Last week Gretchen Hawkesby, the daughter of billionaire Graeme Hart, hosted a house meeting for 70 friends – and ACT deputy leader Brooke van Velden. Not a fundraiser, as such, although Hart has contributed $100,000 to ACT’s war chest this year. But the implied endorsement from this influential dynasty is better than a cheque for van Velden’s campaign to win Tāmaki from National.
Q+A had a worthy profile of the Wgtn Central race – all four candidates featured came across well. I'm rarely impressed by any Nat but this one looked like a winner – if he gets there, bound to make caucus colleagues seem dimwits in comparison…
To divide & rule, democracy uses such legislation, enabling the rich to use excessive leverage to engineer a suitable result. Others here may feel that Labour isn't guilty of such consensus: rumours of proposed reform may be cited. Enacting legislative reform prior to the election is the way to seem credible – if Labour were serious they'd have already done so. Have they?
Perhaps he should be defenestrated, like Mikhail Khordokovski, he latter being an oligarch who gave financial backing to a political party, contrary to Putin's expressed stipulation that the oligarchs should stay out of politics. It seems Putin doesn't like neoliberalism very much and considers it undemocratic for the wealthy to pour money into the political arena.
PS: They seem to do politics differently in that part of the world.
"Our recommended changes may reduce private funding and increase compliance costs for parties. We recommend changes to state funding to address these effects. Parties are central to our electoral system and supporting them in a fairer, more transparent and up-to-date way is vital."
"We recommend that only individuals on the electoral roll should be able to loan or donate to parties and candidates. All entities, whether trusts, companies, trade unions, iwi, hapū, or unincorporated societies should be prohibited from providing funding. They will continue to be able to participate as third-party promoters or by donating to third party promoters."
And, incidentally, addressing a favourite bugbear of mine: easy voting rights for permanent residents:
"Permanent residents, which for electoral purposes means someone living in Aotearoa New Zealand who can stay here indefinitely, may vote after living in Aotearoa New Zealand for a year. We recommend extending this period to one electoral cycle, to provide enough time to establish a sufficient connection to Aotearoa New Zealand. The amount of time that permanent residents can spend overseas without losing the right to vote should stay at 12 months. "
Plus, citizens overseas should get more time before being ineligible to vote.
Can he finesse this impasse? Time will tell. Bureaucratic stone-walling is legendary in the public service, yet climate change legislation is an urgent priority. How real are these design problems? I suspect only the insiders really know.
Legislation was tabled in Parliament last week to try to head off a repeat of the crippling effects of another Cyclone Gabrielle. But the bill is contentious, with industry and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) opposed to parts of it.
Also, it was not clear what "immediate" action was being taken among the raft of agencies involve to fill the gaps, described like this:
"No agency has responsibility for the critical infrastructure system"
"We have been unable to set national risk tolerances and standards"
"A number of critical sectors are not subject to regulation around their resilience at all – such as cloud service providers, data storage centres", consumer-goods supply chains, "forthcoming technologies that will support smart cities and the internet of things, all sit outside New Zealand's existing regulatory frameworks."
Nit-picking or design flaws? Both? The minister will need to be decisive, even if it means kicking too-hard parts of the can down the post-election road to ensure that essential changes happen fast.
News of the recession last week was good, not bad.
You’ll never hear a politician say that. They’d get slammed by the public and swamped with hard-luck stories that made them look callous and uncaring.
But I don’t care. I’ll say it.
This economic slowdown shouldn’t have come as a surprise and, frankly, if the choice is whether to rebalance the economy sooner or later – I’m in favour of sooner.
It’s pretty simple. We had a pandemic and had to shut the country down to save lives.
We borrowed to get through that, we lived beyond our means for three years.
So, good! The economy has contracted. If the GDP numbers had shown a surprise lift in economic activity that would have been a bigger worry.
That would have put pressure on the Reserve Bank to keep lifting the official cash interest rate – risking a worse recession further down the line.
It now looks more like the RBNZ got it right in saying that the hikes are over.
Unfortunately, we can’t expect any politicians, from either side of the house, to be grown-ups about this.
Given the highly emotive nature of the word “recession”, National and Act couldn’t miss the opportunity to attack, even if that meant wilfully conflating the supply-side and demand-side problems in the economy.
Johnson called on his own tiny band of remaining MP followers not to vote against the recommendations of the privileges committee when they are put to the House of Commons, apparently because he does not want to expose how little remaining support he has on the backbenches.
With Labour well ahead in the opinion polls, Sunak and his strategists believe they can now draw a positive from the Johnson-related dramas and episodes of late, by contrasting the former prime minister’s rule-breaking and chaos with the more studious and thorough style of the current one.
It now seems probable that the report, which would have led to Johnson being suspended for 90 days and having his right to an ex-MP’s pass for life rescinded, had he not already quit as an MP in fury, will be approved without a vote.
He's likely to lose it, as he only has a 7,000 majority, and of course he did diddly squat as a local representative. There was some talk of him eyeing safer seats, such as the 24,000 majority that adoring Johnson fan, Nadine Dorres, will stand down from.
However, the tory-supporting press has abandoned BJ to a great extent.
A skill unmatched since Tony Blair to communicate with the wider public, to make people laugh and feel good about themselves. What might he have achieved with more discipline and purpose? But second, his inner emptiness made it imperative for him always to be the centre of attention, craving affirmation and breaking truth and convention to achieve it. Finally, a total absence of moral compass, seriousness or ability to see anything or anyone as more than fodder to be expended for his own gratification, pleasure and career. People, causes and institutions would be embraced with enthusiasm for as long as they were useful to him, then spat out. Not a single person whom he encountered in his life outside his family has not been cheapened or damaged by their association with him.
All living prime ministers before him — John Major, Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May — left office surrounded by friends and admirers of substance. Johnson left with no friends. He never has had them in politics. He was finally ejected from No 10 in July last year, not because of a coup, but because no one would work with him. Those who had hitched their fortunes to his wagon had come to see him as a total liability.
Yeah, not bad, coming from an establishment leftist. I noticed this:
From the bestselling author of Saving Capitalism and The Common Good, comes an urgent analysis of how the "rigged" systems of American politics and power operate, how this status quo came to be, and how average citizens can enact change.
So while Trump is attacking the establishment from the right, Reich is providing symmetry by doing so from the left. Are the Deep State agents whimpering yet?
Robert Reich doesn't hide his political position. It's his definitions and comparison of the elements of fascist and authoritarian leadership I found interesting.
Just saw the announcement of a new govt initiative on One News; decarbonising tourism. Came across real well – enough to make me feel they're likely to get a significant poll lift in consequence!
Now that's interesting. Assuming the press conference happened today, I mean, and assuming the Minister planned that timing. Why is Sunday better than Friday for this publicity? More folks watching tv news?
“they’re likely to get a significant poll lift in consequence! ”
It would be nice to think so, but I doubt it.
Both One News and Newshub (TV3) led with the predictable National fake-macho pitch on gangs. The TV news naturally used the tangi footage to illustrate this (sub-text – "it's the scary Mowrees, so loud and rude and brown!"). Never mind the facts from Opotiki, as witnessed by people who are actually there (mayor, cops, business). Luxon knows his audience.
The "rinse and repeat" rhetoric is the same as 2008, and Key's government solved nothing, but it's not about solutions, as we all know.
In case anyone's forgotten, in 2020 National voted to keep funding the gangs with illegal drugs.
I agree, but sense you are being too nice to National
Key's government solved nothing
Key's government solved the problem that the Clark government was not re-distributing sufficient wealth upwards. Key solved that problem brilliantly: cuts to progressive income taxes which favoured the rich, raising the regressive GST which hurt the poor, inflating a housing bubble with foreign buyers and immigration that rewarded multiple property owners and landlords, real term cuts to the public sector that deferred infrastructure maintenance costs, sale of power assets so that individuals wealthy enough to buy shares could extract monopoly rents from people not wealthy enough to buy shares but still dependent on electricity. Considered from the standpoint of what the National Party's mission statement actually is, he was a success. He is lionised by them to this day for these achievements.
but it's not about solutions…
National believes that all solutions in this case are the responsibility of the gangs themselves, that they are simply bad people who have to stop behaving badly. There is nothing the rest of us can do but lock them up if they don't behave properly. In effect it's a belief that history and society don't exist, just individuals. It's batcrap crazy, but with enough of a germ of truth to convince some people
Law & Order is one of the foundational pillars of National’s political power. National needs the gangs to give legitimacy to some of their policies and their approach to social welfare and beneficiaries. Gangs are portrayed, by National and ACT, as the ‘common enemy’ in and of NZ. It is intrinsically divisive and polarising but there you have it.
But, like the UK tories, the Nats actual solution (as opposed to L&O rhetoric), is to cut front-line policing. The meth problem began 20 years ago, and defunding police in rural areas seriously undermined police effectiveness. National was warned at the time they needed to act early, before meth use became established.
And of course, having an uncorrupt police action, as the last 2 Labour governments have, to seriously target importation, puts away the big players and stuffs up drug networks. This has a much greater effect for users (and L&O) than continual busts of low-level dealers.
However, it urgently needs the other part of the equation, large-scale support programs to pull people and communities out of addiction.
“The draft Tourism Environment Action Plan is currently open for public submissions, which will inform development of the Final Action Plan.
The consultation closes 19 July 2023, 11:59pm.
The draft Tourism Environment Action Plan was created in partnership with the tourism industry, unions, government, Māori and environmental organisations through the Tourism Environment Leadership Group between October 2022 and June 2023.
It explores 6 Tirohanga Hou (new outlooks) for ensuring the tourism industry protects and restores the climate and environment. These tirohanga hou are underpinned by 22 initiatives to achieve the outcomes sought.
The 6 Tirohanga Hou are:
Tourism journeys are decarbonised
Tourism champions biodiversity
Visitor management is optimised for te taiao
Accelerated technology uptake and innovation enable regeneration
Tourism businesses are incentivised and enabled for sustainability and regeneration
The tourism system and its levers are optimised and resourced to support regeneration
MBIE is gathering feedback on the draft Action Plan on behalf of the Tourism Environment Leadership Group. You can have your say on the draft Tourism Environment Action Plan by completing an online survey or providing a written submission. We are also hosting in-person and online workshops you can attend. ”
Apparently it is now possible to simulate a political candidate using AI. Folks will immediately want to see this happening!
The Opportunities Party (TOP) has revealed it is working on an artificial intelligence candidate. Speaking to Newshub Nation on Saturday morning, TOP leader Raf Manji told Simon Shepherd: "We've been playing around a little bit with the idea of could you create an AI candidate? As it happens, you can… So we have a candidate, which is online at the moment, but I am talking to somebody about whether we can actually develop that up into, you know, a proper avatar, somebody that might be able to speak, answer questions, do interviews," Manji said.
Sounds to me like the current working model won't be impressive – so why tell the media? Well, I agree it's newsworthy. I also agree it combines enterprise with ingenuity & imagination: a potent brew. It just lacks a performance opportunity in the public domain – which isn't even being foreshadowed currently…
These are Turkish soldiers after russian capture. In captivity, the russians cut off their noses and lips. In addition, the russians themselves filmed abuse of prisoners and civilians in Chechnya, Georgia, etc. #russiaisaterroriststate
When they finally told her, it was, she said, “the first time I behaved not like a professional psychologist”.
“I’d never heard anything so horrible. I told them I needed the bathroom and went and cried and cried. I didn’t want them to see as they might think there’s no hope.”
The two men had been savagely beaten. Then the drunken Russians castrated them with a knife.
“One of them told me, ‘I don’t know how I am still alive, there was so much blood, I thought I’d die of blood poisoning’,” she said.
“And of course it’s not just the physical damage. Imagine, they are young men just starting their sexual life and then in one second it’s all over. They still feel something, all these hormones, but they can’t do anything. They can never be sexually active. For a young man it’s the worst thing to happen.
“Their dignity has been damaged so badly and it’s impossible to forget. The Russians told them, ‘We are doing this so you can’t have kids.’ To me this is genocide.”
[…]
Yatsenko believes her patients are not the only ones to have been castrated. “They told me the Russians performed the castration procedure very skilfully, as if they knew how to do it. And I’ve heard about a lot of cases from colleagues treating others.”
That was an ‘interest’ing article :). Generally I’m in favour of this Greens policy.
I was considering this the other day for an effect on my income. I’m pretty well paid and I have a chunky kiwisaver which did not returning a profit last year, but probably will do so in the current year.
It’d push a chunk of my income into 39% (+6%), but dropping the 10.5% tax on the lower $10k, means that effectively gets negated. The +2% from the 25% rate would have a moderate impact. But way less than the current cost of living increases which are starting to be noticeable even to me.
I don’t think that I’d notice these tax changes even with my well-paid income if they were in place now.
I’d notice them a bit next year with the PIR and assuming the kiwisaver makes a profit and the top of my income tips over into 45% on the PIR. But since I’m on 10% contribution to kiwisaver + the employer 3%, extra tax would get swamped by kiwisaver contributions and make little difference.
It’d be interesting when I get superannuation next year because that would probably push the top of the income into 45%. But would also mean that as soon as I stop working (if I ever have to), my tax on super would drop down to about 7% on the ~24k of super. Much more reasonable than the current effective rate of ~14.5% on 24k.
I don’t have trusts because if I drop dead, everything just goes to my partner or if she is dead as well, then to parts of the family. But basically I don’t give a damn about that when I am dead.
So even on my pretty large current personal income, this simply isn’t going to make much of a difference in income for me. But I can see that these tax changes would for me if I ever have to stop working (something that I plan to avoid if I can).
They’d also help my the tax on my father living on superannuation and some investment income and my partner who is trying to transition to a different career path and has a low income. Effectively giving them more self-reliance and stop me having to worry quite so much.
Certainly a lot better than the insane Act tax policy that only really benefits the already affluent (I’d get maybe $120pw which frankly is peanuts to me) and especially the excessively wealthy.
Plus it makes absolutely no fiscal sense to me because I’d wind up paying more than that in services somewhere because they also have a enormous fiscal hole (despite their some fantasy ‘savings’). It just makes you realise that Act have to be funded by the insane wasteful and most likely completely unproductive wealthy who figure that they can ignore the requirements of societies infrastructure on productivity.
they didn't hide it. I knew about it because I listened to what the Greens and others were saying when the announcement was made. It was in the post I wrote about the whole package, a post you commented on but apparently didn't read
My comment was about mixing it with the Poverty announcements has tended or may hide it from those who would be greatly in support of tax readjustments but not necessarily the particular use The Greens are going to make of the funds generated.
My view is that the tax moves should stand by themselves as a bold-ish move to 'fix' the tax bracket creep etc.
My view is that the use for the funds coming in should be based on the need at the time and generally I don't favour tagged funds, unless they benefit all.
Poverty and its amelioration should come with explicit policies or a package of policies that stand with/against other Govt policies of the day.
Poverty or help for low income people whether working or not, could be set up equally simply. Hence my suggestion about making more use of the records in our tax system.
Systems that take from people especially when they operate unilaterally like the proposed wealth tax need much more thought to avoid inequities eg
1) allegations of double taxation, 'Summary: Employee KiwiSaver contributions are paid after tax; effectively money what would have gone to your bank account is paid instead into your KiwiSaver fund' *.
2) and working against other Govt initiatives such as funding one's own retirement eg KS or not being a burden on the state by needing social housing if one can afford to buy.
I don't have anything against the new tax rates and I don't have anything against alleviating the plight of our most needy, whether they be working or not. I don't think they need to be cobbled together.
Rob MacCulloch writes – National and Labour and ACT have at various times waxed on about their “vision” of NZ as a high value-added world tech centerWhat subject is tech based upon? Mathematics. A Chicago mathematician just told me that whereas last decade ...
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Politics is about compromise, right? And framing it so the voters see your compromise as the better one. John Key was a skilful exponent of this approach (as was Keith Holyoake in an earlier age), and Chris Luxon isn’t too bad either. But in politics, the process whereby an old ...
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 ...
It’s being explained as an “inadvertent error”. However, National MP David MacLeod’s excuse for failing to disclose $178,000 in donations for his election campaign last year is not necessarily enough to prevent some serious consequences. A Police investigation is now likely, and the result of his non-disclosure could even see ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – Willie Jackson will participate in the prestigious Oxford Union debate on Thursday, following in David Lange’s footsteps. Coincidentally, Jackson has also followed Lange’s footsteps by living in his old home in South Auckland. And like Lange, Jackson might be the sort of loud-mouth scrapper ...
That is the only way to describe an MP "forgetting" to declare $178,000 in donations. The amount of money involved - more than five times the candidate spending cap, and two and a half times the median income - is boggling. How do you just "forget" that amount of money? ...
In this week’s “A View from Afar” podcast Selwyn Manning and spoke about the upcoming US elections and what the possibility of another Trump presidency means for the US role in world affairs. We also spoke about the problems Joe … Continue reading → ...
Hi,Two years ago I briefly featured in Justin Pemberton’s Web of Chaos documentary, which touched on things like QAnon during the pandemic.I mostly prattled on about how intertwined conspiracy narratives are with Evangelical Christian thinking, something Webworm’s explored in the past.(The doc is available on TVNZ+, if you’re not in ...
The Government is leaving the entire construction sector and the community housing sector in limbo. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government released the long-awaited Bill English-led review of Kāinga Ora yesterday, but delayed key decisions on its build plan and how to help community housing providers (CHPs) build ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Farmers who can’t sleep, worrying they’ll lose everything amid increasing drought. Youth struggling with depression over a future that feels hopeless. Indigenous people grief-stricken over devastated ecosystems. For all these people and more, climate change is taking a clear toll ...
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Tree-huggers may well accuse the Government of giving them the fingers, after Energy Minister Simeon Brown announced new measures to protect powerlines from trees, rather than measures to protect trees from powerlines. It can be no coincidence, surely, that this has been announced at the same as Fisheries Minister Shane Jones ...
Willie Jackson will participate in the prestigious Oxford Union debate on Thursday, following in David Lange’s footsteps. Coincidentally, Jackson has also followed Lange’s footsteps by living in his old home in South Auckland. And like Lange, Jackson might be the sort of loud-mouth scrapper who could take over the Labour ...
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With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...
Open access notablesPublicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change:We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...
The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...
When National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants:On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...
Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...
“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today. “Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with respect ...
The Government has yet again failed to do the one thing that needs to happen to ensure houses can be built – commit to ongoing funding, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The coalition Government is investing in social housing for New Zealanders who are most in need of a warm dry home, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. Budget 2024 will allocate $140 million in new funding for 1,500 new social housing places to be provided by Community Housing Providers (CHPs), not ...
Thousands more young New Zealanders will have better access to mental health services as the Government delivers on its commitment to fund the Gumboot Friday initiative, says Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey. “Budget 2024 will provide $24 million over four years to contract the ...
The Coalition Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which will improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties, has passed its first reading in Parliament says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The Bill proposes much-needed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that will remove barriers to increasing private ...
Standing here in Cassino War Cemetery, among the graves looking up at the beautiful Abbey of Montecassino, it is hard to imagine the utter devastation left behind by the battles which ended here in May 1944. Hundreds of thousands of shells and bombs of every description left nothing but piled ...
I present a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill Mr. Speaker, I move that the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the Bill. Thank you, Mr. ...
The Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has had its first reading in Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the care and safety of children in care, says Minister for Children Karen Chhour. “When I became the Minister for Children, I made ...
Kia ora koutou, good morning, and zao shang hao. Thank you Fran for the opportunity to speak at the 2024 China Business Summit – it’s great to be here today. I’d also like to acknowledge: Simon Bridges - CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. His Excellency Ambassador - Wang ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing them ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Sherlock, Visiting Fellow, Department of Political and Social Change, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University Indonesia’s president-elect, Prabowo Subianto, won February’s presidential election in a landslide victory of nearly 59% of the nationwide vote, more than double ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Byron, Lecturer in Psychology, University of Wollongong “I’m looking for a man in finance,” the TikTok user, @girl_on_couch, says blandly, looking around the room and then into the camera. “Trust fund. 6’5. Blue eyes. Finance.” In the caption, she urges someone ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jo Pearson, illustrator of Five Wee Pūteketeke (written by Nicola Toki) and owner of children’s bookshop and studio Pictura in Port Chalmers, Ōtepoti.The book I wish I’d writtenI Want my Hat Back by ...
What happens when contaminated food accidentally makes it onto consumers’ shelves? Shanti Mathias explains the process of food recalls. A small sign at the supermarket announcing a problem with a product you’ve never heard of in your life might be all you ever hear of a food recall. Or maybe, ...
Pacific Media WatchThe Paris-based global media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called for guaranteed safety for journalists in the French Pacific territory of Kanaky New Capedonia after an increase in intimidation, threats, obstruction and attacks against them. After a week of violence that broke out in the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate Professor, Music Industry, RMIT University The perennial question of what to do with musicians and their work when they are found to have been abusive has arisen again this week, as distressing video footage of rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs ...
WHAT: Prison abolitionist community group People Against Prisons Aotearoa has called for a demonstration to protest the Government’s announcement of a $1.9 billion megaprison in Waikeria. The protest will call for the Government to cancel the prison ...
Social media stars are being targeted by a campaign aimed at drawing attention to the bombing of Palestinian civilians. Gabi Lardies looks at what the ‘blockout’ hopes to achieve, and the alternative way to boycott. On May 6, celebrities flocked to the Met Gala wearing tulle, crystals, lace and lamé. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melanie Ashe, PhD Candidate, School of Media, Film & Journalism, Monash University Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures The Mad Max films are set in an arid, barren, post-apocalyptic world known in the movies as “the wasteland”. This is a world of ...
New Zealand police have a lot of guns, and every year one or two are briefly misplaced. Oscar Francis reports on an official investigation into a singularly striking case, that of a helicopter-borne constable who dropped their pistol into an illegal cannabis plantation. You know how sometimes you find yourself ...
An alliance of mental health organisations is urging the Minister for Mental Health, Matt Doocey and the Coalition Government to invest in the Aotearoa New Zealand’s mental health system in an open letter. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Bartley, Postdoctoral Fellow, RMIT Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation, RMIT University In the occupied far east of Ukraine, Russian forces are aiming waves of missiles against Ukrainian civilian targets. Each of Russia’s state-of-the-art missile launch systems costs more than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna DeMello, Research Fellow, University of Otago Getty Images Despite measures to reduce young people’s access to vapes, many countries are recording rising use by underage adolescents, especially since refillable “pod mods” and disposable devices have become widely available. In ...
The Education Ministry has taken back the job of financing, designing and building several school expansions, after companies said the public-private-partnership approach was too difficult. ...
Barring an unplanned byelection, the July 20 council election will be our only major election of the year, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The National Party insists there has been no conflict of interest in David Macleod's chairing the committee considering the contentious fast-track bill. ...
Joel MacManus endures five hours of fear and hatred as some of New Zealand’s most controversial figures – and a sitting MP – gather to fight against trans rights. Note: This article contains quotes that may offend. They have been included to present an accurate report of what was said ...
It raises valid concerns about Kāinga Ora, but there’s little to suggest the new direction for state housing charted in Sir Bill English’s report will address Aotearoa’s chronic shortage of affordable rental housing, argues Alan Johnson.Given previous National governments’ indifference or even hostility toward the idea of state housing, ...
Education is facing a bunch of changes, but the important ones are not banned cell phones or ‘woke’ foods. The Government has ordered teachers to adopt ‘structured literacy’ to get children reading. That means Reading Recovery, a system New Zealand pioneered and spread to the world, along with ‘whole language’, ...
What a difference a year has made for Caroline Powell. After coming last at the Badminton Horse Trials in 2023, Powell triumphed at this year’s event earlier this month, on board her sometimes-feisty Irish-bred mare Greenacres Special Cavalier – much to her astonishment. Now she hopes to succeed at the ...
The publishing sensation of 2024 is wartime memoir The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson, which tells the amazing story of a woman who operated behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France. Sales went through the roof as soon as it was published: in its first week it became ...
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Comment: NZ’s main political parties need to reach a consensus on how to adjust to China’s dominance and coercion The post Bridging the Aukus chasm appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Jacinda Ardern’s leadership significantly enhanced New Zealand’s profile on the global stage. In the first five months of her second term of government, between December 2020 and April 2021, her name appeared 24 times in the Washington Post, 10 in the New York Times, 27 in the Times and ...
Comment: The public has seen the PM’s ruthless side, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a member of the coalition faces the same punishment The post Christopher Luxon the disciplinarian appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Maia Ingoe, RNZ News journalist A NZ Defence Force plane carrying 50 New Zealanders evacuated from New Caledonia landed at Auckland International Airport last night. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would be working with France and Australia to ensure the safe departure of several evacuation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Snow, Research Scientist, CSIRO CSIRO How often do you check your local weather forecast? How about your local climate projections for 2050? For many farmers, the answer to the first question is all the time. But the answer to the ...
Pacific Media Watch A Māori supporter of Pacific independence movements claims the French government has “constructed the crisis” in New Caledonia by pushing the indigenous Kanak population to the edge, reports Atereano Mateariki of Waatea News. A NZ Defence Force Hercules is today evacuating about 50 New Zealanders stranded in ...
COMMENTARY:By Gordon Campbell The split opening up in Israel’s “War Cabinet” is not just between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his long-term rival Benny Gantz. It is actually a three-way split, set in motion by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. It was Gallant’s open criticism of Netanyahu that finally flushed ...
Reacting to today’s Budget Speech from Labour’s Finance spokesperson, Barbara Edmonds, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “It is encouraging to see that one of Labour’s stated priorities is to focus on creating ‘a level ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Turner, System Lead, Sustainable Economies, Climateworks Centre atk work/Shutterstock In the budget last week, the government was keen to talk about its efforts to turn Australia into a renewable superpower under the umbrella of the Future Made in Australia policies. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Opposition Leader Peter Dutton might have done us a favour. As part of his budget reply speech on Thursday night he promised to stop foreigners buying existing Australian homes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Maguire, Associate Professor in Human Rights and International Law, University of Newcastle The request by Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), for arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders is a significant step in the effort to ...
RNZ Pacific A New Zealand author, journalist and media educator who has covered the Asia-Pacific region since the 1970s says liberation “must come” for Kanaky/New Caledonia. Professor David Robie sailed on board Greenpeace’s flagship Rainbow Warrior until it was bombed by French secret agents in New Zealand in July 1985 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Renwick, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Lincoln University, New Zealand Fonterra caught the business world by surprise last week with plans to sell off its consumer brands and businesses – including supermarket mainstays such as Anchor, Fresh’n Fruity and Mainland. The move ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Small, Senior lecturer, Above the Bar School of Educational Studies and Leadership, University of Canterbury With an air force plane on its way to rescue New Zealanders stranded by the violent uprising in New Caledonia, many familiar with the island’s history ...
A New Zealand government plane is heading to New Caledonia to assist with bringing New Zealanders home. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today confirmed it was the first in a series of proposed flights. Peters said the flight would carry around 50 passengers with the most pressing needs from Nouméa ...
Regional councils must focus on building meaningful and enduring relationships with iwi and hapū to support better freshwater management, says the Auditor-General in a new report. ...
Chris Glaudel, Deputy Chief Executive of Community Housing Aotearoa, sees the announcement as a step towards addressing New Zealand’s high and rising levels of homelessness by improving our approach and system to delivering affordable homes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research fellow, Middle East studies, Deakin University The death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash this week occurred during one of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s most challenging periods. Raisi, a prominent figure in the political elite, ...
The end of universal flu shot funding for under-12s is a step backwards for New Zealand child health, say experts from the University of Auckland and the University of Otago. New Zealand’s decision to no longer offer free influenza vaccines for all children under 12 will likely wipe out recent ...
The PSA is taking action to force the Ministry of Education to comply with its legal obligations to do everything it can to find other roles for staff it is laying off because of the Government’s spending cuts. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Waling, Senior Lecturer & Research Fellow, Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University Netflix There has been much excitement in the lead up to the first four episodes of Bridgerton’s season three, featuring leading couple Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa De Bortoli, Senior Research Fellow, Australian Council for Educational Research Taylor Flowe/Unsplash, CC BY Australian teenagers have more disruptive maths classrooms and experience bullying at greater levels than the OECD average, a new report shows. But in better news, Australian ...
Poet, editor and former bookseller Jane Arthur’s debut children’s novel Brown Bird is the story of a shy, self-conscious 11-year-old – partly based on her childhood self – venturing out of her quiet comfort zone. Children’s books are close to my heart because mostly I believe that adults are rings ...
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Seats to watch: https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/132345297/want-to-know-who-is-going-to-win-the-election-watch-these-seats
Q+A had a worthy profile of the Wgtn Central race – all four candidates featured came across well. I'm rarely impressed by any Nat but this one looked like a winner – if he gets there, bound to make caucus colleagues seem dimwits in comparison…
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/episodes
https://i.stuff.co.nz/opinion/132345297/want-to-know-who-is-going-to-win-the-election-watch-these-seats
Andrea Vance castes the bones and pokes the chicken gizzards.
Plus is it truly democratic to allow big money 'Graham Heart' in this case ,pour money into political parties
Snap! It's truly democratic if it conforms to the prescribed consensus of Labour & National: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_funding_in_New_Zealand
To divide & rule, democracy uses such legislation, enabling the rich to use excessive leverage to engineer a suitable result. Others here may feel that Labour isn't guilty of such consensus: rumours of proposed reform may be cited. Enacting legislative reform prior to the election is the way to seem credible – if Labour were serious they'd have already done so. Have they?
Is it a case of needing a super majority,to chamde it, or can any elected government do it?
Perhaps he should be defenestrated, like Mikhail Khordokovski, he latter being an oligarch who gave financial backing to a political party, contrary to Putin's expressed stipulation that the oligarchs should stay out of politics. It seems Putin doesn't like neoliberalism very much and considers it undemocratic for the wealthy to pour money into the political arena.
PS: They seem to do politics differently in that part of the world.
Proposed party funding changes. Great read (and you can make a submission before July 17).
Independent Electoral Reform Interim report exec summary
"Our recommended changes may reduce private funding and increase compliance costs for parties. We recommend changes to state funding to address these effects. Parties are central to our electoral system and supporting them in a fairer, more transparent and up-to-date way is vital."
"We recommend that only individuals on the electoral roll should be able to loan or donate to parties and candidates. All entities, whether trusts, companies, trade unions, iwi, hapū, or unincorporated societies should be prohibited from providing funding. They will continue to be able to participate as third-party promoters or by donating to third party promoters."
And, incidentally, addressing a favourite bugbear of mine: easy voting rights for permanent residents:
"Permanent residents, which for electoral purposes means someone living in Aotearoa New Zealand who can stay here indefinitely, may vote after living in Aotearoa New Zealand for a year. We recommend extending this period to one electoral cycle, to provide enough time to establish a sufficient connection to Aotearoa New Zealand. The amount of time that permanent residents can spend overseas without losing the right to vote should stay at 12 months. "
Plus, citizens overseas should get more time before being ineligible to vote.
There's three Labour cabinet ministers who seem worthy of respect: Willie J, his mate Henare & Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty. McAnulty has even loomed as a likely future PM, but his rise has encountered an official challenge: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/492100/emergency-management-bill-flawed-government-told-by-officials
Can he finesse this impasse? Time will tell. Bureaucratic stone-walling is legendary in the public service, yet climate change legislation is an urgent priority. How real are these design problems? I suspect only the insiders really know.
Nit-picking or design flaws? Both? The minister will need to be decisive, even if it means kicking too-hard parts of the can down the post-election road to ensure that essential changes happen fast.
Liam Dann knows a thing or two:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/liam-dann-harden-up-new-zealand-this-was-the-recession-we-needed-to-have/4XY6IKBFV5GHXKPIKKBIOMEIRY/
Got to pay to read it.
Oh.
Jack Tame interviewed (on Q+A) Graham Grant, CEO at Seequent, who said our tech sector currently contains 12,000 companies & 120,000 people
He also suggested that sector will surpass dairy in the next few years. Seems a sound basis for economic optimism!
https://www.seequent.com/company/
Dog being kicked when he's down. Poor Boris. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/17/just-an-ex-mp-rishi-sunaks-allies-pour-scorn-on-beaten-boris-johnson
Will Boris stand for his ex-seat at the by-election?
I doubt it. More likely that he awaits his entry into the House of Lords, I bet! Meanwhile, he's running a sideline as an online columnist:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-65930008
Woof! Can't keep a good dog down…
He's likely to lose it, as he only has a 7,000 majority, and of course he did diddly squat as a local representative. There was some talk of him eyeing safer seats, such as the 24,000 majority that adoring Johnson fan, Nadine Dorres, will stand down from.
However, the tory-supporting press has abandoned BJ to a great extent.
The top end of town put the slipper in, too.
A skill unmatched since Tony Blair to communicate with the wider public, to make people laugh and feel good about themselves. What might he have achieved with more discipline and purpose? But second, his inner emptiness made it imperative for him always to be the centre of attention, craving affirmation and breaking truth and convention to achieve it. Finally, a total absence of moral compass, seriousness or ability to see anything or anyone as more than fodder to be expended for his own gratification, pleasure and career. People, causes and institutions would be embraced with enthusiasm for as long as they were useful to him, then spat out. Not a single person whom he encountered in his life outside his family has not been cheapened or damaged by their association with him.
All living prime ministers before him — John Major, Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May — left office surrounded by friends and admirers of substance. Johnson left with no friends. He never has had them in politics. He was finally ejected from No 10 in July last year, not because of a coup, but because no one would work with him. Those who had hitched their fortunes to his wagon had come to see him as a total liability.
https://archive.li/8GCyu (thetimes)
Robert Reich at the Guardian makes the case for Trump being fascist rather than merely authoritarian.
Yeah, not bad, coming from an establishment leftist. I noticed this:
https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-system-who-rigged-it-how-we-fix-it-robert-b-reich/13156371?ean=9780593082003
So while Trump is attacking the establishment from the right, Reich is providing symmetry by doing so from the left. Are the Deep State agents whimpering yet?
Robert Reich doesn't hide his political position. It's his definitions and comparison of the elements of fascist and authoritarian leadership I found interesting.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/132295577/petition-to-apply-equal-animal-welfare-standards-to-imported-pork-fails
The problem with free trade deals!!
Our farmers cannot compete on the local market with countries that have lower standards.
It'll be the same if we slap carbon charges on nz farmers when others haven't.
Just saw the announcement of a new govt initiative on One News; decarbonising tourism. Came across real well – enough to make me feel they're likely to get a significant poll lift in consequence!
From the TS Feeds section 2 days ago: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/draft-tourism-plan-backs-bold-action-environment
Now that's interesting. Assuming the press conference happened today, I mean, and assuming the Minister planned that timing. Why is Sunday better than Friday for this publicity? More folks watching tv news?
“they’re likely to get a significant poll lift in consequence! ”
It would be nice to think so, but I doubt it.
Both One News and Newshub (TV3) led with the predictable National fake-macho pitch on gangs. The TV news naturally used the tangi footage to illustrate this (sub-text – "it's the scary Mowrees, so loud and rude and brown!"). Never mind the facts from Opotiki, as witnessed by people who are actually there (mayor, cops, business). Luxon knows his audience.
The "rinse and repeat" rhetoric is the same as 2008, and Key's government solved nothing, but it's not about solutions, as we all know.
In case anyone's forgotten, in 2020 National voted to keep funding the gangs with illegal drugs.
I agree, but sense you are being too nice to National
Key's government solved the problem that the Clark government was not re-distributing sufficient wealth upwards. Key solved that problem brilliantly: cuts to progressive income taxes which favoured the rich, raising the regressive GST which hurt the poor, inflating a housing bubble with foreign buyers and immigration that rewarded multiple property owners and landlords, real term cuts to the public sector that deferred infrastructure maintenance costs, sale of power assets so that individuals wealthy enough to buy shares could extract monopoly rents from people not wealthy enough to buy shares but still dependent on electricity. Considered from the standpoint of what the National Party's mission statement actually is, he was a success. He is lionised by them to this day for these achievements.
National believes that all solutions in this case are the responsibility of the gangs themselves, that they are simply bad people who have to stop behaving badly. There is nothing the rest of us can do but lock them up if they don't behave properly. In effect it's a belief that history and society don't exist, just individuals. It's batcrap crazy, but with enough of a germ of truth to convince some people
Law & Order is one of the foundational pillars of National’s political power. National needs the gangs to give legitimacy to some of their policies and their approach to social welfare and beneficiaries. Gangs are portrayed, by National and ACT, as the ‘common enemy’ in and of NZ. It is intrinsically divisive and polarising but there you have it.
But, like the UK tories, the Nats actual solution (as opposed to L&O rhetoric), is to cut front-line policing. The meth problem began 20 years ago, and defunding police in rural areas seriously undermined police effectiveness. National was warned at the time they needed to act early, before meth use became established.
And of course, having an uncorrupt police action, as the last 2 Labour governments have, to seriously target importation, puts away the big players and stuffs up drug networks. This has a much greater effect for users (and L&O) than continual busts of low-level dealers.
However, it urgently needs the other part of the equation, large-scale support programs to pull people and communities out of addiction.
@ ab…
That is a very tidy summary of how key..apart from the top end of town .. screwed us all..
“The draft Tourism Environment Action Plan is currently open for public submissions, which will inform development of the Final Action Plan.
The consultation closes 19 July 2023, 11:59pm.
The draft Tourism Environment Action Plan was created in partnership with the tourism industry, unions, government, Māori and environmental organisations through the Tourism Environment Leadership Group between October 2022 and June 2023.
It explores 6 Tirohanga Hou (new outlooks) for ensuring the tourism industry protects and restores the climate and environment. These tirohanga hou are underpinned by 22 initiatives to achieve the outcomes sought.
The 6 Tirohanga Hou are:
MBIE is gathering feedback on the draft Action Plan on behalf of the Tourism Environment Leadership Group. You can have your say on the draft Tourism Environment Action Plan by completing an online survey or providing a written submission. We are also hosting in-person and online workshops you can attend. ”
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/26815-draft-tourism-environment-action-plan-summary
A high level aspirational consultation …not policy.
Apparently it is now possible to simulate a political candidate using AI. Folks will immediately want to see this happening!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2023/06/newshub-nation-the-opportunities-party-leader-raf-manji-reveals-he-s-working-on-new-artificial-intelligence-candidate.html
Sounds to me like the current working model won't be impressive – so why tell the media? Well, I agree it's newsworthy. I also agree it combines enterprise with ingenuity & imagination: a potent brew. It just lacks a performance opportunity in the public domain – which isn't even being foreshadowed currently…
he thinks everyone knows what ChatGPT is. Not off to a good start.
I suspect his enthusiasm for AI may lose him vote.
A ChatGP parliament FFS?
a ChatGPT parliament with some MPs in the background deciding on direction. What could possibly go wrong.
Hope TOP's AI candidate (Terri?) is ranked high on their list – best not to piss off AI !
Imagine the fate of Ukrainian women and girls unlucky enough to encounter the barbaric Muscovite hordes.
@DevanaUkraine
These are Turkish soldiers after russian capture. In captivity, the russians cut off their noses and lips. In addition, the russians themselves filmed abuse of prisoners and civilians in Chechnya, Georgia, etc. #russiaisaterroriststate
https://twitter.com/DevanaUkraine/status/1669836724199989249
When they finally told her, it was, she said, “the first time I behaved not like a professional psychologist”.
“I’d never heard anything so horrible. I told them I needed the bathroom and went and cried and cried. I didn’t want them to see as they might think there’s no hope.”
The two men had been savagely beaten. Then the drunken Russians castrated them with a knife.
“One of them told me, ‘I don’t know how I am still alive, there was so much blood, I thought I’d die of blood poisoning’,” she said.
“And of course it’s not just the physical damage. Imagine, they are young men just starting their sexual life and then in one second it’s all over. They still feel something, all these hormones, but they can’t do anything. They can never be sexually active. For a young man it’s the worst thing to happen.
“Their dignity has been damaged so badly and it’s impossible to forget. The Russians told them, ‘We are doing this so you can’t have kids.’ To me this is genocide.”
[…]
Yatsenko believes her patients are not the only ones to have been castrated. “They told me the Russians performed the castration procedure very skilfully, as if they knew how to do it. And I’ve heard about a lot of cases from colleagues treating others.”
https://archive.li/P9krt
A tax experts take on the Greens Tax policy proposal….well worth the read (or listen) as is the embedded graph from Twitter
https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/122566/new-zealand-tax-podcast-greens-wealth-tax-proposal-ignites-tax-debate-just-imf
That was an ‘interest’ing article :). Generally I’m in favour of this Greens policy.
I was considering this the other day for an effect on my income. I’m pretty well paid and I have a chunky kiwisaver which did not returning a profit last year, but probably will do so in the current year.
Current tax rates
0-14,000: 10.5%
14,000 – 48,000: 17.5%
48,000 – 70,000: 30%
70,000-180,000: 33%
180,000+: 39%
Greens proposed Tax rate
0-10,000: 0%
10,000-50,000: 17%
50,000-75,000: 30%
75,000-120,000: 35%
120,000-180,000: 39%
180,000+: 45%
It’d push a chunk of my income into 39% (+6%), but dropping the 10.5% tax on the lower $10k, means that effectively gets negated. The +2% from the 25% rate would have a moderate impact. But way less than the current cost of living increases which are starting to be noticeable even to me.
I don’t think that I’d notice these tax changes even with my well-paid income if they were in place now.
I’d notice them a bit next year with the PIR and assuming the kiwisaver makes a profit and the top of my income tips over into 45% on the PIR. But since I’m on 10% contribution to kiwisaver + the employer 3%, extra tax would get swamped by kiwisaver contributions and make little difference.
It’d be interesting when I get superannuation next year because that would probably push the top of the income into 45%. But would also mean that as soon as I stop working (if I ever have to), my tax on super would drop down to about 7% on the ~24k of super. Much more reasonable than the current effective rate of ~14.5% on 24k.
I don’t have trusts because if I drop dead, everything just goes to my partner or if she is dead as well, then to parts of the family. But basically I don’t give a damn about that when I am dead.
So even on my pretty large current personal income, this simply isn’t going to make much of a difference in income for me. But I can see that these tax changes would for me if I ever have to stop working (something that I plan to avoid if I can).
They’d also help my the tax on my father living on superannuation and some investment income and my partner who is trying to transition to a different career path and has a low income. Effectively giving them more self-reliance and stop me having to worry quite so much.
Certainly a lot better than the insane Act tax policy that only really benefits the already affluent (I’d get maybe $120pw which frankly is peanuts to me) and especially the excessively wealthy.
Plus it makes absolutely no fiscal sense to me because I’d wind up paying more than that in services somewhere because they also have a enormous fiscal hole (despite their some fantasy ‘savings’). It just makes you realise that Act have to be funded by the insane wasteful and most likely completely unproductive wealthy who figure that they can ignore the requirements of societies infrastructure on productivity.
I have no objection to these new rates, think it is great for this part of the Greens Policy.
But why did they hide it in their Wealth tax announcement?
It deserves to be trumpeted as a stake in the ground to sort tax rates and 'c'mon you guys' to the other parties.
If they could include a mechanism to stop bracket creep in the future that would be good as well.
they didn't hide it. I knew about it because I listened to what the Greens and others were saying when the announcement was made. It was in the post I wrote about the whole package, a post you commented on but apparently didn't read
.https://thestandard.org.nz/this-is-what-ending-poverty-looks-like-in-new-zealand/
Well clearly I did read it, despite what you say.
My comment was about mixing it with the Poverty announcements has tended or may hide it from those who would be greatly in support of tax readjustments but not necessarily the particular use The Greens are going to make of the funds generated.
My view is that the tax moves should stand by themselves as a bold-ish move to 'fix' the tax bracket creep etc.
My view is that the use for the funds coming in should be based on the need at the time and generally I don't favour tagged funds, unless they benefit all.
Poverty and its amelioration should come with explicit policies or a package of policies that stand with/against other Govt policies of the day.
Poverty or help for low income people whether working or not, could be set up equally simply. Hence my suggestion about making more use of the records in our tax system.
Systems that take from people especially when they operate unilaterally like the proposed wealth tax need much more thought to avoid inequities eg
1) allegations of double taxation, 'Summary: Employee KiwiSaver contributions are paid after tax; effectively money what would have gone to your bank account is paid instead into your KiwiSaver fund' *.
2) and working against other Govt initiatives such as funding one's own retirement eg KS or not being a burden on the state by needing social housing if one can afford to buy.
I don't have anything against the new tax rates and I don't have anything against alleviating the plight of our most needy, whether they be working or not. I don't think they need to be cobbled together.
I am entitled to this view.
*https://www.moneyhub.co.nz/kiwisaver-contributions-gross-or-net.html#:~:text=Summary%3A,pay%20depends%20on%20your%20income.