I think the NZ government should declare a 5 year State of Emergency!
It must be obvious to anyone with half a brain that BAU concerning the climate catastrophe will not be adequate. We face an existential threat and in the very near future, perhaps in only 3 or 4 years.
A Government of National Emergency should be formed, a cross party coalition of all parties in the house. God knows, there must be some members of the Natz who are good at something. Even a use could be found for Seymour. Give this government ‘war-time’ powers.
The borders must be closed; given a reasonable lead in time, say 6 months, all NZers who want to come home, should be encouraged to do so. After that – take your chances. Overseas travel must be suspended/terminated.
Huge efforts should be made to make NZ as self-reliant as possible, and the people marshalled to that end. The tourism industry is dead; channel all the people in that industry into future-proofing this country as far as possible.
Excess wealth should be confiscated and a UBI instituted to give everyone an equal stake in the success of a survival policy.
The emphasis must be placed on producing here what has been imported, and cutting out the consumer crap. Vacant land within cities (and there are many such where I live in ChCh) should be turned into community gardens, so we eat well, even if we don’t have plastic napkins to eat it off.
Omicron is only one of many ‘products’ from overseas we can do without. Sealing the border will stifle the spread of covid-19, and stop our landfills from overflowing.
By declaring a state of emergency now the government will be pro-actively taking steps ‘in time’ to avert the catastrophe looming, not reacting too late in 3 or 4 years from now. It will also give the government the necessary powers to act quickly in response to any of the many climate emergencies in the next few years.
One way/time or another, a state of emergency is coming.
P.S. Of course I know there’s not a hope of any of the above happening, but it all, or most of it should.
Ah, Pucky, take your head out of the sand and look around you. 1.5C is a temperature rise we cannot exceed and still live on this planet., and we're already on track for 2C.
Climate change/catastrophe will impact the world in increasing ways in the next few years, and we, us poor humans, will be only reactive, too little, too late.
Much better (though politically impossible) to front-foot any tragedy by being as prepared as we can, don't you think?
I think we,ll get to the stage where we are ready to try almost anything. [As long as its not practical. The powers that be are not those sort of people].
Unlike capitalism, communism and socialism have a history of lifting people out of poverty under the most dire of circumstances. Pity they are such an easy target for the capitalists who mercilessly unleash their dubiously acquired capital and resources to undermine countries. Of course, you will be too enamored with wealth for wealth's sake to realize that once upon a time, NZ was recognized as a socialist state. That was back when people were housed, clothed, fed and educated by utilizing the various resources of the country. That was before greed became a religion
"Unlike capitalism, communism and socialism have a history of lifting people out of poverty" that's funnier than anything Guy Williams has ever said. You should do stand up comedy.
Without State infrastructure, the rule of law, especially contract law, the protection of possessions, health and housing, and all the other "Socialist things" Capitalism wouldn't be workable.
Currently Capitalism is failing because capitalists have removed way more than their fair share of "other peoples, wealth production". Work!
Countries are allowed to trade with whoever they want, plenty of Communist and Socialist countries for Cuba to trade with
Just because Castro gave the corrupt, pro US, dictator, Batista, and his government the boot, that is no reason for vindictiveness on the part of the US.
I think the NZ government should declare a 5 year State of Emergency!….
…..I know there’s not a hope of any of the above happening, but it all, or most of it should.
If New Zealand took up all or even some of your suggestions it would be a wake-up and a call to arms for the whole world.
We could stop climate change if we chose to, but we don't choose to.
''Excess wealth should be confiscated and a UBI instituted to give everyone an equal stake in the success of a survival policy.''
Not often you hear those sentiments stated so plainly. Nowadays the Left use weasel words and phrases to express such unpalatable truths.
Thanks, Tony, for reminding me why I'm a Tory. Consistently stating the company line can make one forget why they are objecting to something in the first place.
Nothing to do with the fact that increasing unearned wealth and power, accumulating in few hands, and inequality of opportunity, destroy societies, as we can observe since the Romans, and probably before that.
That's very narrow and does not address the reality of peoples lives.
Unless you think private business making profits is all there is that is worthwhile.
Your link describes socialism as-
'a set of political and economic theories based on the belief that everyone has an equal right to a share of a country's wealth and that the government should own and control the main industries'(my bold)
The Federal Reserve released the names of the banks that had received $4.5 trillion” – that is trillion with a T – “in cumulative loans in the last quarter of 2019 under its emergency repo loan operations for a liquidity crisis that has yet to be credibly explained.”
Norton notes that among the large borrowers under the Fed’s repo loan facility in 2019 were JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup (it was their trading affiliates) and these were “three of the Wall Street banks that were at the center of the subprime and derivatives crisis in 2008 that brought down the U.S. economy.”
Norton then asks Hudson “why was the Fed giving trillions of dollars to these large Wall Street banks. And why was there a liquidity crisis? That’s unexplained. Why did the Fed refuse to release the names of these banks? And was there a financial crisis before COVID that the U.S. government later was able to blame on COVID, but it was actually a financial crisis in the making?”Wall St on Parade'
It's called a rigged game.
@$40 a second,it would take 792 years to spend a…$.trillion.
Capitalism:An economic system in which a country's businesses and industry are controlled and run for profit by private owners rather than by the government.
China's businesses and industries are largely "run for profit" by private owners these days. But as a certain Baron Rothschild once said, "If I can control the money system I care not who runs the government." The Chinese government controls China's money system, so I guess that's all it takes to be considered socialist.
Why can our government not nationalize our banks, then we too could be socialists.
On the whole, the Chinese economy seems to have been fairly successful in recent years.
You can thank the Democrats for their lockdown policies for that, although its interesting Elon Musk is probably going to get people to Mars before Nasa does
Wrong, Pucky. I am decidedly middle class, mortgage free and owe not a penny to anyone. What have I got to be jealous or envious about?
Let's talk about equity though. Let's talk about levelling the playing field so everyone has a chance to lead a good and fulfilling life in the possibly few years left to homo sapiens.
You can say what you like but you look at the wealthy and you think to yourself "if I'd chosen a different field of study that could have been me", "if I'd applied myself differently that could have been me", "I could have done that if I'd wanted to", "they don't do anything to earn that money", "they don't earn that money", "who wants to live like that anyway"
Yes, you're right, I occasionally had those aberrations of thought when I was young, but I'm not young anymore, and I can look at the glaring, obscene inequality in the world and be genuinely appalled!
In fairness, that saying is really about economists. It should really read,
"If socialists believed the arrant nonsense and Chicago school drivel that has never worked anywhere, our job, lying to the punters, would be so much easier."
mikeshRemember the other saying "If socialists understood economics, they wouldn't be socialists". …
Remember the other saying "If socialists understood economics, they wouldn't be socialists".
If capitalists understood economics they would no doubt be better capitalists, and then maybe capitalism would become a worthwhile system. But in the meantime it's better we (ahem) "put up with" socialism.
A bit optimistic there, PR. Mars is only the nearest planet. It has already been wrecked from what we can tell, and there is no chance of 'unlocking the stars' based only on our precariously making it to Mars.
Please don't let your wild imagination run away with you again. We saw enough of that with Judith C…
I'm proposing possible solutions to a crisis of existence, and, well, what are you proposing?
Let's hear how the right will solve the looming climate catastrophe, apart from denying it exists.
If you think that one or more 'states of emergency,' either local or ultimately national, aren't in our 'near' future, well, you haven't been paying attention.
The richest people in the world doubled their wealth during the covid years – is that a solution to climate change?
Capitalism is good at exploiting other peoples labour and aquiring public assets on the cheap.
Capitalism relies on the proposition that the owners of capital should rule the economy. A pretty dubious proposition really. If workers ruled the economy they would no doubt put in place a socialist system. Under such a system suppliers of capital would be appropriately rewarded, but that reward would not be unlimited.
I've racked my brains but I can't think of one country where 'communism' in its pure form is practised (and don't tell me Venezuela, American sanctions have stuffed that country) or socialism for that matter.
But I can think of many many countries where capitalism has fucked economies and impoverished the vast majority of people.
Rockstar economy at what long term costs ?? I have read many examples of factory conditions that manufacture branded footware/clothing etc that would not be acceptable in 1st world countries, the increase in climate gases expelled, the plundering of our oceans to name a few. Sometimes we need to allow Father Time a little time to see the consequences. 😉
'However, this success in bringing people out of abject poverty is not simply down to the government, he says.'
"Chinese people, by working extremely hard, lifted themselves out of poverty – in part because some of the stupidest economic policies ever created, by Chairman Mao, were abandoned in favour of versions of capitalism."
'however, by any measure China has made huge strides to lift millions out of the toughest standards of living over the last few decades.'
Regardless you will never get an objective assessment from Anglo-American media.
The biggest fear of Capitalism is people embracing successful socialism and if outright aggression fails,then sanctions are applied and targeted assassinations occur.
Capitalism relies on a select few creating Capital out of thin air and developing military capability to…enforce it.
40 million on foodstamps in the U.S.A…as for homelessness!
"Chinese people, by working extremely hard, lifted themselves out of poverty – in part because some of the stupidest economic policies ever created, by Chairman Mao, were abandoned in favour of versions of capitalism."
I think that what you suggest is nothing short of a panicky. Even with all the effort NZ would try to stem global warming, 5 million people against the population of India and China …….? Sorry but that just makes me question what sort of idea is that? Not that we should not do anything but going into seclusion like a sect is just plain madness. If you really want to change things, start with giving effort and impetus against those who exploit people, modern slavery, mining of the African continent, deforestation of the South American Rainforest, cleaning up the sea from rubbish and debris that form whole islands. All of which influences climate. But to incarcerate 5 million people and expect from those who have worked and earned what they own to agree that their possessions are to be confiscated is truly authoritarian, in fact I would say an introduction to a police state mixed with sectarianism all rolled into one. Orwell's 1984:
‘ “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”’
‘ “The masses never revolt of their own accord, and they never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed.”’
I would like to find out how many people these companies calling for imported staff have trained up locals for themselves, or is that not cost effective when you can get someone overseas to do the messy bits. I remember the old ARC (ARA?) had their own bus drivers school and trained their own drivers, many of which then went on to drive trucks for private companies
.
Mostly a shortage of workers who are willing and able to work for the minimum wage. So actually a wages shortage, not a worker shortage.
In my opinion, all imported workers should be paid a minimum of $35 / hour, so only if you can't find locals at this rate, are they allowed. Would prevent imported labour being used primarily to supress wages, which is the main function in NZ today.
This is s very good idea actually. It would mean an argument for foreign labor needs to be proven in fact. If this is about skills, than obviously NZ has a problem with training their own and if the skill needs to to be passed on than for any "import" of killed labor the employer has to get an apprentice on his/her side.
Wierd scenes so theres a campaign on in the uk to punish the bbc for having a left wing bias amongst other things , eh ??wtf ? i was under the impression the bbc was actively engaged in defeating jeremy corban and bringing borris to power how on earth is that left wing ?
So I can spend millions taking the Government to court to prohibit all vaccinations to people. To protect them.
I could opt myself out and my family out of having vaccinations, but hell, I want to opt everyone else out to protect them too. Call it a socialist tinge if you like.
In between times I could go to my Freedom and Voice rallies and complain about the Government.
One thing though, when I take the steps to do that I want my name to be out there, not suppressed like those in the current case before the courts. I want to be acknowledged for my genius knowing the accolades will flow. It's not that anyone would think that I'm a fuckwit with a used bottletop for a brain.
Why I want to be rich: (but aren't likely to as I'm just too lazy to put the work in)
So I can live in Central Otago (Bannockburn would be good, Lake Hawea on the water would suffice but Cromwell or Alexandra will have to do, Roxburgh at a pinch)
So I don't have to go to work (ref: lazy)
So I can drive around and see all the places I want to see
I like the location of Cromwell, its distance from other towns but I'd need to be on the water otherwise the attractiveness of Alex (on one of the hills looking down on people of course) is nudging it ahead for me
Or Roxburgh if my financial plans don't work out quite as I expect…
Among other things it supports delaying opening the border to non-MIQ travel and it supports urgently restricting the number of arrivals from countries suffering high Omicron outbreaks.
Not me, guvna, honest. I just went for a quiet country walk to figure out how to better serve my master, didn't know there was a revolt on, SPQR all the way, me…
They have apparently asked – though Finland has a longstanding finangle whereby Russia leaves them alone if they don't join Nato – most of the reason countries want to join Nato in the first place is to not get invaded by Russia.
The core driver of this issue lies in two parts; the strategic desire of the Russian state to expand it's borders to a configuration that they are capable of defending. From their perspective there is a great deal of military merit in this.
The second core driver is the desire of these 'buffer' state such as Belarus and Ukraine to determine their own political and defense alliances. In my book this latter consideration plays the trump card. Like Taiwan the people, who probably understand the choices better than we do, have chosen to turn away from authoritarian dictatorships. A choice between Russia and the EU is not a hard decision.
Long term the solution has to be to persuade the Russians that history does not have to repeat itself endlessly, and that they have far more to gain by becoming truly part of Europe as they always should have been. There is a great deal to like about the Russian people and culture, and their pariah status for over a century has been nothing but a tragedy for both sides.
Well the Russians were highly motivated to get in and out of Kazahkstan as fast as possible – there is no way they could sustain active military engagement on three fronts simultaneously. (The third being the slow burner in Georgia)
I remember very well that before and during the Russian Missiles in Cuba Crisis we here were NEVER informed that it was the USA which had provoked it all by planting nuclear warhead missiles in Turkey, right next to Russia, and it was admitted only some years later that the USA had got Russia to withdraw its missiles from Cuba by agreeing to withdraw its own missiles from Turkey.
Gorbachev was given verbal guarantees that NATO would not expand Eastwards.
Anything here that experts like RedLogix might be quietly not mentioning?
Long term the solution has to be to persuade the Russians that history does not have to repeat itself endlessly, and that they have far more to gain by becoming truly part of Europe as they always should have been.
Putin, I think, would agree with that. I don't think he wants to conquer other states, (except the Ukraine, which seems eager to join NATO). Russia's stance has always seemed defensive.
At the moment their borders lie on open plains they lack the manpower to defend. Last I looked the Ukrainian border is not all that far from Moscow so you can understand the Russian anxieties being provoked here. The Kremlin wants to expand it's military borders up to defendable geographic features like the Carpathian Mountains. So yes this does involve some conquering.
Put simply the Ukrainian people don't want to be under Putin's thumb, and the only way they can ensure their own security is to become part of NATO – as do the Finns and Swedes.
There really are only two sides to root for here – the authoritarian state or the democratic one. Neither are any kind of moral utopia but you get to pick one.
TV news last night, when covering child vaccinations, said there had only been a few hickups.
Talkback told a different story – from people with appointments told to get in line and wait their turn…to chemist shops knowing nothing about childhood vaccinations.
My, the difference between filtered news and raw news from the man in the street. Thanks talkback.
When the hell is Mikey and Heather getting back? We need some decent commentary.
74 deaths so far today in 3 Australian states. Daily case numbers, despite the imprecise accounting method, do seem to have peaked or flattened off, but hospitalisation pressure, ICU rates and deaths still increasing. Glad to know that the current outbreak here is so mild (sarc).
1126*/365 = 3/day, so today's Covid deaths represented 25 times that figure. What would Australia's car crash rate (or anywhere for that matter) be like without mandatory speed limits, seat belts, roadworthiness/WOF checks etc. etc.?
*https://www.roadsafety.gov.au/performance/road-deaths-road-user
The car deaths rate is always going to be inflated if you count road fatalities as anyone who has died and received a positive test for driving their car in the previous 48 hours.
but then if someone did the analysis on them and figured out that, say, 95% of people who died within 48hours of driving a car did in fact die as the result of a vehicle crash, the numbers would barely be inflated at all.
No, it's the PHE document comparing that methodology against a labour-intensive audit of individual death certificates, and finding that the sensitivity and specificity of the more efficient methodology is still in excess of 95% when that timeframe is at or under 28 days. Thus meaning that the "with not from" discussion was complete bollocks, and anyone who used it was out of their depth in the subject area.
A study using mathematical modelling estimated that there are more than 3000 deaths and more than 13,500 hospitalisations due to influenza per year among Australians aged >50 years.
I do realise COVID should not be ignored. Here in Brisbane it's all around us, and it's almost inevitable we're going to be exposed.
Perhaps most concerning of all is that with the 'only the vaccines can save us' messaging taking precedence over everything – it seems a lot of basic early treatment and case management principles have not been properly conveyed to the public. Here's the experience of a health journalist who seems to have copped a nasty dose, although given the dates involved it was probably the Delta variant.
74 deaths in a single day is equivalent to 27,000 deaths from Covid-19 a year (365 x 74). That's 9 times the influenza rate you just quoted. There is no way of knowing what the current fatality rate would have been without vaccination at all, but probably a lot higher.
But as you point out in your own comment, NSW Omicron case numbers have already peaked and the serious illness and deaths will likely do much the same in a week or two. It's extremely unlikely that NSW will continue to have 70+ deaths per day for the rest of this year.
Indeed it's not unreasonable to think Omicron will wind up an endemic illness that is comparable to seasonal influenza.
On that basis will the vaccine passports and travel restrictions make any sense?
observer
In my view these anti-vax protesters are the true "Deplorables". Far worse than the Gangs and lower down the picking order than a drunk pissing in a doorway at lunchtime. Far worse.
Scarring mum and the kids? Just absolute cowards and oxygen thieves.
We've had these scum in New Plymouth as well, a few months back. I wish I was there
at the time so I could make them pay for deplorable behaviour. Scumbags.
No Ad that is bullshit. These idiots are intimidating people, scaring kids and refusing to leave vaccination vans (NP) and getting aggressive. That's assault and should be dealt with by Police and or public involvement as necessary.
I wish I was there at the time so I could make them pay for deplorable behaviour.
Right there – the madness of mobs. Out in the open and condoned by a large fraction of the population.
Two years ago we were 'all in this together'. Now you want to actively make some of your fellow citizens who have done you no harm whatsoever, to 'pay' in order to satisfy your sadistic urges.
Time to snap out of the trance Greenbus – before you do something you will be eternally shamed for.
Democracy is about voting to hold our political institutions to account. Mob violence is something quite different. I would post an example pic of each if I thought it would help people spot the difference.
Worse than gangs? Really? Why not move next door to gang members, it must be a lot less dangerous than moving next to an unvaccinated person.
Please note:
Vaccinated people are NOT immunised in a similar fashion like being inoculated with the MMR vaccine but if infected with COVID-19 the sickness is very much controllable without hospitalization. A vaccinated person can however pass on the virus.
Unvaccinated people on the other hand can get infected by anyone, their sickness displays in the form of anything from asymptomatic to intensive care unit need.
So, the unvaccinated person is therefore the one in real danger not the vaccinated one.
The Pfizer vaccine has not yet been fully approved by the FDA or any other organization. In fact studies are under way for some time now and include the vaccinated.
This is not to say that the vaccine is not effective, only that we have to look at all facts. We certainly need to avoid to get in a state of irrational panic and just do away with human rights and the democratic right to decide ones own fate. It is not unlawful to forgo being vaccinated.
There were a number of kids that fainted at the said venue yesterday – this is hardly surprising.
Stinking hot weather, plus injection, plus young kids, plus queues is a recipe for fainting regardless of the vaccination – I'm surprised there wasn't more.
I hope this war of words will soon stop. Statements like these that gangs are far less dangerous then old ladies with placard are just plain wrong. Its like the witch hunt of the 16th century, an enemy has been created and now we hunt it down! No mercy. Is NZ really so unsophisticated that different views and expressions cannot be accepted? Gangs who peddling drugs, someone is shot we hear at least once a week and children are still murdered in record numbers. Priorities?
True, that old lady should not approach the car but honestly, if that would have been a gang member the danger would have been infinitely greater.
A plausible-sounding line, until we check the news for 2020 … and then it collapses.
Before the vaccine was even available, and before any mandate existed, guess who was attacking the government for destroying our rights? Brian Tamaki and fellow travellers, of course. "Voices for Freedom" is just a rebrand.
Google News NZ for 2020 if you doubt this. Dozens of stories. Jacinda was already Hitler, because … masks, or lockdowns, or anything at all. She existed. That was enough. That was the protesters' complaint. Still is.
I think if you read some of these contributions you get the gist of it. It is prevalent not just in NZ but world wide. So disturbing that humanity has mentally not moved and learned over the decades. How often do we have to repeat this cycle.
17 January was Martin Luther King Jr Day. It's a timely reminder to some about the radical words of MLK:
We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor – both black and white, both here and abroad.
And the deeply reductionist Critical Race Theory was a very conscious repudiation of King's liberal-democratic / universalist / colour-blind philosophy.
The notion that King didn't want special treatment for Black people or that he didn't want the history of systemic racism taught in the US is absurd.
The white liberal must affirm that absolute justice for the Negro simply means, in the Aristotelian sense, that the Negro must have “his due.” There is nothing abstract about this. It is as concrete as having a good job, a good education, a decent house and a share of power. It is, however, important to understand that giving a man his due may often mean giving him special treatment. I am aware of the fact that this has been a troublesome concept for many liberals, since it conflicts with their traditional ideal of equal opportunity and equal treatment of people according to their individual merits. But this is a day which demands new thinking and the reevaluation of old concepts. A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him, in order to equip him to compete on a just and equal basis.
On the contrary, MLK was no liberal, he was a socialist, with strong words for the liberal establishment then and today.
First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."
12 hours shifts mean we have a lot more time off plus management are always on your case about having too much annual leave so they want you to take leave
With a little planning 24hours used can get you nine days off in a row (48 can give you 13 days) but usually 24hours should get you something like 6-7 days off
I'm back to work on Monday and I'll bet I'll have another email about taking some more time off plus I've got two stat days that're over a year old so they'll have to be used
But one former colleague did take a three month holiday from work and jiggled it around the rosters, time off in leiu, and stat hols so that they only used a few weeks actual leave, lol
'The Department of Corrections said two units at Rolleston Prison and one each at Tongariro and Christchurch Women's Prison, have been signed off as ready for service.'
'The department said they plan to start using them over the next few months.'
Bullshit , Rolleston units are still empty and they were supposed to be open over three years ago
So you'd think a journalist would investigate how much money has been wasted on this project
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Barrie Saunders writes – Very well-intentioned politicians, judges and others have taken New Zealand down into a Treaty rabbit hole, from which few know how to exit without creating more social divisions. The modern interpretations of the Maori version of Treaty have set aside a common understanding of ...
It’s like deja-vu all over again. House prices are primed to surge 10-20% soon after any clear National-ACT win on October 14. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: There are increasing signs in economists’ forecasts, auction clearance rates, migration rates, divergent tax policies and house building rates that a clear ...
I did something yesterday that I hadn’t done in ages. Watch Oral Questions in parliament. I’m not sure what happened in all the episodes I missed, but nothing much seemed to have changed.For those unfamiliar, Question Time takes place in parliament at 2pm each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the ...
Slow Learner: Effective leaders develop a political “muscle memory” of their own. The National Party should get one.SPEAKING IN PUBLIC tops most people’s list of fearful situations. There are some careers, however, for which public fluency is a non-negotiable pre-requisite. There’s little point in pursuing an acting career, for example, ...
Reality appears to be about to shatter Jacinda Ardern’s dream that New Zealand could lead the world in showing how to deal with farm emissions. The Government is facing a breakdown in negotiations over its much-vaunted He Waka Eke Noa deal with farmers to price greenhouse gas emissions and ...
Hi,Webworm won a Voyager media award over the weekend for “Best Team Investigation”! This would not have been possible without readers. Without you. Thank you.Also, there’s a new Flightless Bird out today, where I look at drug rehab clinics in Florida. I talk to three former addicts, and their stories ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive The Government is coy about some aspects of its relationship with China – and with the United States. Earlier this month, the PM spent a hectic 23 hours in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, where he responded to the superpower security deal just ...
What do Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and your daily newspaper all have in common? They all tell tales of imaginary worlds.In Game of Thrones the honourable Stark family find themselves in deadly conflict with the ruthless House of Lannister.In the NZ Herald the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins finds himself ...
What do Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and your daily newspaper all have in common? They all tell tales of imaginary worlds.In Game of Thrones the honourable Stark family find themselves in deadly conflict with the ruthless House of Lannister.In the NZ Herald the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins finds himself ...
In 2022 the government announced a periodic review of the Intelligence and Security Act, the legislation governing New Zealand's spies. Yesterday the review presented its report, Taumaru: Protecting Aotearoa New Zealand as a Free, Open and Democratic Society. Its a chunky read, and I'm not finished yet, but from the ...
The Charities Services decision to require the Waipareira Trust to claw back $385,000 of interest-free loans from John Tamihere brings renewed attention to the links between Whānau Ora and the Trust.Thomas Cranmer writes – Revelations earlier this month in the Herald that the social services charity Waipareira ...
National has developed a novel election strategy. It involves being both for and against almost every issue that comes down the pike. The use of te reo on public signage? Recently National Party leader Christopher Luxon came out against the bi-lingual use of te reo in the naming of government ...
Anti-densification residents’ and ratepayers’ groups are cock-a-hoop over National’s partial backflip on MDRS over the weekend and have ramped up their campaigns to stop densification in their areas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: NIMBY groups are cock-a-hoop this morning, calling on councils and the Government to completely abandon the MDRS housing ...
It’s been two months but today the Auckland Transport board meet for again. There’s a lot on the agenda so I can’t cover it all in this post but here are some of the highlights from their regular board papers. The open session starts at 9am and can be watched on ...
This story by Aaron Cantú was originally published in Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Monic Uriarte was thrilled to get approved for an affordable apartment in Los Angeles’ University Park, close to USC. But soon after she and her ...
This incomplete picture speaks of everything we love most about a summer holiday in Aotearoa: The bach, the beach, the barbecue, the sand, the christmas ham sandwiches, the serenity.We love it, don’t we, Aotearoa? Getting away to somewhere warm and quiet with a high tide and a hammock. And if ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers who took time out from the Labour Party congress to attend to portfolio duties were focused largely on promoting the country’s interests overseas. The statements with the widest implications dealt with: Trade – Damien O’Connor joined ministerial representatives at a meeting in Detroit, USA, ...
In the last year of a second term in government. the election outcome shouldn’t even be close. All that’s required for a competent Opposition to be streets ahead in the polls, is an ability to look like a credible government-in-waiting. Instead, we’ve got a very tight contest. There’s a reason ...
The Herald reports that WINZ debt has reached the staggering total of $2.4 billion, with the usual racism and sexism in who owes and how much they pay: Anti-poverty groups say the poorest Kiwis are caught in a debt trap as the total amount of money owed to the ...
There was a poll last week which asked if now was the right time for a tax cut. Which is quite an odd thing to ask really, don’t you think?We’ve got to pay back the money used to keep paying people and stop businesses going under during the pandemic. Our ...
The Treasury released its budget economic forecasts. What do they say about the economy over the next four months?Brian Easton writes – Let me begin me with an irritation. One post-budget headline was ‘Treasury optimistic over recession risk in Budget 2023‘. Treasury being optimistic is almost an ...
As a politician swallowing a rat under a very public spotlight, Chris Bishop gave a spirited and relatively smooth account of himself yesterday. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Chris Bishop has detailed National’s new housing policy for Election 2023 that confirms a National Government would not force councils ...
After signalling it a week ago, yesterday National launched their new housing policy which abandons their support for the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) that they had worked with the government to deliver back in 2021 and shifts the focus to more sprawl. Overall there are three key areas National ...
The audacity of National’s “u-turn” over housing intensification is an extraordinary slap in the face for Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis. If it does nothing else, it raises questions about their political judgement, not for the first time.. Some in the Caucus have still not forgiven them for their ...
As the general election approaches, the Association of Former Members of the Parliament of New Zealand has organised an essay competition to to foster democracy. Secondary school students are being challenged to identify the important elements of a successful democracy, explain their value and consider whether they can be improved ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: For paying subscribers, here's my pick of the week’s top six news developments, quotes and charts of the week with my personal reflections, plus my suggestions for Sunday reading and listening. There’s also one fun thing. In summary this week, my six takeaways were:Christopher ...
With Open Arms: Is it at all reasonable to suppose that a colonial society in which whites traditionally occupied all the upper rungs of the ethnic hierarchy, and where the colonised were relegated to the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, will respond positively to a concerted indigenous push from below, ...
Hi,Just a quick online-only update that Webworm won “Best Team Investigation” last night at the Voyagers.This means a lot, especially considering we were up against giant newsrooms like Stuff and TVNZ:WINNER: David Farrier and Hayden Donnell | Webworm – The Downward Spiral of Arise ChurchJUDGES: Alan Sunderland and Ali Ikram“This ...
May 28, 2025.Ladies and gentlemen. It’s a beautiful clear morning here in Auckland City. We’re heading for a maximum temperature of 14 degrees, and the local time is now 10:30am. Please remain seated if you’d like to, or get up and walk around the plane if you prefer. New regulations ...
Somebody has made a new survey and it tells us this little waterlogged nation of ours is rocketing up the misery charts. Maybe they took it before the sun came back out.Or maybe they took it any time in the last two years. Because negativity is quite surely the new ...
The appointment of Elizabeth Longworth as Chair of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO was one of just two press statements on the government’s official website today. Perhaps that’s because ministers have been busy preparing speeches for the Labour Party faithful who have gathered in Wellington for the party’s ...
Alarm bells have been rung by the department after its Deputy Director-General for Operations warns, ‘the initial view shows that we do not have sufficient funding to cover our basic running costs’.Thomas Cranmer writes – Following last week’s budget, alarm bells have been rung by the Department ...
Luxon went after the NIMBY vote, declaring National’s 2021 bipartisan deal with Labour to make it much easier to put three townhouses on a regular section ‘wrong’. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: The week’s news in Aotearoa’s political economy I covered via The Kākā for subscribers included:The Labour ...
Hello! This is the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the week.Here’s what you may have missed.Last Sunday’s column was about the budget A big chunk of this year’s budget coverage was brought to us by the words crass, gauche and venal. The big questions ...
Hi,Usually Webworms are quite focussed — this one is the opposite. No rhyme or reason. A bit like my brain: sometimes ultra-focussed, other times utterly unable to settle on a goddamn thing. And as we head into the weekend, there are a bunch of things buzzing around in my head ...
The Mainstream Media, and especially the New Zealand Herald, regularly carry misinformed columns on the causes of the country’s low-grade economic performance over recent years. One old codger, John Gascoigne, who describes himself as “a Cambridge-based economic commentator” (not the university, alas!) correctly told us early this week that New ...
The Treasury released its budget economic forecasts. What do they say about the economy over the next four months?Let me begin me with an irritation. One post-budget headline was ‘Treasury optimistic over recession risk in Budget 2023'. Treasury being optimistic is almost an oxymoron. They fire down the centre.It is ...
Photo by Ron Fung on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with special guests:5.00 pm ...
1. Who most likely gave LOTO Luxon the idea to pull the rug on the urban density policy?a. A leading thinker on affordable housing b. A leading thinker on 15 minute cities c. A leading thinker on sustainable urban planning d. National-Party-supporting property developers2 . With what was this illustration made?a. Artificial inseminationb. ...
Buzz from the BeehivePoint of Order tallied $314.4 million of spending in the latest ministerial statements posted on the government’s official website. This includes a lump of money to – yes, really – help identify businesses in tourism and hospitality which treat their staffs well and to fund the ...
It’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour from midday (my apologies for the late start today), including:the Government’s payment of $130 million of Climate Emergency Fund money to NZ Steel to help it cut ...
National/ACT would have 62 seats in a 120 seat Parliament if the latest poll results were replicated in the October election, but micro-movements around the median and the size of Te Pāti Māori’s caucus will decide who governs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National/ACT could govern alone after October ...
Welcome to Friday – again! Hard to believe we’re almost in June. Here’s our latest roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. The Week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt covered the transport highlights from this year’s Budget. On Tuesday, Matt asked if the end is ...
What should one make of the Reserve Bank Governor’s extraordinary donation of a hostage to fortune in forecasting an end to interest rate hikes? Conspiracy theorists will be scratching their tinfoil hats and mumbling about positioning for a whacking great payoff on being forced out by a new government. ...
Shocking The Pakeha: An entirely forgivable impulse, some might say, given how easily so many Pakeha are shocked. Merely to suggest that Te Tiriti o Waitangi should be taken seriously is sufficient to set some Pakeha off. Others are shocked by the inclusion of more than a word or two ...
During New Zealand First coalition negotiations our policy was to train and resource 1800 new frontline police. We secured this coalition policy win to ensure our streets had a police force that could tackle crime - after years of neglect. Remember those previous nine years of neglect saw a ‘tag ...
Katie Kenny from Stuff published an article today with a lazy attempt at so-called ‘fact checking’ my recent comments on the World Health Organisation’s concerning new regulations being developed. What is most surprising is that throughout this entire ‘fact checking’ process, Kenny never once rang me asking for my side ...
The National Party has released another confused and rushed policy that will only further worsen the inequality that is driven by unaffordable housing. ...
Welcome to sunny and calm Wellington, which I know those of you who are visiting would of course expect to be the case. It’s been a busy week since we put forward the 2023 Budget. Labour MPs have been out across the motu giving the good oil on the Budget. ...
Kia orana, Talofa lava, Mālo e lelei, Taloha ni, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Noa’ia e mauri, Ni sa bula vinaka, Kia ora, Tena Koutou Katoa. Labour Party President Jill Day, Prime Minister Hipkins, Party faithful, delegates and comrades, whānau and friends, it’s a privilege to be here today. I begin my ...
One of my kaumātua up North stood before the Waitangi Tribunal and said: ‘He aha kē ahau, te tangata kore hara i mua i te Atua, e tu nei kia whakawaatia e koe, te tangata tāhae, te tangata hara, te tangata kore tikanga?Ko koe kē te tika, kia tū ...
New Zealanders will be highly concerned that the World Health Organisation proposes to effectively take control of independent decision making away from sovereign countries and place control with the Director General. W.H.O International Health Regulations on future outbreaks of disease aim to give the Director General extraordinary and wide-sweeping powers. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take responsibility for reducing inflation by taxing wealth instead of leaving RBNZ to continue hiking the Official Cash Rate. ...
The Green Party has released its list of candidates for the 2023 election. With a mix of familiar faces, fresh new talent, and strong tangata whenua voices, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to set the direction of the next Government. ...
Thank you for your invitation to be here, after yesterday's budget, and for the opportunity to talk with you. In the economic and social turmoil following the arrival of COVID 19 in New Zealand many concerns emerged. How would we keep our economy going and maintain our exports which are ...
At the heart of Budget 2023 is a cost of living package, designed to ease the pressure on New Zealanders in the face of global inflation and the challenges of rebuilding from extreme weather events. It provides practical cost of living relief across some of the core expenses facing Kiwis ...
A long standing Green Party policy has been extended yet again in this year’s Budget. This will deliver warmer homes for thousands of people, lower power bills, and cut climate pollution. ...
The Green Party is fully on board with free bus and train travel for under 12s and half price travel for under 25s - next stop, free travel for all under 18s, students, and apprentices. ...
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced a billion dollar flood and cyclone recovery package as part of Budget 2023. This is about doing the basics - repairing and rebuilding what has been damaged and making smart investments, including $100 million of protection funding to ensure future events don’t cause ...
The Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill would: boost New Zealand’s fuel supply resilience and economic security enable the minimum stockholding obligation regulations to be adapted as the energy and transport environment evolves. “Last November, I announced a six-point plan to improve the resiliency of our fuel supply from ...
The Government is making sure those on low incomes will no longer have to wait five weeks to get the minimum weekly rate of ACC, and improving the data collected to make the system fairer, Minister for ACC Peeni Henare said today. The Accident Compensation (Access Reporting and Other Matters) ...
A compulsory code of conduct will ensure school board members are crystal clear on their responsibilities and expected standard of behaviour, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti said. It’s the first time a compulsory code of conduct has been published for state and state-integrated school boards and comes into effect on ...
Tena koutou katoa and thank you, Mayor Nadine Taylor, for your welcome to Marlborough. Thanks also Doug Saunders-Loder and all of you for inviting me to your annual conference. As you might know, I’m quite new to this job – and I’m particularly pleased that the first organisation I’m giving a ...
The Government will enter into a funding arrangement with councils in cyclone and flood affected regions to support them to offer a voluntary buyout for owners of Category 3 designated residential properties. It will also co-fund work needed to protect Category 2 designated properties. “From the beginning of this process ...
The Government has announced changes to strengthen requirements in venues with pokie (gambling) machines will come into effect from 15 June. “Pokies are one of the most harmful forms of gambling. They can have a detrimental impact on individuals, their friends, whānau and communities,” Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds said. ...
The total Police workforce is now the largest it has ever been. Police constabulary stands at 10,700 officers – an increase of 21% since 2017 Māori officers have increased 40%, Pasifika 83%, Asian 157%, Women 61% Every district has got more Police under this Government The Government has delivered on ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta met with Korea President Yoon, as well as Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, during her recent visit to Korea. “It was an honour to represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the first Korea – Pacific Leaders’ Summit. We discussed Pacific ambitions under the ...
The Government’s Research and Development Tax Incentive has supported more than $2 billion of New Zealand business innovation – an increase of around $1 billion in less than nine months. "Research and innovation are essential in helping us meet the biggest challenges and seize opportunities facing New Zealand. It’s fantastic ...
The next ‘giant leap’ in New Zealand’s space journey has been taken today with the launch of the National Space Policy, Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds announced. “Our space sector is growing rapidly. Each year New Zealand is becoming a more and more attractive place for launches, manufacturing space-related technology ...
A new Year 7-13 designated character wharekura will be built in Pāpāmoa, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced. The wharekura will focus on science, mathematics and creative technologies while connecting ākonga to the whakapapa of the area. The decision follows an application by the Ngā Pōtiki ā Tamapahore ...
Protecting the environment by establishing a stronger, more consistent system for freedom camping Supporting councils to better manage freedom camping in their region and reduce the financial and social impacts on communities Ensuring that self-contained vehicle owners have time to prepare for the new system The Self-Contained Motor Vehicle ...
A new law passed last night could see up to 25 percent of Family Court judges’ workload freed up in order to reduce delays, Minister of Justice Kiri Allan said. The Family Court (Family Court Associates) Legislation Bill will establish a new role known as the Family Court Associate. The ...
New Zealand businesses will begin reaping the rewards of our gold-standard free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK FTA) from today. “The New Zealand UK FTA enters into force from today, and is one of the seven new or upgraded Free Trade Agreements negotiated by Labour to date,” Prime ...
The Government will reform outdated surrogacy laws to improve the experiences of children, surrogates, and the growing number of families formed through surrogacy, by adopting Labour MP Tāmati Coffey’s Member’s Bill as a Government Bill, Minister Kiri Allan has announced. “Surrogacy has become an established method of forming a family ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little departs for Singapore tomorrow to attend the 20th annual Shangri-La Dialogue for Defence Ministers from the Indo-Pacific region. “Shangri-La brings together many countries to speak frankly and express views about defence issues that could affect us all,” Andrew Little said. “New Zealand is a long-standing participant ...
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall and the Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang met in Wellington today and affirmed the two countries’ long-standing science relationship. Minister Wang was in New Zealand for the 6th New Zealand-China Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation. Following ...
5 percent uplift clearer and simpler to navigate Domestic productions can access more funding sources 20 percent rebate confirmed for post-production, digital and visual effects Qualifying expenditure for post-production, digital and visual effects rebate dropped to $250,000 to encourage more smaller productions The Government is making it easier for the ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs (Pacific Region) Carmel Sepuloni will represent New Zealand at Samoa’s 61st Anniversary of Independence commemorations in Apia. “Aotearoa New Zealand is pleased to share in this significant occasion, alongside other invited Pacific leaders, and congratulates Samoa on the milestone of 61 ...
The Government is continuing to support retailers with additional funding for the highly popular Fog Cannon Subsidy Scheme, Police and Small Business Minister Ginny Andersen announced today. “The Government is committed to improving retailers’ safety,” Ginny Andersen said. “I’ve seen first-hand the difference fog cannons are making. Not only do ...
The Government has received the first independent review of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The review, considered by the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, was presented to the House of Representatives today. “Ensuring the safety and security of New Zealanders is of the utmost ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has expressed condolences on behalf of New Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga following the death of Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili. “New Zealand sends it’s heartfelt condolences to the people of Tonga, and to His Majesty King Tupou VI at this time ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has expressed condolences on behalf of New Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga following the death of Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili. “New Zealand sends it’s heartfelt condolences to the people of Tonga, and to His Majesty King Tupou VI at this time ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta have today announced the extension of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) deployment to Solomon Islands, as part of the regionally-led Solomon Islands International Assistance Force (SIAF). “Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of working alongside the Royal Solomon ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to the Republic of Korea today to attend the Korea–Pacific Leaders’ Summit in Seoul and Busan. “Korea is an important partner for Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific region. I am eager for the opportunity to meet and discuss issues that matter to our ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor joined ministerial representatives at a meeting in Detroit, USA today to announce substantial conclusion of negotiations of a new regional supply chains agreement among 14 Indo-Pacific countries. The Supply Chains agreement is one of four pillars being negotiated within the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework ...
Our most spoken Pacific language is taking centre stage this week with Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa – Samoa Language Week kicking off around the country. “Understanding and using the Samoan language across our nation is vital to its survival,” Barbara Edmonds said. “The Samoan population in New Zealand are ...
Over 90 per cent of New Zealanders are expected to receive this year’s nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system tonight between 6-7pm. “Emergency Mobile Alert is a tool that can alert people when their life, health, or property, is in danger,” Kieran McAnulty said. “The annual nationwide test ...
ENGLISH: Whakatōhea and the Crown sign Deed of Settlement A Deed of Settlement has been signed between Whakatōhea and the Crown, 183 years to the day since Whakatōhea rangatira signed the Treaty of Waitangi, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Whakatōhea is an iwi based in ...
Elizabeth Longworth has been appointed as the Chair of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, Associate Minister of Education Jo Luxton announced today. UNESCO is the United Nations agency responsible for promoting cooperative action among member states in the areas of education, science, culture, social science (including peace and ...
Tourism and hospitality employer accreditation scheme to recognise quality employers Better education and career opportunities in tourism Cultural competency to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces Innovation and technology acceleration to drive satisfying, skilled jobs Strengthening our tourism workers and supporting them into good career pathways, pay and working conditions ...
Tourism and hospitality employer accreditation scheme to recognise quality employers Better education and career opportunities in tourism Cultural competency to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces Innovation and technology acceleration to drive satisfying, skilled jobs Strengthening our tourism workers and supporting them into good career pathways, pay and working conditions ...
Greater access to primary care, including 193 more front line clinical staff More hauora services and increased mental health support Boost for maternity and early years programmes Funding for cancers, HIV and longer term conditions Greater access to primary care, improved maternity care and mental health support are ...
Greater access to primary care, including 193 more front line clinical staff More hauora services and increased mental health support Boost for maternity and early years programmes Funding for cancers, HIV and longer term conditions Greater access to primary care, improved maternity care and mental health support are ...
The Government continues progress on the survivor-led independent redress system for historic abuse in care, with the announcement of the design and advisory group members today. “The main recommendation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Abuse in Care interim redress report was for a survivor-led independent redress system, and the ...
Aotearoa New Zealand is providing NZ$7.75 million to respond to urgent humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Horn of Africa is experiencing its most severe drought in decades, with five consecutive failed rainy seasons. At least 43.3 million people require lifesaving and ...
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall has opened two new state-of-the-art mental health facilities at the Christchurch Hillmorton Hospital campus, as the Government ramps up its efforts to build a modern fit for purpose mental health system. The buildings, costing $81.8 million, are one of 16 capital projects the Government has funded ...
The Government is continuing to invest in our regional economies by announcing another $24 million worth of investment into ten diverse projects, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. “Our regions are the backbone of our economy and today’s announcement continues to build on the Government’s investment to boost regional economic ...
An $8 million boost to New Zealand Māori Tourism will help operators insulate themselves for the future. Spread over the next four years, the investment acknowledges the on-going challenges faced by the industry and the significant contribution Māori make to tourism in Aotearoa. It builds on the $15 million invested ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the first 18 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles for the New Zealand Army, alongside personnel at Trentham Military Camp today. “The arrival of the Bushmaster fleet represents a significant uplift in capability and protection for defence force personnel, and a milestone in ...
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A new poem by Wellington poet Victoria Lewis. Carmine well – the cherries appeared quietly there on the kitchen bench as if to smile and say i love you,and you dared to forget those gleaming fruit form a prayer, a devotion bloody on the inside, taut on the out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra nitpicker/Shutterstock By coincidence, the furore around the consultancy firm PwC is raging just as the National Anti-Corruption Commission is gearing up for its start of business on July 1. The PwC scandal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ricardo Villegas, Senior Lecturer of Law, University of South Australia Today, Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko handed down his long-awaited judgment in the defamation case that Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living former SAS soldier, brought against the Age, the Sydney Morning ...
Wayne Brown has named and attempted to shame councillors who oppose the sale of the council's airport shares, but some are returning fire, saying he does not have the votes to pass his plan. ...
Some certainty has arrived for those impacted by severe weather events earlier this year but the bulk of the detail for a buyout scheme affecting at least 700 homes is a work in progress, writes political editor Jo Moir.Analysis: Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson has been determined since February ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Rolph, Professor of Law, University of Sydney At the heart of the spectacular defamation trial brought by decorated Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith were two key questions. Had the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times damaged his reputation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Bateson, Professor of Practice, University of Sydney Shutterstock Australians’ access to a range of contraceptive options depends on where they live and how wealthy they are. A recent parliamentary inquiry recommends ways to end this “postcode lottery” for people ...
Labour's campaign chair is standing by a social media post which likens National's prescriptions policy to dystopian TV show and novel The Handmaid's Tale. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition’s decision to oppose the Voice to Parliament has put its moderate members in a jam. Some moderates are active yes advocates, while others are trying to keep low profiles. Bridget Archer, the outspoken ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa is calling out the agriculture industry’s "undue influence" over the Government’s agricultural emissions policy, saying that " predatory denial and delay " have stalled the development of plans to price and reduce ...
“The huge fire in South Auckland illustrates the serious human health risks of incinerating flock, the residual material left over from the scrap metal process. It is one reason we will be opposing the building of a waste incinerator in Te Awamutu ...
It’s reassuring to think that by paying for private treatment you’re ‘freeing up a bed’ in a public hospital. But the reality is private beds don’t free up public beds, they replace them. Ethicists argue that healthcare is special. Unlike other consumer goods, its availability and accessibility should be based ...
The office of mayor Wayne Brown has hit back at criticism journalists were “cherry-picked” for this morning’s budget announcement. A number of media outlets, including The Spinoff, Stuff, TVNZ and Newshub, were not invited to hear Brown’s budget address. Some, however, made it into the room after Brown had started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Klugman, Research Fellow, Institute for Health & Sport, member of the Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and Co-convenor of the Olympic Research Network, Victoria University Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains mention of the Stolen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sudyumna Dahal, PhD Student, Australian National University Shutterstock The human costs of tobacco and smoking worldwide are huge. 1.3 billion people use tobacco, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. More than 8 million people die prematurely because of tobacco, at ...
Today, the Government released a discussion document: Safer Online Services and Media Platforms. It aims to reduce people’s exposure to harmful content, and create a system that is easier to navigate if people need to report harmful content. The ...
The Act Party’s compared a proposal to improve online safety to the government’s doomed hate speech laws, and pledged to “kill” it off as well. Consultation is set to begin on a Department of Internal Affairs proposal to change how online content is regulated in New Zealand. But David Seymour ...
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I think the NZ government should declare a 5 year State of Emergency!
It must be obvious to anyone with half a brain that BAU concerning the climate catastrophe will not be adequate. We face an existential threat and in the very near future, perhaps in only 3 or 4 years.
A Government of National Emergency should be formed, a cross party coalition of all parties in the house. God knows, there must be some members of the Natz who are good at something. Even a use could be found for Seymour. Give this government ‘war-time’ powers.
The borders must be closed; given a reasonable lead in time, say 6 months, all NZers who want to come home, should be encouraged to do so. After that – take your chances. Overseas travel must be suspended/terminated.
Huge efforts should be made to make NZ as self-reliant as possible, and the people marshalled to that end. The tourism industry is dead; channel all the people in that industry into future-proofing this country as far as possible.
Excess wealth should be confiscated and a UBI instituted to give everyone an equal stake in the success of a survival policy.
The emphasis must be placed on producing here what has been imported, and cutting out the consumer crap. Vacant land within cities (and there are many such where I live in ChCh) should be turned into community gardens, so we eat well, even if we don’t have plastic napkins to eat it off.
Omicron is only one of many ‘products’ from overseas we can do without. Sealing the border will stifle the spread of covid-19, and stop our landfills from overflowing.
By declaring a state of emergency now the government will be pro-actively taking steps ‘in time’ to avert the catastrophe looming, not reacting too late in 3 or 4 years from now. It will also give the government the necessary powers to act quickly in response to any of the many climate emergencies in the next few years.
One way/time or another, a state of emergency is coming.
P.S. Of course I know there’s not a hope of any of the above happening, but it all, or most of it should.
Give this a name and it might catch on.
Tony Veitchs Glorious 5 Year Plan sounds good I reckon
Ah, Pucky, take your head out of the sand and look around you. 1.5C is a temperature rise we cannot exceed and still live on this planet., and we're already on track for 2C.
Climate change/catastrophe will impact the world in increasing ways in the next few years, and we, us poor humans, will be only reactive, too little, too late.
Much better (though politically impossible) to front-foot any tragedy by being as prepared as we can, don't you think?
And buying EVs will simply not be enough!
So, what then?
Not a combination of communism and authoritarianism
So, what then?
Open up everything, keep the vaccines going (for what it's worth) and accept covid is here to stay
Had a look at the countries that are currently trying that?
Supply chains blocked, because all the truckies and supermarket workers are off sick at once, for example.
That is the Tory way, however. "If it doesn't work, do more of it".
Well no that isn't the issue:
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/whats-causing-americas-massive-supply-chain-disruptions/story?id=80587129
I hate to be the one to point this out to you, Pucky, but covid is but one, and not the most important, of the problems we face.
Ok lets say you're right. Lets say that the doomsayers are, finally, right.
If we have an overpopulated planet then the best thing we can do is depopulate the planet.
The earth is merely correcting itself so why would you want to interfere with that.
I think we,ll get to the stage where we are ready to try almost anything. [As long as its not practical. The powers that be are not those sort of people].
Communism never works, Socialism never works.
And Capitalism does, when BAU will lead us to climate catastrophe?
Head . . . sand.
Capitalism certainly works better than Communism and Socialism, with Capitalism as your base you can then afford socialist policies
Best of both worlds
Unlike capitalism, communism and socialism have a history of lifting people out of poverty under the most dire of circumstances. Pity they are such an easy target for the capitalists who mercilessly unleash their dubiously acquired capital and resources to undermine countries. Of course, you will be too enamored with wealth for wealth's sake to realize that once upon a time, NZ was recognized as a socialist state. That was back when people were housed, clothed, fed and educated by utilizing the various resources of the country. That was before greed became a religion
This is fantastic stuff, keep going.
"Unlike capitalism, communism and socialism have a history of lifting people out of poverty" that's funnier than anything Guy Williams has ever said. You should do stand up comedy.
Says someone who is either illiterate or wilfully believes in fairy dust eh Jimmy.
Nonsense – socialism are your streets and public libraries – a society can stand quite a bit of that stuff. Education and health systems too.
Capitalism pays for Socialism
Wrong way around.
Without State infrastructure, the rule of law, especially contract law, the protection of possessions, health and housing, and all the other "Socialist things" Capitalism wouldn't be workable.
Currently Capitalism is failing because capitalists have removed way more than their fair share of "other peoples, wealth production". Work!
Capitalism pays for Socialism
Only until it corrupts the government – then it welshes on all its responsibilities.
Never say "never".
Well when it finally does let me know
Cuba seems pretty viable, and would be even more so, were it not for US and other Western nations’ hostility.
You want to live there be my guest.
Countries are allowed to trade with whoever they want, plenty of Communist and Socialist countries for Cuba to trade with.
Countries are allowed to trade with whoever they want, plenty of Communist and Socialist countries for Cuba to trade with
Just because Castro gave the corrupt, pro US, dictator, Batista, and his government the boot, that is no reason for vindictiveness on the part of the US.
Meantime, just like in the movie 'Don't Look Up' where they decided to mine the asteroid instead of deflecting it.
New Zealand government invests $1.5 billion in financial support made available to Air New Zealand in mining the sky.
Yes Jenny, BAU.
If New Zealand took up all or even some of your suggestions it would be a wake-up and a call to arms for the whole world.
We could stop climate change if we chose to, but we don't choose to.
Yes it is.
The question is; Will this coming state of emergency be declared too late?
Will we fight now, when it can make a difference, or will we fight later when it is too late?
Unfortunately Jenny, you and I both know the answer to your last question.
''Excess wealth should be confiscated and a UBI instituted to give everyone an equal stake in the success of a survival policy.''
Not often you hear those sentiments stated so plainly. Nowadays the Left use weasel words and phrases to express such unpalatable truths.
Thanks, Tony, for reminding me why I'm a Tory. Consistently stating the company line can make one forget why they are objecting to something in the first place.
Yes it is refreshing to hear someone clearly state their jealousy and envy
Nothing to do with the fact that increasing unearned wealth and power, accumulating in few hands, and inequality of opportunity, destroy societies, as we can observe since the Romans, and probably before that.
"Envy".
Don't right wingers have any original memes?
You've been using that one for over a century.
Cliches are cliches because they are true.
No they are the default of those too lazy to be objective.
Not lazy.
Efficient. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel.
You think Capitalism is efficient.
Do you know what it is….how it works and where we can find it?
Here you go:
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/capitalism
capitalism
noun
An economic system in which a country's businesses and industry are controlled and run for profit by private owners rather than by the government
That's very narrow and does not address the reality of peoples lives.
Unless you think private business making profits is all there is that is worthwhile.
Your link describes socialism as-
'a set of political and economic theories based on the belief that everyone has an equal right to a share of a country's wealth and that the government should own and control the main industries'(my bold)
And?
and….try the …magic show!
The Federal Reserve released the names of the banks that had received $4.5 trillion” – that is trillion with a T – “in cumulative loans in the last quarter of 2019 under its emergency repo loan operations for a liquidity crisis that has yet to be credibly explained.”
Norton notes that among the large borrowers under the Fed’s repo loan facility in 2019 were JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup (it was their trading affiliates) and these were “three of the Wall Street banks that were at the center of the subprime and derivatives crisis in 2008 that brought down the U.S. economy.”
Norton then asks Hudson “why was the Fed giving trillions of dollars to these large Wall Street banks. And why was there a liquidity crisis? That’s unexplained. Why did the Fed refuse to release the names of these banks? And was there a financial crisis before COVID that the U.S. government later was able to blame on COVID, but it was actually a financial crisis in the making?”Wall St on Parade'
It's called a rigged game.
@$40 a second,it would take 792 years to spend a…$.trillion.
Thats the left wing, Democratic party for you
I see you have no idea of who was in power in the U.S in 2019.
Democrat or Republican is actually irrelevant when crony capitalism is the main act.
Shades of George Orwell: 'four legs good, two legs bad.'
Sorry Phucky, you can't keep blaming the left (especially the American 'left'), for all the ills of the world.
'Sorry Phucky, you can't keep blaming the left (especially the American 'left'), for all the ills of the world'
Considering that in the USA Hollywood, big tech, social media, msm, Wall Street are all left leaning then yes, yes I can and yes I will
Sorry about the 'Phucky,' that was unworthy of me.
Don't worry about it, I'm a big boy.
I've been called worse things.
Thanks. But, I imagine, you'd be the first to admit you can be an annoying little shit!
Capitalism:An economic system in which a country's businesses and industry are controlled and run for profit by private owners rather than by the government.
China's businesses and industries are largely "run for profit" by private owners these days. But as a certain Baron Rothschild once said, "If I can control the money system I care not who runs the government." The Chinese government controls China's money system, so I guess that's all it takes to be considered socialist.
Why can our government not nationalize our banks, then we too could be socialists.
On the whole, the Chinese economy seems to have been fairly successful in recent years.
To Tony
I don't know what you're talking about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQM8bUHOEuE
Lol. Number 8 fits you to a T, Pucky.
Though, on reflection, No. 3 fits as well.
Pretty sure 8 and 3 apply to a lot of people on here
Keep telling yourself that.
Mystery why those who haven't done well monetarily, still shill for the idle rich, however.
That other cliche. "Turkey's voting for Christmas" springs to mind.
You could add landlords legislating against their best interests too.
How about ''Rich Pricks''?
When Bezos and Musk have more wealth than 40% of americans ….there is something rotten in the kingdom…of neo liberal…greed.
You can thank the Democrats for their lockdown policies for that, although its interesting Elon Musk is probably going to get people to Mars before Nasa does
Wrong, Pucky. I am decidedly middle class, mortgage free and owe not a penny to anyone. What have I got to be jealous or envious about?
Let's talk about equity though. Let's talk about levelling the playing field so everyone has a chance to lead a good and fulfilling life in the possibly few years left to homo sapiens.
Hence a UBI.
You can say what you like but you look at the wealthy and you think to yourself "if I'd chosen a different field of study that could have been me", "if I'd applied myself differently that could have been me", "I could have done that if I'd wanted to", "they don't do anything to earn that money", "they don't earn that money", "who wants to live like that anyway"
Yes, you're right, I occasionally had those aberrations of thought when I was young, but I'm not young anymore, and I can look at the glaring, obscene inequality in the world and be genuinely appalled!
Trust me on this.
Let go of your envy and jealousy, it won't do you any good and it'll only make you appreciate less what you already have.
The pie isn't finite, just because someone else is wealthy doesn't mean you, me or the person down the street can't be wealthy.
If thats even a goal.
Oh the aspirational con!
You can't have rich people without a whole lot of poor people.
Most wealth stems from control of capital creation, privatisation of public assets,inheritance , insider information and some luck.
I hope that one day, for your sake, you can overcome your defeatist attitude.
I hope for your sake, one day you can see through the indoctrinated drivel you champion and recognise…reality.
Remember the other saying "If socialists understood economics, they wouldn't be socialists".
Theres always a money tree at the bottom of the garden
What garden?
The garden where the money comes from
Another stupid saying.
'economics exists so that economists can have..a job.'-paraphrase J.Galbraith.
In fairness, that saying is really about economists. It should really read,
"If socialists believed the arrant nonsense and Chicago school drivel that has never worked anywhere, our job, lying to the punters, would be so much easier."
Remember the other saying "If socialists understood economics, they wouldn't be socialists".
If capitalists understood economics they would no doubt be better capitalists, and then maybe capitalism would become a worthwhile system. But in the meantime it's better we (ahem) "put up with" socialism.
please fix TS username on your device.
Unfortunately, the pie is finite. You can't have infinite growth on a finite planet.
Thats why we need more people like Elon Musk (visionaries) and less like the nay sayers
The guy who plans to escape to Mars.
Leaving his mess behind.
and creating a new mess wherever he goes.
Its human nature to travel, if he can unlock the stars then good on him
Unlock the stars??
A bit optimistic there, PR. Mars is only the nearest planet. It has already been wrecked from what we can tell, and there is no chance of 'unlocking the stars' based only on our precariously making it to Mars.
Please don't let your wild imagination run away with you again. We saw enough of that with Judith C…
You are why we need people like Elon Musk
'The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step'
This journey will scarcely make the first step, and will get nowhere.
Fool.
"What have I got to be jealous or envious about?".
I don't know. Why are you?
The Right always make that pathetic "you are jealous" smear.
We cannot expect them to do better – greed and ignorance can only take them so far.
Because its generally true, look at your average left wing spouting politician
"Jealosy and "envy" are merely states of mind. Practical necessities are different. These latter are what we are discussing here.
Where the mind goes the body follows
Or, as President Theodore Roosevelt put it "If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow".
Rubbish.
I'm proposing possible solutions to a crisis of existence, and, well, what are you proposing?
Let's hear how the right will solve the looming climate catastrophe, apart from denying it exists.
If you think that one or more 'states of emergency,' either local or ultimately national, aren't in our 'near' future, well, you haven't been paying attention.
The richest people in the world doubled their wealth during the covid years – is that a solution to climate change?
'I'm proposing possible solutions to a crisis of existence, and, well, what are you proposing?'
– I'm proposing we don't make the situation much, much worse
'The richest people in the world doubled their wealth during the covid years – is that a solution to climate change?'
– Ask the Democrats, they're the ones that implemented the policies.
Probably a coincidence:
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039313011/tiktokers-are-trading-stocks-by-watching-what-members-of-congress-do
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/5-nancy-pelosi-stocks-you-may-want-to-watch-in-2022
Ah, I see, BAU
Yes.
Making something worse under the guise of 'at least doing something' isn't noble.
Making something worse under the guise of 'at least doing something' isn't noble.
Worse for whom? You're saying that we should ensure that the 1% survive even if the rest of us don't.
And nobility isn't really the point. Mostly you seem to be engaging in empty rhetoric.
Reply
Communism and Socialism is worse for everybody (except the 1% it favours)
Capitalism is good at exploiting other peoples labour and aquiring public assets on the cheap.
Communism is really good at good at exploiting other peoples labour and aquiring public assets on the cheap and killing their own people.
Capitalism is good at exploiting other peoples labour and aquiring public assets on the cheap.
Capitalism relies on the proposition that the owners of capital should rule the economy. A pretty dubious proposition really. If workers ruled the economy they would no doubt put in place a socialist system. Under such a system suppliers of capital would be appropriately rewarded, but that reward would not be unlimited.
Capitalism relies on trade.
You have something (money) I want, I'm willing to trade my time (work) for money.
I have something you want (goods and services), I'm willing to trade my goods and services for your money.
Do I believe in unfettered capitalism, nope, needs to be rules like anything else to make a level playing field.
Capitalism relies on trade.
So does socialism.
Please stop punching yourself in the….face.
Einstein's (I think) definition of insanity is doing the same thing time and time again and expecting a different result.
BAU isn't going to cut it anymore, Pucky. We need a more radical approach.
'Einstein's (I think) definition of insanity is doing the same thing time and time again and expecting a different result.'
So like Communism and Socialism then?
BAU, BAU, BAU, BAU!
I've racked my brains but I can't think of one country where 'communism' in its pure form is practised (and don't tell me Venezuela, American sanctions have stuffed that country) or socialism for that matter.
But I can think of many many countries where capitalism has fucked economies and impoverished the vast majority of people.
Though ‘impoverishment’ is a relative term.
So why then have lifespans increased and peoples standard of living increased ??
and you comment on no examples of pure communism or socialism yet only comment on restricted capitalism/socialism ??
'I've racked my brains but I can't think of one country where 'communism' in its pure form is practised '
Communism will finally work this time when we finally implement it properly, BAU, BAU, BAU, BAU!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVMib1T4T4
@Herodotus…neither pure Communism or pure Capitalism exist.
Communist China is the pin up nation for standard of living improvement and increased lifespan,not to mention a real 'rockstar economy'.
Rockstar economy at what long term costs ?? I have read many examples of factory conditions that manufacture branded footware/clothing etc that would not be acceptable in 1st world countries, the increase in climate gases expelled, the plundering of our oceans to name a few. Sometimes we need to allow Father Time a little time to see the consequences. 😉
It's in pretty pure form in Russia, UK, US, and Kazakhstan. You can trace it one pipeline at a time.
Hi Blazer
https://www.bbc.com/news/56213271
'However, this success in bringing people out of abject poverty is not simply down to the government, he says.'
"Chinese people, by working extremely hard, lifted themselves out of poverty – in part because some of the stupidest economic policies ever created, by Chairman Mao, were abandoned in favour of versions of capitalism."
Your BBC link-
'however, by any measure China has made huge strides to lift millions out of the toughest standards of living over the last few decades.'
Regardless you will never get an objective assessment from Anglo-American media.
The biggest fear of Capitalism is people embracing successful socialism and if outright aggression fails,then sanctions are applied and targeted assassinations occur.
Capitalism relies on a select few creating Capital out of thin air and developing military capability to…enforce it.
40 million on foodstamps in the U.S.A…as for homelessness!
Yes Blazer because:
"Chinese people, by working extremely hard, lifted themselves out of poverty – in part because some of the stupidest economic policies ever created, by Chairman Mao, were abandoned in favour of versions of capitalism."
I agree Mao's policies were pretty stupid, but perhaps we can learn from some of China's more recent policies, particularly with respect to banking.
I think that what you suggest is nothing short of a panicky. Even with all the effort NZ would try to stem global warming, 5 million people against the population of India and China …….? Sorry but that just makes me question what sort of idea is that? Not that we should not do anything but going into seclusion like a sect is just plain madness. If you really want to change things, start with giving effort and impetus against those who exploit people, modern slavery, mining of the African continent, deforestation of the South American Rainforest, cleaning up the sea from rubbish and debris that form whole islands. All of which influences climate. But to incarcerate 5 million people and expect from those who have worked and earned what they own to agree that their possessions are to be confiscated is truly authoritarian, in fact I would say an introduction to a police state mixed with sectarianism all rolled into one. Orwell's 1984:
‘ “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”’
‘ “The masses never revolt of their own accord, and they never revolt merely because they are oppressed. Indeed, so long as they are not permitted to have standards of comparison, they never even become aware that they are oppressed.”’
Bravo.
All EVs are imported … with the boarders closed => no EVs anyway!
How on earth do you close 'boarders?'
Write your name on the milk in the fridge before they stealth it.
'Stealth it'? Our borders used to steal it instead.
How do you (en)close a boarder?
By stopping them from 'stretching' their legs!
Just a product of the NZ education system?
Are you referring to your own error, Maurice? (‘boarders' indeed..)
Business with covid can't be so…bad…the service sector screaming to import workers in hospo and unskilled work.
Employers ‘desperate’ as shortfall of 10,000 workers hits productivity and profits | Stuff.co.nz
I would like to find out how many people these companies calling for imported staff have trained up locals for themselves, or is that not cost effective when you can get someone overseas to do the messy bits. I remember the old ARC (ARA?) had their own bus drivers school and trained their own drivers, many of which then went on to drive trucks for private companies
.
Mostly a shortage of workers who are willing and able to work for the minimum wage. So actually a wages shortage, not a worker shortage.
In my opinion, all imported workers should be paid a minimum of $35 / hour, so only if you can't find locals at this rate, are they allowed. Would prevent imported labour being used primarily to supress wages, which is the main function in NZ today.
This is s very good idea actually. It would mean an argument for foreign labor needs to be proven in fact. If this is about skills, than obviously NZ has a problem with training their own and if the skill needs to to be passed on than for any "import" of killed labor the employer has to get an apprentice on his/her side.
Wierd scenes so theres a campaign on in the uk to punish the bbc for having a left wing bias amongst other things , eh ??wtf ? i was under the impression the bbc was actively engaged in defeating jeremy corban and bringing borris to power how on earth is that left wing ?
Those on the right have a extremely laughable tendency to claim everything is left wing; our own PR demonstrated above:
Part of it is Truth-by-Repetition, and it’s has seemed to be pretty effective on some people.
Why I want to be rich: Reason #237:
So I can spend millions taking the Government to court to prohibit all vaccinations to people. To protect them.
I could opt myself out and my family out of having vaccinations, but hell, I want to opt everyone else out to protect them too. Call it a socialist tinge if you like.
In between times I could go to my Freedom and Voice rallies and complain about the Government.
One thing though, when I take the steps to do that I want my name to be out there, not suppressed like those in the current case before the courts. I want to be acknowledged for my genius knowing the accolades will flow. It's not that anyone would think that I'm a fuckwit with a used bottletop for a brain.
It's not that anyone would think that I'm a fuckwit with a used bottletop for a brain.
Are you clairvoyant? How do you know what others might think? Nice metaphor though. Very appropriate.
Why I want to be rich: (but aren't likely to as I'm just too lazy to put the work in)
So I can live in Central Otago (Bannockburn would be good, Lake Hawea on the water would suffice but Cromwell or Alexandra will have to do, Roxburgh at a pinch)
So I don't have to go to work (ref: lazy)
So I can drive around and see all the places I want to see
So my home is modern, warm and comfortable
Thats about it really…
About to take my boat for a sail on lake Wanaka Pukish….but I'm still a Corbynista through and through
Nobodies perfect
That is why John Eales, Australian Rugby player and oft-times captain from 1991 to 2001 was given the nickname of "Nobody".
He certainly came as close as anyone has to deserving it.
I'll wave from the frobt deck.
"the frobt deck"
That'll be after the obligatory three hours of drinkies I suppose? We've all heard about the residents of Wanaka.
Hawea is a hole other than January. Avoid.
Bannockburn got make sure you've got an irrigation stream or other water right.
Cromwell is surprisingly civil.
I like the location of Cromwell, its distance from other towns but I'd need to be on the water otherwise the attractiveness of Alex (on one of the hills looking down on people of course) is nudging it ahead for me
Or Roxburgh if my financial plans don't work out quite as I expect…
"if my financial plans don't work out"
Or Paremoremo if they work out like those of the Warden Norton in The Shawshank Redemption?
No, perish the thought.
Rata unit would ok if I'm in my 70s and single…
hmmmm…. some use their riches to get more and government is using the taxpayer money to facilitate….
https://youtu.be/nYIJxoh7gqw
Following on from TS discussion on Omicron yesterday this blog really is excellent in describing the best response to Omicron in NZ.
https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/preparing-for-omicron-a-proactive-government-response-is-urgently-needed-to-minimise-harms/
Among other things it supports delaying opening the border to non-MIQ travel and it supports urgently restricting the number of arrivals from countries suffering high Omicron outbreaks.
This is very useful too.
https://theconversation.com/ive-tested-positive-to-covid-what-should-i-do-now-174458
goodo. why waste yr leave time here, when you can waste yr employers time eh?
[RL: Banned until 29/1. A particularly stupid example of self-martyrdom.]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Mod note.
Irony alert: moderator opposes "creeping authoritarianism", then imposes ban for a weak joke. Oh dear.
So it turns out that you don't like 'creeping authoritarianism' when it suits your personal taste in humour?
Well it's a starting point I guess.
Not about "taste in humour". As you know.
If every stupid comment gets a 10 day ban, half the comments on the blog would be in the firing line.
I am Spartacus!
He's Spartacus!
We're all Spartacus!
Even Crusher "my style of fun is slightly more gladiatorial" Collins!
"I stab from the front."
'A love so sharp it cut
Like a switchblade to my heart'
Not me, guvna, honest. I just went for a quiet country walk to figure out how to better serve my master, didn't know there was a revolt on, SPQR all the way, me…
On a separate note, watch Arcane.
I don't know how they made a cartoon series based on a game so good but they did.
Now I'm a grammar nazi troll: shouldn't that be Spartacii??? /s
Grammar Nazi trolls are the worst trolls
Probably need Bernard Woolley for this one.
If we are all Spartacus, then Spartacus is plural? and does plural mean Spartacus is masculine, or neuter? Genitive case, maybe?
So, going by "romanus", the singular masculine nominative "Spartacus" would go to the plural genitive "Spartacorum", maybe?
I am Spartacus!
I don't think so. Sparticus was Kirk Douglas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2sq409UGtY
From my perspective it's more to do with having a go at authors. We protect authors here for a reason (because we want them to stay and write).
Why are commenters insisting on comparing Russia's invasion of Ukraine to China's threats against Taiwan?
The Ukraise tension would disperse if:
– Ukraine legislated that they will never be a member of NATO or the Russian defence treaty
– Nordstrom II was accelerated to completion
– Ukraine agreed to remove all nuclear missiles
– Russia removed itself from Donbass
Second part of the deal is:
– NATO Withdraws it's new divisions from the Baltic states
– Russia packs up and goes home.
Result:
Big wide neutral buffer state that keeps the gas flowing.
No comparison to China at all.
And now Russia are moving divisions for joint exercises with Belarus on the Ukraine border.
Bet Finland and Sweden beg to join NATO formally.
Biden and Blunken better figure out a solid deal, better than the current offer.
They have apparently asked – though Finland has a longstanding finangle whereby Russia leaves them alone if they don't join Nato – most of the reason countries want to join Nato in the first place is to not get invaded by Russia.
All good points.
The core driver of this issue lies in two parts; the strategic desire of the Russian state to expand it's borders to a configuration that they are capable of defending. From their perspective there is a great deal of military merit in this.
The second core driver is the desire of these 'buffer' state such as Belarus and Ukraine to determine their own political and defense alliances. In my book this latter consideration plays the trump card. Like Taiwan the people, who probably understand the choices better than we do, have chosen to turn away from authoritarian dictatorships. A choice between Russia and the EU is not a hard decision.
Long term the solution has to be to persuade the Russians that history does not have to repeat itself endlessly, and that they have far more to gain by becoming truly part of Europe as they always should have been. There is a great deal to like about the Russian people and culture, and their pariah status for over a century has been nothing but a tragedy for both sides.
I'd certainly prefer well-priced petro diplomacy to this militarized bullshit.
The key fund managers, petro-diplomats and ready-response Russian crew certainly managed the Kazakhstan intergenerational handover very neatly indeed.
Well the Russians were highly motivated to get in and out of Kazahkstan as fast as possible – there is no way they could sustain active military engagement on three fronts simultaneously. (The third being the slow burner in Georgia)
Can't see any reason why they can't handle that and more.
These areas of concern are on their own border.
As for the U.S and its 800+ bases globally,they ferment tension in multiple spheres.
I remember very well that before and during the Russian Missiles in Cuba Crisis we here were NEVER informed that it was the USA which had provoked it all by planting nuclear warhead missiles in Turkey, right next to Russia, and it was admitted only some years later that the USA had got Russia to withdraw its missiles from Cuba by agreeing to withdraw its own missiles from Turkey.
Gorbachev was given verbal guarantees that NATO would not expand Eastwards.
Anything here that experts like RedLogix might be quietly not mentioning?
Long term the solution has to be to persuade the Russians that history does not have to repeat itself endlessly, and that they have far more to gain by becoming truly part of Europe as they always should have been.
Putin, I think, would agree with that. I don't think he wants to conquer other states, (except the Ukraine, which seems eager to join NATO). Russia's stance has always seemed defensive.
I don't think he wants to conquer other states,
At the moment their borders lie on open plains they lack the manpower to defend. Last I looked the Ukrainian border is not all that far from Moscow so you can understand the Russian anxieties being provoked here. The Kremlin wants to expand it's military borders up to defendable geographic features like the Carpathian Mountains. So yes this does involve some conquering.
Put simply the Ukrainian people don't want to be under Putin's thumb, and the only way they can ensure their own security is to become part of NATO – as do the Finns and Swedes.
There really are only two sides to root for here – the authoritarian state or the democratic one. Neither are any kind of moral utopia but you get to pick one.
I don't think he wants to conquer other states,
Georgia and Chechnya might beg to differ.
They did, in 1994, for assurances that Russia would refrain from threatening or using force against Ukraine’s territorial independence.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-trilateral-process-the-united-states-ukraine-russia-and-nuclear-weapons/
TV news last night, when covering child vaccinations, said there had only been a few hickups.
Talkback told a different story – from people with appointments told to get in line and wait their turn…to chemist shops knowing nothing about childhood vaccinations.
My, the difference between filtered news and raw news from the man in the street. Thanks talkback.
When the hell is Mikey and Heather getting back? We need some decent commentary.
'
When the hell is Mikey and Heather getting back? We need some decent commentary.'
that's really …blunt….blade.
Mikey is off to Oz soon…and Heather Depressing-Allen is having a pregnant…pause.
Whaaat? Are you angry because I used ''getting back'' instead of ''coming back?''
You have had a hard day. Time to knock off and recharge your batteries.
This will stir the cockles of you dark socialist heart. I have to admit it nearly had me standing to attention. Riveting stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTarc1si2fQ
Blunt Blade – I think that the inference you should have made is that you have no idea of what 'decent commentary' is.
A good call, to my mind.
Do you know why Righties have so much fun( outside of the National Party that is
?). They have a sense of humour.
Please excuse my dry Tory wit, In Vino.
Wit? Humour? Misnomers.
Yes, well, of course. You have no frame of reference.
No reason, just because:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyB2PnDWYGg
If anyone is still in any doubt who the real fearmongers are …
They spread lies on social media, and it's not for "freedom".
Making up stories to scare the kids. No tactic is too low for the anti-vax mob.
74 deaths so far today in 3 Australian states. Daily case numbers, despite the imprecise accounting method, do seem to have peaked or flattened off, but hospitalisation pressure, ICU rates and deaths still increasing. Glad to know that the current outbreak here is so mild (sarc).
How many fatal car crashes on the same day?
From https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/ongoing/road_deaths_australia_monthly_bulletins (nifty Power BI dashboard here) it states that there have been 1127 road crash deaths in the last 12 months in Australia.
So around 3/day.
Edit: innumeracy corrected.
1126*/365 = 3/day, so today's Covid deaths represented 25 times that figure. What would Australia's car crash rate (or anywhere for that matter) be like without mandatory speed limits, seat belts, roadworthiness/WOF checks etc. etc.?
*https://www.roadsafety.gov.au/performance/road-deaths-road-user
Comparative risk by age,suggests covid IFR are worse across all age groups then accidents or vehicle fatalities.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-020-00698-1/tables/3
Good spotting – corrected.
Probably much worse, I would imagine. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_Australia_by_year we can see road fatalities peaked in 1970 with 3798, a rate of 30.4 fatalities/100,000 people and 80/100,000 cars. The fatality rate had dropped to 4.6/100,000 people by 2018.
The car deaths rate is always going to be inflated if you count road fatalities as anyone who has died and received a positive test for driving their car in the previous 48 hours.
but then if someone did the analysis on them and figured out that, say, 95% of people who died within 48hours of driving a car did in fact die as the result of a vehicle crash, the numbers would barely be inflated at all.
Lucky PHE did that work on covid 18 months ago. So no, covid death public health counts are not significantly inflated.
Isn't that PHE document saying that a covid death is counted when the person had a positive covid test within a certain time frame?
No, it's the PHE document comparing that methodology against a labour-intensive audit of individual death certificates, and finding that the sensitivity and specificity of the more efficient methodology is still in excess of 95% when that timeframe is at or under 28 days. Thus meaning that the "with not from" discussion was complete bollocks, and anyone who used it was out of their depth in the subject area.
Happy to be of assistance.
Appreciated.
I'm operating off a mobile.
They're a long way from BAU.
It's got a way to go to catch up to seasonal influenza then.
Again mild compared to what?
I do realise COVID should not be ignored. Here in Brisbane it's all around us, and it's almost inevitable we're going to be exposed.
Perhaps most concerning of all is that with the 'only the vaccines can save us' messaging taking precedence over everything – it seems a lot of basic early treatment and case management principles have not been properly conveyed to the public. Here's the experience of a health journalist who seems to have copped a nasty dose, although given the dates involved it was probably the Delta variant.
74 deaths in a single day is equivalent to 27,000 deaths from Covid-19 a year (365 x 74). That's 9 times the influenza rate you just quoted. There is no way of knowing what the current fatality rate would have been without vaccination at all, but probably a lot higher.
All this influenza and car crash fear porn has to stop.
But as you point out in your own comment, NSW Omicron case numbers have already peaked and the serious illness and deaths will likely do much the same in a week or two. It's extremely unlikely that NSW will continue to have 70+ deaths per day for the rest of this year.
Indeed it's not unreasonable to think Omicron will wind up an endemic illness that is comparable to seasonal influenza.
On that basis will the vaccine passports and travel restrictions make any sense?
observer
In my view these anti-vax protesters are the true "Deplorables". Far worse than the Gangs and lower down the picking order than a drunk pissing in a doorway at lunchtime. Far worse.
Scarring mum and the kids? Just absolute cowards and oxygen thieves.
We've had these scum in New Plymouth as well, a few months back. I wish I was there
at the time so I could make them pay for deplorable behaviour. Scumbags.
Also NZ citizens who have broken no law.
You replicate the same bile as any beneficiary basher.
No Ad that is bullshit. These idiots are intimidating people, scaring kids and refusing to leave vaccination vans (NP) and getting aggressive. That's assault and should be dealt with by Police and or public involvement as necessary.
I wish I was there at the time so I could make them pay for deplorable behaviour.
Right there – the madness of mobs. Out in the open and condoned by a large fraction of the population.
Two years ago we were 'all in this together'. Now you want to actively make some of your fellow citizens who have done you no harm whatsoever, to 'pay' in order to satisfy your sadistic urges.
Time to snap out of the trance Greenbus – before you do something you will be eternally shamed for.
The madness of mobs?…. its what humans do, sometimes it detrimental others its beneficial.
I guess it depends on whether you are within or without.
Oddly enough your comment made me reflect on democracy….that other madness of mobs.
Democracy is about voting to hold our political institutions to account. Mob violence is something quite different. I would post an example pic of each if I thought it would help people spot the difference.
Violence?….we have a group protesting, some individuals behaving badly and a majority complying….sounds like another day at the office.
But I guess you could portray it as something else if it didnt support your view of how the world should be.
Within, without.
Worse than gangs? Really? Why not move next door to gang members, it must be a lot less dangerous than moving next to an unvaccinated person.
Please note:
Vaccinated people are NOT immunised in a similar fashion like being inoculated with the MMR vaccine but if infected with COVID-19 the sickness is very much controllable without hospitalization. A vaccinated person can however pass on the virus.
Unvaccinated people on the other hand can get infected by anyone, their sickness displays in the form of anything from asymptomatic to intensive care unit need.
So, the unvaccinated person is therefore the one in real danger not the vaccinated one.
The Pfizer vaccine has not yet been fully approved by the FDA or any other organization. In fact studies are under way for some time now and include the vaccinated.
https://covid.immune.org.nz/news-insights/provisional-approval-pfizer-vaccine-extended
https://www.malaghan.org.nz/news-and-reports/news/new-study-into-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-to-provide-unique-nz-data/
This is not to say that the vaccine is not effective, only that we have to look at all facts. We certainly need to avoid to get in a state of irrational panic and just do away with human rights and the democratic right to decide ones own fate. It is not unlawful to forgo being vaccinated.
Unvaccinated is not a synonym for anti-vax protesters, whose behaviour is the subject here.
See the link in #11 above.
There are many more examples, alas.
e.g.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-parents-shocked-by-anti-vaccine-protesters/WFFZVRVKS22UEFB4YSDYMYIQEQ/
How low can you go:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/01/covid-19-ministry-of-health-denies-viral-claim-children-collapsed-at-north-shore-vaccination-centre.html
Spreading rumours of children collapsing at a North Shore vaccination venue. And the ex RNZ presenter, Liz Gunn is one of them.
One of "them"
There were a number of kids that fainted at the said venue yesterday – this is hardly surprising.
Stinking hot weather, plus injection, plus young kids, plus queues is a recipe for fainting regardless of the vaccination – I'm surprised there wasn't more.
I hope this war of words will soon stop. Statements like these that gangs are far less dangerous then old ladies with placard are just plain wrong. Its like the witch hunt of the 16th century, an enemy has been created and now we hunt it down! No mercy. Is NZ really so unsophisticated that different views and expressions cannot be accepted? Gangs who peddling drugs, someone is shot we hear at least once a week and children are still murdered in record numbers. Priorities?
True, that old lady should not approach the car but honestly, if that would have been a gang member the danger would have been infinitely greater.
You're not wrong
an enemy has been created and now we hunt it down
And yet you cannot give any examples of "hunting down" because nobody is going out looking for those witches.
Whereas the anti-vaxers know exactly where to "hunt down" their witches. The vaccination centres.
Leave people alone. Why can't the protesters do that? Who is stopping them from behaving like reasonable human beings?
Who is stopping them from behaving like reasonable human beings?
Maybe if the govt had not unreasonably imposed coercive vaccine mandates?
A plausible-sounding line, until we check the news for 2020 … and then it collapses.
Before the vaccine was even available, and before any mandate existed, guess who was attacking the government for destroying our rights? Brian Tamaki and fellow travellers, of course. "Voices for Freedom" is just a rebrand.
Google News NZ for 2020 if you doubt this. Dozens of stories. Jacinda was already Hitler, because … masks, or lockdowns, or anything at all. She existed. That was enough. That was the protesters' complaint. Still is.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-hundreds-turn-out-for-anti-lockdown-protests/AHE2NJJY3VMTTXLAUHLWIJOODY/
So because some people protested lockdowns this somehow means no-one might have reason to protest vaccine coercion?
"And yet you cannot give any examples of "hunting down" because nobody is going out looking for those witches."
But in this very thread, a couple of comments above yours:
"I wish I was there at the time so I could make them pay for deplorable behaviour."
I think if you read some of these contributions you get the gist of it. It is prevalent not just in NZ but world wide. So disturbing that humanity has mentally not moved and learned over the decades. How often do we have to repeat this cycle.
'Far worse than the Gangs and lower down the picking order than a drunk pissing in a doorway at lunchtime. Far worse.'
If you think they're worse then you've had a pretty good life
17 January was Martin Luther King Jr Day. It's a timely reminder to some about the radical words of MLK:
The Three Evils of Society, 1967
Further reading in this Intercept article from 2016.
.
And the deeply reductionist Critical Race Theory was a very conscious repudiation of King's liberal-democratic / universalist / colour-blind philosophy.
MLK championed poorer Whites … bloated, upper-middle Wokedom viciously scapegoats them.
MLK Jr would be cancelled if he were around today
By J Edgar Hoover?
Read a history book, please.
The notion that King didn't want special treatment for Black people or that he didn't want the history of systemic racism taught in the US is absurd.
The white liberal must affirm that absolute justice for the Negro simply means, in the Aristotelian sense, that the Negro must have “his due.” There is nothing abstract about this. It is as concrete as having a good job, a good education, a decent house and a share of power. It is, however, important to understand that giving a man his due may often mean giving him special treatment. I am aware of the fact that this has been a troublesome concept for many liberals, since it conflicts with their traditional ideal of equal opportunity and equal treatment of people according to their individual merits. But this is a day which demands new thinking and the reevaluation of old concepts. A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him, in order to equip him to compete on a just and equal basis.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
On the contrary, MLK was no liberal, he was a socialist, with strong words for the liberal establishment then and today.
Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963
The ideas of the man have been so sanitised that the FBI called him 'the most dangerous man in America' and today:
https://twitter.com/FBI/status/1483076938403139588
I want a job like Pucky, he spends much of the day every at day The Standard, He must have a great right wing boss to let him get away with it.
I'm a government worker and I never, and I mean never, post on here at work.
Its always from home or on my phone (which I dislike using for posting so I limit that as much as I can)
Having checked the data from the vaccine tracker, I can confirm that PR's comment is mostly true.
Hmmm…what to think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urglg3WimHA
Very funny, rofl 🤣
That's a true find – thanks
So Pucky don't you go to work every day?
12 hours shifts mean we have a lot more time off plus management are always on your case about having too much annual leave so they want you to take leave
With a little planning 24hours used can get you nine days off in a row (48 can give you 13 days) but usually 24hours should get you something like 6-7 days off
I'm back to work on Monday and I'll bet I'll have another email about taking some more time off plus I've got two stat days that're over a year old so they'll have to be used
Good times
fucking hated long shifts back in the day.
But one former colleague did take a three month holiday from work and jiggled it around the rosters, time off in leiu, and stat hols so that they only used a few weeks actual leave, lol
When you work for the government you've got to make it work for you.
The good thing for your friend is when they came back to work they would have had approximately a weeks worth of holiday pay banked up
Good times
The latest pay offer from the government was…3%…over two years.
We rejected the offer, I'll be pushing for strike action (probably won't happen)
Also:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/08/half-of-government-s-rapid-build-prison-cells-completed-ready-for-inmates-corrections.html
'The Department of Corrections said two units at Rolleston Prison and one each at Tongariro and Christchurch Women's Prison, have been signed off as ready for service.'
'The department said they plan to start using them over the next few months.'
Bullshit , Rolleston units are still empty and they were supposed to be open over three years ago
So you'd think a journalist would investigate how much money has been wasted on this project
Also
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2112/S00184/corrections-head-office-staff-numbers-and-salaries-balloon.htm
Theres a massive disconnect between head office (especially those that've never spent time on the floor) and those working in the prisons
Good to see a commentator who understands what's happening in Aotearoa. Along with Michael Bassett, these lefties are on the ball.
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-choice.html