“A massive shale formation found in the Kiwi Nation is so huge and untouched, the New Zealand Herald reports: ‘It’s literally leaking oil and gas’
“An independent report released in October 2012 says this shale field could hold more oil than the combined reserves of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell…
“Geologists have discovered at least 300 spots where oil and gas are bubbling at the surface.
“These two companies (both trading below $10 a share) control over 5,000 square miles of the emerging oil field… and production has already started….
“On the North Island of New Zealand — about 268 miles from Auckland — sits the small town of Hastings.
“For decades there’s been nothing remarkable about this small port town… until now.
“Massive oil deposits surrounding Hastings have been found that are 10x larger than the infamous Bakken oil field.
“And the major permit holders to these deposits are two companies that I’m about to detail for you today….
“The geographical similarities between the Bakken and East Coast Basin are striking.
“And the government can already see the dollar signs.
“The Taranaki Basin on the North Island is already under development. So it’s clear the officials there are embracing fracking as a tool to their economic growth.
“‘I would love to see other regions experience the same economic boost, and fracking is one of the technologies than can allow that to happen.’ — Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley”
[lprent: How many aliases does one person need? There are 5 handles being used from this IP today, several of them new.
Adding your IP to auto-spam for my attention until I either find out this is an organisation with a static IP or I get a reduction in the numbers of handles being used. ]
[lprent: An explanation would be more useful. At present I’m allowing through a couple of handles like the one you wrote 8 minutes before this one. Lexing the comments tends to indicate a single person rather than many.
The previous slow shift in handles could be just outright laziness. But three new handles in a day is clearly deliberate.
I could always ban that IP from being able to even read the site. Any resulting screams will allow me to find out if the IP is shared. ]
Don’t know if this was intentional Lynn, but I just posted a comment, went off while it was loading and when I came back to the tab I found that wiki astroturfing page had loaded. I used the back button on the browser and got the “Your access to this site has been limited” message page. Funny.
Edit: I actually lost the comment I was making – couldn’t back space to the text box page, and reloading gave me a blank text box. I did recover it using Lazarus, but normally I can find a way to get ts to let me reuse the txt I’d typed before.
Some of the numbers highlight the extreme wealth and inequality within our country now.
What a sad shadow of the nation Micky Savage envisioned.
(The corporate media just loves telling the stories and tittle tattle of ‘the rich and famous.’)
This explains why Auckland house prices are continuously increasing, this possibly means (Spithall investing in Auckland residential property market) that their are some pretty sophisticated investment advisors backing the Auckland property market…scarey for renters because rental cost tends to increase with the value of homes.
Tim Watkin on the RNZ panel on Monday reckoned that given the demand for housing in Auckland it would be nearly impossible to bring the cost of housing down in Auckland…he was responding to Chris Trotter suggesting that the Greens/Labour housing policy would reduce house prices in NZ. Auckland house prices are a huge problem, I cant see how the problem can be fixed without reducing the cost of homes?
Really need to reduce the attractiveness of investment housing I think.
Yes multiple property ownership is a huge problem.
More houses for some, like Coutts and Spithill, so none left for others.
Easy one to solve.
Capital gains tax.
Inheritance tax.
And bring down houses in the common good.
Selfish property speculators need to make some sacrifices.
Unfortunately neither Capital gains nor inheritance taxes will effect the Auckland property market,
The middle class have a love affair, fueled off of tax breaks and accommodation supplement payments for 2nd and 3rd properties as rental invesments,
”The surge of former owner-occupied houses becoming rentals was most evident in Mt Eden,(up 19%), Mt Wellington(up 24%), and Remuera (up 10%)”, unquote Bernard Hickey,
In 20 years across New Zealand 100,000 formerly owner-occupier homes have become rental investments, like Working for Families paid to the middle class, no political party is willing to directly address the real problem of ‘housing affordability’ for first home buyers,
Besides more than a few of the politicians being heavily ‘invested’ themselves it would be political suicide for any Government to directly threaten the middle classes fatted golden cow…
And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.
“And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.”
Not necessarily. It would depend on population density overall.
What is also obvious is that with so many MP’s having rental properties (and Trusts to hide them) one would not expect any MP’s to vote for any bill that affected their income streams.
Maybe a good socialist government could expect its MP’s to not be involved in property speculation?
Yes, but the main group affected by over priced housing isnt 1st home buyers, it is actually people who rent homes (Rent is a function of the house valuation). This is why over priced housing is the No 1 issue in New Zealand’s poverty issue. House price increases have contributed more to inequality than any other one factor. But it is an incredibly difficult issue, because a reduction in house valuations will probably slow the economy/spending down leading to all of the negative consequences that this brings.
Many people over the years have been picking a housing bubble burst in Auckland but it keeps climbing, and it does seem that governments (Both L & N) havent been keen on reigning it in regardless of the negative consequences for home renters, generally our poorest.
Obviously one answer is for state houses to do away with market based rents, to break the relationship between house valuation and rental cost. Labours existing policy will help increase supply of housing, combine this with CGT I would imagine that these initiatives will be helpful. But apparently demand in Auckland is still going to outstrip supply by quite a margin so I reckon stopping the tax deductibility of investment housing will have the biggest impact. I cannot understand what the point of encouraging people to invest in rental housing is…it simply transfers wealth from the poor to the wealthy.
The Labour/Green housing plans removes some of the demand from the Auckland housing market, building and selling 10,000 100m homes in a year would remove that whole segment of new home buyer from the market while not unduly effecting that market as the homes will not be sold on the free market,
There will still be a huge demographic wishing to buy into the current Auckland market including those who are upwardly mobile wanting a bigger, better home and a large swathe of the middle class still in love with rental property,
While that middle class get to claim interest payments on the rental from their personal tax and also collect the accommodation supplement via the tenants this form of investment will continue unabated,
i would assume that if rules are not put in place for the Labour/Green housing to have a Government buy back based upon original price plus equity those lucky enough to be put onto the ‘property ladder’ by such Government largesse will go on to continue the house price inflation in Auckland by using these properties as leverage in the future to gain ‘rental investments’,
i had a little chuckle at last nights Campbell Live which featured a school teacher earning 50 grand a year who could not ‘afford’ to live in a house Her mother had sold Her,
My pick is that She not only gets the tax rebate on interest paid on that property but the tenant also collects the maximum amount of accommodation subsidy which all up gives Her an extra dip into the tax base of 2 or 300 a week,
The monetarism attached to the Neoliberal ethos finds this ‘rewarding’ of the winners in society to be a far better use of the tax base than it does the building of State Housing which would have achieved the same dampening effect in the Auckland housing market by removing a mass of tenants thus dampening the demand for rental properties,
The faces may change,but, i fear the song, as far as the bread and butter issues for those who occupy the bare seats of the ‘have not’s’ table, will remain largely the same…
The trouble with the housing market is it is very heavily geared and therefore prices are strongly driven by mortgage interest rates. International interest rates have been close to 200-300 year lows with central banks worldwide printing money in an attempt to kickstart the global economy after the GFC.
As wages have moved up little in the last decade a large component driving house prices is the reduction in interest rates.
For example interest rates were around 11% in 2008 and now are around 5.5%. Effectively a homebuyer with a small deposit borrowing just $400,000 in 2009 can today effectively service a loan of $800,000. This is particularly true with rental investors as they heavily gear to capture tax advantages.
The thing that will really bring property prices down with a thump is an upward movement in interest rates. This is starting to happen internationally as central banks tentatively remove the life support of QE. Select 1year at the bottom of this graph to see the almost doubling of rate in 10year US treasurys during the last few months.
The current situation in Auckland looks like a very fast inflating bubble. Any trend upwards in interest rates is likely to deflate this market rapidly as landlords and homeowners struggle to service the increase in loan repayments and the sellers overwhelm the buyers.
Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates,
What you are saying is a recipe for the Government presiding at the point where interest rates start the upward lurch to not be the Government at the election following…
Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates
Trouble is that’s not really practical for a Government to take control of interest rates particularly in a small country like NZ. If the international cost of money goes up because lenders are demanding a bigger risk premium then there’s little the Government can do to control the cost of lending under current legislation.
What you are saying is a recipe for the Government presiding at the point where interest rates start the upward lurch to not be the Government at the election following…
Not neccessarily – would depend on who the electorate decided to blame. The finger could well be pointed at the banking community rather than the Government. It would also depend on how the Government dealt with any such “crisis”. If they chose to protect the banks rather than the electorate, as in Cyprus, they would certainly be out at the next election.
“Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates”
Yes because that generally works out so well.
Why do you persist in pursuing fantasies? The next Labour/Green Government is not going to take control of fixing interest rates. For so many reasons that seem obvious to the whole world except for you sitting in your safe subsidised house.
The NZ Government already subtly controls interest rates, via the nominally independent Reserve Bank. I think what Bad12 is suggesting is that the guidance and parameters be changed, presumably along with changes to the inflation band targetting.
Perhaps if you ever decide to holiday in NZ you might spend some time familiarising yourself with how things are done here. In the meantime, you could learn a thing or two here:
Which basically requires the reserve bank to kill the rest of the economy, whenever Auckland house prices, or wages, rise.
Originally enacted, as a circuit breaker, to cap excessive inflation in the 80’s, politicians have kept it, long past its use by date, because in their limited view, what works once, briefly, will work perpetually.
It could be argued that it was somewhat successful in curbing very high inflation, on that limited occasion, though others would note that the end of very high inflation ended with the slowing of the rise in oil prices.
Now, every time the New Zealand productive economy struggles off its knees, the reserve bank delivers another knockout.”
Actually the State, us, should take over the issuance of debt altogether. And get away from paying through the nose for US banks to lend us money “printed” in the USA and China”.
I do believe that without any significant increase in median incomes the bubble will burst in the more over extended areas such as Auckland. Whether this happens slowly over time, with real values falling gradually, or suddenly, really depends on what happens in global financial markets.
What I am sure of is that being highly leveraged in the Auckland market at the moment is a high risk place to be.
The next step is a policy programme to take Labour into the 2014 election. Whether or not I vote for Labour will depend on what policies that Labour will adopt for that particular campaign.
Policies that could be of use to Labour (which can capture core votes and can be appealing to centre voters):
Encourage co-ops in all shapes and sizes
An investment fund for oil, gas and mining royalties
A grand accord on mining — allowing mining to go ahead in some areas with other areas being locked up and having the key thrown away.
two things I would love to see considered
1. Establishing worker representation on boards of private companies.
2. Identifying what we could call Companies of significant interest to NZ and the state taking a shareholding. We could model it along the lines of the current regimes sell off of state assets. I am sure we would get support from National if we did that
I would suggest a stake in Fletcher’s and Fulton Hogan’s as a good start to further the interests of the people of New Zealand
EPMU members should be wondering why their execs wanted to make a recommendation to vote for Robertson.
Seems like Union members should bring their execs back to planet Labour
It has parallels with the Caucus: too many MP were out of synch with the membership and the country.
Er, not actually the case, Boadicea. The EPMU senior leadership made no recommendation and asked the voting delegates to consult with their members and vote accordingly. Which is what happened and I assume the EPMU vote was similar to the overall affiliate vote; overwhelmingly in favour of DC.
“Thing is, merely saying someone is not sexist does not alter reality if they truly are. Tony Abbott has been Prime Minister for a week and has just announced his ministry and cabinet. Of eighteen cabinet ministers chosen by Abbott, only one, Julie Bishop, the new Foreign Minister, is a woman. In Gillard’s cabinet, there were seven. Of the 12 parliamentary secretaries chosen by Abbott, only one there is female, too. Abbott has excused his selection by saying that he’s “disappointed” there aren’t more women in his cabinet, but that it’s been chosen “on merit” and there are women “knocking on the door” of cabinet in the outer ministry – still, of course, heavily outnumbered by men. That Abbott’s cabinet contains a Treasurer who couldn’t correctly add up a costings document, an Attorney General who believes religious rights trump human rights and an agriculture minister who thinks equal marriage rights for gay couples might somehow affect his daughters’ chances of finding husbands, the “merit” defence does not carry much weight. Especially not, as the Labor Opposition Leader pointed out today, Australia now has less female representation at cabinet level than Afghanistan.”
“Unruly, reckless, often crude, and always curious, the Franks (as Muslims called them) were, like the Japanese at the other end of Eurasia, aware of the innumerable ways in which civilized neighbours excelled their own attainments. By 1500, therefore, Western Europeans had acquired an impressive array of learning from their Byzantine and Muslim neighbours, and had imported an equally impressive array of technologies from distant China. In short, they profited greatly in terms of wealth and power from their uninhibited sampling of ideas, goods, and practices circulating within the Old World Web. This held fateful consequences for America and world history after 1500.
By 1000, in the lands between the Loire and Elbe rivers, mounted knights and moldboard plow teams capable of cultivating flat, water-logged clay soils protected and supported one another very efficiently. From this core area, knights of Latin Christendom expanded their domain in every direction. Moldboard agriculture followed behind, but never caught up with the military frontier because climatic differences made the heavy plows impracticable in dry Mediterranean lands, as well as in Irish bogs and in the freezing winters of northeast Europe.
Within limits set by the mild winters and year-round rainfall the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerly winds brought to the plains, agricultural production swelled as peasant villagers developed a sustainable type of farming that employed labour almost uniformly throughout the year. By dividing arable land into three fields- one sown in autumn to harvest in late spring, one sown in spring for autumn harvest and one left fallow to be plowed (for weed control) in summer- plow teams could work almost all year round, interrupted only for Christmas and during weeks when planting and harvesting required everyone’s urgent effort. This regime allowed a single plowman’s share of cultivated land to amount to about thirty acres- far more than needed to feed himself, family and domestic animals.
Cooperative cultivation of open fields in NW Europe therefore permitted peasants to sustain fighting men who had a clear self-interest in guarding them against destructive raiders, together with priests and monks who attended to their relations with God. Surpluses extended the demand for artisans’ wares into peasant homes, furthering urban skills and tightening local trade and transport links. And when noble and clerical rent and tax receivers developed a taste for superior artisan products and commodities from afar, urban dwellers, recruited from the fringes of society, often led by pirate traders, began to supply them with their wants.
Tightening their links with the rest of the Old World Web, Western Europeans encountered far more sophisticated and more highly skilled peoples than themselves.Yet, as long as local agricultural and artisanal production expanded as rapidly as they did between 1000 and 1270, and Christian knights continued to be generally successful in battle, crude Westerners could feel confidant that God was on their side as they plumbed foreigners’ knowledge and skills for purposes of their own.
By 1500, Europe’s population was little, if at all, larger than in 1300 (famine and plague) even though by that time transport and industry were far more efficient. Stout, seaworthy ships now connected all the coasts of Europe, and interregional specialization and exchange had gathered momentum as an ever larger proportion of the population began to enter the market, thus replicating China’s commercialization after a delay of three to four centuries (dumbasses 😉 ); but unlike in China, European rulers and clerics failed to maintain control over the merchants and bankers who managed the new interregional economy.
European merchants and bankers attended to their own defense by gaining political control of a number of sovereign city-states. They could then deal more or less as equals with other local rulers, who found it impossible to do without loans or to repay their debts without concessions to bankers’ and merchants’ interests.Since moneyed men were continually on the lookout for anything that might turn a profit, a self-sustaining process of economic, social and technological change gathered headway wherever political conditions conceded it the freedom to operate. Time and again, local interests and traditional ways of doing things were displaced by politically protected economic innovators. This situation still persists today, having first transformed European society, and then infected the whole world, marking modern times off from earlier, more stable forms of society.
Urban self-government in Europe had another distinctive dimension. In Muslim and Chinese society, members of a single, sometimes extended family managed most economic enterprises. The strength of family ties made it difficult or impossible to trust outsiders, thus limiting the scale of most undertakings. Europeans found it easier to trust fellow citizens, regardless of blood relations or not.Extended family ties were unusually weak in most of Western Europe.
Self-government, in short, could be applied to common enterprises far afield as well as at home, so that large-scale private undertakings, far beyond the scope of any single family became routine and familiar. Shipbuilding and mining attained special vigor due to this sort of risk sharing among multiple private investors. As a result, by 1500 the supply of base metals- especially iron- available to Europeans far surpassed what other peoples had at their disposal.
It is plausible to believe that transfamilial commercial enterprise in the towns of medieval Europe derived from the practices of rural plow teams. Towns were unhealthful places and had to maintain themselves by attracting manpower from the countryside. In the heartlands of Western Europe, such rural recruits brought with them the habit of working in plow teams whose members came from different families. If a plowman failed to do his share of the work, or did not deal honestly with his fellows, penalties were dire indeed. Aggrieved neighbours could easily exclude him from plow teams.Such discipline, requiring mutual trust and cooperation beyond the limits of blood relations and short-sighted investment, prepared Europeans to trust one another.
However, such commercial flexibility came at the cost of the security and human warmth that extended families can provide, and the peace that imperial states can impose.
Indeed, endless rivalry and violence prevailed. 😎
When is John Key going to stop his private sector ways of doing business over the phone, and follow the LAWFUL requirements of the Public Records Act 2005 and ensure full and accurate records are created and maintained, in his ‘public service’ role as Prime Minister of New Zealand?
“At question time in Parliament today, Prime Minister John Key defended comments that Chorus may go broke if the Commerce Commission pressed ahead with plans for a sharp cut in the regulated price on the copper lines, saying Cabinet had received advice based on commercial and in-confidence briefings between Chorus and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
In his post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Key said he could not recall where the advice had come from.
He said today that those briefings probably would have come after he received a phone call from Chorus chair Sue Sheldon in December last year when she shared her view on the impact of the regulator’s draft decision and gave the government “some understanding of the issues they would face.”
From the many, consistent and frustrated comments I get from people from overseas who have moved here, NZ would have to have the worst quality of media information in the English speaking world (and prob beyond). Including America; where at least you can get some intelligent channels and well-thought out articles in news papers.
Congratulations NZ Media. /sarc
(**How about you re-assess your audience, you fuck-wits.**)
Release of Previously Classified August 29, 2013 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Opinion
Today the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court released a previously classified opinion reauthorizing the collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The opinion affirms that the bulk telephony metadata collection is both lawful and constitutional. The release of this opinion is consistent with the President’s call for more transparency on these valuable intelligence programs.
ooh, 300 Tractors organised by the Grower Action Group (Hort.) churn into protest the HBRC management of water at Hastings today; “RWSS takes focus away from the very real concerns of the Heretaunga Plains.
oh, and fingerprints and DNA to be exchange between NZ and The US.
Welcome to Stuckyville, Have a Nice Day 🙂
Acc changes afoot. Newer and bigger cars which guzzle petrol will have lower levies and older cheaper cars higher. Guess which part of society owns which cars?
You mean because they weigh more and can only be built bigger to reach those lower emission standards, whereas an electric car can have its engine in its wheel opening up space in the car proper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water
Did you know water at just above freezing actually gets slightly more dense at 4 degrees. Can you imagine that, that the sea warming from 0 at the poles actually gets denser for a time and so shrinks, and once globally water is all above 4 degrees, the real effects of sea expansion will begin as the water is not linear as it gets warmer.
Economically young people, those wanting to have time and money to spare, are refraining from buying cars, and demanding to live and work in cities that have good public transport and housing spread. Unlike Auckland, our one and only, where the elite still dithers over public transport, still has to finalize plans to build density, where all the incentives to build at the top tier of housing still exist, and make it hard for those property developers to build where the demand is.
Welcome to NZ, the rest of the world is doing away high emission vehicles and so not engaging in stupid comparisons with our notorious fleet of old bombers. If its a good idea, you can be assured that NZ will talk it to death, and delay the solutions.
This is the latest in a overall plot — yes, I will call it that — to have ACC behave like just another insurance companies and start turning down more and more claims.
When people enjoy their levy cuts, they need to realise that they came in the the backs of long term claiment, thrown off ACC, onto a benefit and into hardship.
I’d prefer they spent what they have on ensuring as full rehabilitation as possible e.g. physio, pain management and psychological needs, and for them to stop declining accidents as ‘degenerative conditions’ just because someone isn’t 20 anymore or had a medical condition way back when.
The problem will be under Part 6A the staff from Novopay will all need to be taken on by a new contractor…. Lets hope Novopay behave like Labour and ignore the intent of this policy Labour plan to make everyone else abide by.
[lprent: You haven’t explained what 6A is, nor its relevance to the topic. Moved to OpenMike. Banned for a week for what looks like a out of context comment without explanation. Banned for a further 6 weeks – one per comment I had to move. ]
Yep – On the subject of rewarding failure … I can see why you lovers of power at any price and say anything to get elected get shitty when Part 6A is pointed out – Part 6A is all about rewarding failure.
Guess it’s too much to ask for you people to objectively look at how insane that policy is ?
What do you see are the National-led government’s main successes in the last 5 years?
– Asset sales? How’s that MRP price going.
– Economic growth? Yeah right.
– Assisted exporters? That dollar’s still 6th-highest traded in the entire world
– Run the books into a surplus? Not yet and not likely.
– Reconstructed Christchurch? Tui billboard
– Made the place less violent to children, or decreased poverty? Nope.
Looking forward to going to the hustings on all of that.
Count the days pal because your allies are walking dead.
Surely it would be possible to write a program to keep mentioning Part 6A automatically regardless of relevance or context like this, and isn’t there something in the site policy about that?
Reading all the things he worked on and is credited with discovering – he was amazing. And his name is engraved on the Eiffel Tower with 72 other great French brains. Do we have a place in New Zealand that has this sort of graffiti on it? All our clever people noted on marble or something and which we could hear details through a headset as we walked around looking at them?
8 New areas of oil exploration up for offer from the Nacts next year.
Twice as big as the previous auctions.
434,000 km2
yet,
of the original 23 proposed last auction, only 10 were eventually taken up.
Companies are struggling to find investment; competing internationally.
Government struggling to find buyers.
been another EQC privacy mix-up apparently; Wellington and Seddon clients receiving combinations of theirs and others claim details, etc. (I could mail them a chisel, or whip up a filing cabinet, flatpack will do).
Getting referred to the wiki page for astroturfing when I try thestandard.org.nz – I only got in to post by clicking a link in my web history.
Either someone’s hacked into the site or the admins joke is on me.
If I were clever I’d have linked straight to the poem and not the yahoo q+a.
If I were dishonest I’d have edited my post once I found out who actually wrote it.
clever is for jugglers
the unedited was seen
thoughts are not final
the printed word is.
as a two finger 😉 typer , assembling as I go, oftentimes the intention is incomplete on some comments ie, the closing quote marks and refs. for eg. J.R McNiell and William H. McNeil, The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View 😉 of World History. New York. 2003; pp 137-142. sigh. know lie, and numbers once you have them are TooLish.
Look! Chum, no hands at 60MPH; beware looking over the shoulder and ride that Full Moon Fever.
(easy-peasy Japanesee) no more do’h. Old Hat.sigh. nostalgia aye. Abandon romanticism. (great link) Still synthesizing music.
A person who used 5 different identities this morning, has seen my warning, not responded, and who now can read a page on astroturfing whenever they look at the site – at least until they get another IP, start to use a direct RSS feed through our proxy, or discover the joys of getting a proxy through our anti-spam software. I like to spread the workload…
apparently there has been another privacy breach by EQC, mailing combinations of two claiments details combined to a number of folk. Maybe I could mail them a chisel, or a flatpack filing cabinet to assemble.
“Please be aware that EQC has received a substantial increase of Official Information requests in recent months and a response will take longer to prepare than the 20 working day statutory timeframe. If you consider that your request should be given priority, for example you are experiencing severe health or financial issues, please advise us as soon as possible with supporting documentation so that we may consider whether your request should be escalated.
Presently your request may face a 5-6 month delay as EQC works through the significant demand for such information. EQC is addressing this by employing further staff and implementing smarter systems. This timeframe will be periodically reviewed with the aim of getting a response to you sooner.”
(Emphasis added).
@#&*%$* what can I say, if you follow me and do as your told and don’t cause any trouble we have a nice room where you can shower with your friends, otherwise sit in the rain and mud till you change your mind, EQC the stone in your shoe.
It seems no lessons have been learned from the GFC. When you read anything about it, it’s likely to blame sub-prime mortgages, but these were only a symptom. The real problem is the derivatives market, played with fantasy money and run by computers using algorithms based on an equation which the operators don’t understand. Within capitalism, there are no long term solutions, but short term ones could be:
1. Prison for anyone involved in the derivatives market. Fraud is the only word to adequately describe what they are doing.
2. A financial transactions tax, which would act to slow down the rate of transactions and damp out the problems a little.
3. An enforced limit on the number of speculative transactions that any dealer can make over a given time period. One a week might be reasonable.
4. Computers running trading algorithms should only be available to a trader who can publish an article on financial mathematics and the applicability of the Black-Scholes equation in a peer reviewed mathematical journal. In the hands of anyone else, they are weapons of mass destruction and severe penalties should be applied.
In defence of mathematics – the actual equation is good maths. It just doesn’t describe the economy or the financial market in any way, shape or form. The “econophysicists” and others who try to use Fokker-Planck or stochastic differential equations to do this are modelling it as Brownian motion with a few bells and whistles. They are assuming that the Central Limit Theorem applies and the distribution of events will be Gaussian – the famous Bell curve. That’s what these equations describe. Following this approach, we should get an average of one financial crisis every century or two, at the most. Extreme events should be very rare, but they’re not. The maths is great, it’s just irrelevant.
The main problem is that the traders don’t care. They know that we’ll bail them out. Again and again. Well, about time we bailed them up instead. Against a wall.
Very good Murray, that’s nicely put, and on the mark!
The underwriting of many orders of magnitude worth of planetary energy supply, or human existence, is most likely past the point of no return, but they knew the outcomes when the path was cleared back in the 90’s.
Now everything that is necessary to keep it together, is laid out, and when the time is right, they will collapse the lot, but that’s a little way off still, IMO!
well, that was worth waiting up for Murray Olsen. (had a primary teacher Mr. Olsen, seemed like a kind chap). All the best for the improvement of your health.
Nick Smith old lizard eyes continuing govt sleaze misleading public and parliament yesterday PinoKeyo lied about sue sheldon of Chorus ph call $600 million bail out today leak of internal email at doc proves nick smith sent a directive demanding to read any recommendations opposing hawksbay dam!
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Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and 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). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julee McDonagh, Senior Research Fellow of Frailty Research, University of Wollongong PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ageing is a normal part of the life course. It doesn’t matter how many green smoothies you drink, or how many “anti-ageing” skin care products you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University The Conversation, CC BY-SAAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Colonial commemorations ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Masarik/Shutterstock In some overseas countries, pets can travel with their owners in a plane’s cabin, in a carrier under a seat. In Australia, pets must travel in the ...
A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. What’s all this then? This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen ...
David Seymour's recent off-road parliamentary excursion led to a reprimand from the Speaker, who also said the rules didn't apply to this instance. What are the rules? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Griffith University Many Americans have watched in horror as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been permitted to tear through various offices of the United States government in recent ...
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As Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to resume war, Hamas outlines widespread Israeli ceasefire violations in document sent to the mediators.By Jeremy Scahill and Sharif Abdel Kouddous of Dropsite News Hamas officials submitted a two-page report to mediators yesterday listing a wide range of Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire since ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Murray Print, Professor of Education, University of Sydney A federal parliamentary inquiry has just recommended civics and citizenship become a compulsory part of the Australian Curriculum, which covers the first year of school to Year 10. The committee also recommended a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Claire Baylis, author of Dice and guest at the forthcoming HamLit programme at the Hamilton Arts Festival. The book I wish I’d writtenMy mind seems surprisingly unwilling ...
The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Megan McElhone, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Monash University A London court has found Sam Kerr not guilty of the racially aggravated harassment of Metropolitan Police officer Stephen Lovell. As captain of the Australian women’s national soccer team, Kerr was widely condemned when ...
Could iwi and hapū be the unexpected solution to the government’s asset dilemma? David Seymour pressured the prime minister into an unwelcome conversation, and in the couple of weeks since the Act leader raised the issue in his state of the nation speech, privatisation has shifted from absent in the ...
Human rights advocates must uphold human dignity, rights and justice, while rejecting the discriminatory tactics we oppose, writes Taimor Hazou.Two weeks ago the Palestinian Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) launched a campaign inviting New Zealanders to call a hotline if they suspected an Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldier that had ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kirsten Banks, Lecturer, School of Science, Computing and Engineering Technologies, Swinburne University of Technology Debris on the surface of Mars from the Perseverance mission, captured on April 19 2022. NASA/JPL-Caltech In his inauguration speech in January, United States President Donald Trump ...
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“A massive shale formation found in the Kiwi Nation is so huge and untouched, the New Zealand Herald reports: ‘It’s literally leaking oil and gas’
“An independent report released in October 2012 says this shale field could hold more oil than the combined reserves of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Royal Dutch Shell…
“Geologists have discovered at least 300 spots where oil and gas are bubbling at the surface.
“These two companies (both trading below $10 a share) control over 5,000 square miles of the emerging oil field… and production has already started….
“On the North Island of New Zealand — about 268 miles from Auckland — sits the small town of Hastings.
“For decades there’s been nothing remarkable about this small port town… until now.
“Massive oil deposits surrounding Hastings have been found that are 10x larger than the infamous Bakken oil field.
“And the major permit holders to these deposits are two companies that I’m about to detail for you today….
“The geographical similarities between the Bakken and East Coast Basin are striking.
“And the government can already see the dollar signs.
“The Taranaki Basin on the North Island is already under development. So it’s clear the officials there are embracing fracking as a tool to their economic growth.
“‘I would love to see other regions experience the same economic boost, and fracking is one of the technologies than can allow that to happen.’ — Energy and Resources Minister Phil Heatley”
http://stockgumshoe.com/reviews/crisis-and-opportunity/new-zealands-bakken-sniffing-around-christian-dehaemers-oil-teaser/
[lprent: How many aliases does one person need? There are 5 handles being used from this IP today, several of them new.
Adding your IP to auto-spam for my attention until I either find out this is an organisation with a static IP or I get a reduction in the numbers of handles being used. ]
Have a nice day, lprent ! Kia Ora.
[lprent: An explanation would be more useful. At present I’m allowing through a couple of handles like the one you wrote 8 minutes before this one. Lexing the comments tends to indicate a single person rather than many.
The previous slow shift in handles could be just outright laziness. But three new handles in a day is clearly deliberate.
I could always ban that IP from being able to even read the site. Any resulting screams will allow me to find out if the IP is shared. ]
No answer. I hope you like this page… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing
Because that is all you will see of this site for a while.
file? pls.
Don’t know if this was intentional Lynn, but I just posted a comment, went off while it was loading and when I came back to the tab I found that wiki astroturfing page had loaded. I used the back button on the browser and got the “Your access to this site has been limited” message page. Funny.
Edit: I actually lost the comment I was making – couldn’t back space to the text box page, and reloading gave me a blank text box. I did recover it using Lazarus, but normally I can find a way to get ts to let me reuse the txt I’d typed before.
Sorry made a slip in .htaccess while consigning a non responsive malefactor to an informative page… (not you)
Ah, jiust like the Bakken shale…splendid…and the energy return on energy invested is?????? Probably too fekken much.
A beautiful morning light today. Not a Mallard to be seen.
Delightful.
Are you some kind of duck hunter ?
[lprent: suspected astroturfer now on auto-spam until I get an explanation. ]
I heard that the big DC sat sat and sat patiently in the mai mai then bang, duck dinner.
The media’s fascination with multi-millionaires and their big toys.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11126180
It is even more disturbing that his tenants didnt know who he was or what he did….
Some of the numbers highlight the extreme wealth and inequality within our country now.
What a sad shadow of the nation Micky Savage envisioned.
(The corporate media just loves telling the stories and tittle tattle of ‘the rich and famous.’)
and Herne Bay cougars who are drooling over Spithill…eewwww I wish I haven’t read that article.
uh 75 may be a couple of steps beyond “cougar” methinks…
This explains why Auckland house prices are continuously increasing, this possibly means (Spithall investing in Auckland residential property market) that their are some pretty sophisticated investment advisors backing the Auckland property market…scarey for renters because rental cost tends to increase with the value of homes.
Tim Watkin on the RNZ panel on Monday reckoned that given the demand for housing in Auckland it would be nearly impossible to bring the cost of housing down in Auckland…he was responding to Chris Trotter suggesting that the Greens/Labour housing policy would reduce house prices in NZ. Auckland house prices are a huge problem, I cant see how the problem can be fixed without reducing the cost of homes?
Really need to reduce the attractiveness of investment housing I think.
Yes multiple property ownership is a huge problem.
More houses for some, like Coutts and Spithill, so none left for others.
Easy one to solve.
Capital gains tax.
Inheritance tax.
And bring down houses in the common good.
Selfish property speculators need to make some sacrifices.
Yes. Lecturing the plebs on the need of diversifying the investment portfolios while they’re pumping their dollars predominantly into real estate.
Unfortunately neither Capital gains nor inheritance taxes will effect the Auckland property market,
The middle class have a love affair, fueled off of tax breaks and accommodation supplement payments for 2nd and 3rd properties as rental invesments,
”The surge of former owner-occupied houses becoming rentals was most evident in Mt Eden,(up 19%), Mt Wellington(up 24%), and Remuera (up 10%)”, unquote Bernard Hickey,
In 20 years across New Zealand 100,000 formerly owner-occupier homes have become rental investments, like Working for Families paid to the middle class, no political party is willing to directly address the real problem of ‘housing affordability’ for first home buyers,
Besides more than a few of the politicians being heavily ‘invested’ themselves it would be political suicide for any Government to directly threaten the middle classes fatted golden cow…
And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.
“And it’s more than that. It’s also physical. You can’t cram 35% of your country’s population in 0.21% of your land area and not expect serious problems. It’s stupid.”
Not necessarily. It would depend on population density overall.
Well, no need for theorising, just look at Auckland house prices.
What is also obvious is that with so many MP’s having rental properties (and Trusts to hide them) one would not expect any MP’s to vote for any bill that affected their income streams.
Maybe a good socialist government could expect its MP’s to not be involved in property speculation?
Yes, but the main group affected by over priced housing isnt 1st home buyers, it is actually people who rent homes (Rent is a function of the house valuation). This is why over priced housing is the No 1 issue in New Zealand’s poverty issue. House price increases have contributed more to inequality than any other one factor. But it is an incredibly difficult issue, because a reduction in house valuations will probably slow the economy/spending down leading to all of the negative consequences that this brings.
Many people over the years have been picking a housing bubble burst in Auckland but it keeps climbing, and it does seem that governments (Both L & N) havent been keen on reigning it in regardless of the negative consequences for home renters, generally our poorest.
Obviously one answer is for state houses to do away with market based rents, to break the relationship between house valuation and rental cost. Labours existing policy will help increase supply of housing, combine this with CGT I would imagine that these initiatives will be helpful. But apparently demand in Auckland is still going to outstrip supply by quite a margin so I reckon stopping the tax deductibility of investment housing will have the biggest impact. I cannot understand what the point of encouraging people to invest in rental housing is…it simply transfers wealth from the poor to the wealthy.
“Easy one to solve.
Capital gains tax.
Inheritance tax.”
Also, make interest non deductible for tax purposes. Not just for rental properties but for businesses generally.
The Labour/Green housing plans removes some of the demand from the Auckland housing market, building and selling 10,000 100m homes in a year would remove that whole segment of new home buyer from the market while not unduly effecting that market as the homes will not be sold on the free market,
There will still be a huge demographic wishing to buy into the current Auckland market including those who are upwardly mobile wanting a bigger, better home and a large swathe of the middle class still in love with rental property,
While that middle class get to claim interest payments on the rental from their personal tax and also collect the accommodation supplement via the tenants this form of investment will continue unabated,
i would assume that if rules are not put in place for the Labour/Green housing to have a Government buy back based upon original price plus equity those lucky enough to be put onto the ‘property ladder’ by such Government largesse will go on to continue the house price inflation in Auckland by using these properties as leverage in the future to gain ‘rental investments’,
i had a little chuckle at last nights Campbell Live which featured a school teacher earning 50 grand a year who could not ‘afford’ to live in a house Her mother had sold Her,
My pick is that She not only gets the tax rebate on interest paid on that property but the tenant also collects the maximum amount of accommodation subsidy which all up gives Her an extra dip into the tax base of 2 or 300 a week,
The monetarism attached to the Neoliberal ethos finds this ‘rewarding’ of the winners in society to be a far better use of the tax base than it does the building of State Housing which would have achieved the same dampening effect in the Auckland housing market by removing a mass of tenants thus dampening the demand for rental properties,
The faces may change,but, i fear the song, as far as the bread and butter issues for those who occupy the bare seats of the ‘have not’s’ table, will remain largely the same…
The trouble with the housing market is it is very heavily geared and therefore prices are strongly driven by mortgage interest rates. International interest rates have been close to 200-300 year lows with central banks worldwide printing money in an attempt to kickstart the global economy after the GFC.
New Zealand is no exemption as this graph shows.
As wages have moved up little in the last decade a large component driving house prices is the reduction in interest rates.
For example interest rates were around 11% in 2008 and now are around 5.5%. Effectively a homebuyer with a small deposit borrowing just $400,000 in 2009 can today effectively service a loan of $800,000. This is particularly true with rental investors as they heavily gear to capture tax advantages.
The thing that will really bring property prices down with a thump is an upward movement in interest rates. This is starting to happen internationally as central banks tentatively remove the life support of QE. Select 1year at the bottom of this graph to see the almost doubling of rate in 10year US treasurys during the last few months.
The current situation in Auckland looks like a very fast inflating bubble. Any trend upwards in interest rates is likely to deflate this market rapidly as landlords and homeowners struggle to service the increase in loan repayments and the sellers overwhelm the buyers.
Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates,
What you are saying is a recipe for the Government presiding at the point where interest rates start the upward lurch to not be the Government at the election following…
Trouble is that’s not really practical for a Government to take control of interest rates particularly in a small country like NZ. If the international cost of money goes up because lenders are demanding a bigger risk premium then there’s little the Government can do to control the cost of lending under current legislation.
Not neccessarily – would depend on who the electorate decided to blame. The finger could well be pointed at the banking community rather than the Government. It would also depend on how the Government dealt with any such “crisis”. If they chose to protect the banks rather than the electorate, as in Cyprus, they would certainly be out at the next election.
“Trouble is that’s not really practical for a Government to take control of interest rates particularly in a small country like NZ”
Its really easy to do if you wanted to; the trade off is that of reduced policy space available to the govt eg in monetary policy and taxation.
“Which would tend to suggest that the next Labour/Green Government will need to take control of fixing interest rates”
Yes because that generally works out so well.
Why do you persist in pursuing fantasies? The next Labour/Green Government is not going to take control of fixing interest rates. For so many reasons that seem obvious to the whole world except for you sitting in your safe subsidised house.
The NZ Government already subtly controls interest rates, via the nominally independent Reserve Bank. I think what Bad12 is suggesting is that the guidance and parameters be changed, presumably along with changes to the inflation band targetting.
Perhaps if you ever decide to holiday in NZ you might spend some time familiarising yourself with how things are done here. In the meantime, you could learn a thing or two here:
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary_policy/about_monetary_policy/0072140.html
Lolz, we shall see how you squeal like the little stuck piglet when interest rates turn you into an even bigger cash cow milked by the banks…
Funny how idiots like Srylands have never noticed the interest rate fixing that already happens.
Because the reserve bank fixing interest rates has worked so well??
Not to mention “LIBOR”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libor_scandal
http://kjt-kt.blogspot.co.nz/2013/05/the-reserve-bank-debt-and-property.html
“In New Zealand we have the “Reserve Bank Act”.
Which basically requires the reserve bank to kill the rest of the economy, whenever Auckland house prices, or wages, rise.
Originally enacted, as a circuit breaker, to cap excessive inflation in the 80’s, politicians have kept it, long past its use by date, because in their limited view, what works once, briefly, will work perpetually.
It could be argued that it was somewhat successful in curbing very high inflation, on that limited occasion, though others would note that the end of very high inflation ended with the slowing of the rise in oil prices.
Now, every time the New Zealand productive economy struggles off its knees, the reserve bank delivers another knockout.”
Actually the State, us, should take over the issuance of debt altogether. And get away from paying through the nose for US banks to lend us money “printed” in the USA and China”.
The Shibor had a similar scandal (looks interesting too). 😉
Nice post, Steve. So do you think the NZ housing bubble will burst?
Thanks Geoff.
I do believe that without any significant increase in median incomes the bubble will burst in the more over extended areas such as Auckland. Whether this happens slowly over time, with real values falling gradually, or suddenly, really depends on what happens in global financial markets.
What I am sure of is that being highly leveraged in the Auckland market at the moment is a high risk place to be.
Nope, house prices are driven by the availability of money and the private banks print that stuff with, effectively, no restrictions.
To pull house prices back two things need to happen:
1.) Foreign buyers to be banned
2.) The government creates our money and not the private banks
This will reduce demand and reduce the amount of money available to buy houses.
Anything else, especially if it’s routed in the failed neo-liberal paradigm, won’t work.
Indeed a lovely morning….how refreshing to have hope again. Wishing the united Labour Team all the very best for the months ahead.
+1
Ah,.. is that what that feeling is? Hope; yes, it’s been so long now that I’d almost forgotten what it feels like.
Interesting and valid ideas framework coming down the pipe from progressive uk purple book.
Valid ideas for nz too.
http://www.progressonline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/The-Purple-Book.pdf
Quick read shock horror excess speculative investment priming the global market for another GFC
http://t.co/rX3OgVwfEk
We wants it, we needs it.
http://www.policymic.com/articles/63743/lehman-brothers-crash-inside-the-accounting-trick-that-destroyed-the-economy
So now what?
With Cunliffe at the helm, it is just a start.
The next step is a policy programme to take Labour into the 2014 election. Whether or not I vote for Labour will depend on what policies that Labour will adopt for that particular campaign.
Policies that could be of use to Labour (which can capture core votes and can be appealing to centre voters):
Encourage co-ops in all shapes and sizes
An investment fund for oil, gas and mining royalties
A grand accord on mining — allowing mining to go ahead in some areas with other areas being locked up and having the key thrown away.
That’s a good start Millsy.
Cooperative work places
Regional investment initiatives
Regional training schemes targeted to skill requirements.
two things I would love to see considered
1. Establishing worker representation on boards of private companies.
2. Identifying what we could call Companies of significant interest to NZ and the state taking a shareholding. We could model it along the lines of the current regimes sell off of state assets. I am sure we would get support from National if we did that
I would suggest a stake in Fletcher’s and Fulton Hogan’s as a good start to further the interests of the people of New Zealand
1. is an Excellent idea Ron.
Council elections update No94: some facebook number crunching.
Michael Laws for Mayor: 778 likes
Michael Laws is a Complete Twat: 3323 members
Mate, I see that union members backed Cunliffe ahead of Robertson more than 3:1. Good stuff eh!
I can’t take all the credit, CV. but thanks for noticing!
EPMU members should be wondering why their execs wanted to make a recommendation to vote for Robertson.
Seems like Union members should bring their execs back to planet Labour
It has parallels with the Caucus: too many MP were out of synch with the membership and the country.
Er, not actually the case, Boadicea. The EPMU senior leadership made no recommendation and asked the voting delegates to consult with their members and vote accordingly. Which is what happened and I assume the EPMU vote was similar to the overall affiliate vote; overwhelmingly in favour of DC.
lol
this one should really go viral..
..so if you can help make that happen..plse do..
http://www.upworthy.com/people-should-know-about-this-awful-thing-we-do-and-most-of-us-are-simply-unaware-jl2-36b
..it got me..i got/am quite emotional..anger/prickling-eyes and all..
phillip ure..
@ phillip ure
thanks for that……beautiful and tragic!…puts anthropocentrism in perspective
have passed it on
and bad/shocking news for shane jones..eh..?
..penthouse has filed for bankruptcy..
..(does he have a support-group..?..who can rush to his side..?..
..tissues at the ready..?..as it were..?..)
..phillip ure..
The UN report on the Ghouta attack and the HRW response.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/168606795/U-N-Report-on-Chemical-Attack-in-Syria
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/09/16/dispatches-yes-it-was-sarin-un-report-says-now-what
I had problems with the scribd link, so downloaded from here ..
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/full-text-of-u-n-report-on-chemical-attack-in-syria/?_r=0
Some people may find this amusing ..
‘Why some Australian women loathe Tony Abbott – especially now.’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-politics/10313055/Why-some-Australia
n-women-loathe-Tony-Abbott-especially-now.html
“Thing is, merely saying someone is not sexist does not alter reality if they truly are. Tony Abbott has been Prime Minister for a week and has just announced his ministry and cabinet. Of eighteen cabinet ministers chosen by Abbott, only one, Julie Bishop, the new Foreign Minister, is a woman. In Gillard’s cabinet, there were seven. Of the 12 parliamentary secretaries chosen by Abbott, only one there is female, too. Abbott has excused his selection by saying that he’s “disappointed” there aren’t more women in his cabinet, but that it’s been chosen “on merit” and there are women “knocking on the door” of cabinet in the outer ministry – still, of course, heavily outnumbered by men. That Abbott’s cabinet contains a Treasurer who couldn’t correctly add up a costings document, an Attorney General who believes religious rights trump human rights and an agriculture minister who thinks equal marriage rights for gay couples might somehow affect his daughters’ chances of finding husbands, the “merit” defence does not carry much weight. Especially not, as the Labor Opposition Leader pointed out today, Australia now has less female representation at cabinet level than Afghanistan.”
“….. and there are women “knocking on the door” of cabinet…..”
Let me guess….Abbott turns up the radio to drown out the knocking…
here is a how to monster tory warmongers..and corporate media-trouts..master-class..
..’tis beautiful to behold..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36255.htm
..phillip ure..
Another one bites the dust.
an odium for the moldboard plow.
“Unruly, reckless, often crude, and always curious, the Franks (as Muslims called them) were, like the Japanese at the other end of Eurasia, aware of the innumerable ways in which civilized neighbours excelled their own attainments. By 1500, therefore, Western Europeans had acquired an impressive array of learning from their Byzantine and Muslim neighbours, and had imported an equally impressive array of technologies from distant China. In short, they profited greatly in terms of wealth and power from their uninhibited sampling of ideas, goods, and practices circulating within the Old World Web. This held fateful consequences for America and world history after 1500.
By 1000, in the lands between the Loire and Elbe rivers, mounted knights and moldboard plow teams capable of cultivating flat, water-logged clay soils protected and supported one another very efficiently. From this core area, knights of Latin Christendom expanded their domain in every direction. Moldboard agriculture followed behind, but never caught up with the military frontier because climatic differences made the heavy plows impracticable in dry Mediterranean lands, as well as in Irish bogs and in the freezing winters of northeast Europe.
Within limits set by the mild winters and year-round rainfall the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerly winds brought to the plains, agricultural production swelled as peasant villagers developed a sustainable type of farming that employed labour almost uniformly throughout the year. By dividing arable land into three fields- one sown in autumn to harvest in late spring, one sown in spring for autumn harvest and one left fallow to be plowed (for weed control) in summer- plow teams could work almost all year round, interrupted only for Christmas and during weeks when planting and harvesting required everyone’s urgent effort. This regime allowed a single plowman’s share of cultivated land to amount to about thirty acres- far more than needed to feed himself, family and domestic animals.
Cooperative cultivation of open fields in NW Europe therefore permitted peasants to sustain fighting men who had a clear self-interest in guarding them against destructive raiders, together with priests and monks who attended to their relations with God. Surpluses extended the demand for artisans’ wares into peasant homes, furthering urban skills and tightening local trade and transport links. And when noble and clerical rent and tax receivers developed a taste for superior artisan products and commodities from afar, urban dwellers, recruited from the fringes of society, often led by pirate traders, began to supply them with their wants.
Tightening their links with the rest of the Old World Web, Western Europeans encountered far more sophisticated and more highly skilled peoples than themselves.Yet, as long as local agricultural and artisanal production expanded as rapidly as they did between 1000 and 1270, and Christian knights continued to be generally successful in battle, crude Westerners could feel confidant that God was on their side as they plumbed foreigners’ knowledge and skills for purposes of their own.
By 1500, Europe’s population was little, if at all, larger than in 1300 (famine and plague) even though by that time transport and industry were far more efficient. Stout, seaworthy ships now connected all the coasts of Europe, and interregional specialization and exchange had gathered momentum as an ever larger proportion of the population began to enter the market, thus replicating China’s commercialization after a delay of three to four centuries (dumbasses 😉 ); but unlike in China, European rulers and clerics failed to maintain control over the merchants and bankers who managed the new interregional economy.
European merchants and bankers attended to their own defense by gaining political control of a number of sovereign city-states. They could then deal more or less as equals with other local rulers, who found it impossible to do without loans or to repay their debts without concessions to bankers’ and merchants’ interests.Since moneyed men were continually on the lookout for anything that might turn a profit, a self-sustaining process of economic, social and technological change gathered headway wherever political conditions conceded it the freedom to operate. Time and again, local interests and traditional ways of doing things were displaced by politically protected economic innovators. This situation still persists today, having first transformed European society, and then infected the whole world, marking modern times off from earlier, more stable forms of society.
Urban self-government in Europe had another distinctive dimension. In Muslim and Chinese society, members of a single, sometimes extended family managed most economic enterprises. The strength of family ties made it difficult or impossible to trust outsiders, thus limiting the scale of most undertakings. Europeans found it easier to trust fellow citizens, regardless of blood relations or not.Extended family ties were unusually weak in most of Western Europe.
Self-government, in short, could be applied to common enterprises far afield as well as at home, so that large-scale private undertakings, far beyond the scope of any single family became routine and familiar. Shipbuilding and mining attained special vigor due to this sort of risk sharing among multiple private investors. As a result, by 1500 the supply of base metals- especially iron- available to Europeans far surpassed what other peoples had at their disposal.
It is plausible to believe that transfamilial commercial enterprise in the towns of medieval Europe derived from the practices of rural plow teams. Towns were unhealthful places and had to maintain themselves by attracting manpower from the countryside. In the heartlands of Western Europe, such rural recruits brought with them the habit of working in plow teams whose members came from different families. If a plowman failed to do his share of the work, or did not deal honestly with his fellows, penalties were dire indeed. Aggrieved neighbours could easily exclude him from plow teams.Such discipline, requiring mutual trust and cooperation beyond the limits of blood relations and short-sighted investment, prepared Europeans to trust one another.
However, such commercial flexibility came at the cost of the security and human warmth that extended families can provide, and the peace that imperial states can impose.
Indeed, endless rivalry and violence prevailed. 😎
You have been talking to the Clydesdales and Quarter horses again have’nt you Rogue.
neigh
When is John Key going to stop his private sector ways of doing business over the phone, and follow the LAWFUL requirements of the Public Records Act 2005 and ensure full and accurate records are created and maintained, in his ‘public service’ role as Prime Minister of New Zealand?
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2005/0040/latest/DLM345729.html
______________________________________________________________________________
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/key-discounts-covec-report-copper-pricing-%E2%80%98fundamentally-flawed-ts-145981
“At question time in Parliament today, Prime Minister John Key defended comments that Chorus may go broke if the Commerce Commission pressed ahead with plans for a sharp cut in the regulated price on the copper lines, saying Cabinet had received advice based on commercial and in-confidence briefings between Chorus and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
In his post-Cabinet press conference yesterday, Key said he could not recall where the advice had come from.
He said today that those briefings probably would have come after he received a phone call from Chorus chair Sue Sheldon in December last year when she shared her view on the impact of the regulator’s draft decision and gave the government “some understanding of the issues they would face.”
______________________________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
Auckland Mayoral candidate
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
So, and important result from Cunliffe’s question to Key yesterday! MSM where are you? Gower? Garner? Young? Watkins?…
From the many, consistent and frustrated comments I get from people from overseas who have moved here, NZ would have to have the worst quality of media information in the English speaking world (and prob beyond). Including America; where at least you can get some intelligent channels and well-thought out articles in news papers.
Congratulations NZ Media. /sarc
(**How about you re-assess your audience, you fuck-wits.**)
It’s legal.
Release of Previously Classified August 29, 2013 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Opinion
Today the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court released a previously classified opinion reauthorizing the collection of bulk telephony metadata under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. The opinion affirms that the bulk telephony metadata collection is both lawful and constitutional. The release of this opinion is consistent with the President’s call for more transparency on these valuable intelligence programs.
http://icontherecord.tumblr.com/post/61526105674/release-of-previously-classified-august-29-2013
http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/courts/fisc/br13-09-primary-order.pdf
ooh, 300 Tractors organised by the Grower Action Group (Hort.) churn into protest the HBRC management of water at Hastings today; “RWSS takes focus away from the very real concerns of the Heretaunga Plains.
oh, and fingerprints and DNA to be exchange between NZ and The US.
Welcome to Stuckyville, Have a Nice Day 🙂
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11126566
Another one bites the dust…
…and we’re off to a flying start.
Acc changes afoot. Newer and bigger cars which guzzle petrol will have lower levies and older cheaper cars higher. Guess which part of society owns which cars?
Newer and bigger cars also have lower emissions than older cars
True, but it is still CO2 and there are lots more of them………
You mean because they weigh more and can only be built bigger to reach those lower emission standards, whereas an electric car can have its engine in its wheel opening up space in the car proper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_water
Did you know water at just above freezing actually gets slightly more dense at 4 degrees. Can you imagine that, that the sea warming from 0 at the poles actually gets denser for a time and so shrinks, and once globally water is all above 4 degrees, the real effects of sea expansion will begin as the water is not linear as it gets warmer.
Economically young people, those wanting to have time and money to spare, are refraining from buying cars, and demanding to live and work in cities that have good public transport and housing spread. Unlike Auckland, our one and only, where the elite still dithers over public transport, still has to finalize plans to build density, where all the incentives to build at the top tier of housing still exist, and make it hard for those property developers to build where the demand is.
Welcome to NZ, the rest of the world is doing away high emission vehicles and so not engaging in stupid comparisons with our notorious fleet of old bombers. If its a good idea, you can be assured that NZ will talk it to death, and delay the solutions.
But the taxes for emissions should be within the fuel – not the ACC component.
IMO, cars more than 10 years old should be in the recycle queue. Better to design communities so that people don’t need a car.
This is the latest in a overall plot — yes, I will call it that — to have ACC behave like just another insurance companies and start turning down more and more claims.
When people enjoy their levy cuts, they need to realise that they came in the the backs of long term claiment, thrown off ACC, onto a benefit and into hardship.
+1 Exactly.
I’d prefer they spent what they have on ensuring as full rehabilitation as possible e.g. physio, pain management and psychological needs, and for them to stop declining accidents as ‘degenerative conditions’ just because someone isn’t 20 anymore or had a medical condition way back when.
The problem will be under Part 6A the staff from Novopay will all need to be taken on by a new contractor…. Lets hope Novopay behave like Labour and ignore the intent of this policy Labour plan to make everyone else abide by.
[lprent: You haven’t explained what 6A is, nor its relevance to the topic. Moved to OpenMike. Banned for a week for what looks like a out of context comment without explanation. Banned for a further 6 weeks – one per comment I had to move. ]
Yawn… Fucking idiot – find a new drum to bang.
you grumble like an old man yet have the logic skills of a preteen – WTF is wrong with you?
please for the love of (insert deity here) – get a new complaint!
drying paint is more exciting than this
(just as trivia – do you know that “watching paint dry” is actually a job? Who do you think comes up with the “drying times” on your tin of paint)
Yep – On the subject of rewarding failure … I can see why you lovers of power at any price and say anything to get elected get shitty when Part 6A is pointed out – Part 6A is all about rewarding failure.
Guess it’s too much to ask for you people to objectively look at how insane that policy is ?
What do you see are the National-led government’s main successes in the last 5 years?
– Asset sales? How’s that MRP price going.
– Economic growth? Yeah right.
– Assisted exporters? That dollar’s still 6th-highest traded in the entire world
– Run the books into a surplus? Not yet and not likely.
– Reconstructed Christchurch? Tui billboard
– Made the place less violent to children, or decreased poverty? Nope.
Looking forward to going to the hustings on all of that.
Count the days pal because your allies are walking dead.
Surely it would be possible to write a program to keep mentioning Part 6A automatically regardless of relevance or context like this, and isn’t there something in the site policy about that?
[lprent: There is. ]
Can one of youse with connections to Cunliffe please tell him that fat jokes lose votes. Even if they are directed at Gerry Brownlee.
Cheap shots like this in the House are a really good way to keep some of us ex-Labour people staying Green…
*massive disappointment*
Yes. Cheap shots about weight are a turn off.
But the rest of Cunliffe’s speech was pretty spirited and he even had Annette King nodding in agreement.
cosgrove calling ryall ‘twinkle-toes’ was also kinda ugly/stupid..
..and parker calling (bald) joyce ‘flathead’..also sucked..
..they have more than enough ammunition to hand..
..that kinda crap just diminishes them..not their targets..
..they should cease and desist..immediately..
..just argue the ideas/policies..
..it’s not smart..it’s not classy..
..we expect better..
..leave that infantile behavoiur to key..
..he does it so much better than anyone else..
..phillip ure..
Google doodle is for Leon Foucault. What a bummer that he died so early.
Foucault died of multiple sclerosis on February 11, 1868 at the age of 48 after being made a member of many of the top scientific societies in Europe.
He was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, with his name among those of seventy-two French scientists, engineers, and mathematicians engraved on the Eiffel Tower.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-doodle-celebrates-french-physicist-lon-foucaults-194th-birthday-with-foucault-pendulum-tribute-8822360.html
Reading all the things he worked on and is credited with discovering – he was amazing. And his name is engraved on the Eiffel Tower with 72 other great French brains. Do we have a place in New Zealand that has this sort of graffiti on it? All our clever people noted on marble or something and which we could hear details through a headset as we walked around looking at them?
Someone Else’s Country
8 New areas of oil exploration up for offer from the Nacts next year.
Twice as big as the previous auctions.
434,000 km2
yet,
of the original 23 proposed last auction, only 10 were eventually taken up.
Companies are struggling to find investment; competing internationally.
Government struggling to find buyers.
Oil, and, Water folks; let the show begin!
been another EQC privacy mix-up apparently; Wellington and Seddon clients receiving combinations of theirs and others claim details, etc. (I could mail them a chisel, or whip up a filing cabinet, flatpack will do).
Getting referred to the wiki page for astroturfing when I try thestandard.org.nz – I only got in to post by clicking a link in my web history.
Either someone’s hacked into the site or the admins joke is on me.
Edit.
Now it’s back to normal.
Sorry made a slip in .htaccess while consigning a non responsive malefactor to an informative page… (not you)
Not like that means anything to me, but good to know. 🙂
lolz I got that too and wondered who it was intended for
Ask not for whom the bell tolls 😆
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006021913000
a resounding answer. Yeeha.
If I were clever I’d have linked straight to the poem and not the yahoo q+a.
If I were dishonest I’d have edited my post once I found out who actually wrote it.
clever is for jugglers
the unedited was seen
thoughts are not final
the printed word is.
as a two finger 😉 typer , assembling as I go, oftentimes the intention is incomplete on some comments ie, the closing quote marks and refs. for eg. J.R McNiell and William H. McNeil, The Human Web: A Bird’s-Eye View 😉 of World History. New York. 2003; pp 137-142. sigh. know lie, and numbers once you have them are TooLish.
“as a two finger typer”
I’m a two finger driver, although I’m competent at using just one when needed. 🙂
Look! Chum, no hands at 60MPH; beware looking over the shoulder and ride that Full Moon Fever.
(easy-peasy Japanesee) no more do’h. Old Hat.sigh. nostalgia aye. Abandon romanticism. (great link) Still synthesizing music.
I’ll be okay when I’m a teenage girl and/or the next big pretty thing with breasts.
I’m in love with a German film star – http://www.u-he.com/cms/diva
Luvely Jubbly, all those knobby bits to twiddle with.
A person who used 5 different identities this morning, has seen my warning, not responded, and who now can read a page on astroturfing whenever they look at the site – at least until they get another IP, start to use a direct RSS feed through our proxy, or discover the joys of getting a proxy through our anti-spam software. I like to spread the workload…
Vicious 😎
apparently there has been another privacy breach by EQC, mailing combinations of two claiments details combined to a number of folk. Maybe I could mail them a chisel, or a flatpack filing cabinet to assemble.
Just received from EQC after an OIA request :
“Please be aware that EQC has received a substantial increase of Official Information requests in recent months and a response will take longer to prepare than the 20 working day statutory timeframe. If you consider that your request should be given priority, for example you are experiencing severe health or financial issues, please advise us as soon as possible with supporting documentation so that we may consider whether your request should be escalated.
Presently your request may face a 5-6 month delay as EQC works through the significant demand for such information. EQC is addressing this by employing further staff and implementing smarter systems. This timeframe will be periodically reviewed with the aim of getting a response to you sooner.”
(Emphasis added).
@#&*%$* what can I say, if you follow me and do as your told and don’t cause any trouble we have a nice room where you can shower with your friends, otherwise sit in the rain and mud till you change your mind, EQC the stone in your shoe.
It seems no lessons have been learned from the GFC. When you read anything about it, it’s likely to blame sub-prime mortgages, but these were only a symptom. The real problem is the derivatives market, played with fantasy money and run by computers using algorithms based on an equation which the operators don’t understand. Within capitalism, there are no long term solutions, but short term ones could be:
1. Prison for anyone involved in the derivatives market. Fraud is the only word to adequately describe what they are doing.
2. A financial transactions tax, which would act to slow down the rate of transactions and damp out the problems a little.
3. An enforced limit on the number of speculative transactions that any dealer can make over a given time period. One a week might be reasonable.
4. Computers running trading algorithms should only be available to a trader who can publish an article on financial mathematics and the applicability of the Black-Scholes equation in a peer reviewed mathematical journal. In the hands of anyone else, they are weapons of mass destruction and severe penalties should be applied.
In defence of mathematics – the actual equation is good maths. It just doesn’t describe the economy or the financial market in any way, shape or form. The “econophysicists” and others who try to use Fokker-Planck or stochastic differential equations to do this are modelling it as Brownian motion with a few bells and whistles. They are assuming that the Central Limit Theorem applies and the distribution of events will be Gaussian – the famous Bell curve. That’s what these equations describe. Following this approach, we should get an average of one financial crisis every century or two, at the most. Extreme events should be very rare, but they’re not. The maths is great, it’s just irrelevant.
The main problem is that the traders don’t care. They know that we’ll bail them out. Again and again. Well, about time we bailed them up instead. Against a wall.
Its become a massive mathematised ponzi scheme underwritten by savers, pensioners, tax payers and ordinary citizens.
Lost your job and your house and want a govt bailout? Too bad buddy, only the big end of town get that!
Very good Murray, that’s nicely put, and on the mark!
The underwriting of many orders of magnitude worth of planetary energy supply, or human existence, is most likely past the point of no return, but they knew the outcomes when the path was cleared back in the 90’s.
Now everything that is necessary to keep it together, is laid out, and when the time is right, they will collapse the lot, but that’s a little way off still, IMO!
well, that was worth waiting up for Murray Olsen. (had a primary teacher Mr. Olsen, seemed like a kind chap). All the best for the improvement of your health.
If it was either of Maunu or Ngunguru Schools, he would have been my father.
Richmond
NZ is increasing its metadata & information sharing ties to the US meanwhile in Brazil…
Nick Smith old lizard eyes continuing govt sleaze misleading public and parliament yesterday PinoKeyo lied about sue sheldon of Chorus ph call $600 million bail out today leak of internal email at doc proves nick smith sent a directive demanding to read any recommendations opposing hawksbay dam!