On 25 March, as confirmed cases passed 300 per day, about 2000 scientists signed an open letter calling for stricter control measures. It provoked little reaction. But a scathing op-ed, published by the 22 researchers in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 14 April, did get noticed. The piece carried the headline “The public health agency has failed. Politicians must intervene.” It noted that from 7 to 9 April, more people per million inhabitants had died in Sweden from COVID-19 than in Italy—and 10 times more than in Finland. FoHM officials “have so far not shown any talent for either predicting or limiting” the epidemic, they wrote.
[when you cut and paste from anywhere (on site or off site), you have to make it clear that it is a cut and paste not your own words. Please compare your comment to my first reply to see the difference. When I say ‘have to’ I mean that the main two mods are so sick of this that we often now just remove the content of a comment, or if in a hurry just delete the whole thing. Which we don’t like doing, but I’m not willing to waste my time on this any more.
Dealing with this one comment, including time to read the comment, google to see if it’s a quote, writing the edited version, writing this mod note, and finding and linking the TS post about it, took me close to 10 mins. Multiply that by many times over a week and you can see why we have a low tolerance. It’s not just you, and I’m making a long note here so that others can get up to speed too.
Please reply to this moderation so I know you have seen and understood it, thanks – weka]
On 25 March, as confirmed cases passed 300 per day, about 2000 scientists signed an open letter calling for stricter control measures. It provoked little reaction. But a scathing op-ed, published by the 22 researchers in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 14 April, did get noticed. The piece carried the headline “The public health agency has failed. Politicians must intervene.” It noted that from 7 to 9 April, more people per million inhabitants had died in Sweden from COVID-19 than in Italy—and 10 times more than in Finland. FoHM officials “have so far not shown any talent for either predicting or limiting” the epidemic, they wrote.
I don't want to be guilty of schadenfreude but… If Sweden had taken part in the practical and precautionary planning then implemented it, those who wanted to pooh-pooh the pppi idea wouldn't have had a leg to stand on. Now a lot of people don't, who had years of life ahead and their country's medical response and death cycle services are stressed beyond coping.
Years ago one USA area contracted out some of its death services to a local man who couldn't cope. He failed to keep up with his duties and started to dump some bodies till he could properly deal with them, and could never manage to cope. It became a private nightmare for him, and when revealed by reports in the media, for his local authority.
That's why we have authorities in charge of various aspects of our life cycle and activity. Important decisions taken and implemented in a timely fashion for good outcomes desired by the community. They need to accept responsibility and act reasonably in concordance with all thinking members of society. And this applies all over the world, and now is at the front of our minds about almost everything we are seeing and doing, not just Covid-19.
Is it suitable to put quoted words in italics with the rest of the comment in normal font? Does that differentiate the cut and paste stuff enough for mods?
On 25 March, as confirmed cases passed 300 per day, about 2000 scientists signed an open letter calling for stricter control measures. It provoked little reaction. But a scathing op-ed, published by the 22 researchers in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 14 April, did get noticed. The piece carried the headline “The public health agency has failed. Politicians must intervene.” It noted that from 7 to 9 April, more people per million inhabitants had died in Sweden from COVID-19 than in Italy—and 10 times more than in Finland. FoHM officials “have so far not shown any talent for either predicting or limiting” the epidemic, they wrote.
Great ta. There is so much to discuss and hash over I don't want to make life hard for mods especially if they cut us a bit of slack at times. The blog seems to go forward well and probably is a bellwether for the rest, without being sheepish!
It is very simple, use quote marks when you want to use someone else’s words in your comment.
Use block quotes for long(er) quotes. These are separated from the other text by a new line, as in a new paragraph. When you use the Block Quote functionality of the WordPress text editor, you won’t have to lead off with quote marks, as this would be doubling up.
Italics are used for emphasis. This doesn’t work when your whole quote, for example, is in italics. However, when you italicise a word(s) in a quote, you should add something like [my emphasis] or [my italics], in square brackets.
Bold font is usually reserved for strong emphasis. As you know, here on TS it used to be reserved for moderation, but things have changed somewhat.
These universally accepted conventions for written text are intended to make things easier for both reader and writer – we all learned these at school. The standardisation helps to avoid confusion. This means we can focus more on actual content and debate 😉
I've been in the long habit of using italics for both emphasis (usually one word or two) or when I'm quoting a sentence or two from another comment in the same thread in reply to someone. I've always figured that if I'm quoting someone else from the same thread, it's pretty obvious where it's come from and I don't bother linking.
On the other hand if it's from an external source then I will link, and I'll always put the text in blockquotes.
As you say, things change with time and are you happy for me to continue as I have been?
Unfortunately our three main sources of vehicles – Japan, Singapore, and Australia – don't have particularly strong programmes against combustion vehicles.
There's a more detailed discussion on this relationship between the ICE and GHG growth here at GreaterAuckland, who engaged pretty closely at the Business and CLimate Change Conference last week.
David Parker, Minister for the Environment, was present, and noted:
as a country we’ve reached the conclusion that decarbonisation of our light vehicle fleet is going to be the biggest opportunity to reduce emissions in the energy sector in the next few years.
Seriously I just wish Ministers like that would just stop talking and start making some good ol' leadership decisions.
I agree. Surely this would be a really easy win – and would potentially even allow us to develop an electric conversion industry for petrol vehicles to accelerate to rollout of electric infrastructure?
I guess Labour is terrified that it might lose it's new constituency amongst angry sub-contractor autocrats who love their SUVs.
Timing is everything. Remember the 'light bulb' fiasco back in 2008?
The 'light bulb fiasco' is an example of when someone has a 'good' idea 💡 and it provides a quick fix to meet some target, and never mind whether it fits the requirements of all the populace.
At the very least learn something from that mistake. The correct way to introduce EV's is to promote a timeline over the next decade or so to make the transition.
There will be early adopters who will be keen to get in, so make sure the infrastructure is put in place for them. Then incentivise the industry to start switching mainstream to EV models as they become more available and technically capable over the next 5 or so years.
Promote industry training programs aggressively; and realise that a lot of people are going to have their employment heavily impacted by this.
And then at the back end, make sure there is a plan to manage all the stranded ICE vehicles in manner that doesn't unduly penalise people who make the change later than others. Plus recognise that there will be some applications where EV doesn't work, and some form of liquid fuel infrastructure will probably need to be maintained for perhaps a couple of decades.
At least put up a decent discussion document and get the industry engaged. By all means put in place some deadlines, but aim to get as many people on board voluntarily as possible. It's going to be a complex transition with many moving parts; govt cannot do this on it's own.
Just tell them how much they will save by not buying petrol. Those figures are really great.
And yes we do need to stop petrol imports – and bridge the gap for the low end buyer to go electric.
Electric and hybrid are coming to lower priced vehicles.
Richard Prebble's pieces in the Herald are just sad. Today he starts off talking about measuring the economy via trucks, and ends with a quote from Ludwig von Mises. Can you imagine the Herald ever allowing a doddery, long retired, septuagenarian trade unionist a column where he told us all about his favoured simpleton measure for the economy (IDK, beer sales in working class areas?) and finished his article with a quote from Marx? Not on your Nelly! But the privilege of being an ex-leader of a far right party of economic crackpots is regular opinion pieces in the paper, it seems. Such is the glittering baubles with which the rich reward it's Quislings.
Prebble reveals himself as a rather simple minded fanatic who somehow got to a position where he actually ran our economy for six years.
They got very well remunerated for joining the economic colonialists company.
Dined and wined while the homeless struggle living on the streets.
Before the wholesale sellouts homelessness didn't exist.
Changes were needed pulling the rug out of economy in one hit has left widespread poverty a very low median wages high prices for food accommodation medical care etc.
Plenty of commentators here defend Marxist revolution like they're auditioning for a bit part as a shouty shopsoiled stopwork air-puncher in a Movietone 1946 Communist Party conclave. I forget my keys sometimes but I dont forget a near century of Marxist-led savagery and genocide.
Having said that, Richard Prebble needs to pour himself his morning double Balbeghie and go back to drooling on his porch armchair.
I forget my keys sometimes but I dont forget a near century of Marxist-led savagery and genocide.
hmm.
But for the right, a revival of interest in Marx’s pre-Stalinist vision of communism is the most striking and chilling example of its own collapsing ideological supremacy: ‘communism’ is synonymous with tens of millions of deaths and nothing else. Capitalism, by contrast, is presented as a largely bloodless, blameless engine of human prosperity.
The story of capitalism is more complicated than that. If you want to read effusive praise of capitalism, you’ll find it in Marx and Engels’ Communist Manifesto: the revolutionary dynamism of the capitalists, they wrote, had created “wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Gothic cathedrals”. But capitalism is an economic system drenched in the blood of countless millions.
…
The democratic radical left has long repudiated the totalitarian nightmare, and has reflected at great length as to how it happened. But many of capitalism’s unapologetic defenders have failed to scrutinise its own past: respectable politicians and historians still defend colonialism, despite its grotesque horrors. Diving back into the darkest days of 20th-century totalitarianism is not a fair way to take on 21st-century democratic socialists.
I forget my keys sometimes but I dont forget a near century of Marxist-led savagery and genocide.
Hey you are stuck in your mindset so deep that you don't see that savagery etc is going on all the time. And capitalistic forces are very willing to carry out similar, perhaps dropping two nuclear bombs to quell any more hostility and empire building from the Japanese might be of parallel weight!
We have nothing to fear, but fear of blinkered mindsets from either side of any mudpie-throwing competition. 'Well, if you knows of a better 'ole, go to it.' the 1915 cartoon from the naturally humanistic cartoonist, Bruce Bairnsfather. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Bairnsfather#World_War_I_service
In 2012, the last year of recorded data, developing countries received a total of $1.3tn, including all aid, investment, and income from abroad. But that same year some $3.3tn flowed out of them. In other words, developing countries sent $2tn more to the rest of the world than they received. If we look at all years since 1980, these net outflows add up to an eye-popping total of $16.3tn – that’s how much money has been drained out of the global south over the past few decades. To get a sense for the scale of this, $16.3tn is roughly the GDP of the United States
What this means is that the usual development narrative has it backwards. Aid is effectively flowing in reverse. Rich countries aren’t developing poor countries; poor countries are developing rich ones.
…
We know how to fix the problem. But doing so would run up against the interests of powerful banks and corporations that extract significant material benefit from the existing system. The question is, do we have the courage?
And if you read the article much of that reverse flow is about 'capital flight', mostly companies moving capital illicitly out of the country to somewhere safer. The reasons for this are complex, a fair chunk of it being good old tax avoidance … but none of them a necessarily a feature of capitalism.
Still the general rule is that as a country develops, it's own internal institutions become stronger, and it's government more capable and trusted, then this flow tends to slow down.
Capital flight is definitionally a feature of international capitalism. Taxes are the State's attempt at limiting the private accumulation of resources. Tax avoidance extracts resources from the State preventing them from developing/strengthening its' own internal institutions.
Capital flight and tax avoidance is a problem the world over, remember the Panama Papers?
From their offshore accounts, [owners of capital] essentially make the same investments they do from banks located in London, New York, or Sydney: they buy financial securities — that is, stocks, bonds, and, above all, shares in mutual funds. The money in tax havens doesn’t sleep. It is invested in international financial markets.
Zucman conservatively estimates that $7.6 trillion is invested in hidden offshore bank accounts, the equivalent of 8 percent of the world’s total wealth. That translates into at least $200 billion in lost tax revenue every year, according to his estimates.
I actually loathe the old-school left-wing authoritarian mindset as much as I do right-wing fascism ..they are as ignorant as each other ..there really is a 'third-way'…(no..!..not neoliberal-incrementalism ..)
Agreed….. Nash's moronic attack on backpackers has been ripped apart by the texters on RNZ….Labour showing themselves to be elitist and authoritarian here…..I guess it's consistent with their lack of action on wealth redistribution.
We need some practicality here about low-income visitors to NZ, not knee-jerk softies who can't look at the real problems we face from their business, in all meanings of the word.
We have to have high-income longer-staying visitors –
to earn income without swamping our tourist assets and our environment (numbers)
to earn income yet trying to keep down the amount of bad environmental effects, so we have to prioritise
(Nil tourists would bring down our anti-environment carbon footprint, but we want overseas money and tourism ventures have invested a lot and want a return)
to keep people in hospitality jobs, one of the shrinking ways of getting a regular income in these halcyon days of the modern capitalist world
I think the thinkers amongst us recognise that lower-income people should be able to come here. I suggest a group be allowed for by Immigration, one of which would be Woofers (Willing workers on organic farms), and others seasonal workers, from pickers, pruners, ski instructors, big machine drivers etc. Do-ers not just be-ers, would be welcomed. So backpackers would have a place and time to be here. And vans would have to have toilets, and there should be a limit on how many there are under licence in NZ. And that would limit the number clogging our roads, and they should be encouraged to travel by rail and bus with concessionary tickets of the hop-on, hop-off variety at cheap rates.
Let's not pick on our rightish Labour pollies automatically. They may come up with some useful, practical schemes. We don't want pie-in-the-sky ones (like housing growing like mushrooms) as promised in the past do we? Practical, ticking the important boxes, that's what we need, I suggest.
Seemed like Nashie has overdosed on the 'high-end tourists only because we are so great" fantasy. The problem is that everywhere is great (and simultaneously terrible too). No acknowledgement of all those small/marginal operators whose livelihoods depends on volume.
But the bigger problem is that discretionary tourism is doomed and has to pretty much stop soon, or we are hammering our way past 3C degrees of warming – so better to plan for that. And such a bad look – pandering to the rich – when holidays for most kiwis is the summer camp-ground or a week in a motel. Couldn't help feeling that Nashie’s high-end tourism might be a cunning extension of the real estate sector – the tourists get to look around and decide what properties to buy.
A higher value inbound industry isn’t necessarily incompatible to a thriving and affordable domestic industry and the pressures that CC and post covid will bring to tourism.
Very likely that long haul cattle class won’t return, people won’t want to be there and it won’t be cheap any more. The people who will be able to afford long haul travel will want much better than a mud priced NZ motel.
The pressure on price and capacity in the middle class domestic market doesn’t come from the upper end international but from the bottom and middle, that’s who’s filling the camping grounds and motels. We also spend the same going overseas as international inbound spend here.
Doubt we will need to restrict anything, just market to those that can afford it.
Certainly not going to be popular, especially with the industry, Nash just told a lot of them they haven’t got a business any more. Surprised they took it ao well.
edit
Pat's point is one that doesn't get mentioned often. Airlines have to have two-way loading to be profitable ie fly in a certain number of passengers (enough to pay for the minimum costs involved), and then fly out, with a minimum number of passengers.
It costs to keep the plane parked for long. The costs of retaining the crew, must be considered.
As someone pointed out what we receive here from inbound tourists, may be balanced by our spending overseas, so there may be a net outcome. But at least it will keep our basic transport open, for a while longer, and provide trade and jobs. But all the time we must be considering how to bring our carbon footprint down. That means that government has to ensure that new debts are not being taken on, new planes are not being bought.
Is someone working on a model for using shipping instead of planes? The weather changes will bring about timetable limitations ie not going through some ocean at such a latitude while the cyclone season is on. We don’t want our goods or ourselves to be travelling cattle class and end up at the bottom of the ocean do we. Perhaps we will have ‘flying ships’ especially designed to carry perishable goods at a high speed and cost.
Tourists use ships for cruises, they can be used for long-trip travellers as they once were, Fairstar, Fairsky etc. And cruises to the Antartic and so on, when are they going to be stopped. It isn’t a good look in these climate-change times to have people nosy-parkering at things just because they have the money and curiosity. Too like end of Brave New World which resonates muchly these days. It’s a dirty human habit to want to stare at something doomed, so ghoulish. I suggest try looking in the mirror, to all of us as we all have this lurking curiosity.
Overall I think that sharp minds need to assess any new spending and infrastructure on a basis of – will it cover its costs in returns in the next five years? I don't hear this sort of calculation being considered. The talk is thinking about 2035-2050, and the long-term plan is the wise option still being discussed these days.
Our local Councils are still working on 10 year plans, and reluctantly giving up expensive options. But the locust-like planning for taking over productive and recreational and/or environmentally important land for housing continues unabated.
Re equanimity of tourism industry @ nashs’ b.s..That would be because they would recognise him/his words as just another politician flying a kite..talking shite/trying to pretend to be relevant in some way..and failing..he has earned himself a new nickname tho'..stuart 'ban-the-van!' nash..
Another good one would be to cap real estate fees. Make no mistake, the current inflation is not unrelated to energetic promotion by real estate companies, who contribute nothing to the country to justify their extremely high (by international standards) cut.
Xanthe National would not print money so the economy would tank 45,000 building permits are keeping the economy afloat.
At the height of the GFC meltdown only 12,000 permits National borrowed money at 5.5% from overseas which the US was only charging •5% interest,padding the likes of Goldman Sachs huge profits.
Key was those banks lackey refusing to do what all the major trading blocks were doing printing money so we could subsidize these corrupt vulture capitalists who created the problem
Well i cant see any other solution then to ban private lending at interest both private and public and Govt be the only lender who can make up appropriate money(Just like happens NOW!) and lend it where and only where it is in the public good!
what I cannot see at all right now is … how to get there?
But for the seasonal labour these tourists provide.
New Zealanders have no reason to uproot their city life to go and work for a few weeks or months on a minimum wage while living in substandard conditions .
The myth that freedom campers don't contribute is a fallacy ,They don't spend on accommodation but do work in horticulture and tourism which are short term low paid jobs no one else wants to do.
That money goes back into our economy and keeps industries flourishing many spending big money on adventure tourism.
The govt should be upgrading infrastructure to cope with this type of tourism before it gets overwhelmed again no doubt in the future when a Covid vaccine is widely available and cheap air flights
Everyone is focusing on the backpacker side, but it’s also the bottom / middle of the coach and FIT market that’s not going to be supported. Generally in this market very little is in NZ$ so little loss to most of the country, and the market may not exist any more.
Poor Stu, he needs to get out more then he'd realise those Young'uns are buying those wee Shitmobiles. There are entire websites and FB pages trading in them.
But still, the good folk of Napier keep on voting for him despite his thing about fire engines.
The ego has landed in tourism for the moment, reminds me of large orgs who put managers where they can do minimal damage as tourism's a tad flat currently.
He's been shuffled aside after not being up to scratch in his prior portfolios and the eyes are on him now. Methinks Nash's been found out.
Like to know the advantage of tourists in their cheap vans travelling round spoiling the environment and making a mess. If they can afford the fare to NZ they should be prepared to pay to behave decently.
The Greens, who are so passionate about the environment, have been somewhat quiet on this. Do they support the Minister's ideas? They are keen to ban petrol cars and have Kiwis pay high prices for electric cars but I'd like to hear them equally concerned about the pollution and mess caused by these cheap travellers.
Lots of Low Cost travelers do contribute heaps and behave admirably
The Greens idea was not to " ban petrol cars and have Kiwis pay high prices for electric cars" But rather to apply duty to petrol cars and use that duty to reduce the cost of electric cars for kiwis.
There are places in NZ where for whatever reason the litter has not been picked up for a few years. I can assure you the mess left by "low cost tourists" is a tiny grain in the mountain of crap NZs throw out the window.
I know that this will put the cat among the pidgeons but a ban on ICE vehicles would be a pointless waste of time. Despite all the hype 100% electric transport is not and never will be physically possible. I don't blame people for believing the hype because everyone wants it to be true but the laws of physics wont change just because we want them to. A mix of electricity, biofuel and reduced transport demand is what will actually happen.
I've commented on here before that there are reports of CourierPost ()NZ Post) having on-line service down so not being open for business on-line. I expressed my disappointment and fear that the government is prepared to let this important government agency go down the drain by allowing it to fall through the crack of not being wholly government or private and there being plenty of competition willing to take it up.
I thought I would take a little look at the running, and who on the gummint is likely to have an overview of it. It is a vital communication pipeline, and we damn well better see it maintained and sharp. I support NZ Post and it would pay other NZ-committed to do so as well.
Some TradeMe conversation about it on Nov.17. These are people at the micro level showing initiative and that should be encouraged, and they try to remain good humoured! Someone has now advised that the site is up, so it is intermittent. Not good for 'productivity' and efficiency of sellers or CourierPost though.
No PO boxes bookings at the moment as Courierpost is down.
Message just now when trying to book saying… Sorry, CourierPost's services are currently unavailable but you can still book with Aramex.
Yes its very frustrating that courierpost services are down AGAIN. Been trying since mid morning and still not avail. Its all very well Aramex being avail to use at a higher cost, but when you have given cheaper price to buyer after a quote earlier and they've paid you are stuck with covering the cost. Or just try, try, try again to book with courierpost. (Mind you we are all probably doing the same thing and the poor system cant hope haha)
This is part of what the NZ Post site says about its Governance:
The Board of the New Zealand Post Group currently comprises of six non-executive Directors. The two Shareholding Ministers – the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State Owned Enterprises, on behalf of the Crown, appoint the Directors considering the balance of competencies and experience on the Board and through consultation with the Chair, Rodger Finlay. https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/investor-centre/leadership
So how will NZ Post fare under this Labour Government. I looked at the facts about the pollies involved and tried to get a feel of the likely outlook of the Hon Dr David Clark.
We know the Minister of Finance, Hon. Grant Robertson –
The Minister of State Owned Enterprises is the Hon. David Clark who also has other important business and organisational responsibilities –
The Hon. Dr David Clark has I think, an unusual background for his present portfolios. Religious ministry – Treasury – Politics. It is possible that his background of theoretical and moralistic thinking, thinly balanced on fact (religion and economics) may be more didactic and moralistic than practical and pragmatic. He does say in his bio that he's 'done a bunch of different things. I've worked on farms and in factories.' So he's been out and about in the wide, wild world a little, has also been strong in cycling, running, which are individualistic sports.
Early years: Advisor, to Hon David Parker 2006 – 2007
Analyst, Treasury 2003 – 2006
PhD Student, University of Otago 2000 – 2003
Presbyterian Minister, Community of St Luke 1997 – 2000
University Exchange Student, Germany 1997
Student, University of Otago, BA, BTheol(Hons) 1991 – 1996 http://www.davidclark.org.nz/about
Advice for TradeMe users who have seen the above. There is a 'cheat' for getting round the CourierPost on-line program weakness. This is a good example of NZs keeping on buzzing despite difficult times, and helping each other in goodwill. We need lots of this now and going forward.
One commenter offered this process:
Often Courierpost goes down,
OR if the address is not recognised it doesn't show up. Try this.
When you see the buyers delivery address when booking, just under it click Edit delivery address.
Put in name
Start typing address and when it gives you a choice to select, DON'T.
Click the link below it that says Can't find your address?
Put in the address
Leave out suburb ! important
Put in post code if you know it's correct, else click on the find Post code button to go to the NZPost website and find it there.
Click the Update address button, and Courierpost should pop up.
Haven't tried it myself but the experienced usually are spot on with their advice.
Yes, there are low cost travellers who show respect, but equally we have all seen photos of the mess some leave behind. They spoil it for others and all too often get away with it. That behaviour costs the local councils in time and money.
Is there an undercurrent on this thread of resentment towards wealthy tourists? So many people on the Standard seem constantly disgruntled with people who are better off, government ministers, the world, the cannabis referendum, life in general. And yet there are often articles in the media about people who have to deal with life's challenges but can still show some joy and positivity nevertheless.
Hit the reality button will you. It is no secret that NZ is one of the most unequal from high income to low, in the developed countries list.
Of course, like good little economic analysts, we are looking to see if we are getting our moneysworth out of these high paid execs. Does their productivity match up minute by minute. If you work in an accountants or solicitors you may be on a time sheet accounting for every 6 minutes, and we want the same accountability for the fatnecks.
So as our money flows upwards, and our water flows outwards, we look at what is left in our codpieces, and find the remains small and drying up. As Queen sang 'We will, we will Screw you'. Or was it 'Rock you'. It is time to do something, and we are noting who we are going to pick on for being Mr or Ms Creosote for December 2020. Stick around and we'll get to you sooner rather than later and your reality will change.
Nz has a long history/culture of throwing rubbish out the car window…and it sure as hell isn't the tourists who are fly-tipping all over the country…should we mention those old dump sites that are re-surfacing..?..this targeting/scapegoating of young foreign tourists is sodden with bigotry/ignorance…they stay longer..they work…and every day they are supporting local businesses…I live in raglan and interact with them all the time…invariably they are intelligent/articulate/friendly…also lots of rich tourists pass thru here…with their noses in the air…I know which I prefer ..
good post reality. many on the standard seem to get out of bed, looking to be outraged. very tireome. I now only dip into the standard infrequentley. real life is far more stimulating, and forfulling.
Hope so too. With effective COVID-19 vaccine(s) in 2021 looking more likely, the common sense of:
(i) strict border controls,
(ii) good testing/tracking/tracing,
(iii) timely lockdowns, and
(iv) good personal and community hygiene practices
in the interim is evident.
We don't know how lucky we are. In some countries the COVID horse has well and truly bolted. For example, in the USA ~3.5% of the population has been infected (so far), with an overall case fatality rate of ~2.2%. In French Polynesia ~4.4% of the population has been infected.
Why we should not do anything – because it would hurt the interests of the business leaders who oriented towards their interests, which is getting not only low interest, but high interest and payouts, and no interest in the rest of the country.
But before government does nothing it should tell the Reserve Bank what is wanted, and thus show the Governor how to make everybody (who counts) happy. I think that it's one of those operational matters that government is not supposed to direct but…. Reserve Bank independence, well Transparency International don't have to know exactly how that works.
Business NZ (Roundtable) Kirk Hope. What a good name for a moneyman with probity. Kirk is Scots for Church and Hope has a nice positive religious tone to it. Names like this and Steadfast Virtue as in the Gloriavale type of virtue-signalling inspire a deep feeling of… something.
And cleancut Andrew Bayly who is captioned as Shadow Treasurer which of course means Opposition – National says" "All I'm suggesting is that if the government is clear that we do not want to see rapid escalation of house prices, the Reserve Bank is smart enough to be able to work out the best policies to implement to make sure that doesn't continue to occur," he said.
Hope wants banks to be the arbiters of lending, government stay out. (In other words, keep us in the driving seat which is speaking Business NZ style and also its cohort.) He was not worried that the lion's share might end up in the pockets of property investors.
Well, Nelson Council just generated a really noisy and risky way to open up a public discussion about climate change in Nelson.
About 4500 property owners in Nelson are being told their land is at risk of potential inundation from sea level rise and other coastal hazards.
Nelson City Council is sending letters to landowners on the back of new coastal inundation maps, which show that swathes of central Nelson and coastal suburbs stand to be flooded under the worst case scenarios.
20 years down the track, the councillors of the day ain't going to get Christmas cards for keeping mum about the danger of inundation if they have that evidence at hand, now.
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
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 Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
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Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
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Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
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Sweden. All Not so good.And voices WERE raised…
On 25 March, as confirmed cases passed 300 per day, about 2000 scientists signed an open letter calling for stricter control measures. It provoked little reaction. But a scathing op-ed, published by the 22 researchers in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 14 April, did get noticed. The piece carried the headline “The public health agency has failed. Politicians must intervene.” It noted that from 7 to 9 April, more people per million inhabitants had died in Sweden from COVID-19 than in Italy—and 10 times more than in Finland. FoHM officials “have so far not shown any talent for either predicting or limiting” the epidemic, they wrote.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/it-s-been-so-so-surreal-critics-sweden-s-lax-pandemic-policies-face-fierce-backlash
Sacked for wanting to wear a mask?….
latest..
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/430829/sweden-restricts-gatherings-to-stem-second-covid-19-wave
[when you cut and paste from anywhere (on site or off site), you have to make it clear that it is a cut and paste not your own words. Please compare your comment to my first reply to see the difference. When I say ‘have to’ I mean that the main two mods are so sick of this that we often now just remove the content of a comment, or if in a hurry just delete the whole thing. Which we don’t like doing, but I’m not willing to waste my time on this any more.
I clarified in this post
Dealing with this one comment, including time to read the comment, google to see if it’s a quote, writing the edited version, writing this mod note, and finding and linking the TS post about it, took me close to 10 mins. Multiply that by many times over a week and you can see why we have a low tolerance. It’s not just you, and I’m making a long note here so that others can get up to speed too.
Please reply to this moderation so I know you have seen and understood it, thanks – weka]
Sweden. All Not so good.And voices WERE raised…
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/it-s-been-so-so-surreal-critics-sweden-s-lax-pandemic-policies-face-fierce-backlash
Sacked for wanting to wear a mask?….
latest..
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/430829/sweden-restricts-gatherings-to-stem-second-covid-19-wave
I don't want to be guilty of schadenfreude but… If Sweden had taken part in the practical and precautionary planning then implemented it, those who wanted to pooh-pooh the pppi idea wouldn't have had a leg to stand on. Now a lot of people don't, who had years of life ahead and their country's medical response and death cycle services are stressed beyond coping.
Years ago one USA area contracted out some of its death services to a local man who couldn't cope. He failed to keep up with his duties and started to dump some bodies till he could properly deal with them, and could never manage to cope. It became a private nightmare for him, and when revealed by reports in the media, for his local authority.
That's why we have authorities in charge of various aspects of our life cycle and activity. Important decisions taken and implemented in a timely fashion for good outcomes desired by the community. They need to accept responsibility and act reasonably in concordance with all thinking members of society. And this applies all over the world, and now is at the front of our minds about almost everything we are seeing and doing, not just Covid-19.
mod note for you PLA, please respond when you have read it.
Is it suitable to put quoted words in italics with the rest of the comment in normal font? Does that differentiate the cut and paste stuff enough for mods?
let's see…
Sweden. All Not so good.And voices WERE raised…
On 25 March, as confirmed cases passed 300 per day, about 2000 scientists signed an open letter calling for stricter control measures. It provoked little reaction. But a scathing op-ed, published by the 22 researchers in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 14 April, did get noticed. The piece carried the headline “The public health agency has failed. Politicians must intervene.” It noted that from 7 to 9 April, more people per million inhabitants had died in Sweden from COVID-19 than in Italy—and 10 times more than in Finland. FoHM officials “have so far not shown any talent for either predicting or limiting” the epidemic, they wrote.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/it-s-been-so-so-surreal-critics-sweden-s-lax-pandemic-policies-face-fierce-backlash
Sacked for wanting to wear a mask?….
latest..
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/430829/sweden-restricts-gatherings-to-stem-second-covid-19-wave
So long as the relevant link immediately follows the italics, that works for me.
Great ta. There is so much to discuss and hash over I don't want to make life hard for mods especially if they cut us a bit of slack at times. The blog seems to go forward well and probably is a bellwether for the rest, without being sheepish!
Why reinvent the wheel? Quote marks were invented by Quotus Maximus in 45 BC as a specific text tool. See what I did there with italics?
So I take it – use quotes and italics kept for drawing attention to something? Is that what you mean as –
It is very simple, use quote marks when you want to use someone else’s words in your comment.
Use block quotes for long(er) quotes. These are separated from the other text by a new line, as in a new paragraph. When you use the Block Quote functionality of the WordPress text editor, you won’t have to lead off with quote marks, as this would be doubling up.
Italics are used for emphasis. This doesn’t work when your whole quote, for example, is in italics. However, when you italicise a word(s) in a quote, you should add something like [my emphasis] or [my italics], in square brackets.
Bold font is usually reserved for strong emphasis. As you know, here on TS it used to be reserved for moderation, but things have changed somewhat.
These universally accepted conventions for written text are intended to make things easier for both reader and writer – we all learned these at school. The standardisation helps to avoid confusion. This means we can focus more on actual content and debate 😉
I've been in the long habit of using italics for both emphasis (usually one word or two) or when I'm quoting a sentence or two from another comment in the same thread in reply to someone. I've always figured that if I'm quoting someone else from the same thread, it's pretty obvious where it's come from and I don't bother linking.
On the other hand if it's from an external source then I will link, and I'll always put the text in blockquotes.
As you say, things change with time and are you happy for me to continue as I have been?
Yea…I cant fucking be bothered. And I thought trademe O and P was bad…Was it the pseudoscience/alt medicine? Take a jump : )
cool, now we both know where we stand.
I fully support James Shaw's call to put a hard limit on the importing of petrol and diesel cars.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/123387955/time-to-consider-petrol-and-diesel-car-import-ban-says-climate-change-minister
More than 14 countries and 20 cities around the world are already into this.
https://theclimatecenter.org/actions-by-countries-phase-out-gas/
Unfortunately our three main sources of vehicles – Japan, Singapore, and Australia – don't have particularly strong programmes against combustion vehicles.
There's a more detailed discussion on this relationship between the ICE and GHG growth here at GreaterAuckland, who engaged pretty closely at the Business and CLimate Change Conference last week.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2020/11/17/what-the-model-says-about-decarbonising-transport/
David Parker, Minister for the Environment, was present, and noted:
Seriously I just wish Ministers like that would just stop talking and start making some good ol' leadership decisions.
I agree. Surely this would be a really easy win – and would potentially even allow us to develop an electric conversion industry for petrol vehicles to accelerate to rollout of electric infrastructure?
I guess Labour is terrified that it might lose it's new constituency amongst angry sub-contractor autocrats who love their SUVs.
Timing is everything. Remember the 'light bulb' fiasco back in 2008?
We dont have to worry.
Not with this government.
All the time in the world.
Timing is everything. Remember the 'light bulb' fiasco back in 2008?
The 'light bulb fiasco' is an example of when someone has a 'good' idea 💡 and it provides a quick fix to meet some target, and never mind whether it fits the requirements of all the populace.
At the very least learn something from that mistake. The correct way to introduce EV's is to promote a timeline over the next decade or so to make the transition.
There will be early adopters who will be keen to get in, so make sure the infrastructure is put in place for them. Then incentivise the industry to start switching mainstream to EV models as they become more available and technically capable over the next 5 or so years.
Promote industry training programs aggressively; and realise that a lot of people are going to have their employment heavily impacted by this.
And then at the back end, make sure there is a plan to manage all the stranded ICE vehicles in manner that doesn't unduly penalise people who make the change later than others. Plus recognise that there will be some applications where EV doesn't work, and some form of liquid fuel infrastructure will probably need to be maintained for perhaps a couple of decades.
At least put up a decent discussion document and get the industry engaged. By all means put in place some deadlines, but aim to get as many people on board voluntarily as possible. It's going to be a complex transition with many moving parts; govt cannot do this on it's own.
Just tell them how much they will save by not buying petrol. Those figures are really great.
And yes we do need to stop petrol imports – and bridge the gap for the low end buyer to go electric.
Electric and hybrid are coming to lower priced vehicles.
Richard Prebble's pieces in the Herald are just sad. Today he starts off talking about measuring the economy via trucks, and ends with a quote from Ludwig von Mises. Can you imagine the Herald ever allowing a doddery, long retired, septuagenarian trade unionist a column where he told us all about his favoured simpleton measure for the economy (IDK, beer sales in working class areas?) and finished his article with a quote from Marx? Not on your Nelly! But the privilege of being an ex-leader of a far right party of economic crackpots is regular opinion pieces in the paper, it seems. Such is the glittering baubles with which the rich reward it's Quislings.
Prebble reveals himself as a rather simple minded fanatic who somehow got to a position where he actually ran our economy for six years.
aka "maddog" Prebble…him and his fellow neolib act/"labour"screwed NZ for Generations. Scum bag….
They got very well remunerated for joining the economic colonialists company.
Dined and wined while the homeless struggle living on the streets.
Before the wholesale sellouts homelessness didn't exist.
Changes were needed pulling the rug out of economy in one hit has left widespread poverty a very low median wages high prices for food accommodation medical care etc.
The Winners take all economic strategy
Left overs for the peasant's if they are lucky.
Plenty of commentators here defend Marxist revolution like they're auditioning for a bit part as a shouty shopsoiled stopwork air-puncher in a Movietone 1946 Communist Party conclave. I forget my keys sometimes but I dont forget a near century of Marxist-led savagery and genocide.
Having said that, Richard Prebble needs to pour himself his morning double Balbeghie and go back to drooling on his porch armchair.
hmm.
…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/26/communists-capitalism-stalinism-economic-model
Wot arkie said..
I forget my keys sometimes but I dont forget a near century of Marxist-led savagery and genocide.
Hey you are stuck in your mindset so deep that you don't see that savagery etc is going on all the time. And capitalistic forces are very willing to carry out similar, perhaps dropping two nuclear bombs to quell any more hostility and empire building from the Japanese might be of parallel weight!
We have nothing to fear, but fear of blinkered mindsets from either side of any mudpie-throwing competition. 'Well, if you knows of a better 'ole, go to it.' the 1915 cartoon from the naturally humanistic cartoonist, Bruce Bairnsfather. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Bairnsfather#World_War_I_service
And every single one of those causes of death are virtually exclusive to the least developed, the least 'capitalist' places on the planet.
Capitalism knows no borders.
…
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jan/14/aid-in-reverse-how-poor-countries-develop-rich-countries
And if you read the article much of that reverse flow is about 'capital flight', mostly companies moving capital illicitly out of the country to somewhere safer. The reasons for this are complex, a fair chunk of it being good old tax avoidance … but none of them a necessarily a feature of capitalism.
Still the general rule is that as a country develops, it's own internal institutions become stronger, and it's government more capable and trusted, then this flow tends to slow down.
Capital flight is definitionally a feature of international capitalism. Taxes are the State's attempt at limiting the private accumulation of resources. Tax avoidance extracts resources from the State preventing them from developing/strengthening its' own internal institutions.
Capital flight and tax avoidance is a problem the world over, remember the Panama Papers?
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo20159822.html
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/05/panama-papers-capital-mobility-controls/
Capital flight is definitionally a feature of international capitalism.
You just made that up.
And I’m pretty sure tax avoidance is an ancient pastime that pre-dates capitalism by quite a few thousands of years.
Yes, moving Capital has nothing to do with Capitalism, of course. /s
Does Flint have clean water, yet? Nope.
I actually loathe the old-school left-wing authoritarian mindset as much as I do right-wing fascism ..they are as ignorant as each other ..there really is a 'third-way'…(no..!..not neoliberal-incrementalism ..)
"Plenty"? Maybe a dozen – tops. And they're all safely coralled here in this little corner with no public platform, unlike Prebs.
What are you talking about. We are still being treated to peak Prebble, as on point and relevant as ever.
Stuart nash on natrad showing the incoherence of his ban-the-van/we-want-rich-tourists flight of fancy ..feckin' idjit..!..
Yeah I also thought Stuart's contribution was ignorant and slightly offensive.
Agreed….. Nash's moronic attack on backpackers has been ripped apart by the texters on RNZ….Labour showing themselves to be elitist and authoritarian here…..I guess it's consistent with their lack of action on wealth redistribution.
We need some practicality here about low-income visitors to NZ, not knee-jerk softies who can't look at the real problems we face from their business, in all meanings of the word.
We have to have high-income longer-staying visitors –
I think the thinkers amongst us recognise that lower-income people should be able to come here. I suggest a group be allowed for by Immigration, one of which would be Woofers (Willing workers on organic farms), and others seasonal workers, from pickers, pruners, ski instructors, big machine drivers etc. Do-ers not just be-ers, would be welcomed. So backpackers would have a place and time to be here. And vans would have to have toilets, and there should be a limit on how many there are under licence in NZ. And that would limit the number clogging our roads, and they should be encouraged to travel by rail and bus with concessionary tickets of the hop-on, hop-off variety at cheap rates.
Let's not pick on our rightish Labour pollies automatically. They may come up with some useful, practical schemes. We don't want pie-in-the-sky ones (like housing growing like mushrooms) as promised in the past do we? Practical, ticking the important boxes, that's what we need, I suggest.
Seemed like Nashie has overdosed on the 'high-end tourists only because we are so great" fantasy. The problem is that everywhere is great (and simultaneously terrible too). No acknowledgement of all those small/marginal operators whose livelihoods depends on volume.
But the bigger problem is that discretionary tourism is doomed and has to pretty much stop soon, or we are hammering our way past 3C degrees of warming – so better to plan for that. And such a bad look – pandering to the rich – when holidays for most kiwis is the summer camp-ground or a week in a motel. Couldn't help feeling that Nashie’s high-end tourism might be a cunning extension of the real estate sector – the tourists get to look around and decide what properties to buy.
A higher value inbound industry isn’t necessarily incompatible to a thriving and affordable domestic industry and the pressures that CC and post covid will bring to tourism.
Very likely that long haul cattle class won’t return, people won’t want to be there and it won’t be cheap any more. The people who will be able to afford long haul travel will want much better than a mud priced NZ motel.
The pressure on price and capacity in the middle class domestic market doesn’t come from the upper end international but from the bottom and middle, that’s who’s filling the camping grounds and motels. We also spend the same going overseas as international inbound spend here.
"We also spend the same going overseas as international inbound spend here."
Roughly …and if we reduce incoming it will restrict the availability/affordability of outgoing as well….not that I expect that to be a popular outcome
Doubt we will need to restrict anything, just market to those that can afford it.
Certainly not going to be popular, especially with the industry, Nash just told a lot of them they haven’t got a business any more. Surprised they took it ao well.
Shouldnt have been news to them
edit
Pat's point is one that doesn't get mentioned often. Airlines have to have two-way loading to be profitable ie fly in a certain number of passengers (enough to pay for the minimum costs involved), and then fly out, with a minimum number of passengers.
It costs to keep the plane parked for long. The costs of retaining the crew, must be considered.
As someone pointed out what we receive here from inbound tourists, may be balanced by our spending overseas, so there may be a net outcome. But at least it will keep our basic transport open, for a while longer, and provide trade and jobs. But all the time we must be considering how to bring our carbon footprint down. That means that government has to ensure that new debts are not being taken on, new planes are not being bought.
Is someone working on a model for using shipping instead of planes? The weather changes will bring about timetable limitations ie not going through some ocean at such a latitude while the cyclone season is on. We don’t want our goods or ourselves to be travelling cattle class and end up at the bottom of the ocean do we. Perhaps we will have ‘flying ships’ especially designed to carry perishable goods at a high speed and cost.
Tourists use ships for cruises, they can be used for long-trip travellers as they once were, Fairstar, Fairsky etc. And cruises to the Antartic and so on, when are they going to be stopped. It isn’t a good look in these climate-change times to have people nosy-parkering at things just because they have the money and curiosity. Too like end of Brave New World which resonates muchly these days. It’s a dirty human habit to want to stare at something doomed, so ghoulish. I suggest try looking in the mirror, to all of us as we all have this lurking curiosity.
Overall I think that sharp minds need to assess any new spending and infrastructure on a basis of – will it cover its costs in returns in the next five years? I don't hear this sort of calculation being considered. The talk is thinking about 2035-2050, and the long-term plan is the wise option still being discussed these days.
Our local Councils are still working on 10 year plans, and reluctantly giving up expensive options. But the locust-like planning for taking over productive and recreational and/or environmentally important land for housing continues unabated.
Re equanimity of tourism industry @ nashs’ b.s..That would be because they would recognise him/his words as just another politician flying a kite..talking shite/trying to pretend to be relevant in some way..and failing..he has earned himself a new nickname tho'..stuart 'ban-the-van!' nash..
Seeing as Women generally need to urinate more frequently than men due to having smaller bladders. criticising Nash for wanting to ban tourist vans without toilets, must be anti feminist.
Or we could invest in public, roadside toilet blocks for anyone ? Oh, that would be socialistic or something and thus nah, nah, can't be done?
We could, and should, but free loader campers wouldn’t need to crap where they wanted if they stayed at holiday parks or serviced DOC sites.
I see what u tried to do there…
Tried and succeeded, but fortunately you're coherent enough at the moment not to need the sarc tag I neglected to add.
My suggested solution to soaring house prices….. Tax interest received at around 85%
It would be better to make interest non tax deductible.
The banks already pay less than 1% on deposits and you would be inflicting further pain on retirees who have had their income savaged
Such measures would incentivise even more to be invested into property and away from other legit means of investment.
why can not
Also we have a crazy system here where the lenders are protected from any risk. Thats arse about, it should be the lender takes most of the risk .
Another good one would be to cap real estate fees. Make no mistake, the current inflation is not unrelated to energetic promotion by real estate companies, who contribute nothing to the country to justify their extremely high (by international standards) cut.
Stacy Abrams and President Jimmy Carter. Greeting each other in a very Blue Georgia
+1000
Shot of the day.
I respect carter…one of the 'best' presidents america has had in eons..
very cool.
Great shot…Carter has been unfairly much-maligned.
He was unlucky with the Iran hostage raid that destroyed his chance of a second term.
Some good analysis…around 50 mins long but theres a particularly succinct 2 mins at 40 min mark
https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/
eeeeeck now Judith Collins is talking some sense. our world is upside down
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/430866/no-controls-on-how-trading-banks-use-funding-recipe-for-disaster-collins
cant someone take Jacinda aside and explain to her that private companies lending made up money at interest for profit is the very root of the problem
Xanthe National would not print money so the economy would tank 45,000 building permits are keeping the economy afloat.
At the height of the GFC meltdown only 12,000 permits National borrowed money at 5.5% from overseas which the US was only charging •5% interest,padding the likes of Goldman Sachs huge profits.
Key was those banks lackey refusing to do what all the major trading blocks were doing printing money so we could subsidize these corrupt vulture capitalists who created the problem
Well i cant see any other solution then to ban private lending at interest both private and public and Govt be the only lender who can make up appropriate money(Just like happens NOW!) and lend it where and only where it is in the public good!
what I cannot see at all right now is … how to get there?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/300161375/tourism-minister-to-ban-tourists-from-hiring-vans-that-are-not-selfcontained
And the Fuckwit of the Year Award goes to…
errm still some deadwood to clear out in the Labour caucus I think
Hopefully he's setting fire to himself.
Most New Zealanders would agree with Nash .
But for the seasonal labour these tourists provide.
New Zealanders have no reason to uproot their city life to go and work for a few weeks or months on a minimum wage while living in substandard conditions .
The myth that freedom campers don't contribute is a fallacy ,They don't spend on accommodation but do work in horticulture and tourism which are short term low paid jobs no one else wants to do.
That money goes back into our economy and keeps industries flourishing many spending big money on adventure tourism.
The govt should be upgrading infrastructure to cope with this type of tourism before it gets overwhelmed again no doubt in the future when a Covid vaccine is widely available and cheap air flights
Everyone is focusing on the backpacker side, but it’s also the bottom / middle of the coach and FIT market that’s not going to be supported. Generally in this market very little is in NZ$ so little loss to most of the country, and the market may not exist any more.
And the Fuckwit of the Year Award goes to…
Poor Stu, he needs to get out more then he'd realise those Young'uns are buying those wee Shitmobiles. There are entire websites and FB pages trading in them.
But still, the good folk of Napier keep on voting for him despite his thing about fire engines.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10553595/Stuart-Nash-its-all-about-bloody-hard-work
Nevermind Stuart….your day will come…
The ego has landed in tourism for the moment, reminds me of large orgs who put managers where they can do minimal damage as tourism's a tad flat currently.
He's been shuffled aside after not being up to scratch in his prior portfolios and the eyes are on him now. Methinks Nash's been found out.
From now on he will be known as knee-jerk Nash.
The solution is more public toilets rather than destroying a lucrative part of NZ's tourist industry, and the country's image to boot.
Yes. Or how about Nat Nash?
Like to know the advantage of tourists in their cheap vans travelling round spoiling the environment and making a mess. If they can afford the fare to NZ they should be prepared to pay to behave decently.
The Greens, who are so passionate about the environment, have been somewhat quiet on this. Do they support the Minister's ideas? They are keen to ban petrol cars and have Kiwis pay high prices for electric cars but I'd like to hear them equally concerned about the pollution and mess caused by these cheap travellers.
eeek Where to start.
Lots of Low Cost travelers do contribute heaps and behave admirably
The Greens idea was not to " ban petrol cars and have Kiwis pay high prices for electric cars" But rather to apply duty to petrol cars and use that duty to reduce the cost of electric cars for kiwis.
There are places in NZ where for whatever reason the litter has not been picked up for a few years. I can assure you the mess left by "low cost tourists" is a tiny grain in the mountain of crap NZs throw out the window.
I know that this will put the cat among the pidgeons but a ban on ICE vehicles would be a pointless waste of time. Despite all the hype 100% electric transport is not and never will be physically possible. I don't blame people for believing the hype because everyone wants it to be true but the laws of physics wont change just because we want them to. A mix of electricity, biofuel and reduced transport demand is what will actually happen.
I've commented on here before that there are reports of CourierPost ()NZ Post) having on-line service down so not being open for business on-line. I expressed my disappointment and fear that the government is prepared to let this important government agency go down the drain by allowing it to fall through the crack of not being wholly government or private and there being plenty of competition willing to take it up.
I thought I would take a little look at the running, and who on the gummint is likely to have an overview of it. It is a vital communication pipeline, and we damn well better see it maintained and sharp. I support NZ Post and it would pay other NZ-committed to do so as well.
Some TradeMe conversation about it on Nov.17. These are people at the micro level showing initiative and that should be encouraged, and they try to remain good humoured! Someone has now advised that the site is up, so it is intermittent. Not good for 'productivity' and efficiency of sellers or CourierPost though.
No PO boxes bookings at the moment as Courierpost is down.
Message just now when trying to book saying… Sorry, CourierPost's services are currently unavailable but you can still book with Aramex.
Yes its very frustrating that courierpost services are down AGAIN. Been trying since mid morning and still not avail. Its all very well Aramex being avail to use at a higher cost, but when you have given cheaper price to buyer after a quote earlier and they've paid you are stuck with covering the cost. Or just try, try, try again to book with courierpost. (Mind you we are all probably doing the same thing and the poor system cant hope haha)
This is part of what the NZ Post site says about its Governance:
The Board of the New Zealand Post Group currently comprises of six non-executive Directors. The two Shareholding Ministers – the Minister of Finance and the Minister of State Owned Enterprises, on behalf of the Crown, appoint the Directors considering the balance of competencies and experience on the Board and through consultation with the Chair, Rodger Finlay. https://www.nzpost.co.nz/about-us/investor-centre/leadership
So how will NZ Post fare under this Labour Government. I looked at the facts about the pollies involved and tried to get a feel of the likely outlook of the Hon Dr David Clark.
We know the Minister of Finance, Hon. Grant Robertson –
The Minister of State Owned Enterprises is the Hon. David Clark who also has other important business and organisational responsibilities –
Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications
Minister for State Owned Enterprises
Minister of Statistics
Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission
https://www.labour.org.nz/news-new-team-ministers-labour-government-2020
The Hon. Dr David Clark has I think, an unusual background for his present portfolios. Religious ministry – Treasury – Politics. It is possible that his background of theoretical and moralistic thinking, thinly balanced on fact (religion and economics) may be more didactic and moralistic than practical and pragmatic. He does say in his bio that he's 'done a bunch of different things. I've worked on farms and in factories.' So he's been out and about in the wide, wild world a little, has also been strong in cycling, running, which are individualistic sports.
Early years:
Advisor, to Hon David Parker 2006 – 2007
Analyst, Treasury 2003 – 2006
PhD Student, University of Otago 2000 – 2003
Presbyterian Minister, Community of St Luke 1997 – 2000
University Exchange Student, Germany 1997
Student, University of Otago, BA, BTheol(Hons) 1991 – 1996
http://www.davidclark.org.nz/about
Advice for TradeMe users who have seen the above. There is a 'cheat' for getting round the CourierPost on-line program weakness. This is a good example of NZs keeping on buzzing despite difficult times, and helping each other in goodwill. We need lots of this now and going forward.
One commenter offered this process:
Often Courierpost goes down,
OR if the address is not recognised it doesn't show up. Try this.
When you see the buyers delivery address when booking, just under it click Edit delivery address.
Put in name
Start typing address and when it gives you a choice to select, DON'T.
Click the link below it that says Can't find your address?
Put in the address
Leave out suburb ! important
Put in post code if you know it's correct, else click on the find Post code button to go to the NZPost website and find it there.
Click the Update address button, and Courierpost should pop up.
Haven't tried it myself but the experienced usually are spot on with their advice.
He'd be right at home with Treasury – they're a cult.
I had a feeling about his train tracks and the passengers he would meet.
Yes, there are low cost travellers who show respect, but equally we have all seen photos of the mess some leave behind. They spoil it for others and all too often get away with it. That behaviour costs the local councils in time and money.
Is there an undercurrent on this thread of resentment towards wealthy tourists? So many people on the Standard seem constantly disgruntled with people who are better off, government ministers, the world, the cannabis referendum, life in general. And yet there are often articles in the media about people who have to deal with life's challenges but can still show some joy and positivity nevertheless.
Hit the reality button will you. It is no secret that NZ is one of the most unequal from high income to low, in the developed countries list.
Of course, like good little economic analysts, we are looking to see if we are getting our moneysworth out of these high paid execs. Does their productivity match up minute by minute. If you work in an accountants or solicitors you may be on a time sheet accounting for every 6 minutes, and we want the same accountability for the fatnecks.
So as our money flows upwards, and our water flows outwards, we look at what is left in our codpieces, and find the remains small and drying up. As Queen sang 'We will, we will Screw you'. Or was it 'Rock you'. It is time to do something, and we are noting who we are going to pick on for being Mr or Ms Creosote for December 2020. Stick around and we'll get to you sooner rather than later and your reality will change.
So who is responsible for all the roadside rubbish currently?
Nz has a long history/culture of throwing rubbish out the car window…and it sure as hell isn't the tourists who are fly-tipping all over the country…should we mention those old dump sites that are re-surfacing..?..this targeting/scapegoating of young foreign tourists is sodden with bigotry/ignorance…they stay longer..they work…and every day they are supporting local businesses…I live in raglan and interact with them all the time…invariably they are intelligent/articulate/friendly…also lots of rich tourists pass thru here…with their noses in the air…I know which I prefer ..
good post reality. many on the standard seem to get out of bed, looking to be outraged. very tireome. I now only dip into the standard infrequentley. real life is far more stimulating, and forfulling.
Greywarshark – silly, inane comments that don't make sense. Who is going to "get" me exactly?
Full lockdown in South Australia. Similar origin and situation to the August Auckland cluster. Hopefully they have acted faster than Victoria.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/coronavirus/circuit-breaker-sa-in-full-lockdown/news-story/0a167b4e08e2f6ff4b38895e7a400dcf
Hope so too. With effective COVID-19 vaccine(s) in 2021 looking more likely, the common sense of:
(i) strict border controls,
(ii) good testing/tracking/tracing,
(iii) timely lockdowns, and
(iv) good personal and community hygiene practices
in the interim is evident.
We don't know how lucky we are. In some countries the COVID horse has well and truly bolted. For example, in the USA ~3.5% of the population has been infected (so far), with an overall case fatality rate of ~2.2%. In French Polynesia ~4.4% of the population has been infected.
Stamp it out, keep it out.
Why we should not do anything – because it would hurt the interests of the business leaders who oriented towards their interests, which is getting not only low interest, but high interest and payouts, and no interest in the rest of the country.
But before government does nothing it should tell the Reserve Bank what is wanted, and thus show the Governor how to make everybody (who counts) happy. I think that it's one of those operational matters that government is not supposed to direct but…. Reserve Bank independence, well Transparency International don't have to know exactly how that works.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/430854/business-leaders-against-national-s-idea-of-imposing-conditions-on-funding-for-lending
Business NZ (Roundtable) Kirk Hope. What a good name for a moneyman with probity. Kirk is Scots for Church and Hope has a nice positive religious tone to it. Names like this and Steadfast Virtue as in the Gloriavale type of virtue-signalling inspire a deep feeling of… something.
And cleancut Andrew Bayly who is captioned as Shadow Treasurer which of course means Opposition – National says" "All I'm suggesting is that if the government is clear that we do not want to see rapid escalation of house prices, the Reserve Bank is smart enough to be able to work out the best policies to implement to make sure that doesn't continue to occur," he said.
Hope wants banks to be the arbiters of lending, government stay out. (In other words, keep us in the driving seat which is speaking Business NZ style and also its cohort.) He was not worried that the lion's share might end up in the pockets of property investors.
Well, Nelson Council just generated a really noisy and risky way to open up a public discussion about climate change in Nelson.
About 4500 property owners in Nelson are being told their land is at risk of potential inundation from sea level rise and other coastal hazards.
Nelson City Council is sending letters to landowners on the back of new coastal inundation maps, which show that swathes of central Nelson and coastal suburbs stand to be flooded under the worst case scenarios.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/123427369/maps-forecast-large-areas-of-nelson-underwater-from-sealevel-rise
They ain't going to get Christmas cards for sending that one out.
Much better than pretending it's not an issue. We can't sleepwalk our way into disaster the writing's been on the wall for some time.
Even my blanket fort feels a tad unsafe in these times.
'blanket fort'…heh..!
20 years down the track, the councillors of the day ain't going to get Christmas cards for keeping mum about the danger of inundation if they have that evidence at hand, now.