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.
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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Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
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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.
https://twitter.com/policyprogress1/status/1294017860067454976
https://twitter.com/KevinHague/status/1257205743071068166
*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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anRhI2xezgA
"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…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRUTpypkV0I
[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.