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6:00 am, July 18th, 2024 - 36 comments
Categories: open mike -
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
The GP's lawyer has released her report:
That does give the Greens a sound basis for ejecting her, so now she can provide her side of the story to the public if she wants to save her reputation. If she did relinquish her involvement in the business when she entered parliament, natural justice requires her to account for whatever migrant exploitation happened regardless. I suppose she could defer that until the complainants go to court though.
I see from this morning's paper that the business has now gone into liquidation, so it looks as if the business may not have been viable without the exploitation. So perhaps it may have been a case of no business no jobs.
If Swarbrick waits until the Green AGM to put to members to expell, Greens will be slapped around in Parliament next week.
Really useful to keep sustained tactical leak of report to media, to ensure when they finally stick the fork in Darleen they'll know she's done.
Slow weekly leak is the standard manoevre.
you make it sound like CS can do what she wants. She can't (or she could, but it would cause another whole set of problems in the party).
So not really the leader, more 1 of the head spokes people.
co-leader of a caucus that uses a form of consensus decision making, which sits within a wider party that has particular processes for making decisions that stop leaders from being able to do stupid shit. It's a form of democracy that shares power rather than centering it on one person.
It's a fine way of making policy and reaching decisions that are not time-critical, and mostly I'm wholly in favour of it. But in a crisis, you often can't afford all that faffing around. Sometimes the leadership has to have "somewhat of monarchical in it". It's why you have leaders in the first place.
I agree, but this isn't an immediate crisis and there are good reasons not to override protocol when under pressure.
Sensible advice but I'll be surprised if they apply it. They seem stuck in ideological stance-driven postures. Using a time-tested strategy is too much like realpolitik to them I suspect. However their poll rating continues to hold up, so they will confidently feel that they are doing politics effectively…
The govt dog triad uses Cerberus as model. He guarded the gates of hell in the minds of the ancient Greeks. Another of the three heads barked recently:
He's so naive he still believes in education. Given that the system has trained young kiwis to prefer a career on the dole to working in bike shops – forcing kiwi bike shop businesses to employ migrants instead – he needs to think again.
If he really is an old lefty he will get the govt to subsidise this, that & the other. He can use Helen Clark as a model. Subsidising a hip-hop tour to the USA was a brilliant idea. Clearly the yanks didn't have a clue about how to do hip-hop, so they needed kiwis to go over there to show them how. The parallel with Rocket Lab & NASA is obvious.
I'm so old-school I believe in education.
An unsubstantiated reckon.
If there was a shortage of local bike mechanics, there would be a work visa – it was because the employee was not able to work in the job, they could be exploited (below MW …).
For a local (getting more than the MW in Auckland) there would still be the issue of affording local housing cost on Waiheke Island, or travel over each day.
Yep. I would say there was no shortage of NZ Bike Mechanics. More like the Bikes and Beyond clown show didnt want to pay (well, as proven anyway !) Kiwi Workers. And "thought" they could get away ripping off migrants : (
FFS ! Are you channelling Bill English and sir Key?
IMO you were/are pretty disingenuous….or maybe just trolling?
Think what you like. I'd go for an alternative explanation if anyone were capable of producing it. All I've seen over the years is a total lack – from the msm as well, not just from leftists. Evidence-based would suffice…
The NACTFirst Govt and their Climate "Plan" is of course, nothing more than a fob off, Promise everything/Do the absolute minimum…and let them Future people sort it..as usual.
Those who actually know say…
On that, I found this an interesting read……
And ( I, and I'm sure most aware people are also)
And straight from the Tobacco Industries spokesperson Casey….
However, someone who I actually respect :
Big Tobacco sure getting their moneys worth ….: (
I wonder at "Police staff stop questions to Costello about tobacco product tax cuts".
IMO she obviously doesnt like being questioned.
Whats that about? Being as she was also standing in front of a board emblazoned with Police…..
Ah, well, as many of us expected, it's back to the future with our current govt. An increase in unhelpful beneficiary sanctioning. As Ricardo Menéndez March says, it'll just make it harder for those sanctioned to make ends meet and get out of poverty.
Meanwhile increasing numbers of people are on benefits making jobs harder to get.
this is madness. I want to know how all the layoffs play into this. I really don't understand policy that makes so many people redundant and then sanctions people that can't get a job anyway. What is the point?
"The cruelty is the point" – Adam Serwer
hard to reach any other conclusion.
Willis et al would probably have some talking points for cover, like it's an opportunity for a career change and an improvement in earning potential. But they couldn't give a flying f**k, it's a basic lack of empathy.
I just keep thinking all those redundant workers are doing to take up the jobs and the people down the 'skills ladder' get pushed further down and then onto the dole.
Payment reductions are only really appropriate for those living at home with parents.
For others it impacts on whether they can remain housed, pay bills etc. Then it would be more appropriate to place them on a spending card (at full payment) for a time.
Their other nonsense is taking money out of a benefit to pay back debts to W and I – these should be paid back on obtaining employment.
Good points. I have an idea there may be problems with spending cards. But that goes back to my memories of the last Nat-led govt. Especially agree with your last point.
This is why I consider Upston worse than Simmonds – Upston has to go.
She has previously said heinous stuff about beneficiaries before especially cancer patients and it may be likely that she will make that particular dream come true someday soon.
It seems that states in Oz are taking safe staffing on hospital wards seriously.
Over 10,000 locals registering with them in the past year – to well over 20,000 in total.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/17/its-just-better-why-kiwi-nurses-are-moving-to-australia/
The media have been crowing about falling inflation.
The National government is taking credit for it whilst in reality it has just been the beneficiary of extraordinary good luck.
A bumper produce crop for the last season sees vegetables and some fruit the lowest prices they have been for three years.
Meat prices have fallen, slightly.
Building construction costs have fallen slightly.
The price of crude oil has fallen a bit over the last year.
None of which is under National's control, anymore than it was under Labour's.
Not that it stops National from claiming the credit for it, of course.
Balanced of course by rising rates, double digit rates rises for most areas of the country. New prescription fees, new RUCs and if the rumour is correct, new RUCs will be introduced to ALL vehicles. Huge increases in insurance premiums. Doctors fees will also probably be rising in the next few months. Rents still rising well above the rate of inflation and (as we expected) NOT falling after National reinstated interest rates subsidies for landlords. The promised tax cuts will not compensate for all this.
One thing I heard on Morning Report yesterday interested me: On their business news an economist stated that although overseas-sourced inflation is slowing, domestic inflation is still higher than it should be.
That bit of news has been kept pretty quiet by people who don't want National's (dodgy) reputation as economic wizards put under the microscope.
Domestic inflation is 5% – 4.5% rent, 10% rates – 15% insurance. Tradeables inflation is now near zero. But is now at c1% per quarter – so will come down to 4%. Thus the current 3.3 will come down to under 3%.
The main driver is now lack of infrastructure (water for councils, for government old age care, school and hospital building and social housing) investment cost and climate change (and earthquake) threat to insurers and shortage in public health delivery (primary and hospital staffing).
I guess it depends on why inflation is falling. I'm no economist, but a collapse in consumer demand would act against inflation I expect. And people don't spend when jobs and government spending are being slashed.
This is a very interesting 18 minute discussion and it sounds like being a far from simple exercise. My PHEV does about 50km on battery, fair enough for RUC to apply, but any longer trip I'm paying both RUC and fuel taxes.
What would road user charges for all cars look like?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018947149/what-would-road-user-charges-for-all-cars-look-like
It is sort of right to direct Pharmac to prioritise drugs to getting people work capable (ACC does this with by funding health care).
The question is whether this is at the expense of the supply of drugs to others.
This problem is avoided by funding it separately, or having this money come from ACC (including sickness where it impacts a workers ability to continue in work).
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/18/govts-pharmac-directive-could-exacerbate-inequity-expert/
It is called. "Eugenics". Something which should have been dustbinned in the past.
The ACT party has called for Pharmac to take a “productivity focus” to decisions on who gets funded medicine.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/09/03/act-calls-for-productivity-focus-for-pharmac/
I thought Gina Woolston was great when talking about the homeless on RNZ's First Up this morning.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/first-up/audio/2018947274/building-relationships-with-unhoused-using-empathy