With Big Tech being the largely unregulated vampire of the entire developed world, which larger countries will stand up beside Australia and against Facebook?
Over 33% of Australians get most of their news from their Facebook feed.
It is funny how they couldn't do anything about posts encouraging a genocide in Myanmar, but they can just flip a switch and turn off Australia if it looks like they might have to shell out some cash.
I had trouble looking at TS yesty, and found myself at another political blog reading, a Chris Trotter opinion piece.
He has reckons about the state of Labour's coffers and hints at an uneasy compromise to get Labour re-elected.
"… it brought in tons of funds. While this happy situation endures, Labour is said to be polling and focus-grouping like there’s no tomorrow. The PM doesn’t just have her finger on the pulse of the nation, she’s reading its ECGs."
and
"Less clear, is whether Labour’s willingness to embrace the “woke” agenda…..
….Something along the lines of: “You let us enjoy our tax-free capital gains, and we’ll tolerate your cultural revolution.”
I am aware reform can take a while to enact. I am becoming disappointed that some simple things could be done immediately to alleviate the grinding poverty too many in Aotearoa find themselves. eg 40% increase in benefits, drop GST on wholefoods etc.
4000 children living in motels, 500 for a year, 100 for more than a year.
As I understand it, there is an increase in the minimum wage going through in April, and that will itself generate an increase in benefits in due course. I believe WFF needs to be phased out, but again that needs to be done over time, as wages alone meet living wage levels, allowing for costs of children. I travelled the North Island recently, and was pleased to see the amount of work on new building – much of it densification, with one house being moved to build two (Wainuiomata) or two houses being moved to enable 8 apartments (Auckland). There are still subdivisions being developed with McMansions instead of denser housing, but there are plenty of three and four story apartment blocks going up in the larger cities (in particular Auckland). Work is being done by both central and local government, but there is clear stress on infrastructure in some places. I have not seen statistics, but I suspect we have brought back a lot of New Zealanders wanting to move back during Covid, placing housing demand that may be greater than from the equivalent number of short term immigrant workers previously. I gather that prices in Auckland have also flattened off a little as well, perhaps reflecting lower new demand and the results of building. I know that there are still horrible dwellings being rented out – who would not go on a list for a state house if they qualify? The standards for new homes should be at lest partially built into the requirements for privately owned rental properties; to give a fair market and reduce costs for services such as hospitals. I am sure our national debt will have risen sharply, surplus is not the only measure of economic performance we should be looking at.
good post ed1. its good to see that some on here actually get out and see the country , and not spend their entire time being keyboard knowalls. the amount of building happening away from auck is huge. but people on here raving on about transformation need to get real, there is no quick, one size fits all, solution .
I am of the opinion that a raise in benefits and the increase or the minimum wage are a good way to tackle a few key concerns (housing affordability, food poverty etc).
In her own words, the PM has said that this term is about being re-elected, keeping the centre's vote.
That's fine if your property portfolio is ok, there is plenty in the account for groceries and no health issues being ignored because you can afford the dentist, GP or the medication bill.
I've got a couple of chores to do, I will try have a geez later.
From memory it may have been a speech at the Labour Party conference, talking about keeping the voters that voted for them. It was from this year and I heard it a couple of times.
I have been impressed with the discipline and attitude shift Ardern has managed with the caucus. (Not getting involved when The Nats were imploding- JLR, Dowie, Muller adams and Kaye resigning etc).
We just seem happy to leave too many behind by not reforming things like the Employment Contracts Act and being wedded to the neo-liberal reforms of the '80s.
I, too, have been out and about lately in the North Island. Further, I live in the armpit of the Manawatu. Building and development has been going gangbusters for a few years now, in the cities and in the countryside.
What I see getting built, and what I hear about isn't going to cater for the folk most in need. Either an upgrade to a newer 250 square meter whare or the mansion for the couple to retire into.
There was a story on the radio yesty about school lunch supply. The speaker made the point of the potential for this scheme to be transformational, in that local food, prepared locally by locals. This builds resilience in schools and communities.
As opposed to being transactional, and a local catering company hoover's up the money with their race to the bottom antics.
This government and the previous has shown itself to be too transactional for my tastes. A profound lack of imagination.
thanks gsays, I often don't have time to read many political blogposts, so pulling those points out was choice.
The polling/focus thing is super interesting. If you see anyone else talking about this, can you please let me know?
I don't believe Labour are going to do anything transformational. I'm completely ok with being wrong about that, but in the meantime I will act according to what I see them actually doing. Which is some good things, but they have no real plan on poverty or the housing crisis that is fueling it.
I read the Trotter article. and I do wonder how nuanced the focus groups are likely to be. Having given finance type advice for many years I find people are often missing a few facts and supplied with them their outlook changes.
I can see focus groups being against CTG because a lot would think of it as someone taxing the only house they own for cash they don't have. Faced with a actual small inheritance tax of 1-2% they might be more accepting.
I also think that plenty would accept the idea that the sort of money going into into accommodation supplements could well be rechannelled into ownership.
So yeh focus groups may whittle out people's feelings but not the facts or lack thereof that it is based on. The role of the government then is surely to look at the worsening gaps in parts of our society ( young home ownership) and craft policies that sort these whilst selling it on the most rational basis. People don't want it doesn't really cut it if you start leaving large groups behind.
If there is a biggish surplus at Budget time, Labour's leaders should hang their heads in shame?
How long a period before a budget time would it take to house 4000 children in places other than motels? Has there been any effort to get kids out of that sort of living?
If all those involved on all the work in Ed1's comments were directed to solving the situation you highlight, what other necessary projects would not be being done? I assume the building work going on is necessary, it wouldn't be happening otherwise.
And if there aren't the human resources should we simply import workers to carry it out?
By my reckoning our population has grown by very close to 30% since 2000. (3.86 million to 5.00 million.)
I wonder what the growth in accommodation has been over that period.
The answer is not to import the labour to build it.
It is to develop the local work force. The quakes in Canterbury were a wasted opportunity to train up a lot of tradies. No, we would rather bring in the workers. Typical neo-liberal, balance sheet dominated thinking.
That was a Key government in cahoots with Act, Dunne and The Maori Party.
This mob have the numbers, the $, the reports, they just lack courage.
"The number of New Zealanders taking up apprenticeships has increased nearly 50 percent, and the number of female apprentices has more than doubled. This comes as a Government campaign to raise the profile of vocational education and training"
Certainly been improvements than what it was under National and as the govt have repeatedly said there is much more work to do.
"Teacher aides say they finally feel recognised after pay boost"
There is no evidence these were "unjust" evictions. The most that was mentioned was that one or more group of renters was unaware why they were served an eviction notice. The academics could have followed up with the landlord to find out the reason. A good study would have done that. This was not a good study.
As usual, you contribute nothing of substance, just negativity and denial, based on prejudice and ignorance. Did you attend the Symposium? If not, your credibility is as per usual. Were you on the review panel when this project was awarded funding from the Marsden Fund in 2017? If not, you don’t know what you’re talking about, as usual.
Over a period of 20 yrs a total of 5% of our tenants have been evicted. It was always for a valid reason. No business person turns away a 'perfectly good customer' for no reason at all.
If you have a reliable tenant in place – where on earth is the motivation to kick them out and replace them with someone new and unknown?
The only reason that makes any sense is the scenario where the rent has been allowed to fall so far behind market, that it's easier to 'evict' and start over with someone who can afford the place. It's an ethically ugly move and not something I endorse, but I can see why it used to happen.
Well the good news is that recent law pretty much stops this from happening – and landlords will likely in response become much more diligent about ensuring rent rises happen regularly.
In a rapidly rising housing market, at least some of the evictions may have been to sell the property, particularly if the landlord decides to renovate before selling.
Or the new speculator wanted to "add value" and get new tenants at a higher price.
Also, I seem to recall from when it happened to me that the 40 day notice for the new owner's vacant possession was statutarily different to the lease break period.
But in many markets, landlords aren't doing themselves out of much cash by hiffing tenants and going for someone who can pay more. If you're already charging someone as much as they can afford, it's blood out of a stone to increase rent. But ditching someone gives you a few weeks to find replacement tenants so you only miss out on a day or two of rent, then there's the bond shenanigans, and the new person pays more money and if you're lucky doesn't notice the carpet damage you failed to repair so you can do them for bond for the same fault (popular for students' landlords back in the day, along with illegally high "bond" levels).
#notAllLandlords, but I've met some sharks in my time who were willing to abuse every trick in the book against people who didn't know or couldn't afford to fight it. And they'd run their own renter blacklist while opposing any rating system for flats that got started (by lobbying organising groups but also by bullying tenants).
A business doesn't care about specific customers, just the custom they bring in. Individuals are as fungible as their cash, and if your product is in demand enough they are trivially replaceable.
Getting a little tired of Des Gorman's criticism of the Covid response. He has been catastrophising for months – though his latest example steps back a little and alleges mere inconsistency, rather than predicting imminent disaster. However actual outcomes have been rather good, which invites speculation as to why he might have got it so wrong for so long. Three possibilities come to mind:
Is he commenting outside his area of expertise
Is there is some long-standing personal-professional vendetta against the Ministry of Health going on
Is he ideologically hostile to the Labour government (perhaps mistakenly thinking they are left-wing)
On one important point I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt: I think he's simply a catastrophist, rather than a 'catastro-sophist' (someone who is deliberately setting out to deceive).
…concerned …. more the broader effect his commentary might have.
He said he felt unease with the decision to lower the alert levels.
"I think the reason I share that unease is because the level of risk we seem to be tolerating is going up and down almost imperturbably," he told Checkpoint.
"For example, the Ministry of Health found out about these cases on Saturday night but didn't think it was necessary to tell the prime minister for 12 hours. So things which should have been cancelled if we needed to be in alert level 3… weren't.
"I can't see a consistency in our risk appetite, it seems to go up and down depending upon the optics of the situation."
The most reassuring thing was the absence of virus particles in wastewater test results, he said.
Not sure what it is exactly he has said that gives you cause for concern at the effect on we great unwashed and uneducated out here in Gullible Land. As news that the levels were going down the other day I was in conversation with 2 sciencey types with PhDs and an engineer. None of us could figure out what the fuck was going on, having accepted that the Level 3 would last at least 14 days. Just to be sure. When we heard that there was a half day delay before Ardern and Co were told about the new community cases….much head shaking and disbelief.
Are we taking the threat from Te Virus seriously or not?
It's temporary (reviewed by Cabinet on Monday 22 February). The risk is low, but not zero. The salient point of risk assessment here is not how low or high the risk is, but the consequences of transmission even if low risk.
I understand what you are saying though. I live in rural Otago and no-one here is scanning or signing in. I don't believe the current approach is going to work long term and needs to be adjusted for the variation across regions and the difficulty of people adopting behaviours when the perceived risk is low.
I use public transport where I can within a city. I always wear masks for public transport because I spend a lot of time in airports and working with colleagues from around NZ, but others wearing masks helps minimise risk of my spreading anything to them after an Auckland trip or working with Auckland-based colleagues elsewhere. Complaining that they haven't got community transmission rather misses the point that Kiwis travel a lot, and that large cities aren't immune to transmission via travel just because they aren't Auckland.
I'm ok with some inconsistency, because it's a new situation and complex and it takes time for societies (ministries and MPs included) to adapt and adjust. I also see the NZ covid response as by necessity needing to adjust over time.
And I expect the occasional fuck up.
No idea why Ardern wasn't told for 12 hours, but systems are rarely perfect and I think it's better to look at any issue within the whole system not in isolation.
I've stopped following closely because I live down south and I judge the risk here to be low. But when I was following, the assessment of risk by the authorities for regions and the whole country looks complex to me. I think criticism of the MoH and govt is fine, but I suspect Gorman doesn't have the necessary experience to give us finer tuned analysis.
Repeating that in bold because you appear to have missed it or misunderstood what I was saying.
Gorman does his interviews criticising the govt. I point out that I don't think he has the experience for the nuanced analysis. Nothing about only Approved Persons being able to express an opinion.
Re Gorman's qualifications, there's been plenty of examination* of this.
Since Des Gorman is doing the media rounds again this morning (even RNZ) and handy reminder of his expertise. Data & diving, not epidemiology. pic.twitter.com/w7RwD85KcJ
I know Seven Sharp is supposed to be more entertainment than news. But if covering a serious news topic – say whether regionally different Covid-19 rules are a good idea – it’s important to interview someone with the appropriate expertise. Des Gorman does not have it
The main point I am making here is that this is a complex situation, in ways that most people aren't used to (including public and MPs) and I think it's valid for there to be confusion and inconsistencies. We can critique that, I just think it's better to do so with more nuance that takes into account the complexities.
I also think with public health there is a highish degree of alarm that gets triggered in people and that influences the debates. I remember when that botulism in the milk powder thing happened and I spent ages trying to point out how botulism actually happens (it's complex-ish) whereas most people just want to run with the alarm and how terrible it was.
Perhaps we have been lucky, and to use a Russian roulette analogy – the chambers have been empty to date. Think what would have been the criticism should last weeks cases expanded due and spread into say to the Sailing or the Big Gay out crowds, and then we found out that it took 12 hours for the PM to be informed., and another 12 hours before restrictions were pout into place ?
Sure systems should improve as we review as what actions are taken are found to have some issues. e.g. that community that was "cut off" from services at Port Waikato. Perhaps on reflection next time that community is included in the level that Pokeno and Tuakau are in ? Or the exodus from Auckland in the 8 hours available – Perhaps in future movement out of Auckland would be immediately managed ?
Or the exodus from Auckland in the 8 hours available – Perhaps in future movement out of Auckland would be immediately managed ?
Not that I blame those normally resident in the City of Sails for fleeing at the very thought of not being able to, I too think this should be better managed.
A cynic might opine otoh that since the outbreak was in South Auckland in communities where the number of residents with holiday homes to flee to might be quite low, the Authorities didn't see the exodus as a real threat.
And interesting the differing responses from two of the maojr bolt holes.
hard to say whether we are just getting lucky or whether the system is actually robust enough. I suspect both.
I don't have an opinion about this round of handling, because basically I see it as an Auckland thing and I have other things to be thinking about. But more generally, we *should be prepared for a larger outbreak, and it's not going to serve us if we have a high blame culture in place when that happens.
I also think that people tend to have this view of managing risk as being something you control in discrete ways, whereas with this public health issue, it's about the ratios and chances. We cannot control covid absolutely and still have a functioning society, so the approach then becomes one of how to balance life with containment.
I do agree that each time we have community transmission or mistakes there should be high levels of accountability and reviewing process, and it's possible that the govt isn't messaging well enough about those reviews (again, I haven't followed closely enough).
I'll tell you where I think NZ was extremely lucky: covid happening in 2020 and not some time between 2008 and 2017. That's nightmare stuff.
good point both of you. I'm guessing that the risk was judged low enough to not warrant that (unlike in Italy). Where's the balance point between making covid response manageable for people long term and preventing dispersal of community transmission?
Here is my opinion, without disclosing my credentials and attaching my CV.
Strictly speaking, we should be in Alert Level 1. Government was perhaps over-cautious going to L3 in the Auckland region because the source and way of transmission were uncertain, and still are, because the scale of the outbreak was unknown, and because it was a new variant, although I can’t remember when that became known. Given people only four hours’ notice shows the sudden (!) urgency.
Alert Level decisions are a complex balancing act based on many factors and considerations. They are made by people, not by a computer algorithm, as far as I know. Would you prefer a computer algorithm?
So, of course, the “risk appetite” varies; it is not fixed in time and it shouldn’t be.
Does Des Gorman know all the factors and considerations? No, he does not.
Does MoH know all the factors and considerations? No, it does not.
Who ultimately makes the decision and based on what information, advice, and input? Hint: not Des Gorman or any of the experts, not even Dr Siouxsie.
If you test, monitor, track & trace, maintain good personal hygiene and hand washing, and basically follow the simple rules, there is absolutely no need for Draconian measures and shut down a school for such a long time. It would be absolute overkill. Having said that, attendance rates at some schools in the region were certainly less than 100% the last two days.
Papatoetoe High School will remain closed for the rest of the week. Staff, students and their families are required to isolate at home until Monday [22 Feb], and not return to school without a negative test.
I know that most kids students are just out of nappies and can’t be trusted to follow basic simple rules and certainly not as many as 7 or 8 and need a nanny to wipe their nose & bum, in that order.
Until we give others, especially younger ones, the agency and responsibility and trust them to play their part in society, they will not fully develop these essential skills. Observe, monitor & moderate, track & trace when necessary. People must be allowed to make their own choices, do the right thing, make mistakes and learn from these.
To a degree this is true, of course. However, much of the current narrative is a human construct that has embedded itself in and infected our collective psyche, IMO. Mind you, I have just been reading the long-ish essay highly recommended by Robert Guyton in OM 😉
This pandemic will wane, the virus is likely to become endemic, just like the cold & flu. Until that time, we’re beholden to the official narrative coming from Government and experts alike. I think this fact alone is why some rage against it. Others are trapped by fear. Others again feel a sense of moral duty in quite literal acts of obeisance. Where do you think anti-vaxxers fit in? We can all change the internal dialogue inside us, to a degree.
Yes, true again, but anti-vaxxers reject the official narrative on vaccination and usually a whole lot of other issues as well. I was wondering if you had any views on that. It is not a single-issue issue and taking a reductionist approach in trying to understand it is missing the point, I believe. It seems more of a larger general trust or distrust issue rather with so-called authorities. I think the technicalities are generally not the main problem, almost more of an excuse and a red herring.
Yeah, Ken Loach made a hash of a BBC interview where he basically stated Holocaust denial was a valid viewpoint when discussing history (however it is unlikely that is his personal view). As such a lot of people are hacked off with him. The cancel culture trend in society eats another lefty. That is why people should allow more free speech not demand less of it.
tbf, Gosman's synopsis does seem relatively accurate. Loach did a BBC interview. There was at least some confusion about what he said re the Holocaust denial, other lefties picked it up and criticised him, a week later he clarified his beliefs.
I'm guessing "where he basically stated Holocaust denial was a valid viewpoint when discussing history" is a biased skewing of what Loach said, but not a complete falsehood, but I haven't seen the interview.
here's the BBC interview snip. He's doesn't say Holocaust denial is a valid viewpoint when discussion history. He makes a less direct, more nuanced point, and in context of his whole explanation I would interpret him as saying that it's important for people to be able to talk about history. As in Holocaust denial isn't a valid perspective but people need to be free to discuss it.
He also gives the example of talking about the creation of the state of Israel and obviously has criticisms of that that no doubt some interpret as anti-semitic. On the face of it he appears to be arguing for the freedom to critique Israel, and not to suppress debate, but he also clearly states that he doesn't think there was promoting of Holocause denial at the fringe Labour event.
Gosman is probably right about the left eating itself though.
It's not "the left" making these absurd allegations against human rights and justice campaigners like Ken Loach. It's a small but virulent group of hardline supporters of the Israeli regime.
There's been a massive issue with UK Labour and anti-semitism investigations and debate in the past few years. I guess you could argue that UK Labour aren't part of the left, but that's a difference conversation.
and just to save us some time, if you're going to run a pro-Palestine, anti-Israel line now and attack the pro-Israel part of the left, you are in fact demonstrating the left eating itself. Which would be a handy demonstration, so have at it
In this British witch hunt, there has been no debate, simply accusations. And that small but noisy clique in the Labour Party was, and is, the right wing (Blairite) rump of the party. People like [deleted] have in the space of a couple of years reduced the Labour Party from the biggest democratic party in Europe to a pile of ashes…
[stop calling public figures liars. You’ve got history of being pulled up on this on TS and I can’t be bothered going another round, better things to do with my time – weka]
Sorry about that. I apologize unreservedly to [deleted] who is clearly a sane, honorable and well intentioned gentleman.
[I’d rather you didn’t back door the slur either. If you want to make a point about his politics or whatever then do so directly, without putting the site at risk. You can just leave out the words like ‘liar’ and put some actual political analysis on their place, thanks.
Bold replaced with quotation marks so we can more easily see moderation from comment. – weka]
I would like to think that by now the IRD has sent out a form letter to all employees telling them that a wages subsidy was claimed for their IRD number and to contact the IRD if they did not receive the appropriate money at the right dates. Easy enough to do and no doubt more out there than the one below.
it's an intermittent bug sorry (or perhaps a mismatch between wordpress and some devices apps). I will link this comment to Lprent. You could try deleting the browser and reinstalling, but kind of drastic move if you have settings in your browser you like to keep.
Is the IRD saying it did this deliberately? Withheld transfering funds to Kiwisavers accounts? Looks a lot more like a complete stuff up until not found until people started complaining. It's taken a very long time to find what is a solid error.
Missing 644,000 payment transfers is more than just a test. As one who looks like they are getting the compensation amount I would suggest that they possibly failed to process all the returns from the bi monthly employer payers for one return filing
What ever- they should be a lot more forthcoming about how this happened particularly if it was the gross error it looks like instead of hiding behind a we did it for a testl PR.
The White Helmets were local Syrians trying to deal with shit going down in their own local neighbourhoods.
Why the fuck would you expect them to travel thousands of kilometres to jump into other people's problems while their own neighbourhoods still have dire needs?
BTW, if there's some recent news or events that you want to talk about, a linky is helpful. Y'know, just so as people can get some idea of what bug up your ass is wriggling right now.
White Helmets/Founders
In November 2019, James Le Mesurier, the British co-founder of the Syrian rescue group known as the White Helmets, fell to his death in Istanbul. The Guardian's Middle East correspondent, Martin Chulov, knew James well and had spoken to him the week before his death.10/11/2020 shove that up yours Andre
The RBNZ should write off its entire holding of central govt debt. On present figures this would shrink govt debt by about 37%.
This would basically achieve the govts long term debt targets overnight, and if needed the RBNZ can keep going till it gets there. The fact these check list items of political debate can be overnight ticked off via hyjinx should demonstrate they are both arbitrary and are actually bipartisan public sector austerity targets, and not markers of sound govt economic policy (by either side of the istle).
Of course with the public debt ratios suddenly shrinking debate can move onto how to spend the windfall.
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Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkins’ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become “too woke” on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardern’s response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Musk’s sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry – including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US – and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga Whānui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
Open access notables Bad news delivered by an all-star cast of familiar researchers: Another Year of Record Heat for the Oceans. From the abstract: In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by OHC, were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum. According to IAP/CAS data, ...
The resignation of Jacinda Ardern has already made more global headlines than you might expect for that of the PM of a small commonwealth nation like say Sierra Leone (population 6.5 million) or Singapore (population 5.5 million). But international observers might not be too surprised by Ardern’s announcement that ...
One of my earliest political memories is the resignation of Prime Minister David Lange in August 1989. I remember this because of a brown felt-tipped pen drawing I did of the Beehive, the building that houses the Executive of the New Zealand Government. More than thirty years later, we ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hard on the heels of our Buzz from the Beehive earlier today, the PM has made two announcements – the 2023 general election will be held on Saturday 14 October and she will not be campaigning to win a third term as Prime Minister. She will ...
Jacinda Ardern had an outsized impact on New Zealand’s international relations. While all Prime Ministers travel internationally, Ardern’s calendar was fuller than most. Ardern’s first major foreign trip came within weeks of her election in 2017, to the APEC summit in Vietnam. The meeting gave Ardern her first in-person encounter ...
She gave it her all. No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers. No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from ...
Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement today has left a lot of us with a lot of complicated feelings. In my case, while I've been highly critical of Ardern's government, I'm still sorry to see her go. We've had far too many terrible things happen during her term as Prime Minister ...
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task of a centre-left government winning re-election this year from difficult to nigh on impossible. No-one else among the Labour caucus has Ardern’s ability to explain ...
Jacinda Ardern’s first press conference as Labour leader in August 2017 was a defining moment in the past decade of New Zealand politics. A young woman (by the standards of politics) who had long been tipped for higher office, she had underperformed as a minister and Andrew Little’s noble resignation ...
An Astonishing Rapport: Jacinda Ardern's "Politics of Kindness" raised so many progressive possibilities. Her own tragedy, and New Zealand's, is that so few of them were realised.MUCH WILL BE WRITTEN in the coming days about "The Ardern Years", some of it sympathetic and insightful, most of it spiteful and wrong.For ...
Buzz from the Beehive We drew another blank, when we checked the Beehive website this morning for ministerial announcements, pronouncements or denouncements. Nothing has been posted since January 16, when Damien O’Connor announced he was travelling to Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change ...
Kiwis returning to work after their summer breaks and scanning the economic horizon may find few encouraging signals. Even the agricultural sector, which proved to be the mainstay at the height of the Covid pandemic, is now having to navigate the inflation raging in the domestic sector. As well, ...
The Herald this morning reports on the rich's efforts to buy this year's election. And you'll never guess who their chosen vehicle is: The National Party may start election year with a $2.3 million war chest raised from 24 big donors in 2022, while Labour has declared just $150,000 ...
Here’s more from the “no news today” file. Under the heading Wellbeing of missing Marokopa children huge question mark – psychologist, RNZ reminds us that three children have been missing with their father for a year. Marokopa father Thomas Phillips and his three children Jayda, Maverick, and Ember have not ...
Buzz from the Beehive Our visit to the Beehive website this morning found nothing new since Damien O’Connor posted the announcement of his journey to Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. No news, of ...
DR BRYCE EDWARDS writes – Christopher Luxon’s National Party are the odds-on favourites to win the general election this year. They have been consistently ahead of Labour in the polls in recent months, and have a firm coalition partner in Act, which is often polling about 10 per cent. Betting ...
Christopher Luxon’s National Party are the odds-on favourites to win the general election this year. They have been consistently ahead of Labour in the polls in recent months, and have a firm coalition partner in Act, which is often polling about 10 per cent. Betting agencies can’t take bets on ...
Disruptions to public transport have long been a frustrating fact of life in Auckland, but the last year has taken this to a whole new level, with the ongoing longterm rail shutdowns with bus replacement services, plus thousands of bus cancellations a day becoming a regular occurrence. Things are currently so ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler You walk into your kitchen to make pasta. After filling a pot with water, you place a small silicone mat in the middle of your counter, then set the pot above it and open a stovetop app on your phone. ...
The extreme right-wing conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxer who was outed in Nicky Hagar’s “Dirty Politics”, Cameron “Whaleoil” Slater, has resurrected himself and is now promoting a campaign for his sometime-associate, Simon Lusk, to disrupt National’s candidate selection for the Tukituki electorate. ...
You know it as well as I, the famous Ring Verse from The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien: Three Rings for the Elven Kings under the sky Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their halls of stone Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die One ...
Cabinet ministers obviously are enjoying the final days of their summer break while their desks back in Wellington are piled high with the problems of a country beset with raging inflation, labour shortages and a pandemic that refuses to go away. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has had her ...
The Herald has an annual roundup of electric vehicle stats this morning, and it shows us that the government's clean-car-discount - which sees buyers of dirty vehicles pay to subsidies purchases of clean ones - has been a hugely successful policy: New Zealand broke two records for electric vehicles ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just as soon as he was back on duty, Damien O’Connor was packing his bags for a journey to Europe. But first he announced a second dollop of dollars for flood-ravaged farmers, this time in the Wairarapa. Government funding relief for flood-affected Wairarapa farmers and growers ...
She’s Such A Scream! The Prime Minister’s enemies, those who want us to hate her, suffer from the not insubstantial handicap of being more than a little hateful themselves. Rendered nonsensical by their unwavering belief in the most absurd conspiracy theories, and dangerous by their relentless peddling of fake news ...
This is a guest post by reader Grady Connell. It was originally published (in October 2022) on Today FM. Road closed ahead. It’s a dreaded sign to see during any journey on the roading network. Seeing this sign usually means bumper-to-bumper traffic and a 10-minute or more longer detour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes: Japan is a country on the move. Since World War II, Tokyo has largely been happy to outsource its security needs to Washington. But this is now changing to a more equal partnership. On Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called his country’s alliance with ...
Members of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have today written to Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to condemn the ongoing violence and killing of women’s rights and democracy protesters, and to call on him to intervene immediately. ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
With the biggest news in entertainment that I somehow forgot to include this morning, here is Sam Brooks: Nominations for the 95th Academy Awards were announced this morning, with indie breakout Everything Everywhere All At Once leading with 11, trailed by both The Banshees of Inisherin and All Quiet on ...
Linda Burgess devours the royal memoir that’s already been half-spilled across the internet to feed those of us – you know who you are – who love to lap it all up.In recent days, in between real news, like changing prime ministers, there’ve been a few laconic locals from ...
News that Vic Books is closing down on March 31 has been met with an outpouring of grief, confusion and some existential grappling about what its absence means for Wellington’s very soul.Well, double fuck. After 48 years, Vic Books Kelburn (situated on campus at Victoria University of Wellington) is ...
“Congratulations to Chris Hipkins on becoming the new Prime Minister of New Zealand. We applaud his stated aim to “focus on bread and butter issues” like the cost of living and the economy” says Sue Harrison, President of the NZ Property Investors’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A federal Resolve poll for Nine newspapers, conducted January 17-22 from a sample of 1,606 people, has given Labor 42% of the ...
Watch live: Hipkins says at his first Cabinet meeting as prime minister he reiterated his expectation that reprioritisation work will be the government's absolute priority over the coming weeks. ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown accepted just two interview requests from media during his first month of office. That’s despite 108 requests made by journalists. RNZ’s obtained figures showing the total breakdown of requests to Brown’s office, revealing 54 out of the 108 were declined outright, while statements were provided in ...
Statistics New Zealand made its quarterly announcement about the consumer price index (CPI) this morning. A percentage number and the word ‘inflation’ always feature in the headlines about these announcements – but what does the CPI actually measure, and why is that about inflation?What is that percentage?Right now ...
The Free Speech Union notes the appointment of Meg de Ronde as the new Chief Executive of the Human Rights Commission, the first ever to hold this role, and welcomes the opportunity for a reset towards core human rights at the Commission, says Jonathan ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Cunningham, Doctoral Candidate in Public Health, Griffith University Shutterstock We all know someone who insists on wearing a cardigan in summer or refuses to turn on the air conditioning because “it’s not that hot”. Chances are this is an ...
Talkback listeners were taken on an unexpectedly thrilling journey last night as the Newstalk ZB host broadcast his frantic search for the studio swipe card.“I probably sound a bit different tonight,” Newstalk ZB’s Marcus Lush told listeners shortly after 8pm. “Am I feeling different? No. Do I sound different? ...
A smiling Chris Hipkins has officially been sworn in as the 41st prime minister of New Zealand. Carmel Sepuloni becomes the first Pacific person to take on the deputy role. The ceremony took place at Government House in front of senior government representatives such as Grant Robertson and Kelvin Davis. ...
It’s Wednesday, January 25 and welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates. I’m Stewart Sowman-Lund and you can email me on [email protected] The agenda Chris Hipkins and Carmel Sepuloni have been formally sworn in as New Zealand’s next prime minister and deputy. Jacinda Ardern earlier left parliament to ...
The consumers price index rose by 7.2% in the year ending December, Stats NZ has reported. That follows another 7.2% annual increase in the September quarter and an even higher 7.3 point bump in June. Housing and household utilities was the largest contributor to the December annual inflation rate, Stats ...
Matty McLean is melting, everyone is crying and someone has stolen Dame Susan’s rock. Alex Casey and Tara Ward react to the dramatic teaser for Treasure Island: Fans v Faves. Break out the ice cold fizz, cover your face in zinc and heat up the rice and beans, because ...
Jacinda Ardern has left parliament for the last time as prime minister, hugging colleagues and waving to hundreds of supporters along the way. The outgoing prime minister left the Beehive about 10am, heading to Government House for a private audience with the governor general. She was wearing the same ...
The Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) has today rallied its members to make submissions against excessive fees proposed by Police that will put public safety at risk. COLFO says the huge expense of the new fees will start the long-term decline ...
Working people must be kept at the centre of the response to inflation, says the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions. The impacts of both inflation and the Reserve Bank’s response to it through higher interest rates have fallen most heavily on ...
Experienced non-profit and human rights director Meg de Ronde is to take executive leadership responsibility at Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. De Ronde will take up the position of Tatau-Uruora (kāwanatanga leader/Chief Executive) in ...
Today we mourn the loss of one of our most formidable Wahine Toa leaders, Titiwhai Harawira died at home surrounded by her whanau today. Titiwhai will be remembered as the Matriarch, the queen of the North who had dedicated her life to upholding ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Government to cancel its proposed increases to diesel road-user charges and petrol excise taxes over the next few months following today’s announcement that inflation remains stubbornly high at 7.2%. Taxpayers’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Stanley, Professor of Ecology, University of Auckland Shutterstock/AGCreations Birds sold in the pet trade are often colourful and charismatic creatures. Some can even be taught to talk, and they often provide owners with much-needed companionship. But there are ...
Jacinda Ardern has this morning arrived at Government House to formally resign as Prime Minister, exiting Parliament to an adoring crowd of onlookers. ...
Greenpeace is welcoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni into their new roles in Government with a challenge to make real climate action their ‘bread and butter’, saying "there’s no bread and butter on ...
The international beer industry has a passion for applying Māori words and imagery to its products. It also remains stubbornly ignorant of their meaning. The Italian craft beer brand Liquida has a new brew out called “Kia Ora”.“It’s another stop in New Zealand for you to experience the explosion ...
Worth billions of dollars, the Māori economy is creating intergenerational wealth. But the rising tide isn’t lifting all boats. Researchers at Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga are detailing how the ‘taniwha’ economy can be a better force for good.They say taniwha live in the deep. kaitiaki of our moana ...
Newsroom’s Sam Sachdeva talks to British high commissioner Iona Thomas about the United Kingdom’s push to get more Māori and Pasifika people accessing the holiday visa scheme. As part of the free trade deal signed between the UK and New Zealand last year, the bilateral arrangement that gives young people from one ...
It’s a big day in politics with the swearing in of a new prime minister: Chris Hipkins. But first, the outgoing leader Jacinda Ardern needs to formally hand in her resignation to the governor general. That will take place shortly after 10am, when Ardern will depart parliament for the last ...
Leading Māori activist Titewhai Harawira has died at the age of 90, prompting a wave of tributes from those who knew her best. You can read a bit about Harawira’s life in The Bulletin, but for many she will be remembered for her confrontations with various prime ministers, often at ...
Chris Hipkins will be sworn in as prime minister this morning after Jacinda Ardern formally tenders her resignation. Stats NZ will also drop the latest inflation figures this morning, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday morning, sign up here. ...
What has got Matty McLean crying, and then fainting? Who stole Dame Susan Devoy’s rock? And how many hats can Jane wear on one TV show? The Treasure Island: Fans vs Faves supertease has arrived today and we are fizzing at the bung reacting to all of the drama! ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bethany Devenish, Research Fellow, School of Educational Psychology & Counselling, Monash University Shutterstock Why does one child experience excitement at the thought of starting the school year while another experiences debilitating anxiety? It’s rarely one thing and is often ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stacey Pizzino, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland A child receives treatment after an alleged chemical attack in Syria in 2017.IDLIB MEDIA CENTER/EPA The number of armed conflicts currently raging around the world is the greatest since the end of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Hargreaves, Senior Learning Advisor, University of Southern Queensland David Neilson/ AAP I have one prayer as I watch the Australian cricket team sing Advance Australia Fair patriotically before a match – “Please don’t turn on their microphone.” Like many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Johanna Reidy, Lecturer, Department of Public Health, University of Otago Getty Images This year’s perennial back-to-school uniform discussion happens during a cost of living crisis. And we already know that the upfront and maintenance costs of school uniforms are a ...
Learning to drive in Germany was expensive and hard, and then I failed the test. In Aotearoa it was kind of the opposite. So do they make it too complicated, or do we make it too easy?I spent 2022 making my way through Germany’s incredibly rigorous and extremely expensive ...
First the locals were adding a macron to the Kāpiti welcome sign and detractors were removing it. Now it’s the other way around. So is it Kāpiti or Kapiti?In April 2021, Stuff ran a story about the curious case of the missing macron, leading with the headline: “Ladder-toting ‘vandals’ ...
Could New Zealand descend into right-wing unreason after Ardern, like the US did after 2016? Jacinda Ardern has suddenly quit politics. As tributes come in pointing to her charisma, style of leadership and communication skills, one is reminded of Barack Obama, that other extraordinary leader in recent times. There are, come ...
The shock closure of a Wellington bookstore Vic Books – a Wellington institution, 48 years in the bookstore trade, a vital and lively part of the campus at Victoria University – has announced its closure. The shop will close in 10 weeks. The news was sudden and severe, and caught ...
The Government needs to invest in a proposed clinical trials infrastructure to ensure everyone has access to them and their benefits, argue Professor Lisa Stamp, Professor Frank Bloomfield and Dr Matire HarwoodOpinion: Clinical trials are a critical element of a modern, high-functioning, learning healthcare system, providing access to novel, unfunded ...
The Rātana commemorations acted as a chance for National leader Christopher Luxon to go on the attack over co-governance, and for new Labour leader Chris Hipkins to introduce himself to Māoridom. But above all, the day was about Jacinda Ardern's farewell to the nation, Sam Sachdeva writesComment: Ahead of ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra New temporary restrictions on takeaway sales and the prospect of reimposed bans on alcohol in Indigenous communities – with “opt-out” provisions – have followed Anthony Albanese’s Tuesday visit to crisis-ridden Alice Springs. After a ...
By Dandy Koswaraputra and Pizaro Gozali Idrus A veteran journalist known for covering rights abuses in Indonesia’s militarised Papua region says a bomb exploded outside his home yesterday and a journalists group has called it an act of “intimidation” threatening press freedom. No one was injured in the blast near ...
PNG Post-Courier There is a new twist in Papua New Guinea’s four-year drama surrounding the Maseratis bought for the 2018 APEC Summit. It has emerged that the Department of Foreign Affairs, which wants to send the luxury vehicles to foreign missions abroad, cannot do so, because the vehicles — which ...
COMMENTARY:By Myles Thomas How the RNZ/TVNZ merger went from its first reading in Parliament to the legislative extinction list is an example of why New Zealand actually needs more public media and not less. Let me explain. It has been labelled a grenade, a dog and a monolithic, monopolistic ...
By Rakesh Kumar in Suva Politicians can respond to the political rhetoric but claims that the new Fiji government has broken the law are a more serious matter, says prominent Suva lawyer Richard Naidu. Reacting to FijiFirst general secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s claims that there have been a number of incursions ...
By Len Garae in Port Vila West Papua independence campaigner Benny Wenda is in Vanuatu to meet Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau’s newly-installed government. Wenda said he would also “strategise” on the way forward towards gaining eventual sovereignty from Indonesia and would be discussing ongoing issues in West Papua. These include ...
Jacinda Ardern, in her final speech before handing over to the next prime minister, has used the occasion of Rātana to thank New Zealanders for their love and empathy. ...
Just like that, the Hutt’s Chris Hipkins was announced as New Zealand’s 41st prime minister on Saturday. In the latest episode of Gone By Lunchtime, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the coronation, the reset and what it all means for election 2023. Follow Gone By Lunchtime ...
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has used his speech at Rātana Pā to attack the government over co-governance, saying Labour has allowed a "divisive and immature" debate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Derham, Research Associate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH) Policy Hub – Training and Education, University of Tasmania Shutterstock The emu is iconically Australian, appearing on cans, coins, cricket bats and our national coat of ...
Getting 10,000 steps a day still on your 2023 wish list? One of these addictive podcasts just might help.This is an excerpt from The Spinoff’s weekly pop culture and entertainment newsletter Rec Room – sign up here. The Lazarus Heist I remember exactly where I was when news broke ...
Jacinda Ardern has fronted what will likely be her final press conference as prime minister. Moments before addressing those congregated at Rātana, Ardern appeared alongside deputy Grant Robertson and told media today was a “special day”. She was excited to see her friend Chris Hipkins take on the mantle of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caryn Coatney, Lecturer, Journalism, University of Southern Queensland State Library New South Wales A boom in 2023 predictions is spurring more tips about thriving in fast-changing workspaces. But the talk about an Australian workplace revolution is not new – ...
*This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission* Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins are speaking at Rātana Pā in what is a de facto farewell for the outgoing Labour leader - and a test for her replacement and his connection with Māoridom. On her final day ...
Learning to drive in Germany was expensive and hard – and then I failed the test. Aotearoa was kind of the opposite.I spent 2022 making my way through Germany’s incredibly rigorous and extremely expensive learner driver programme. After clocking up 40 hours’ driving time, keeping control of a car ...
Today is Jacinda Ardern’s last day as prime minister of New Zealand. To mark the occasion, here’s some terrible tat.How do you immortalise six years of leadership and countless media moments? In the spirit of capitalist fandom, you make merchandise. Online marketplace Redbubble made the news in 2017 for ...
There were 13,880 new cases of Covid-19 over the past week, a drop on the seven days prior. On average, 1,979 new infections were recorded each day. There were 5,357 reinfections over the same time period. As of midnight Sunday, there were 242 people in hospital with Covid-19, and seven ...
National’s leader has reiterated his party’s views on co-governance, after being challenged not to be afraid of it. Christopher Luxon has just wrapped up his address at Rātana – the first time he has spoken at the commemorations. Acknowledging issues around diversity within National, Luxon said there was still work ...
Plans to build 81 apartments in the Auckland suburb of Beach Haven have upset some locals. Stuff has reported on a public meeting attended by 180 people, most seemingly opposed to the new development. That included one woman who reportedly fought back tears at the prospect of “bedroom commuters” with ...
Despite a tropical cyclone and generally unsettled weather patterns ushering in 2023 for much of the country, Southern Cross Pet Insurance (Southern Cross) cautions that heat and humidity remains something to be aware of when it comes to the safety ...
Sharemarkets around the world are up big to start the year, while crypto is on another tear. Weren’t we supposed to be in a recession? Duncan Greive explains.Economist Shamubeel Eaqub sounded grim on Newshub last week. “I think we’re probably in recession already,” he said, attributing it to low ...
The nation’s favourite soap returned for 2023 last night with plenty of familiar old faces. Tara Ward recaps the best bits. Last year’s Shortland Street cliffhanger left our favourite fictional hospital in a flaming hot state of peril. A terrible fire swept through Ferndale that burnt Shortland Street hospital to ...
Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins are speaking at Rātana Pā in what is a de facto farewell for the outgoing Labour leader - and a test for her replacement. ...
With Big Tech being the largely unregulated vampire of the entire developed world, which larger countries will stand up beside Australia and against Facebook?
Over 33% of Australians get most of their news from their Facebook feed.
Not anymore, lol.
Have they not heard of the Sydney Herald?
https://www.smh.com.au/
It is funny how they couldn't do anything about posts encouraging a genocide in Myanmar, but they can just flip a switch and turn off Australia if it looks like they might have to shell out some cash.
I had trouble looking at TS yesty, and found myself at another political blog reading, a Chris Trotter opinion piece.
He has reckons about the state of Labour's coffers and hints at an uneasy compromise to get Labour re-elected.
"… it brought in tons of funds. While this happy situation endures, Labour is said to be polling and focus-grouping like there’s no tomorrow. The PM doesn’t just have her finger on the pulse of the nation, she’s reading its ECGs."
and
"Less clear, is whether Labour’s willingness to embrace the “woke” agenda…..
….Something along the lines of: “You let us enjoy our tax-free capital gains, and we’ll tolerate your cultural revolution.”
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2021/02/in-know-making-sense-of-labours-inaction.html
I am aware reform can take a while to enact. I am becoming disappointed that some simple things could be done immediately to alleviate the grinding poverty too many in Aotearoa find themselves. eg 40% increase in benefits, drop GST on wholefoods etc.
4000 children living in motels, 500 for a year, 100 for more than a year.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018784185/housing-crisis-more-than-4-000-nz-children-living-in-motels
If there is a biggish surplus at Budget time, Labour's leaders should hang their heads in shame.
As I understand it, there is an increase in the minimum wage going through in April, and that will itself generate an increase in benefits in due course. I believe WFF needs to be phased out, but again that needs to be done over time, as wages alone meet living wage levels, allowing for costs of children. I travelled the North Island recently, and was pleased to see the amount of work on new building – much of it densification, with one house being moved to build two (Wainuiomata) or two houses being moved to enable 8 apartments (Auckland). There are still subdivisions being developed with McMansions instead of denser housing, but there are plenty of three and four story apartment blocks going up in the larger cities (in particular Auckland). Work is being done by both central and local government, but there is clear stress on infrastructure in some places. I have not seen statistics, but I suspect we have brought back a lot of New Zealanders wanting to move back during Covid, placing housing demand that may be greater than from the equivalent number of short term immigrant workers previously. I gather that prices in Auckland have also flattened off a little as well, perhaps reflecting lower new demand and the results of building. I know that there are still horrible dwellings being rented out – who would not go on a list for a state house if they qualify? The standards for new homes should be at lest partially built into the requirements for privately owned rental properties; to give a fair market and reduce costs for services such as hospitals. I am sure our national debt will have risen sharply, surplus is not the only measure of economic performance we should be looking at.
good post ed1. its good to see that some on here actually get out and see the country , and not spend their entire time being keyboard knowalls. the amount of building happening away from auck is huge. but people on here raving on about transformation need to get real, there is no quick, one size fits all, solution .
Where is the request for a single solution?
I am of the opinion that a raise in benefits and the increase or the minimum wage are a good way to tackle a few key concerns (housing affordability, food poverty etc).
In her own words, the PM has said that this term is about being re-elected, keeping the centre's vote.
That's fine if your property portfolio is ok, there is plenty in the account for groceries and no health issues being ignored because you can afford the dentist, GP or the medication bill.
That's not the case for far too many.
"her own words, the PM has said that this term is about being re-elected, keeping the centre's vote"
Can you link to her own words that actually said that please?
I've got a couple of chores to do, I will try have a geez later.
From memory it may have been a speech at the Labour Party conference, talking about keeping the voters that voted for them. It was from this year and I heard it a couple of times.
I have been impressed with the discipline and attitude shift Ardern has managed with the caucus. (Not getting involved when The Nats were imploding- JLR, Dowie, Muller adams and Kaye resigning etc).
We just seem happy to leave too many behind by not reforming things like the Employment Contracts Act and being wedded to the neo-liberal reforms of the '80s.
Then you should have no problem finding the link that states in her own words "that this term is about being re-elected, keeping the centre's vote"
I look forward to you posting that later then.
I, too, have been out and about lately in the North Island. Further, I live in the armpit of the Manawatu. Building and development has been going gangbusters for a few years now, in the cities and in the countryside.
What I see getting built, and what I hear about isn't going to cater for the folk most in need. Either an upgrade to a newer 250 square meter whare or the mansion for the couple to retire into.
There was a story on the radio yesty about school lunch supply. The speaker made the point of the potential for this scheme to be transformational, in that local food, prepared locally by locals. This builds resilience in schools and communities.
As opposed to being transactional, and a local catering company hoover's up the money with their race to the bottom antics.
This government and the previous has shown itself to be too transactional for my tastes. A profound lack of imagination.
thanks gsays, I often don't have time to read many political blogposts, so pulling those points out was choice.
The polling/focus thing is super interesting. If you see anyone else talking about this, can you please let me know?
I don't believe Labour are going to do anything transformational. I'm completely ok with being wrong about that, but in the meantime I will act according to what I see them actually doing. Which is some good things, but they have no real plan on poverty or the housing crisis that is fueling it.
I read the Trotter article. and I do wonder how nuanced the focus groups are likely to be. Having given finance type advice for many years I find people are often missing a few facts and supplied with them their outlook changes.
I can see focus groups being against CTG because a lot would think of it as someone taxing the only house they own for cash they don't have. Faced with a actual small inheritance tax of 1-2% they might be more accepting.
I also think that plenty would accept the idea that the sort of money going into into accommodation supplements could well be rechannelled into ownership.
So yeh focus groups may whittle out people's feelings but not the facts or lack thereof that it is based on. The role of the government then is surely to look at the worsening gaps in parts of our society ( young home ownership) and craft policies that sort these whilst selling it on the most rational basis. People don't want it doesn't really cut it if you start leaving large groups behind.
If there is a biggish surplus at Budget time, Labour's leaders should hang their heads in shame?
How long a period before a budget time would it take to house 4000 children in places other than motels? Has there been any effort to get kids out of that sort of living?
If all those involved on all the work in Ed1's comments were directed to solving the situation you highlight, what other necessary projects would not be being done? I assume the building work going on is necessary, it wouldn't be happening otherwise.
And if there aren't the human resources should we simply import workers to carry it out?
By my reckoning our population has grown by very close to 30% since 2000. (3.86 million to 5.00 million.)
I wonder what the growth in accommodation has been over that period.
We can agree there is a shortage of housing.
The answer is not to import the labour to build it.
It is to develop the local work force. The quakes in Canterbury were a wasted opportunity to train up a lot of tradies. No, we would rather bring in the workers. Typical neo-liberal, balance sheet dominated thinking.
That was a Key government in cahoots with Act, Dunne and The Maori Party.
This mob have the numbers, the $, the reports, they just lack courage.
"The number of New Zealanders taking up apprenticeships has increased nearly 50 percent, and the number of female apprentices has more than doubled. This comes as a Government campaign to raise the profile of vocational education and training"
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2011/S00054/jump-in-apprentice-and-trainee-numbers.htm
Thats right, Louis and it's great news, my son and his employer are included in that group.
We could also put a teacher aide in plenty of classrooms too.
I know we could do with more nurses, midwives and doctors too. Pay and conditions need improving.
Perhaps training fees forgiven or reimbursed if positions in rural/provincial areas are filled for 5 years.
Some of the things that can alleviate the impacts of poverty.
Certainly been improvements than what it was under National and as the govt have repeatedly said there is much more work to do.
"Teacher aides say they finally feel recognised after pay boost"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/123425108/teacher-aides-say-they-finally-feel-recognised-after-pay-boost
The trouble is, the school, the student and their family have to jump through hoops to get funding and the schools pay for the TAs.
When the tap is open and running you won’t know if it’s leaking and the washer needs replacing.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300233323/covid19-the-edge-cases-and-when-transmission-gets-weird
The science is out (or in?).
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/436727/renters-suffer-from-anxiety-sickness-from-unjust-evictions-study
Typical envious academics.
/s
They’re only human.
There is no evidence these were "unjust" evictions. The most that was mentioned was that one or more group of renters was unaware why they were served an eviction notice. The academics could have followed up with the landlord to find out the reason. A good study would have done that. This was not a good study.
As usual, you contribute nothing of substance, just negativity and denial, based on prejudice and ignorance. Did you attend the Symposium? If not, your credibility is as per usual. Were you on the review panel when this project was awarded funding from the Marsden Fund in 2017? If not, you don’t know what you’re talking about, as usual.
https://www.otago.ac.nz/wellington/departments/publichealth/summerschool/otago746463.html
Over a period of 20 yrs a total of 5% of our tenants have been evicted. It was always for a valid reason. No business person turns away a 'perfectly good customer' for no reason at all.
If you have a reliable tenant in place – where on earth is the motivation to kick them out and replace them with someone new and unknown?
The only reason that makes any sense is the scenario where the rent has been allowed to fall so far behind market, that it's easier to 'evict' and start over with someone who can afford the place. It's an ethically ugly move and not something I endorse, but I can see why it used to happen.
Well the good news is that recent law pretty much stops this from happening – and landlords will likely in response become much more diligent about ensuring rent rises happen regularly.
In a rapidly rising housing market, at least some of the evictions may have been to sell the property, particularly if the landlord decides to renovate before selling.
Or the new speculator wanted to "add value" and get new tenants at a higher price.
Also, I seem to recall from when it happened to me that the 40 day notice for the new owner's vacant possession was statutarily different to the lease break period.
But in many markets, landlords aren't doing themselves out of much cash by hiffing tenants and going for someone who can pay more. If you're already charging someone as much as they can afford, it's blood out of a stone to increase rent. But ditching someone gives you a few weeks to find replacement tenants so you only miss out on a day or two of rent, then there's the bond shenanigans, and the new person pays more money and if you're lucky doesn't notice the carpet damage you failed to repair so you can do them for bond for the same fault (popular for students' landlords back in the day, along with illegally high "bond" levels).
#notAllLandlords, but I've met some sharks in my time who were willing to abuse every trick in the book against people who didn't know or couldn't afford to fight it. And they'd run their own renter blacklist while opposing any rating system for flats that got started (by lobbying organising groups but also by bullying tenants).
A business doesn't care about specific customers, just the custom they bring in. Individuals are as fungible as their cash, and if your product is in demand enough they are trivially replaceable.
Getting a little tired of Des Gorman's criticism of the Covid response. He has been catastrophising for months – though his latest example steps back a little and alleges mere inconsistency, rather than predicting imminent disaster. However actual outcomes have been rather good, which invites speculation as to why he might have got it so wrong for so long. Three possibilities come to mind:
On one important point I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt: I think he's simply a catastrophist, rather than a 'catastro-sophist' (someone who is deliberately setting out to deceive).
Just ignore him.
These days I do – but I'm not in the least concerned about myself, more the broader effect his commentary might have.
Do you want to stop other people from getting information from him ? Interesting if that is the case.
Effective ways to stop people getting information #12, post a link to their stuff.
Yes, I agree that was a tad counter productive.
…concerned …. more the broader effect his commentary might have.
He said he felt unease with the decision to lower the alert levels.
"I think the reason I share that unease is because the level of risk we seem to be tolerating is going up and down almost imperturbably," he told Checkpoint.
"For example, the Ministry of Health found out about these cases on Saturday night but didn't think it was necessary to tell the prime minister for 12 hours. So things which should have been cancelled if we needed to be in alert level 3… weren't.
"I can't see a consistency in our risk appetite, it seems to go up and down depending upon the optics of the situation."
The most reassuring thing was the absence of virus particles in wastewater test results, he said.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018784012/i-can-t-see-a-consistency-in-our-risk-appetite-prof-des-gorman
Not sure what it is exactly he has said that gives you cause for concern at the effect on we great unwashed and uneducated out here in Gullible Land. As news that the levels were going down the other day I was in conversation with 2 sciencey types with PhDs and an engineer. None of us could figure out what the fuck was going on, having accepted that the Level 3 would last at least 14 days. Just to be sure. When we heard that there was a half day delay before Ardern and Co were told about the new community cases….much head shaking and disbelief.
Are we taking the threat from Te Virus seriously or not?
There is 'inconsistency in the risk appetite'.
Yet Masks now mandatory on public transport at level one.
Bizarre. Great to see Dunedin bus passengers revolting against this.
Making masks mandatory when there is no realistic risk of Covid 19 and the likely legal requirement to scan is just going to lose public buy in.
It's temporary (reviewed by Cabinet on Monday 22 February). The risk is low, but not zero. The salient point of risk assessment here is not how low or high the risk is, but the consequences of transmission even if low risk.
I understand what you are saying though. I live in rural Otago and no-one here is scanning or signing in. I don't believe the current approach is going to work long term and needs to be adjusted for the variation across regions and the difficulty of people adopting behaviours when the perceived risk is low.
I use public transport where I can within a city. I always wear masks for public transport because I spend a lot of time in airports and working with colleagues from around NZ, but others wearing masks helps minimise risk of my spreading anything to them after an Auckland trip or working with Auckland-based colleagues elsewhere. Complaining that they haven't got community transmission rather misses the point that Kiwis travel a lot, and that large cities aren't immune to transmission via travel just because they aren't Auckland.
Remind me about there being a previous cluster in Invercargill.
I'm ok with some inconsistency, because it's a new situation and complex and it takes time for societies (ministries and MPs included) to adapt and adjust. I also see the NZ covid response as by necessity needing to adjust over time.
And I expect the occasional fuck up.
No idea why Ardern wasn't told for 12 hours, but systems are rarely perfect and I think it's better to look at any issue within the whole system not in isolation.
I've stopped following closely because I live down south and I judge the risk here to be low. But when I was following, the assessment of risk by the authorities for regions and the whole country looks complex to me. I think criticism of the MoH and govt is fine, but I suspect Gorman doesn't have the necessary experience to give us finer tuned analysis.
….but I suspect Gorman doesn't have the necessary experience to give us finer tuned analysis.
http://www.gpcme.co.nz/speakers/gorman_2012.php
Clearly he is speaking way out of turn…/sarc.
Have we reached the stage where only Approved Persons can express an opinion? Because down that path lies peril.
Labour need not fear criticism or debate…are they not riding high in the polls?
https://www.thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-02-2021/exclusive-poll-nz-support-for-covid-19-response-remains-sky-high/
I think criticism of the MoH and govt is fine.
Repeating that in bold because you appear to have missed it or misunderstood what I was saying.
Gorman does his interviews criticising the govt. I point out that I don't think he has the experience for the nuanced analysis. Nothing about only Approved Persons being able to express an opinion.
Re Gorman's qualifications, there's been plenty of examination* of this.
*aka criticism and debate.
The main point I am making here is that this is a complex situation, in ways that most people aren't used to (including public and MPs) and I think it's valid for there to be confusion and inconsistencies. We can critique that, I just think it's better to do so with more nuance that takes into account the complexities.
I also think with public health there is a highish degree of alarm that gets triggered in people and that influences the debates. I remember when that botulism in the milk powder thing happened and I spent ages trying to point out how botulism actually happens (it's complex-ish) whereas most people just want to run with the alarm and how terrible it was.
Perhaps we have been lucky, and to use a Russian roulette analogy – the chambers have been empty to date. Think what would have been the criticism should last weeks cases expanded due and spread into say to the Sailing or the Big Gay out crowds, and then we found out that it took 12 hours for the PM to be informed., and another 12 hours before restrictions were pout into place ?
Sure systems should improve as we review as what actions are taken are found to have some issues. e.g. that community that was "cut off" from services at Port Waikato. Perhaps on reflection next time that community is included in the level that Pokeno and Tuakau are in ? Or the exodus from Auckland in the 8 hours available – Perhaps in future movement out of Auckland would be immediately managed ?
Or the exodus from Auckland in the 8 hours available – Perhaps in future movement out of Auckland would be immediately managed ?
Not that I blame those normally resident in the City of Sails for fleeing at the very thought of not being able to, I too think this should be better managed.
A cynic might opine otoh that since the outbreak was in South Auckland in communities where the number of residents with holiday homes to flee to might be quite low, the Authorities didn't see the exodus as a real threat.
And interesting the differing responses from two of the maojr bolt holes.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/coromandel-region-ruapehu-district-have-differing-takes-aucklanders-arriving-just-before-lockdown
hard to say whether we are just getting lucky or whether the system is actually robust enough. I suspect both.
I don't have an opinion about this round of handling, because basically I see it as an Auckland thing and I have other things to be thinking about. But more generally, we *should be prepared for a larger outbreak, and it's not going to serve us if we have a high blame culture in place when that happens.
I also think that people tend to have this view of managing risk as being something you control in discrete ways, whereas with this public health issue, it's about the ratios and chances. We cannot control covid absolutely and still have a functioning society, so the approach then becomes one of how to balance life with containment.
I do agree that each time we have community transmission or mistakes there should be high levels of accountability and reviewing process, and it's possible that the govt isn't messaging well enough about those reviews (again, I haven't followed closely enough).
I'll tell you where I think NZ was extremely lucky: covid happening in 2020 and not some time between 2008 and 2017. That's nightmare stuff.
re: movement, most definitely contain it in concert with the announcement.
That's what fucked Italy. They were going to announce a lockdown in Lombardy, the press leaked it 2 days early, people fled Lombardy.
good point both of you. I'm guessing that the risk was judged low enough to not warrant that (unlike in Italy). Where's the balance point between making covid response manageable for people long term and preventing dispersal of community transmission?
Here is my opinion, without disclosing my credentials and attaching my CV.
Strictly speaking, we should be in Alert Level 1. Government was perhaps over-cautious going to L3 in the Auckland region because the source and way of transmission were uncertain, and still are, because the scale of the outbreak was unknown, and because it was a new variant, although I can’t remember when that became known. Given people only four hours’ notice shows the sudden (!) urgency.
https://covid19.govt.nz/alert-system/about-the-alert-system/#covid-19-alert-system
Alert Level decisions are a complex balancing act based on many factors and considerations. They are made by people, not by a computer algorithm, as far as I know. Would you prefer a computer algorithm?
So, of course, the “risk appetite” varies; it is not fixed in time and it shouldn’t be.
Does Des Gorman know all the factors and considerations? No, he does not.
Does MoH know all the factors and considerations? No, it does not.
Who ultimately makes the decision and based on what information, advice, and input? Hint: not Des Gorman or any of the experts, not even Dr Siouxsie.
nicely put.
JI would have liked Papatoetoe school to shut down until 1 March as I think some of the pupils were tested a bit early.
I do know that the close contacts are isolating for 14 days.
If you test, monitor, track & trace, maintain good personal hygiene and hand washing, and basically follow the simple rules, there is absolutely no need for Draconian measures and shut down a school for such a long time. It would be absolute overkill. Having said that, attendance rates at some schools in the region were certainly less than 100% the last two days.
If you…
7 or 8 precautionary measures are a lot to expect/coordinate for 1400 school pupils.
I heard something about needing to return a negative test result before having entry back to school next Monday at Papatoetoe College.
It is the cases which were not picked up with the first round of testing which would be of concern.
The community testing would help to pick up cases which could be associated with Papatoetoe.
Were it to be known where case A & B picked up the infection the source would be more clear.
At best the community cases are contained. At worst they are not. This could happen anywhere.
As for those not attending school there would be some anxiety associated with this or being cautious.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300234149/not-quite-job-done-but-papatoetoe-high-school-principals-anxiety-easing
I know that most
kidsstudents are just out of nappies and can’t be trusted to follow basic simple rules and certainly not as many as 7 or 8 and need a nanny to wipe their nose & bum, in that order.Until we give others, especially younger ones, the agency and responsibility and trust them to play their part in society, they will not fully develop these essential skills. Observe, monitor & moderate, track & trace when necessary. People must be allowed to make their own choices, do the right thing, make mistakes and learn from these.
See what I did there?
Of course that age need to experience life. A pandemic is different to many other situations.
Possibly I am stuck in the Covid -19 mentality doing its 14 day cycle and it is the responsibility of the adults to look around the corners.
I would still shut until 1 March and prior to going back I would retest a few students in every class on 26 February.
To a degree this is true, of course. However, much of the current narrative is a human construct that has embedded itself in and infected our collective psyche, IMO. Mind you, I have just been reading the long-ish essay highly recommended by Robert Guyton in OM 😉
I am always open to different points of view.
This pandemic will wane, the virus is likely to become endemic, just like the cold & flu. Until that time, we’re beholden to the official narrative coming from Government and experts alike. I think this fact alone is why some rage against it. Others are trapped by fear. Others again feel a sense of moral duty in quite literal acts of obeisance. Where do you think anti-vaxxers fit in? We can all change the internal dialogue inside us, to a degree.
Where do you think anti-vaxxers fit in?
The purpose of vaccination is to prevent an epidemic/pandemic.
Those who do not vaccinate feel justified in their decision.
The efficacy of a vaccine, side effects and developing the illness can sway decision making either way to vaccinate or not to vaccinate.
Yes, true again, but anti-vaxxers reject the official narrative on vaccination and usually a whole lot of other issues as well. I was wondering if you had any views on that. It is not a single-issue issue and taking a reductionist approach in trying to understand it is missing the point, I believe. It seems more of a larger general trust or distrust issue rather with so-called authorities. I think the technicalities are generally not the main problem, almost more of an excuse and a red herring.
Cynical clique of Oxford toffs tries to shut down a human rights champion
https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2021/02/the-bigots-of-st-peters-college-oxford.html
Yeah, Ken Loach made a hash of a BBC interview where he basically stated Holocaust denial was a valid viewpoint when discussing history (however it is unlikely that is his personal view). As such a lot of people are hacked off with him. The cancel culture trend in society eats another lefty. That is why people should allow more free speech not demand less of it.
People may well be hacked off with him mostly because people like you continue to disseminate lies about what he actually said.
No lies on my part. If you have evidence of what else it was about then present it here.
You lied by omission; no quote, no link, no direct or indirect support for your allegations, just innuendo.
The onus is on you, not on others, which is the opposite of your MO here.
Please show us that you’re better than that.
tbf, Gosman's synopsis does seem relatively accurate. Loach did a BBC interview. There was at least some confusion about what he said re the Holocaust denial, other lefties picked it up and criticised him, a week later he clarified his beliefs.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/05/ken-loach-i-give-no-legitimacy-to-holocaust-denial
I'm guessing "where he basically stated Holocaust denial was a valid viewpoint when discussing history" is a biased skewing of what Loach said, but not a complete falsehood, but I haven't seen the interview.
'basically' tends to undermine 'stated'
yep.
here's the BBC interview snip. He's doesn't say Holocaust denial is a valid viewpoint when discussion history. He makes a less direct, more nuanced point, and in context of his whole explanation I would interpret him as saying that it's important for people to be able to talk about history. As in Holocaust denial isn't a valid perspective but people need to be free to discuss it.
He also gives the example of talking about the creation of the state of Israel and obviously has criticisms of that that no doubt some interpret as anti-semitic. On the face of it he appears to be arguing for the freedom to critique Israel, and not to suppress debate, but he also clearly states that he doesn't think there was promoting of Holocause denial at the fringe Labour event.
Gosman is probably right about the left eating itself though.
"Gosman is probably right about the left eating itself though."
How so?
do you mean you are unaware of the general issue of the left eating itself, or don't see how it applies in this case?
It's not "the left" making these absurd allegations against human rights and justice campaigners like Ken Loach. It's a small but virulent group of hardline supporters of the Israeli regime.
There's been a massive issue with UK Labour and anti-semitism investigations and debate in the past few years. I guess you could argue that UK Labour aren't part of the left, but that's a difference conversation.
and just to save us some time, if you're going to run a pro-Palestine, anti-Israel line now and attack the pro-Israel part of the left, you are in fact demonstrating the left eating itself. Which would be a handy demonstration, so have at it
In this British witch hunt, there has been no debate, simply accusations. And that small but noisy clique in the Labour Party was, and is, the right wing (Blairite) rump of the party. People like [deleted] have in the space of a couple of years reduced the Labour Party from the biggest democratic party in Europe to a pile of ashes…
[stop calling public figures liars. You’ve got history of being pulled up on this on TS and I can’t be bothered going another round, better things to do with my time – weka]
I'm not anti-Israel; I’m opposed to the Israeli regime's illegal occupation of the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, and its siege of Gaza.
mod note for you Morrissey.
did the identity politics part of Labour not get on board with the investigations and culture change?
“stop calling public figures liars”
Sorry about that. I apologize unreservedly to [deleted] who is clearly a sane, honorable and well intentioned gentleman.
[I’d rather you didn’t back door the slur either. If you want to make a point about his politics or whatever then do so directly, without putting the site at risk. You can just leave out the words like ‘liar’ and put some actual political analysis on their place, thanks.
Bold replaced with quotation marks so we can more easily see moderation from comment. – weka]
Good morning, or what’s left of it …
You’re in weka’s hands now but just to let you know that I’m also over your senseless snide remarks and needless ad hommery.
Your ‘cheeky’ responses to moderation are tedious too.
But you already know all this 🙁
Have a nice day, or what will be left of it …
mod note.
Yeah, Ken Loach made a hash of a BBC interview…
No he did not.
he basically stated…
No he did not. Your cynicism never fails to astonish me.
I would like to think that by now the IRD has sent out a form letter to all employees telling them that a wages subsidy was claimed for their IRD number and to contact the IRD if they did not receive the appropriate money at the right dates. Easy enough to do and no doubt more out there than the one below.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124290762/worker-to-get-25k-after-opportunistic-employer-failed-to-pass-on-wage-subsidy
Somewhere along the line I have added a few letters to my title in the name field of the response thingy above.
I am on an android, how do I remove them as it autofills the field and I have to keep deleting them?
it's an intermittent bug sorry (or perhaps a mismatch between wordpress and some devices apps). I will link this comment to Lprent. You could try deleting the browser and reinstalling, but kind of drastic move if you have settings in your browser you like to keep.
Cheers, weka.
I think it is something solved easy at my end, just need a few more clues than I have.
Is the IRD saying it did this deliberately? Withheld transfering funds to Kiwisavers accounts? Looks a lot more like a complete stuff up until not found until people started complaining. It's taken a very long time to find what is a solid error.
Missing 644,000 payment transfers is more than just a test. As one who looks like they are getting the compensation amount I would suggest that they possibly failed to process all the returns from the bi monthly employer payers for one return filing
What ever- they should be a lot more forthcoming about how this happened particularly if it was the gross error it looks like instead of hiding behind a we did it for a testl PR.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124296688/inland-revenue-pays-66m-for-delayed-kiwisaver-payments
I see the 'White Helmets' are back in Syria to cause more bullshit. Notice they never showed up in Yemen where true help was needed.
The White Helmets were local Syrians trying to deal with shit going down in their own local neighbourhoods.
Why the fuck would you expect them to travel thousands of kilometres to jump into other people's problems while their own neighbourhoods still have dire needs?
BTW, if there's some recent news or events that you want to talk about, a linky is helpful. Y'know, just so as people can get some idea of what bug up your ass is wriggling right now.
"The White Helmets were local Syrians trying to deal with shit going down in their own local neighbourhoods."
Indeed
"a linky is helpful"
No you will never see the "white helmets" in Yemen – the victims are shi'ite = incompatible with "white helmets"
White Helmets/Founders
In November 2019, James Le Mesurier, the British co-founder of the Syrian rescue group known as the White Helmets, fell to his death in Istanbul. The Guardian's Middle East correspondent, Martin Chulov, knew James well and had spoken to him the week before his death.10/11/2020 shove that up yours Andre
The RBNZ should write off its entire holding of central govt debt. On present figures this would shrink govt debt by about 37%.
This would basically achieve the govts long term debt targets overnight, and if needed the RBNZ can keep going till it gets there. The fact these check list items of political debate can be overnight ticked off via hyjinx should demonstrate they are both arbitrary and are actually bipartisan public sector austerity targets, and not markers of sound govt economic policy (by either side of the istle).
Of course with the public debt ratios suddenly shrinking debate can move onto how to spend the windfall.