bollocks. Neoliberal economics just gives freedom to people with high incomes and lots of capital. Low and middle income people are far worse off.
I’m also fairly sure your income distribution claim is bollocks too
And English has had years as finance minister to focus on innovation, yet the country’s R&D spend is the absolute pits. So your expectations will inevitably be dashed on the rocks of National’s incompetence.
1970s New Zealand may not have been a nirvana , but it was a hell of a lot better for most NZers than today.
Of course the rich are a lot better off now and you’re part of that group. So I’d expect a selfish rich person to regard the changes sine the 80s as good.
Factually off the mark comparison Wayne. Tax rates for most people today are higher than then …..
GST – 15% and Tax – 30% plus student loan for many – 12% = 57% for a lot of younger people
and much of the rest it’s 45% which used to be well up the bands. And the excessive charging for compulsory government services. Looked at the cost of getting a drivers license lately??
Only those on high incomes $150k are better off with the low tax rates.
New Zealand may be better off in $$$ ( depends what you measure ) but all the gains over the last 25 years have gone to the small top sector or been sent offshore to multinationals. The 1984 to 1991 reforms turbo charged income inequality and it’s never recovered. Most wages have barely shifted over the last 25 years while costs continue to rise.
As for the government being 40% of gdp spending ? Don’t forget to deduct the attached income (from better power prices for one).
And that would have to be better than sending the same amount of money to prop up dodgy services from greedy companies.
Oh I forgot to mention. Since there is a group like you doing so well they should be delighted to give back with higher tax rates – we could even have a 60%ter lapel badge sent out by the IRD
“The changes of 1984 to 1992 were essential. New Zealand is much better for them. Yes there are more wealthy people, but overall New Zealand is better off.”
Wayne, we were discussing student loans the other day and you pretty much spun the same line. I asked you a few questions…I’m awaiting answers…
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-15122016/#comment-1276043
“Wayne
How much did you pay to enroll for your first degree?
How much did you have to pay for accommodation and living expenses.
How much did you have to borrow from the government to pay for your university education?
You may just have known someone who trained for a trade while you were studying…law, was it? Anyway…how much did apprentices have to pay to train during the time you were studying?
Funny. don’t you think, that the loudest voices demanding today’s youth mortgage potentially their entire future to pay for their education are the privileged who got their education for free.
I firmly hope there is an especially hot zone in hell for those New Zealanders over fifty years old who do not hang their heads in shame at this betrayal of today’s youth.”
Those “essential changes” Wayne…what negative impacts did they have for you?
Spray and Walk Away Wayne has left the building.
“Spray and Walk Away Wayne has left the building.”
Bugger!
Funny how he waxes all authoritative and fiscally on to it then avoids the real questions.
He’d argue he’s being impartial, taking a ‘big sky’ view. Typical of the privileged to ignore the damage done to lesser mortals.
Rosemary,
I had an A Bursary plus an out of town accommodation bursary. Student fees were about 10% of the actual cost to the University of delivering the courses, (compared to fees being about 30% of the true costs today). I would note that only 10% of NZer’s went to University at that time.
I had a job the entire summer holiday, plus part-time work during the year (about 20 hours per week).
My possessions were personal plus a motorbike. No travel overseas or even to the South Island. I recall I seemed to be virtually broke most of the time, but I could afford to go to the movies.
At the end of my degree I had no debt, but also owned very little.
However, within one year of graduating we owned a house in Manurewa, on the basis of 10% deposit, some of which was borrowed from my wife’s parents. Because our income was low, we qualified for a 3% loan from what was then State Advances. But later, when buying my next house, interest rates were 15%.
By three or four years work (after returning from doing an LLM in Canada) I had hit the top tax rate of 60% which kicked in at $22,000 income. The top tax rate kicked in on way too low an income! That all changed with the election of the 1984 Labour govt, which in my view transformed the NZ economy in a fundamentally good way.
I personally think the combination of lower personal taxes and student loans makes much more sense than 60% taxes. There are much better incentive signals. We obviously now also have GST, but in large measure GST replaced a proliferation of sales taxes, many of them pretty high depending on the nature of the goods.
We did not have anything like the amount of personal possessions/household chattels which seem typical today..
My first overseas trip was when I went to Canada for postgraduate study.
New Zealand seemed a much poorer country than it is today, and much poorer than Canada. That is no longer true. New Zealand has done quite a bit of catching up in the last two decades, especially the last decade, since we did not have anything like the level of setback during the GFC that North America and Europe suffered.
Have a look at the 2017 Economist Yearbook for the comparative GDP per capita figures. We have passed the UK and France and are close to Germany. Not so long ago we had the same GDP per capita as Italy. They are now miles behind NZ.
So there is no betrayal of today’s youth. The only significant problem to be fixed is housing affordability, which is primarily an Auckland problem.
Of course, Wayne, there is no inequality in New Zealand.
And it’s a paradise for everyone.
Keep living in the bubble……………….
“Keep living in the bubble………”
Bubble? Or a cloud of hallucinogenic gas?
Thanks Wayne…at least you responded.
Others, I am sure, will highlight the flaws in your assertions.
You call that a response!
God, Paul…I’d have to go through it line by line…I consider it a win that he actually answered and showed his true colours…yet again.
Grrrr….
“At the end of my degree I had no debt, but also owned very little.”
Bully for bloody you, Wayne.
What kind of a country encourages it’s children to pursue a tertiary education AND to borrow in order to pay for it?
THEN, THEN change the narrative so that somehow it is the Government, made up of privileged prats who at the end of their degree had no debt, that is doing this generation a favour?
Then, then, increased GST (you vomited that up Wayne) and practically forced the young ones into compulsory Kiwisaver schemes by threatening them with no Superannuation like the privileged prats have.
“New Zealand seemed a much poorer country than it is today, ”
By what standard Wayne….????
I think the “seemed poorer” is more based on the limited amount of consumer goods available back then.
Since then consumerism has become rampant – with non-necessities often cheaper than basic necessities for living.
It probably also seemed poorer to the educated and professional classes – more toys; more overseas travel, etc.
““seemed poorer” is more based on the limited amount of consumer goods available back then.”
You’re probably right…but that was not what I was thinking.
I well remember when those import restrictions were lifted and ‘luxury’ goods could be brought in to satisfy the lust of the new New Zealand upper class….
…and a deluge of crap for the masses to buy to give them the delusion of ‘wealth’.
“Incentive signals” to whom? The already privileged classes and their children?
An see Barry Coates on the way the OECD stats are misleading about NZ’s economy.
Impressive. And some good advice from yourself and other winners. Do you still employ domestic help ?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/capital-life/features/4655470/High-power-relationship-advice
NOAA Issues ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Assessment on ‘Unprecedented’ Arctic Warming
NOAA Issues ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Assessment on ‘Unprecedented’ Arctic Warming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0rp6-BEur8
I am new to the mike so forgive me if I am re-visiting a subject that has been flogged to death but everytime I hear David Shearer speak as I did this morning talking to Kim Hill it re-ignites my anger with the Labour Party’s heirarchy that saw fit to dump him from his leadership role ….what a PM this guy would have made if given half a chance .A prime example of the short sighted and poll driven decision making so reminiscent of our recently departed PM . I thought the NZ Labour Party was better than that and my faith in them was rattled to the core over the issue and has still not returned sufficiently to award them my vote
Clive Blake
He wasn’t dumped – he resigned and he did so because he was failing badly as leader of Labour. Amazingly enough, IMO, Labour Party members don’t expect their leader to be a National Lite beneficiary basher.
I think I now better understand the level of debate
Did Shearer’s comments about the sickness beneficiary painting his roof resonate with you?
Or you could just accept – like he seems to have – that whilst he is/might be a really nice guy – compassionate and wanting to put his humanitarian skills to good use, that he wasn’t really cut out for politics in today’s environment.
Let’s just give him whatever support we’re able in his new endeavours, but not try and reinvent history and paint him as something he wasn’t.
At that time and place, he was shit. Which is not to say, given a different, less toxic time and place – he might have been brilliant.
Who knows Clive, there might be a time in future when he’ll return (hopefully a little more charitable towards beneficiaries painting a roof)
That was an honest interview – if he’d told the spin doctors to take a hike from the start, he might have done better. What I detected (even if he didn’t actually say it) was that he lacked the self-confidence – or perhaps arrogance to pull it off. He was probably too ‘nice’. Instead of Fran Mould, he probably could have done with a Paul fucking Henry – or even that curmudgeon Edwards
I imagine during his experiences with the U.N. in the past, he caught a little bit of the “You don’t know how lucky we are”
Matthew Hooton added a very slimy and disingenuous but essentially toxic dimension to Shearer’s rise.
I remember watching him hold up those fish in Question Time and knowing right away that he was toast.
mmmmmm. Sardines on toast! I was trying to decide what was cheap and quick to eat for tea whilst cooking for one.
Thanks
The Sixth day of Christmas on Friendship :
(Dr. Frank Crane (1861–1928) was a Presbyterian minister, speaker, and columnist)
Thats pretty cool quote.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/320639/annette-king-to-give-up-rongotai-seat
King to give up Rongotai.
At last – a seat so safe that even Little couldnt lose it.
Im picking he will take this one up – given the polling being list only is a very scary place to be in labour – even if you are at the top of it.
I think he’s living in Rongotai or close to the border, so it would make sense.
However, it’s not that safe a seat as I could envisage a strong Green campaign in the seat.
2TBs of data leaks from government servers according to Kim Dotcom. To be released ahead of the 2017 election.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/12/17/did-the-nz-government-just-have-2-terabytes-of-information-hacked/
Another Moment of Truth.
In the article linked from Bomber’s post, KDC said that the Moment of Truth revealed something that should have lost key the 2014 election, if the MSM had written about the MoM accurately.
I watched the MoM, and saw no shocking revelations about Key. It was a fizzer in that respect,
Snowden did reveal that the NSA had a presence in NZ. That was the biggest revelation.
I also think KDC over-states the bias of NZ MSM. There are some good investigative pieces coming from the likes of David Fisher, Matt Nippert and John Campbell.
Also, Paula Penfold’s documentary on NZ prisons.
The extent of access the five eyes network had to NZers data, was laid out in the Moment of Truth.
This information showed the completeness of the lie Key told when discussing the new legislation. However, for most, the focus was on Kim Dotcom, and that point seemed to be ignored and forgotten.
There were two aspects to the Moment of Truth. The fizzer was in relation to KDC’s hype prior to the MoT, saying he was going to produce evidence Key lied about KDC’s arrest. This is what I meant when I said KDC’s MoT was a fizzer. KDC is responsible for over-shadowing the Greenwald-Snowden revelations, because he put himself at the centre of the MoT and made it all about him.
The stuff told by Greenwald and Snowden was riveting – and the right wing journos in NZ tended to dismiss that. Not all the MSM believed Key though, and some thought there was enough evidence to damn Key.
Andrea Vance reckoned the MoT did produce enough substance re-surveillance, and wasn’t interested in the KDC kerfuffle.
Other MSM journos had mixed responses, with the likes of Fran O’Sullivan claiming Snowden produced no evidence of the surveillance breaches:
The Guardian article on it talked more about the documents produced by Greenwald on Intercept in advance of the MoT as containing the damning stuff.
The hype around KDC was of Dotcom’s own making. He hyped up the MoT before hand, saying he would produce evidence to prove the plot against him by Key and Hollywood re-his arrest in NZ. He had been talking up for a long while that that at the MoT he would produce evidence that JK had lied about KDC and his arrest.
Just before the MoT he produced an email, and seemed to promise more in the MoT. But at the last minute he seemed to pull the plug on saying anything in the MoT. Then Warners’ claimed the email was fake.
That is why I am skeptical about KDC’s claims about a hack of the NZ government. He likes to grandstand. If it is a big secret to be revealed next year, why is KDC leaking about it?
Looking forward to it, NZ needs more transparency, much respect to those whom are pro-active towards it. Makes one reflect on an OM post a few months back
Re MOT.. Thoroughly enjoyed the moment of truth and build up, Amsterdam, Greenwald, Ed and Julian, wide awake sharers of information, intelligent and proactive, RESPECT.
NZ public found it all a bit hard to swallow however, perplexed with the media spin on it, so desperate were the mainstream to have click bait on DotCom that they missed the whole point, or maybe they simply suppressed valuable information, justifying their actions by saying the public are just not that interested. Least that’s how I saw it played out in 2014.
It’s certainly had many views
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0
It wasn’t just the media spin, it was KDC’s own self-centred hype about his own case that muddied the waters.
I seem to recall it was Greenwald that told him to pull the plug on making the climax about the MoT about KDC’s own case. He thought it would over-shadow the important stuff from the Snowden papers. But, by then, KDC had already done the damage.
The two topics should have been kept separate.
strongly agree with you there Carolyn
Facebook Is Finally Cracking Down on Fake News
Conservatives are already freaking out.
Seems reasonable and they’re certainly going about it in a careful and considered manner.
The conservatives seem to be concerned that their lies will be found out in near real time.
Lets deal with the legacy, and ignore the man.
A great piece from Wayne Hope over at the daily blog, just wonderful .
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/12/16/keeping-up-appearances-the-verdict-on-john-key-and-the-nz-listeners-adoration-of-him/
“A great piece from Wayne Hope…….”
AS ALWAYS.
He (also) has a good handle on the issue of “all those bloody foreigners and international students coming here taking all our jobs”
Cricket News: Breen on 48 and looking good
Making good progress at 12:36 p.m.
Coming in at No. 2 on the batting order, Breen looks like bringing up his half ton at any moment. Click below to see the historic moment LIVE….
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/12/general_debate_17_december_2016.html/comment-page-1#comment-1838987
Trolling troll links to his trolling at other sites.
Stick to your third rate stenography moz.
No fear. I’m on 56 not out at the moment!
Stay tuned, fans!
The Atlantic’s short documentary on the “alt-right” Neo Nazis, includes interview with Richard Spencer, current self-proclaimed front man of the “movement”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVeZ0_Lhazw
Have a bucket handy, but it’s necessary to know that they exist and how they operate.
That silly haircut is known as a “fashie” by its wearers in the Neo Nazi movement.
” necessary to know that they exist and how they operate”…not really.
“Richard B. Spencer greeted an audience of more than 200 at an alt-right conference in Washington D.C. last month with the cry, “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” He was met with enthusiastic cheers and Nazi salutes”…oooh, 200 people.
Thats the same number that enjoyed the Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown first ever Festive Food & Craft Fair….. followed by a Cookery Demonstration.
http://www.colaistemhuirekk.ie/wp-content/uploads/A-crowd-of-over-200-people-enjoy-the-Cookery-Demonstration-@-Col%C3%A1iste-Mhuire-Johnstown-on-Thursday-27th-November-2014.jpg
and you don’t need to know about that either…
Numbers in rooms don’t matter any more when it’s streamed or if there’s one in the White House – Steve Bannon. You’re being silly.
The rebranding going on at the moment with the neo fascist right is quite astonishing, or at least the rebranding is interesting, what’s most astonishing has been the media’s propensity to lap it all up.
As for the hairdo, that fashy undercut is everywhere at the moment, I’m sporting a version of it myself and I’m certainly no neo-nazi. An example of the lengths to which the Alt-Right has gone to make themselves the mainstream as they’ve pivoted away from the “crazy” skinhead and Klansmen stereotypes towards a clean-cut well-dressed Hitler Youth look which the fashion world finds irresistible.
A good example of appropriation then, like Pepe the frog. Sometimes they seem ridiculous – some are trying to appropriate 80s digital music “ironically” as “fashwave” while others are split over whether they should boycott Star Wars films because they’re anti-fascist and have women in them, or watch them and root for the Empire/First Order.
Love the lead paragraph:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/87654735/solid-energy-may-be-able-to-access-pike-river
Peter Williams evidently finds “Duterte Harry” and
his extradjudicial killings to be highly amusing
Advertisement for 6 o’clock News, TV1, 5:39 p.m., repeated at 5:47 p.m.
In a chirpy and amused tone, veteran autocue reader Peter Williams reads out the following teaser for tonight’s News:
Peter Williams, like his vacant-eyed colleagues, has never impressed me as someone who either knows much or thinks much about international politics. But he does know enough to realise that President Duterte of the Philippines is an official ally, and therefore even something as depraved as his killing of unarmed captives can be recounted in a chirpy and amused tone.
It’s not hard to imagine the lugubrious countenance Williams would strike, and the tone of grim admonition he would adopt if ever an official enemy, rather than an “ally” like Duterte, boasted of killing unarmed captives.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/04/philippines-secret-death-squads-police-officer-teams-behind-killings
UPDATE!
These were the first words Williams intoned at 6 p.m….
“Cut it Out! What President Obama said to Vladimir Putin today about Russian cyber attacks.”
My little ideas for the big Cabinet announcement tomorrow:
1. Prime Minister Bill English: SIS, Tourism
2. Paula Bennett: Housing, Auckland Issues, Associate Finance
3. Stephen Joyce: Finance
4. Simon Bridges: Economic Development, and Transport
5. Nikki Kaye: Social Development, Education
6. Todd McClay: Trade, Foreign Affairs
7. Michael Woodhouse: Health
8. Chris Finlayson: Attorney-General, Treaty Negotations, and Arts+Culture
9. Judith Collins: Defence, Police
10. Dr Jian Yang: Minister of Tertiary Education, Associate Minister Foreign Affairs
11. Andrew Bayly: Ministry for Primary Industries (Forestry, Fisheries, Agriculture)
12. Gerry Brownlee: Chief Whip, Earthquake Recovery
13. Joanthan Coleman: Justice
14. Scott Simpson: Revenue
15. Alfred Ngaro: Corrections, Pacific island Affairs
16. Nick Smith: Conservation, Environment
17. Jamie-Lee Ross: Local Government
interesting Ad, is Nikki well enough to handle two big portfolio’s ? Please not Nick in environment/conservation. And Coleman doing Justice instead of Health, fascinating.
You reckon Tolley is a goner? Wonder whom will announce resignation for family reasons tomorrow, haven’t had any quitters for two whole days now lololz.
Do you know what time the announcement is tomorrow please? I’m curious as to the outgoing PM’s picks for the outgoing government.
Radio NZ are coving it from 3, with commentary thereafter.
I think Kaye is well on the mend, but if she wants to beg off, fine; I was thinking like a PM trying to keep the social investment framework integrated and accelerating. Those were the two portfolios to do it.
Thanks mate, will tune in, looking forward to reading yours and others thoughts on here afterwards.
Political discussion at tonight’s dinner table was about Ruth Dyson being the next to leave, following closely Annette King’s latest announcement.
Strewth, not Ruth! And Annette!
My dream is to sit down for an hour with the pair of them and have a free and honest discussion about why they didn’t sort the Family Carers issue before it went to the Tribunal in 2008.
They had all the facts and research at their fingertips, and chose to throw us to the National wolves.
Thanks, ladies. Your angry ranting in the House on the 17th May 2013 was nothing but crocodile tears.
Labour took exactly the same stance towards the carers sleepover case that started around the same time. They could’ve fixed it there and then but Labour let the unions and the providers scrap it out for years before the workers got what ended up being a pretty watered down form of justice.
Dyson tried to claim quite a bit of the glory from a number small wins in the disability sector that she in fact had fuck all to do with. She’s definitely another who needs to sling their hook.
“…carers sleepover case…”
Hah! What had me yelling at the radio during the sleepover case was that the very simplest of solutions would have been to do what ACC was doing at the time….a tax free allowance of about $80 -90 per night for non active sleepovers…instead of the pathetic $30 odd that IHC was paying under Miserly of Health. I understand that there is an hourly rate for both now.
Labour could’ve fixed it by renegotiating the contracts based on the true cost of wages. Instead they washed their hands saying it was an “employment” problem. Then when the workers were successful at the Employment Court Labour MPs started cheering “we won!” The whole thing was sickening to watch, including IHC as well, how as an employer they then took on the workers when they themselves argue for proper wages for care workers. It was a perfect opportunity for IHC to join with the workers to lobby government over the inadequate contracts. IHC’s position on that issue showed their true colours, consistent with how they’re colluding with the government to end state involvement in housing. IHC is evil to the core.
And in the most bizarre of circumstances….IHC found itself
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/4197918/IHC-firms-in-statutory-management
and….http://philippatston.com/blog/disability-stuff-up-being-fixed-by-those-who-stuffed-up/
Real rabbit hole stuff…makes one wonder who’s up who and who’s paying?