We have some really decent economists in Aotearoa … Brian Easton, Bernard Hickey, Raf Manji, Shamubeel Eaqub. What a pity that our budget is in the hands of an ineffective middle management type promoted to beyond his level of competence.
Another wasted tinkering budget. The best thing I can say about it is
I don't know ,luxon on 3 news said that those with super gold cards and community service cards will get free prescription, rather than wealthy people,he's got a point,
Usual problem. You're looking at the 80:20 law issues
It costs way more to run a system with any arbitrary restrictions for delivery. So if you want to exclude say 20% of the population for one reason or another, because of the exclusions, you will reduce the amount available by more than 20%. That is because your punitive action made the system much more complex, requiring more work and administration by pharmacies, doctors, ministry staff, and probably even the police (ie fraud investigations)
That is why (for instance) most WINZ benefits have about 30-40% wastage overhead on delivery of benefits. They have to check everything for eligibility based on a daft and punitive set of rules.
Whereas national superannuation has about 2-3% overhead on far large quantities of benefit. The eligibility is super clear, doesn't require continuous rechecking, and the delivery is made to be a simple and as fast as possible. Usually directly to a bank account.
But I guess many people don't bother to think punitive silliness through.
Sure. Of course there are other considerations for UBI to work through as well apart from the friction-less aspects.
For me making sure that there is enough resources to have both a liveable amount of UBI and having enough investment resources to maintain a economy to support having a UBI at the same time.
No point in having a UBI if, for instance, it causes all of your transport systems to fail because of under investment in upgrading them for climate change, and that in turn causing the economy to crash
Or being unable to have the spare resources to handle something like the covid epidemic when it shows up.
Most of the discussions I see on things like UBI are quite unconvincing to me because the proponents seem to forget what the majority of the state effort is actually involved in. Instead they seem to think that the whole of the resource of a nation are accessible for just one aspect of what is required to keep everything operational.
Many of the resources required to run a full UBI across the whole population would probably be politically in direct competition with what the state and economy currently does directly, indirectly, or as contingency planning.
Yeah but in this case the system is already running, gold cards and community cards are already in operation and let's face it the old would be the biggest users of the pharmacy
However, for the prescription issue – the overheads are already in place.
Community service card holders already get free prescriptions (after a certain threshold) as do Gold card users.
Making both categories free from the $5 charge – would remove the current requirement for the chemist to count the current year's usage – and give them access to this up-front. So actually removing the current admin cost from the chemist.
Personally, I don't need an exemption. And have been happy to pay the surcharge at my local chemist (rather than using the Chemist Warehouse across the road). [And, yes, there have been times in my life when I qualified for the CSC – and really needed the prescription rebate]
I'm more in favour of giving exemptions to those who need them, rather than including those who don't.
Wealthy people, I'm one my wife ís another, have those cards but the poor don't. Do you think like Willis and Luxon that that should be the natural order.
Have you really got a Community Service Card, or have you just got the Super Gold Card that everyone getting National Super can have?
The Community Services Card is means tested. For a couple getting National super, with no children, the limit on your combined income is $53,821. That doesn't really qualify as wealthy does it? Of course, if you still have 4 dependent children the limit gets up to 6 figures but with that many dependent children even $110,000 isn't going to seem that rich.
"The Government may spend billions buying overseas carbon credits over the next seven years. But monitoring of the health of our biggest homegrown carbon store was halved to save $500,000 a year. Nobody plans to restore it."
I should say something here..some profound observation, a pithy critique or some such..but to be honest..I just feel like crying at the whole tragedy of our so-called "Climate Response". Oh yeah..but lets congratulate ourselves…"Government shrinks its carbon footprint by flying less"..Mother Nature will be thrilled..
That I agree with. A tax on all carbon emission sources makes sense. No exemptions.
It also exposes the true costs of business and activities by removing freeloading on the commons. That in turn makes them more resource efficient.
We should test it out of road user charges. I keep driving across new roads that have been torn up by trucks within a few years. Near as I can figure out, trucks RUCs are about a 10th of what they should be to pay for road maintenance. A perfect place for user-pays.
Well ..no they are not ! And…this is not the "smaller" truck. The 18 wheeler (axle loading ! ) is a massive component of road destruction..and of course the mega millions "needed" to repair/rebuild same…
Given methane is short lived and circular in the system, it needs to be viewed separately from fossil fuel emmisions, also numbers must be dropping due to the large amount of hill country being destocked .
I think most rational farmers would exept a tax that has the money stay in nz to be spent on real fixes,especially if we stopped oversees polluters soothing their souls by gutting feral nz.
Unfortunately I'm a hermit solo dad (school weeks)who's fairly busy,with limited education and no patience for dickheads, so probably not suited to rounding up forward thinking cockies😉
Possible I guess, I'm only a block manager so it would depend on eligibility, I guess there's a little being careful not to put my head up to high,as a boys got to eat and getting tarred as a greeny might make things difficult.
On the bright side we're fencing a fee more creeks off this winter and I'll be excluding cattle from some native blocks, so we don't all have to carry placards to make changes. 😉
see, it's all those people doing good things and heading in the right direction that need better representation.
It would need some high profile farmers most who are more farmer than greenie if you know what I mean. Change the narrative that farmer = climate/ecology denier or Groundswell.
Not sure what the drove the boss to suddenly change the plan to fencing the creeks out, might been me, might been the his missus, most likly its outside influences affecting him with out him realizing it, but greeny he isn't and often when he opens his mouth act type theories poor out,
One of the better bosses I've had around fairness and treatment, complicated beasties us humans.
Decent fire systems and safety features, and an on-site building manager, both the responsibility of the landlord would have saved lives, perhaps all off them.
The loss of life lies first with the alleged arsonist (if that is how the fire started) and the landlord and building manager. More broadly, council and government regulations which I imagine have leaned, as they always do, on the side of landlords, and in this case the slumlord.
I know it wasn't reported as such at the time, because, you know, binary thinking…
There was an element in the Wellies occupation and at the Marsden Point closure protest highlighting this issue: the perelous state of FENZ equipment and staffing.
It is a stark contrast the two attitudes. The capitalist comes out with a nothing to see here, seemingly arse-covering display,before bodies are recovered.
I recall a recent story about fire-fighters being exposed to asbestos in their own station but time is pressing and I can't find a link.
There was an element in the Wellies occupation and at the Marsden Point closure protest highlighting this issue: the perelous state of FENZ equipment and staffing.
I had a couple of friends and acquaintances that attended the protest, so more like an insight.
The points, as you are proving one of them, MSM isn't necessarily the best or only source of what is going on. Also the run down state of FENZ equipment has been causing concern for a while.
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
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David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
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Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
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 ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
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There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
We have some really decent economists in Aotearoa … Brian Easton, Bernard Hickey, Raf Manji, Shamubeel Eaqub. What a pity that our budget is in the hands of an ineffective middle management type promoted to beyond his level of competence.
Another wasted tinkering budget. The best thing I can say about it is
"The Nats would have been worse"
If you are saying that the budget should be done by bean counters, then you have got it wrong.
The budget is not just a financial statement, it is also a political programme for the future and economists lack such vision.
You do realise that economists are put on this earth to make metrologists look good
That is why they have super computers doing all of the hard lifting for them 🙂
Not even in their wildest dreams would Labour have expected National to do so much heavy lifting to get them re-elected.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132083751/budget-2023-national-vows-to-bring-back-5-prescription-fees-if-elected
Just the worst, grinchiest possible headline.
I don't know ,luxon on 3 news said that those with super gold cards and community service cards will get free prescription, rather than wealthy people,he's got a point,
Usual problem. You're looking at the 80:20 law issues
It costs way more to run a system with any arbitrary restrictions for delivery. So if you want to exclude say 20% of the population for one reason or another, because of the exclusions, you will reduce the amount available by more than 20%. That is because your punitive action made the system much more complex, requiring more work and administration by pharmacies, doctors, ministry staff, and probably even the police (ie fraud investigations)
That is why (for instance) most WINZ benefits have about 30-40% wastage overhead on delivery of benefits. They have to check everything for eligibility based on a daft and punitive set of rules.
Whereas national superannuation has about 2-3% overhead on far large quantities of benefit. The eligibility is super clear, doesn't require continuous rechecking, and the delivery is made to be a simple and as fast as possible. Usually directly to a bank account.
But I guess many people don't bother to think punitive silliness through.
That overhead formula is another argument in favour of a universal basic income..
Sure. Of course there are other considerations for UBI to work through as well apart from the friction-less aspects.
For me making sure that there is enough resources to have both a liveable amount of UBI and having enough investment resources to maintain a economy to support having a UBI at the same time.
No point in having a UBI if, for instance, it causes all of your transport systems to fail because of under investment in upgrading them for climate change, and that in turn causing the economy to crash
Or being unable to have the spare resources to handle something like the covid epidemic when it shows up.
Most of the discussions I see on things like UBI are quite unconvincing to me because the proponents seem to forget what the majority of the state effort is actually involved in. Instead they seem to think that the whole of the resource of a nation are accessible for just one aspect of what is required to keep everything operational.
Many of the resources required to run a full UBI across the whole population would probably be politically in direct competition with what the state and economy currently does directly, indirectly, or as contingency planning.
Short answer:..get the needed resources for ubi by making the rich pay their fair share of taxes ..
And tax the polluters…
Yeah but in this case the system is already running, gold cards and community cards are already in operation and let's face it the old would be the biggest users of the pharmacy
However, for the prescription issue – the overheads are already in place.
Community service card holders already get free prescriptions (after a certain threshold) as do Gold card users.
Making both categories free from the $5 charge – would remove the current requirement for the chemist to count the current year's usage – and give them access to this up-front. So actually removing the current admin cost from the chemist.
Personally, I don't need an exemption. And have been happy to pay the surcharge at my local chemist (rather than using the Chemist Warehouse across the road). [And, yes, there have been times in my life when I qualified for the CSC – and really needed the prescription rebate]
I'm more in favour of giving exemptions to those who need them, rather than including those who don't.
Wealthy people, I'm one my wife ís another, have those cards but the poor don't. Do you think like Willis and Luxon that that should be the natural order.
Have you really got a Community Service Card, or have you just got the Super Gold Card that everyone getting National Super can have?
The Community Services Card is means tested. For a couple getting National super, with no children, the limit on your combined income is $53,821. That doesn't really qualify as wealthy does it? Of course, if you still have 4 dependent children the limit gets up to 6 figures but with that many dependent children even $110,000 isn't going to seem that rich.
Meanwhile back in the real world….
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/05/in-lock-up.html
I should say something here..some profound observation, a pithy critique or some such..but to be honest..I just feel like crying at the whole tragedy of our so-called "Climate Response". Oh yeah..but lets congratulate ourselves…"Government shrinks its carbon footprint by flying less"..Mother Nature will be thrilled..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/132040724/health-checks-on-the-carbon-in-new-zealands-native-forests-were-halved-despite-warnings-over-the-risks#cx_testId=906&cx_testVariant=ctrl&cx_artPos=2
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/132016234/government-shrinks-its-carbon-footprint-by-flying-less#cx_testId=906&cx_testVariant=ctrl&cx_artPos=4
Carbon credits achieve nothing, tax carbon in nz and spend every cent in nz on mitigation
That I agree with. A tax on all carbon emission sources makes sense. No exemptions.
It also exposes the true costs of business and activities by removing freeloading on the commons. That in turn makes them more resource efficient.
We should test it out of road user charges. I keep driving across new roads that have been torn up by trucks within a few years. Near as I can figure out, trucks RUCs are about a 10th of what they should be to pay for road maintenance. A perfect place for user-pays.
😈
Charging trucks 10 times more for rd users!!
That'll fix the cost of living and cc as well be broke and living in a cave,
Or freight will switch to rail.
Well ..no they are not ! And…this is not the "smaller" truck. The 18 wheeler (axle loading ! ) is a massive component of road destruction..and of course the mega millions "needed" to repair/rebuild same…
And there is this…. Clive Matthew-Wilson can be taken..or not. But IMO what he says here is on to it….
Nailed it.
Don't be allowing dodgy second and third world carbon boondoggles, and don't allow major emitters to externalize their responsibilities.
Got a cunning plan to get the agrarian sector on board with that concept.
Given methane is short lived and circular in the system, it needs to be viewed separately from fossil fuel emmisions, also numbers must be dropping due to the large amount of hill country being destocked .
I think most rational farmers would exept a tax that has the money stay in nz to be spent on real fixes,especially if we stopped oversees polluters soothing their souls by gutting feral nz.
find the farmers who will form an ecologically literate alternative to Fed Farmers.
Unfortunately I'm a hermit solo dad (school weeks)who's fairly busy,with limited education and no patience for dickheads, so probably not suited to rounding up forward thinking cockies😉
would you join if it was set up?
Possible I guess, I'm only a block manager so it would depend on eligibility, I guess there's a little being careful not to put my head up to high,as a boys got to eat and getting tarred as a greeny might make things difficult.
On the bright side we're fencing a fee more creeks off this winter and I'll be excluding cattle from some native blocks, so we don't all have to carry placards to make changes. 😉
see, it's all those people doing good things and heading in the right direction that need better representation.
It would need some high profile farmers most who are more farmer than greenie if you know what I mean. Change the narrative that farmer = climate/ecology denier or Groundswell.
Not sure what the drove the boss to suddenly change the plan to fencing the creeks out, might been me, might been the his missus, most likly its outside influences affecting him with out him realizing it, but greeny he isn't and often when he opens his mouth act type theories poor out,
One of the better bosses I've had around fairness and treatment, complicated beasties us humans.
The Firefighters Union has stayed out of the media since the Loafers blaze, but broke its silence on Thursday after hearing the comments from FENZ.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/05/firefighters-union-at-odds-with-its-bosses-at-fenz-over-loafers-lodge-fire.html?fbclid=IwAR0BG2Udmiw__cEcblRPAHjLkyv7O9P_FpXriadaFanUiJRMf5hSO7pA598
Decent fire systems and safety features, and an on-site building manager, both the responsibility of the landlord would have saved lives, perhaps all off them.
The loss of life lies first with the alleged arsonist (if that is how the fire started) and the landlord and building manager. More broadly, council and government regulations which I imagine have leaned, as they always do, on the side of landlords, and in this case the slumlord.
You overlooked the main point of the report.
The fire at Loafers highlighted deficiencies in our fire fighting capabilities due to old and poorly performing equipment.
This needs to be addressed ASAP. Lives are potentially at risk.
If FENZ won't even acknowledge the problem, they are unlikely to correct it.
And that is a concern.
There's a lot more to correct than just our fire fighting capabilities.
And that is a concern.
The fact more needs to be improved upon suggests there is a even greater need to improve our fire fighting capabilities, ASAP.
I know it wasn't reported as such at the time, because, you know, binary thinking…
There was an element in the Wellies occupation and at the Marsden Point closure protest highlighting this issue: the perelous state of FENZ equipment and staffing.
It is a stark contrast the two attitudes. The capitalist comes out with a nothing to see here, seemingly arse-covering display,before bodies are recovered.
I recall a recent story about fire-fighters being exposed to asbestos in their own station but time is pressing and I can't find a link.
Link?
There was this….
A link?
You mean from Stuff in their Fury and Fire 'analysis' or the likes? Maybe the Disinformation Project? Or even from the Podium of Truth'?/sarc
Sorry, that is one of the points I was making.
You are gonna have to take this at face value or scroll on bye.
So..no link. Just a reckon. And what are you on about ?
More than a reckon.
I had a couple of friends and acquaintances that attended the protest, so more like an insight.
The points, as you are proving one of them, MSM isn't necessarily the best or only source of what is going on. Also the run down state of FENZ equipment has been causing concern for a while.
That's all.
I do remember concerns about the effect of mandates re staffing shortfalls.
Reports of ailing equipment have been circulating for sometime now.