Part of the well being of society is that those in it do not get placed under financial stress.
Yet because of the high cost of housing to income here (No 1) people find it difficult to retain any level of savings to cope with contingency.
So far, the removal of "high cost" lenders preying on the vulnerable (spiraling to a worse position) is about the only improvement. And food banks are growing in importance.
In the USA charity groups buy up health debt, in Oz they help with the debt of beneficiaries (interest free loans).
Some endangered native species may have to go extinct because it would be too expensive to save them all, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka suggested at a select committee hearing on Tuesday.
The two-hour inquiry into the implications of the Budget for the Department of Conservation came as part of Parliament's first-ever scrutiny week. Labour's environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said it started to go off the rails early on, when Potaka freely volunteered that saving every species was merely "aspirational"
Before the election he said he would travel commercially, but I imagine arriving in Japan virtually unheralded and without the travelling troop of reporters to record his every meal might have changed his mind.
While the government is apparently focused on de-regulation and infrastructure (but without the money to pay for it), it has chosen to neglect focus on growing the economy.
One way is exports online – software as a service.
Unfunding central support of an industry that can operate from anywhere (provinces to urban centres) that does not deplete the planets resources or harm the environment.
Leading opponent of economic growth that does not negatively impact the environment has been the Taxpayers Union.
the Taxpayers’ Union shot back: “A special interest group calling for corporate welfare isn’t exactly news, but Judith Collins needs to hold firm and not cave in to crony capitalism. Governments shouldn’t be using taxpayers’ money trying to pick winners or propping up fashionable industries like SaaS with handouts.”
KiwiSaaS’s focus is – or was – on helping the next generation coming through
The wider issue
The Government was criticised by the Technology User Association of New Zealand (Tuanz) earlier this week for halting work on an Industry Transformation Plan designed to address skills shortages through inclusion and education initiatives, and for ending funding for the Digital Boost progamme, aimed at lifting small business digital literacy and tech uptake – while at the same time failing to match government initiatives in the UK, US and Australia to address areas like internet safety, cyber security and AI (artificial intelligence) challenges and uptake.
The Startup Council called for the $300m Elevate venture capital fund (now exhausted) to be topped up to the tune of $500m. It got nothing. A rebate for the video game sector was unexpectedly kept, albeit with only around half of the available funds paid out.
And it gets worse
And as Sir Peter Beck thanked Industrial Research Ltd (IRL, now part of Callaghan Innovation) for giving Rocket Lab its start, Callaghan Innovation incurred similar staff cuts as other Government agencies and had its plan for R&D hubs in the capital canned.
“There were no new technology initiatives in the Budget, but agencies have been reprioritising resources to focus on new priorities including biotech, AI, and game development,”
The CofC is not going to realise an increase in productivity nor knowledge led economic growth, it is not even trying to.
It is one based on catering to existing activity by deregulation (including worker and tenant exploitation) and keeping government capability small so it is dependent on private capital for infrastructure funding.
It is one of, by and for a class of citizen who exploit a lack of CGT and estate tax (and stamp duty) to have privilege not easily found elsewhere.
Luxon and National have never loved localism. What they love is provincial Tory fiefdoms perpetuated by shockingly low turnout in local body elections and run by politer Kiwi versions of Faulkner's southern Gothic Snopes Clan.
“There were no new technology initiatives in the Budget, but agencies have been reprioritising resources to focus on new priorities including biotech, AI, and game development,”
Game development a priority?? Don't these characters have any idea at all about true wealth creation?
That's as may be, but I still don't see game-playing or creation as producing genuine wealth. Though I guess it keeps a few incels occupied and not causing mischief elsewhere.
Just NZ made gaming had 80.2 million in revenue last year (doubled from the year before).
450 full time staff comes to $178,000 per staff member.
90% of it is overseas purchases. Companies like Pikpok have been around since 1997. Remember buying shatter off them way back when and Gripshift on the Xbox when they were named Sidhe games.
Yes, yes, it shifts a bit of money in our direction. But I'm more concerned with the big picture. Does it on the whole benefit humanity (and the non-human inhabitants of the planet), or is it essentially just a distraction from the real issues requiring attention and resources?
Lets just say its a distraction. An utter waste of time and money. So what? Its still employs people. People all over the world voluntarily choose to buy the products. Its their businesses. Apparently looks to be successful without needing tons of "government" cash or direction to make it successful. Would you wipe them out because they are not doing something to proactively save the planet? Really?
Is reading books a waste of time, going for a walk in the forest, having a beer down the pub, watching a rugby game – pretty sure none of those things are saving the planet?
Anyway it isn't passive as you may think – I've had many very interesting conversations with people from all over the world about lots of things through gaming as have my kids. They are now adult friends with people they met online when they were eight. When one son was 11 we organised all his online friends to meet in real life – they had a ball. I've done the same with my on-line friends including providing free accommodation for them to come and visit or have a break after something bad happening. One Forza artist was stranded with her kids in a massive snowstorm. She reached out to the gaming community. One of the Forza community who didn't know her went and rescued her.
Online a lot of gamers can be themselves without fear or favour or discrimination – nobody can see they have a limb missing, or are a little person, or are a thalidomide baby with deformities they just get treated the same as everyone else. Tis great – and why sometimes meeting in real life is both special and surprising.
Commerce Commission starts High Court case against Foodstuffs
The commission said the charges related to anti-competitive land covenants, which it said were lodged by the supermarket operator with the purpose of blocking competitors from opening rival supermarkets at particular sites, and developing existing ones.
It said the parties were working on a settlement to resolve the issues, and the High Court would determine any orders to be made in relation to Foodstuffs North Island in due course.
Low pay, understaffing and customer abuse are causing major concern across the grocery industry, according to a survey of more than 1500 supermarket and grocery workers from major retail chains.
The survey – completed electronically in May through First Union's member database – shows thousands of supermarket workers are grappling with the high cost of living.
They are also dealing with regular incidents of customer abuse in understaffed supermarkets that are typically paying the majority of workers less than the living wage.
Intentional or not, National may well oversee the collapse of significant inter island marine transport. Smaller boats might be able to fill in for passengers, but road and rail…it will be interesting.
I feel that may be possible to gather the rightwing to greatly help against one particularly unpleasant pleasant form of pollution – you just need an enemy that all sides of the political divide can unite against
In the 1970's 3M knew about the hazards of forever chemicals used in packaging, non-stick and stain-resistant products and fire-fighting foam.
And they covered it up.
//
Several of 3M’s most successful products contained man-made compounds called fluorochemicals. In a spray called Scotchgard, fluorochemicals protected leather and fabric from stains. In a coating known as Scotchban, they prevented food packaging from getting soggy. In a soapy foam used by firefighters, they helped extinguish jet-fuel fires. Johnson explained to Hansen that one of the company’s fluorochemicals, PFOS—short for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid—often found its way into the bodies of 3M factory workers. Although he said that they were unharmed, he had recently hired an outside lab to measure the levels in their blood. The lab had just reported something odd, however. For the sake of comparison, it had tested blood samples from the American Red Cross, which came from the general population and should have been free of fluorochemicals. Instead, it kept finding a contaminant in the blood.
[…]
Hansen’s team found it in Swedish blood samples from 1957 and 1971. After that, her lab analyzed blood that had been collected before 3M created PFOS. It tested negative. Apparently, fluorochemicals had entered human blood after the company started selling products that contained them. They had leached out of 3M’s sprays, coatings, and factories—and into all of us.
Unfortunately a majority of voters at the last election voted for the guy. He is a well known local 'identity' and they knew what they were voting for.
The Prime Minister says he's really comfortable with us not knowing the reoffending rate for his boot camp programme.They asked him for it at yesterday’s press conference, and he said, nah, not telling, have to respect people's privacy.Okay I'll bite. Let's say they release this information to us:The rate of ...
Warning 1: There is a Nazi theme at the end of this article related to the disabled community. Warning 2: This article could be boring!One day, last year, I excitedly opened up a Substack post that was about how to fight back, and the answer at the end was disappointing ...
This may be rhetorical but here goes: did any of you invest in the $Libra memecoin endorsed and backed by Argentine president and darling of the global Right Javier Milei (who admitted to being paid a fee for his promotion of the token)? You know, the one that soared above ...
Last week various of the great and good of New Zealand economics and public policy trooped off to Hamilton (of all places) for the annual Waikato Economics Forum, one of the successful marketing drives of university’s Vice-Chancellor. My interest was in the speeches delivered by the Minister of Finance and ...
The Prime Minister says the Government would be open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if a ceasefire was reached. The government has announced a $30 million spend on tourism infrastructure and biodiversity projects, including $11m spent to improve popular visitor sites and further $19m towards biodiversity efforts. A New Zealand-born ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler “But what about when the sun doesn't shine?!” Ah yes, the energy debate’s equivalent of “The Earth is flat!” Every time someone mentions solar or wind power, some self-proclaimed energy expert emerges from the woodwork to drop this supposedly devastating truth bomb: ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article I look into data on how well the rail network serve New Zealanders, and how many people might be able to travel by train… if we ran more than a ...
Hi,Before we get into Hayden Donnell’s new column about how yes, Donald Trump is definitely the Antichrist, I wanted to touch on something feral that happened in New Zealand last week.Members of Destiny Church pushed and punched their way into an Auckland library, apparently angry it was part of Pride ...
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Now that the US has ripped up the Atlantic alliance, Europe is more vulnerable now than at any time since the mid-1930s. Apparently, Europe and Ukraine itself will not have a seat at the table in the talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin that will ...
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
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It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
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This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
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For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
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A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
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The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
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Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
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Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
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The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
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The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Stone, Principal Research Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Having dense breasts is a clear risk factor for breast cancer. It can also make cancers hard to spot on mammograms. Yet you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The National Anti-Corruption Commission will finally investigate whether six people referred to it by the royal commission into Robodebt engaged in corrupt conduct. This follows an independent reconsideration by former High Court judge Geoffrey ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Blaxland, Professor, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University Last week in Europe, the United States sent some very strong messages it is prepared to upend the established global order. US Vice President JD Vance warned a stunned Munich ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank cut official interest rates on Tuesday, the first decrease in four years, saying inflationary pressures are easing “a little more quickly than expected”. However, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Reserve Bank has delivered the expected modest rate cut of a quarter of a percentage point, and we’re set for the predictable frenzy of speculation about an April election. The cut is unlikely to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan Fels, Professor Allan Fels, Professor of Law, Economics and Business at the University of Melbourne and Monash University., The University of Melbourne Australia is creeping towards adding a divestiture power to its Competition and Consumer Act. Under such a law, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arjen Vaartjes, PhD Student, Quantum Physics, UNSW Sydney Dmitriy Rybin / Shutterstock What makes something quantum? This question has kept a small but dedicated fraction of the world’s population – most of them quantum physicists – up at night for decades. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University Australia’s minister for home affairs announced on Sunday that the federal government has struck a deal with Nauru to “resettle” three non-citizens from what’s come to be known as the “NZYQ cohort”. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Fitzpatrick, Professor in International History, Flinders University (From left to right): Neville Chamberlain, Édouard Daladier, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany.German Federal Archives/Wikimedia Commons Ukraine ...
The purpose was to establish the facts and provide an independent assessment of government agency activity in relation to allegations that personal data may have been misused during the 2023 General Election. ...
Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster said he is carefully reviewing the referrals raised in the two reports. That work will be done in the context the Privacy Act and the need to ensure individuals’ rights to privacy is protected and respected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bhavna Middha, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University The average Australian household size has decreased from 4.5 people per household in 1911 to 2.5 people in 2024. At the same time, the average house size has increased, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Page Jeffery, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Sydney suriyachan/Shutterstock When the Australian government passed legislation in November last year banning young people under 16 from social media, it included exemptions for platforms “that are primarily for the purposes ...
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Duncan Sarkies’ latest novel, Star Gazers, is about the collapse of democracy in a society of alpaca breeders. Here are some things his intensive research revealed. 1 How greed works, psychologicallyYes, I guess I already understood greed, but I could never understand why people who already have everything they ...
The proposed cuts would see only two full time Telehealth data and digital roles, and one Planning, Funding and Outcomes (PFO) role remain, reduced from 17 Telehealth support roles (including vacant roles). Roles proposed to be cut include Telehealth ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for Ministers to end funding for Te Kurahuna programmes and workshop grifters that have received millions in taxpayer funding, despite the Government’s supposed focus on cutting costs. ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist, in Avarua, Rarotonga More than 400 people have taken to the streets to protest against Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s recent decisions, which have led to a diplomatic spat with New Zealand. The protest, led by Opposition MP and Cook Islands United Party ...
In the second episode, Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester unearth some truths about dating on a dance floor in South Canterbury. Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club is a brand new documentary series for The Spinoff following award-winning comedians and friends Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they embark ...
The first half of a billion-dollar pipe that will drastically reduce wastewater overflows in the Auckland isthmus is now in operation. As I biked south, I thought about all the poo sloshing beneath my wheels. Tubes of it disgorging from U-bends, into wastewater pipes laid under our streets that become ...
🚐 The vulnerability continues as the pair head to the Hunt Ball in South Canterbury in search of a rich farmer, before getting some sage relationship advice from Brynley’s Dad and Oma. ❣️ Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club follows comedians Brynley Stent and Kura Forrester as they head out on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joel Garrett, Lecturer in Exercise Science and Physiology, Griffith University Australia’s love affair with the major football codes – the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL) – is well documented. However, one aspect that stands out to many observers, ...
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Founder, journalist and author Tim Burrowes joins Duncan Greive to discuss a torrid decade in Australian media and whether there are reasons to be optimistic amid the carnage. Tim Burrowes is the author of a book and a Substack called Unmade, which are truly essential guides to media in ...
The self-appointed apostle says he could be to Christopher Luxon what Elon Musk is to Donald Trump, and his track record speaks for itself.Who is New Zealand’s answer to Elon Musk? The Herald’s tech insider, Chris Keall, put the question to his LinkedIn acolytes the other day. “If Luxon ...
The last good thing at the supermarket is gone. Mad Chapman mourns the Cadbury mini egg cartons. When life is overwhelming and it feels like every story around you is a bad news story, there are a few things that can be relied upon to instil a sense of calm, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Parker, Honorary Professorial Fellow, Melbourne CSHE, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Judges in Australian courtrooms have a lot of power. They can decide on someone’s guilt and the punishment for it, including lengthy prison time. But what if they get ...
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Another exposure of unhealthy politics.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/06/health-minister-dr-shane-reti-doubles-down-on-disastrous-broken-cancer-drug-promise.html
Yet more
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/parliament-speaker-gerry-brownlee-wants-to-boost-security-for-mps-security-teams-could-be-given-powers-to-arrest/DXE5USTRZBHKZMJHNURACIHSOM/
Part of the well being of society is that those in it do not get placed under financial stress.
Yet because of the high cost of housing to income here (No 1) people find it difficult to retain any level of savings to cope with contingency.
So far, the removal of "high cost" lenders preying on the vulnerable (spiraling to a worse position) is about the only improvement. And food banks are growing in importance.
In the USA charity groups buy up health debt, in Oz they help with the debt of beneficiaries (interest free loans).
https://wayforward.org.au/debt-information/emergency-help-and-funding/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/350309166/how-cost-living-hitting-our-savings
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/06/19/conservation-minister-says-saving-every-species-may-be-too-expensive/
Slippery slope…..
Forest and Bird's chief executive Nicola Toki destroys Conservation Minister Potaka's money-obsessed approach to native species here.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018943322/conservation-minister-suggests-not-all-species-can-be-saved
This government knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Well, count our blessings. Landlords will be saved from extinction.
Not convinced they actually know the cost!!!
Yea, the old "aspirational" . Yesterday, I did put up something about the Nats and their previous "Natspirational" thinking.
As expected, Luxon has changed his tune on NZAirforce One!
While I might agree with his decision, it has more to do with his prestige than anything else.
I bet they manage to find the money too, even if cancer sufferers have to wait even longer!
Sorry Tony but Lying Luxon said what?
Before the election he said he would travel commercially, but I imagine arriving in Japan virtually unheralded and without the travelling troop of reporters to record his every meal might have changed his mind.
While the government is apparently focused on de-regulation and infrastructure (but without the money to pay for it), it has chosen to neglect focus on growing the economy.
One way is exports online – software as a service.
Unfunding central support of an industry that can operate from anywhere (provinces to urban centres) that does not deplete the planets resources or harm the environment.
Leading opponent of economic growth that does not negatively impact the environment has been the Taxpayers Union.
The wider issue
And it gets worse
The CofC is not going to realise an increase in productivity nor knowledge led economic growth, it is not even trying to.
It is one based on catering to existing activity by deregulation (including worker and tenant exploitation) and keeping government capability small so it is dependent on private capital for infrastructure funding.
It is one of, by and for a class of citizen who exploit a lack of CGT and estate tax (and stamp duty) to have privilege not easily found elsewhere.
https://archive.li/3vYK4
In the Spinoff, Joel McManus calls Luxon out. Christopher Luxon loves localism, until locals have the wrong opinions. Learned, no doubt, from the lying hypocrisy of the UK Tories, and Trump's 360 degree mendacity.
Luxon and National have never loved localism. What they love is provincial Tory fiefdoms perpetuated by shockingly low turnout in local body elections and run by politer Kiwi versions of Faulkner's southern Gothic Snopes Clan.
World of Warcraft
"The game had over one hundred million registered accounts by 2014 and by 2017, had grossed over $9.23 billion in revenue"
2024 and it's still raking it in
That's as may be, but I still don't see game-playing or creation as producing genuine wealth. Though I guess it keeps a few incels occupied and not causing mischief elsewhere.
It is an earner of export revenue, just as saas is.
Does Xero create wealth, or merely reduce compliance cost for business? What is growth in shareholder value called.
Just NZ made gaming had 80.2 million in revenue last year (doubled from the year before).
450 full time staff comes to $178,000 per staff member.
90% of it is overseas purchases. Companies like Pikpok have been around since 1997. Remember buying shatter off them way back when and Gripshift on the Xbox when they were named Sidhe games.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/video-games-industry-boosts-revenue-to-80m/VMA64X2AVBC6FGL6UTLQDRLR7U/
Yes, yes, it shifts a bit of money in our direction. But I'm more concerned with the big picture. Does it on the whole benefit humanity (and the non-human inhabitants of the planet), or is it essentially just a distraction from the real issues requiring attention and resources?
Lets just say its a distraction. An utter waste of time and money. So what? Its still employs people. People all over the world voluntarily choose to buy the products. Its their businesses. Apparently looks to be successful without needing tons of "government" cash or direction to make it successful. Would you wipe them out because they are not doing something to proactively save the planet? Really?
Is reading books a waste of time, going for a walk in the forest, having a beer down the pub, watching a rugby game – pretty sure none of those things are saving the planet?
Anyway it isn't passive as you may think – I've had many very interesting conversations with people from all over the world about lots of things through gaming as have my kids. They are now adult friends with people they met online when they were eight. When one son was 11 we organised all his online friends to meet in real life – they had a ball. I've done the same with my on-line friends including providing free accommodation for them to come and visit or have a break after something bad happening. One Forza artist was stranded with her kids in a massive snowstorm. She reached out to the gaming community. One of the Forza community who didn't know her went and rescued her.
Online a lot of gamers can be themselves without fear or favour or discrimination – nobody can see they have a limb missing, or are a little person, or are a thalidomide baby with deformities they just get treated the same as everyone else. Tis great – and why sometimes meeting in real life is both special and surprising.
Your prejudice is just ignorant and boring.
Well…we will see how that goes. I did see this adjacent..
The supermarket Duopoly. Mega $Millions Profit at the centre of it all.
Aint gonna change till that changes…
And on the "super" markets…..
And yea the Mega Profits !
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-hosking-breakfast/audio/jon-reeves-public-transport-users-association-national-coordinator-on-the-costs-of-maintaining-the-interislander-ferries/
$65 million year to maintain shit ferries that well have to replace at some stage.
If only there had been a plan in progress to replace them?!!
$65 million / yr = $650 million in 10yrs (very conservative)
Sometimes you need to spend money to save money.
Intentional or not, National may well oversee the collapse of significant inter island marine transport. Smaller boats might be able to fill in for passengers, but road and rail…it will be interesting.
Could the C)C have a Master plan? "Pause" many planned projects for a year or so.
In the third year let the brakes off and claim the resultant flow of "recovery."
It will be too little too late judging by the way they've already tanked the economy.
I feel that may be possible to gather the rightwing to greatly help against one particularly unpleasant pleasant form of pollution – you just need an enemy that all sides of the political divide can unite against
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/19/microplastic-discovery-in-penises-raises-erectile-dysfunction-questions
In the 1970's 3M knew about the hazards of forever chemicals used in packaging, non-stick and stain-resistant products and fire-fighting foam.
And they covered it up.
//
Several of 3M’s most successful products contained man-made compounds called fluorochemicals. In a spray called Scotchgard, fluorochemicals protected leather and fabric from stains. In a coating known as Scotchban, they prevented food packaging from getting soggy. In a soapy foam used by firefighters, they helped extinguish jet-fuel fires. Johnson explained to Hansen that one of the company’s fluorochemicals, PFOS—short for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid—often found its way into the bodies of 3M factory workers. Although he said that they were unharmed, he had recently hired an outside lab to measure the levels in their blood. The lab had just reported something odd, however. For the sake of comparison, it had tested blood samples from the American Red Cross, which came from the general population and should have been free of fluorochemicals. Instead, it kept finding a contaminant in the blood.
[…]
Hansen’s team found it in Swedish blood samples from 1957 and 1971. After that, her lab analyzed blood that had been collected before 3M created PFOS. It tested negative. Apparently, fluorochemicals had entered human blood after the company started selling products that contained them. They had leached out of 3M’s sprays, coatings, and factories—and into all of us.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/05/27/3m-forever-chemicals-pfas-pfos-toxic
IIJM or is this government turning out to be the most incompetent ever?
Totally unfit for office.
https://www.odt.co.nz/southland/nobby-clark-accused-hateful-comments-firefighters-event
Nobby? Or just a knob…
He seems to be a particularly beady eyed characterisation of a redneck. The Anti-woke fleshed, as it were.
A thoroughly unpleasant man, I reckon.
Unfortunately a majority of voters at the last election voted for the guy. He is a well known local 'identity' and they knew what they were voting for.
I suspect it's much like how our Mr Laws got his gig.
Publicly, people loathed him but privately it was he gets things done, and they voted for the prick.