I wonder if those people on the lowest wage rate feel any better off now that they are earning $20 an hour. With inflation running high they will now need another pay rise to keep up. But that will increase inflation further.
Funny how we always hear about wage rises, "causing inflation" and not extra profit taking, bank interest rates, asset stripping, privatisation of infrastructure and services, the increase in capital share of the economy, while the wages share has decreased, and executive salaries.
We have just had this illustrated locally with dog licence fees. A 50% increase. Obviously the private contractor that won the contract with a cheap quote isn't making enough, despite dropping the pay of their staff when they took over
My large coffee from Dunkin donuts went from $5.60 to $6.00 pretty much as soon as the wage increases came in to effect. (I hadn't noticed dog regos increasing that much, I just paid $107 but cant remember what I paid last year).
I still think reducing tax on the first say, $30k of earnings, would have been better than increasing costs to businesses and therefore inflation.
However continuing to subsidise inefficient businesses with low wages, that tax payers then have to top up, is not good for the economy or even business, long term
There is a high tax loss to a zero tax band up to $30,000 (one would have to apply a 33 cents rate from $30,000 to claw the cut back from those on higher than median wage incomes).
The historic alternative was an income tax rebate for those on lower incomes.
Not impossible. If we apply the same rate we do now to the band's up to twice the median income. And taxed gains, and income with a top rate similar to Oz.
Would be nice if those with non-working (disabled, unwell or otherwise) partners got a tax break.
The extra $5,000 to $6,000 paid in tax each year over a couple earning the same amount via two incomes would at least allow one income couples to join Kiwi-saver or pay a bit extra off the mortgage.
It is a decent chink of extra money that goes to the government while trying to support two people. Basically $100 plus per week net income.
Commercial rent growth should have been constrained,due to the Covid response policy of the reintroduction of depreciation.Rates growth however are ursury at best.
But modelling from the Ministry of Social Development for Budget 2021 shows that 193,000 individuals and families are estimated to receive less than $20 per week because the additional financial assistance they receive for accommodation or other costs will fall as a result of their main benefit rising.
It is estimated 178,000 people will receive an increase of $20 or a little bit more.
…….
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said it's a $20 net benefit increase and that the Government had never shied away from the fact that there would be payment adjustments because of supplementary support payments.
Sepuloni is adamant most beneficiaries will receive more than $15 per week.
"There will be a few that fall below that but the vast majority of people will be getting more than $15 per week."
One hand giveth, one hand taketh. Thus it is, and always was.
But you had a 7.1% hike in your latte price. I suspect you're using faux concern for the wellbeing of minimum wage workers to preserve your comfortable emphatically-not-minimum-wage lifesyle, Mr $6 Coffee.
Because that's what Jimmy brought into the discussion.
Responding to what is actually in someone else's comment often seems to cause confusion around here, or even be regarded as an unfair tactic. If you can figure out why that would be, let me know.
Coffee was just the first example I thought of. Yes rents and petrol have increased significantly too but not due to minimum wage increase. Also many examples of price increases at the supermarket (even the cheap bread).
I still believe the tax bands need to be increased (as KJT has mentioned above) as you only need to earn over $48k in a year to then start paying 30% which IMO is way too high. Even a person fulltime on minimum wage is getting close ($41,600?) to that rate.
In my wafer thin defence, it was buying from Dunkin Donuts that tipped me over the edge. In a past life I was a pioneer, introducing espresso to a rural town.
rates – paid by the leaseholders of commercial properties up,
as for the wage increase this 1 dollar will also affect kiwi saver, holiday pay, sick leave, maternity leave, bereavement leave, domestic violence leave, miscarriage leave etc.
Coffee is getting very expensive soon, in your supermarket too, as well like Cocoa Beans and soon enough also Tea we are hell bent on cutting down the forrests that grow these fruits in order to grow some soy beans n stuff. But if you grow dandylions in your garden – pesticide free of course – you can dig the roots up, roast them and they will make a good Kaffee Ersatz.
As for the 6 dollar coffee, no one needs to buy one. Free country.
To be fair I expect when you look at the 'basket' of goods used to calculate the cpi the items which a minimum wage earner would buy have increased greater than the 3.3 percent figure.
yeah, probably. I suspect an expression of genuine concern would look at issues like that, rather than bitching about the price of lattes.
But then talking rents and basics here is like reminding Greenpeace members that greenhouse gases are bad.
Tories are all about concern for the poor when they really want to leverage that concern to only help themselves.
When they get a pay rise and the lattes are still cheap, their concern for the poor is promptly overruled by the plight of the struggling small business owner who is being extorted by hospo/retail/farm workers who want a living wage.
The MW goes up every year. 2.5% on $20 is 50 cents (even National increased it by that much most years). Labour usually does it by around a dollar – that's 5%.
Inflation while house prices flat-line (as they will when mortgage rates rise) is the only way to reduce property values to incomes.
Jimmy, there is a pandemic on. I guess by your rhetorical question you think there is no sensible reply.
Imported inflation and transport woes, creating competition for goods is the cause of 2/3rds of the inflation.
Nobody is really "better off" in the current situation. Even those gaining through house sales are finding rises outstrip the "gain" unless they are buying down or cashing up.
Those on lower fixed incomes will feel it most along with the unemployed and underemployed. The fact the economy is bouyant gives job security for many.
Those business models relying on low paid workers with low margins on high volumes, will come under pressure, and yes those workers are always at the margins. Some businesses need a government mandate to raise wages.
Sadly when they get squeezed they cut hours. Then they wonder why people are not spending. Self defeating behaviour.
Often they will blame regulations or employment law for their predicament, as it has become a mind set in, for example, the fast food industry.
The Olympic games test athletes physically and psychologically. Due to the global Covid – 19 pandemic it is likely that medal contention will come down to not being infected with Covid or if infected with Covid how a person's immune system responds.
I am interested to know if an athlete will be disqualified because they are infected with Covid or if they are a close contact and will be told to isolate?
The South African athletes and support staff (2+1) who tested positive are isolating. The British (6+2) who were contacts of different positive individual on the flight over to Japan are confined to their rooms for now, waiting test results.
This sounds like a nasty risk for anyone who has used certain apps on their phones. And it's not entirely certain what apps they all are yet. WhatsApp and iMessage seem particularly vulnerable.
Fortunately, it seems the old; switch it off then on again, trick still works for the moment. I prefer to leave my phone in a bag pocket where it can't spy on me when I am not using it, though I guess it still gets location data and incoming messages there. However, I do often miss text beeps; which is sometimes an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage
Having my phone in a pocket of a handbag inside a backpack blocks the camera from filming me under remote control. It probably also muffles the audio to the point where it is ambiguous unusable too. Doesn't do anything about being cell-tower location tracked though (unless I fully turn it off as well – some people say take the battery out too, but that's easier said than done with newer phones).
TBH, I mainly do it so all my stuff is in one easily grabbable package when I need to rush out somewhere while juggling kids.
I know my Samsung 4g phone not only eavesdrops on verbal conversations but also 'mines' data from text messages. Where we live we have very limited and occasional cell coverage, so it is only the occasional txt that gets through. I once sent a txt to an acquaintance suggesting a particular make and model of campervan she could consider buying. Within 1/2 an hour this laptop I'm using now threw up an ad for the self-same vehicle. The phone and laptop share our independent provider wifi. This type of thing has been happening for a few years now and has gone beyond spooky. Short of putting the phone in a foil-lined baggie….we have no idea how to manage this other than having the occasional piss-take loud conversation to see if we can provoke a Minority Report response.
And because our wifi also provides our 'landline' phone, a power cut would render us incommunicado. Keeping the cellphone in a spot where occasionally we get reception is kind of necessary.
Ah, copper! Chorus, bless them, no longer maintain the copper lines here in the North of the North. Those still on the copper have seriously shit service. Those of us unable to hook into the copper rely on either crap cell- based hotspotting or line -of- sight signal wifi such as Uber. Which doesn't work in a power cut.
My Vodafone source no longer provides copper landline service in areas where its HFC cable service is available (Wellington and Christchurch) – we get our phones linked to the broadband modem (presumably so they can stop paying Chorus for the copper wire upkeep).
I thought that the govt made most apprenticeships free? If so you have to ask the question, when the armed forces demonstrate so clearly how you will be treated, why stay on?
Given that the Defence Force is managing many of the MIQ facilities, and so where they are being deployed at the moment… that seems to be in line with existing protocols for vaccination when they are deployed overseas and need to get vaccinated for malaria, diptheria etc.
It's one of the many expectations that are made of you when you enlist. Should not come as a surprise.
From your link: “But it’s no different to any other vaccination process we go through. There will be a number of people who cannot be vaccinated, and an obvious one is pregnant service people and those that have underlying issues at the moment.
“So we’re not going hard on any issue. We’re just saying you need to volunteer. It’s no different to what they’ve volunteered for in joining the organisation.”
My nephew has just recently marched out, in one of the first intakes since Covid-hit. He will be in a trade, BUT his first deployment is to an MIQ unit. The Defence Force has responsibilities beyond providing trades training, and interweaves both.
A young friend has been serving for nearly a decade and has been in Trades Training for less than a year. She has declined this vaccine as there was no satisfactory guarantee that it will not affect her ability to have kids…the Pfizer mRNA vaccine having no long term safety data on effects on fertility. The sticking point here is that instead of being able to simply leave the armed forces, she has to work out her time to make up for time spent doing her trades training. This will be a very difficult time for her and the other 'refusniks' as since she is not vaccinated with this new vaccine her duties will be extremely limited.
As is said in the article…this The Return of Service Obligation is vindictive, under these circumstances.
Just let them leave, and get on with their lives.
Some of these youngsters are highly skilled and very capable and have much to offer the wider community.
Then they should pay for the training received as they are highly skilled and very capable and have much to offer to the wider community and where they will be paid according to their skills.
don't join a group that has mandatory vaccinations if one is worried about getting vaccinations or is selective about which vaccinations to get.
The training they received costs money. They could have left that training space to someone who has no issues getting the vaccination.
As far as i know, military service in NZ is voluntary not mandatory.
Then they should pay for the training received … I wonder how many young women join the forces because they come from lower socio-economic backgrounds and are not in a position to take out large loans to pay for tertiary or trades training? They want to get ahead…but can't afford to get into debt.
These same young women will suffer greater impact should they have to pay refund the cost of their trades training.
They were also working hands- on during that training as well as still being serving personnel, I'll have to find out if this is taken into consideration at the accounting session.
In the US, where Te Covid has run rampant with the bodies piling up in the streets, the military has struggled to bring the vaccination rates up. Even 'shoot em up' Biden has refused to make the Covid vaccines mandatory…possibly because…
Military leaders have long insisted that they cannot require coronavirus vaccinations — as they do for myriad other inoculations — because each type is being administered under an emergency use authorization and has yet to receive formal approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Meanwhile in the UK, the Vaccine roll out to the armed forces should be well underway by the end of this month. And 'Blighty has a particularly clever method for incentivising vaccine uptake…
…orders to the Royal Artillery and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers state:
“Covid-19 vaccination. Anyone who is refusing to have the CV-19 jab is to be educated by the CoC (Chain of Command) and any rumours quashed. If they still refuse they may be deemed as unfit to soldier and dealt with accordingly as the CV-19 jab may be a requirement to deploy on operations/exercises, much like yellow fever.”
The Daily Mail report(s) that by law the Army cannot force soldiers to get jabs. Yet being ‘unfit to soldier’ is an offence under the Armed Forces Act.
I had this discussion several years ago with two kids whom i have helped grow up for a while, who came from a single mom, no money household in France.
Both the boy and the girl were wanting to join the Army for training and jobskills. France is involved in military conflict in various places and has had its fair share of soldiers come back in a box or come back with all sorts of mental and physical issues.
During the discussion the kids were trying to tell me how awesome the job training would be. I agreed with them, but i also told them that the first job training they would get was that on how to best and most efficiently kill a person. I told them if you do not want to go to Mali (on of the 'conflict' zones) to kill people, you better don't join the Army. The boy did join the army, the girl did not.
So a young person in NZ i would advise that if you don't want vaccinations or are selective in the vaccinations one is comfortable with, Don't join the Army. Try and get your training elsewhere. Simple as. And joining the Army and being told what to do, when and for how long is in effect a sort of 'student loan'.
Once you join the Army, you are no longer a 'free citizen', you are a Member of the Army and as such subordinate to orders, some of whom may go against ones believes. It sucks, but as i said, the Army is voluntary here, not mandatory.
I come from Army parents, and have close relatives serving. They are aware of the cost/benefit choice they made.
During the discussion the kids were trying to tell me how awesome the job training would be. I agreed with them, but i also told them that the first job training they would get was that on how to best and most efficiently kill a person. I told them if you do not want to go to Mali (on of the 'conflict' zones) to kill people, you better don't join the Army. The boy did join the army, the girl did not.
I had the same discussion with my children. Despite the very interesting lives led by their relatives, including varied deployments, and overseas trips, including several to Antartica, the possible involvement in questionable exercises or conflicts didn't appeal.
the ones in Europe are now in Germany – Rhurland – the ones were now 188 people are dead, and a 1000 still missing, are also in Saxony, Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, last week England/London and so on and so forth.
In Bavaria and Austria alone another huge rain falls are expected. – Both Bavaria and Austria 'should' have dry summers from July/Aug/Sept.
In Canada in the meantime fruit bakes on trees and in the fields, mussels cook in their beds, and towns spontaneously combust into fire.
Maybe we need a shift form feel good Band-Aids that give us a bit of a sugar rush of 'helping the environment' and more of a realization that we are now well past the idea that tinkering on the edges will change and or prevent these 1 in 1000 years events.
And while Oregon burns in the US, Flagstaff in Texas is having flashfloods.
As for us here in NZ, i pity the people that have lost their houses as i expect them to find it quite hard to rebuild atm.
If anyone has a link for donations to local groups to give to i would appreciate it as i would love to direct some money to where need is. Thanks.
"Maybe we need a shift form feel good Band-Aids that give us a bit of a sugar rush of 'helping the environment' and more of a realization that we are now well past the idea that tinkering on the edges will change and or prevent these 1 in 1000 years events."
I agree. Often feel out of step with others when talking about the imperative need to address climate change and the destruction of the environment immediately, effectively and from now on.
Firstly, I'm a little disturbed at the premise of a cis women's only debating space. Since when did we need to be protected by white knights? I can hold my own, thank you, without anyone needing to shield me from what may come my way.
Next, who decided that we cis women needed a space? "Weka"? A sexless, anonymous entity, who may be gasp a man??
Lastly, if "Weka" intended to exclude the entire LGBT+ community in a discussion about trans people and non-binaries, then they have succeeded.
In fact, if you want to know what trans exclusionary feminism looks lok, this is it. Well done, "Weka". You've created a discussion forum straight from Mumsnet or 4Chan which debates the validity of trans women but they cannot, according to your rules, reply?
What next, a page for cis het men only, no gays, to debate the validity of heterosexuality vs homosexuality??
This is exclusionary.
It is reactionary.
It does nothing to further understanding between those who have an interest in this issue.
I look forward to the day when we don't debate the validity of an already marginalised group just because, you know, we can.
Do better please.
[well “Jane B” if you’re going to be a plonker I’ll treat you as one. Read the site Policy and About so you know what the debate culture here is and where the boundaries are. After that, if you want to join the women’s space and you are female, you will be welcome so long as you can abide by the site rules. Although I’m not sure why you would want to given your disdain for women’s space, but we’re here for the robust debate, I’m sure you’ll get some response to the issues you raise – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Agree Sabine. Obfuscation and confusion by renaming items that are not in need of renaming is evident in this whole debate. It so patently 1984 and Brave New World-esque. Humpty Dumpty said "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."
This cis montrosity has been with us since 2017. I have never seen it used in a caring sharing way only in ways to put bio women down. (A good illustration in the post we are replying to.)
Obviously it would be as a frame of reference in human differentiation.
It was not designed to marginalise the majority, female or male, but to provide a framework in which minorities were specifically included.
It's like a shell game, how many minorities can be identified and included before the majoritarian become intolerant – and at which point is peak tolerance load identified.
I don't see myself as cis either, and the word is now hugely problematic. I included it in the post as message to people who ID as cis that they're welcome too. Thing is, I fit under the trans umbrella anyway (thanks Stonewall) so "Jane B" is hoisted on her own binary thinking petard there.
Yes, this is one thing that i find so strange, many women that i know have body dysphoria to various extends, and thus might actually fit under the umbrella, but rather then go trans decided to just make peace with the biology that they are born with and i am sure that some men are also fall into that bracket.
And to believe that 'cis'ers' can't be gay/lesbian. And that to be cis means excluding gay/lesbians.
Well yes, the "TRANS" states it. All others who don't fall under this label are hence 'NOT' Trans but are maybe a whole lot of different things. And thus the label 'cis' becomes an insult rather then anything else.
You'd think one of the first rules of debate is that we all agree on certain definitions.
In this debate we really need to agree that 'biological sex' is real and cannot be changed and that that is what is recorded on one's birth certificate.
It is not 'assigned', it is observed, and in the vast majority of instances is an accurate description of the biological sex of that child. Sex is recorded as 'male' or 'female' or 'intersex'. Sometimes 'boy' or 'girl' or 'indeterminate'. Mature males and females are called 'men' and 'women'.
What the transgender community seems to be demanding is that the definition of 'sex' be permanently and artificially changed so it now means what is commonly understood to be 'gender'…a potentially fluid social construct.
Baffling indeed that this fundamental definition of a biological term has been changed with absolutely no public debate allowed whatsoever…because "violence" and "exclusion".
That would be arguing for born biological sex, distinct from sex identity. Not the same as gender ID – for example Camille Paglia, the only out lesbian of her time at Yale Graduate School, now identifies as transgender.
There is a case for an ID document separate to a birth certificate to cater to sex and gender ID where this is different to that of the birth certificate (which would suffice for the cisgender).
lol I know, right, the lack of public debate is deafening. The minister only sent letters across the spectrum, and social media is constantly sidetracked by the issue, and one or two rounds of submissions on the proposals but there's been zero "public debate". /sarc
As for "violence" and "exclusion", we're at the "slapping demonstrators" and "cops dun took our guns cos tweets" stage of it. How much longer will you keep putting quote marks around "violence" and "exclusion"?
How about we try a bit of "good faith" and at least discuss/debate the definitions at the centre of this issue.
Then we can move on to discussing if it is ok for a small minority of biological males to demand that we talk about "pregnant people" because "pregnant women" is exclusionary.
I'll give you a little clue. "Woman", by the traditional definition means "adult human female". Only female humans can be pregnant. So what is exclusionary about "pregnant women"?
If we are going to radically change the definitions of fundamental biological words we need a discussion about it, and at least some kind of consensus.
Queer ideology is a set of beliefs based on Queer Theory. This theory arose in academia, and is concerned with subverting the ‘normative’ and is invested in ‘queering’ the meaning of words and conceptual categories. Queer ideology discounts or denies biological sex, in favour of the primacy of gender identity. Following this line of thinking, same-sex orientation is now considered exclusionary,
Queer theory follows a typical Hegelian analysis form. Hegelian dialectic analysis is a pseudo logic (it doesn't form a valid logical argument) but is typical in Critical Theory fields in the analysis of power.
A Hegelian dialectic will take some supposed societal oppressive category (a thesis) and contrast it with the oppressed category (the anti-thesis) and supposedly advance discourse by reforming the categories into a synthesis.
Now in actual logic your system of logic can not contain any false statements. So much so that a valid logical argument form is proof by contradiction, where you sometimes prove a statement is untrue by assuming its true and then demonstrating that further statements which were true are now false. This is sufficient to show the statement you assumed true must have been false. So you can see why in Hegelian analysis forming a synthesis makes non-sense of facts, and that its a pseudo-logic.
The other issue being the dialectic supposedly advances society. While in logic establishing proof of some original fact didn't alter the fact that was always true, it merely demonstrated it is true. But this is the reason Critical Theory feels the need to correct peoples discourse because otherwise no advances are made.
I think this highlights why altering the meaning of terms is part of the point the way this creates nonsense discourse is not considered important at all.
So what is the purpose of this proposed "debate"? One of us will change the other's mind after the fifteen millionth iteration of the argument? Is the theory that enough repetition will stop language from evolving? What odds for reaching consensus do you give a debate on the mutability (or even the non-binary nature) of sex?
And frankly, if you think that all the discussion andwritten invitations for submissions mean "absolutely no public debate allowed whatsoever", then either Tinetti's office did not send those letters or we don't even share an understanding of the term "good faith".
And the origin of the term queer was related to indebtedness, a debt inquiry, a debt query and going to debtors prison (and for some how they paid off the debt to avoid going to prison and poor people committing theft of food etc). Related was the incarceration of homosexual men in prisons (and poor women resorting to prostitution and homosexual women being "committed" by fathers and husbands for treatment for being nonconformist).
One could make a case for queer theory being revolutionary, to change the world. Which would be the world accepting that someone not born of the female sex could have their birth certificate say they were. There are so many George Orwell quotes …
But there is another, one I have very recently invented – It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than it is for any one individual to get the world to conform to their personal life journey, as they live and experience it. For that would require them to rule the world and define truth within it.
There is of course the paradox of tolerance meme, which could be claimed as a synthesis of those claims together.
But so were clear I don't think every free expression of speech is necessarily morally good. Nor do I think Hegelian pseudo-logic is a valid logical form. Nor do I think truths are necessarily moral or falsehoods necessarily immoral.
Can't say I've overly studied the "Queer Theory" academic field (any wokeness most likely comes from sharing offices with people at the pointy end of trying to stop young queer folk being thumped or killing themselves), but I agree Hegelianism is pants.
I don't have gender or bodydysphoria, it's just that Stonewall et al have broadened the trans definitions so widely now that I fit into the GNC and gender queer categories. I don't think of myself that way particularly, but I don't think of myself as cis either.
Really? You are Trans, Weka? Forgive me, but that sounds like the setup for a joke whose punchline is Stonewall's (UK) definition of trans-ness. Probably from a thread I didn't read.
Anyway, I have to agree with Jane B that TS has a pretty trans-exclusionary reputation in NZ's rainbow community. In fact, I often get looked at sideways for saying that I engage with the site at all. But I've always thought that it is necessary to consider viewpoints other than your own.
I didn't read the "Adult human female" thread, so can't really comment on anything there. If I am going to read text on which I am forbidden from commenting, then I have stacks of that already – it seems a bit pointless for a blog.
I don't consider it a joke. If Stonewall and the gender lobbyists are going to socially engineer transness in the general population and I fit into their definition, then I fit into their definition 🤷♂️
If that backlashes on SW, fuck 'em, they should have tried working with women and lesbians in particular instead of trying to control.
Well said Weka the comment was intrusive. humourless and unwarranted. And surprising ……I had not thought it was 'on' here to comment about another's sexuality. . I was a bit surprised it was not moderated out.
I appreciate your presence here and your willingness to engage in the conversation. Having been commenting as feminist here for a long time, I don't consider TS to be a particularly safe place for feminists, or trans people, or many groups of people.
I am so happy for the German word 'Mensch'. I am a Mensch. More then my sexual organs for reproduction, more then my identification by gender, more then my own identification by my sexual attractions, but am Mensch. It seems that we forget that in our need to build boxes to neatly arrange things so that we can cope with this world that is becoming very unkind towards Menschen.
Either reject being categorised against one'swishes (easy), or work through it.
Becoming Cisgender[2020]
However, this was not the main thing: the study was before all an opportunity to form a point of view as a psychologist in the field of gender studies, where I have a certain visibility and cannot afford to make uninformed comments. It is a question of responsibility. It seemed to me that an empirical experience was necessary to shape my own perspective.
*
‟But what trans people need is something else: they need housing, jobs, access to healthcare, they need to feel safe in the public space…” In other words, more so than to be understood in the theoretical games played between the disciplines or currents, trans people need to be respected. And this can open a real discussion. Does understanding lead to respect? Not necessarily, because we ‟understand” with our intellectual filters, which can be pathologising, condescending, etc. Respect is a question of ethics. We either respect a person unconditionally or not at all. However, this lack of respect and the forms of violence it gives rise to, are what trans people truly have in common and which in itself would justify talking about trans identity.
* Refusing Cis-Normativity
What does it mean, becoming cis? For the first time, a category is imposed, imposes itself on the political checkboard of gender identities, by a discriminated population that invents it from scratch to designate those that discriminate it. It is possible not to recognize oneself in this category and refuse using it; however, this immediately designates a looking-down-upon or a cis-normative position. On the other hand, becoming cis means taking the other’s speech seriously. We recognize ourselves in the interpellation (in the Althusserian sense) coming from the trans community; we credit the other with a certain knowledge and a social and political efficacy that represents a form of authority, one that can summon us. This should be duly noted.
Is this a quote from somewhere? If so link please. Thanks.
As an early adopter of Ms then more than happy with forename surname forms of address, I have and will continue to look at the ciswoman.
At first glance and several other glances it has always struck me as an attempt to 'other' and in the long history of woman & politics and life yet more instances or opportunities of othering is the last thing women need.
Apologies Shanreagh, I botched embedding the link to Molinier’s paper "Becoming Cisgender" – hopefully this one works.
Pascale Molinier is professor of social psychology at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and director of Les cahiers du genre. Her research themes are gendered division of labour, relationship between mental health and work, care ethics, feminist epistemology.
Re ‘othering‘, perhaps ‘cis‘ is an attempt by some in the trans community to allow us ‘normies’ to reflect on how it might feel to be ‘othered’? Just guessing.
You might be a normie, but a hell of a lot of GCFs, women, and lesbians aren't. You think we don't know how it might feel to be 'othered'? Why do you think that?
I feel like a 'normie', even though (very) few might see me as such.
Weka, I wouldn't presume to suggest that you, or indeed any stranger, doesn't know how it might feel to be 'othered'. If you believe that's what I'm suggesting, then we can respectfully agree to disagree – this shouldn’t become personal, imho.
Fwiw, I read Molinier's paper for the first time today, and found it both compelling and transformative.
My respect and understanding is evolving. I believe I learn new things everyday (and try to integrate them into my worldview), but then I am becoming rather forgetful. Kia kaha.
The word cisgender is the antonym of transgender. The prefix cis- is not an acronym or abbreviation of another word; it is derived from Latin meaning on this side of, and the word cissexual was invented in the 1990s from the German zissexuell.
…
Cisgender has its origin in the Latin-derived prefix cis-, meaning 'on this side of', which is the opposite of trans-, meaning 'across from' or 'on the other side of'. This usage can be seen in the cis–trans distinction in chemistry, the cis and trans sides of the Golgi apparatus in cellular biology, the cis–trans or complementation test in genetics, in Ciscaucasia (from the Russian perspective), in the ancient Roman term Cisalpine Gaul (i.e., 'Gaul on this side of the Alps'), Ciskei and Transkei (separated by the Kei River), and more recently, Cisjordan, as distinguished from Transjordan. In the case of gender, cis- describes the alignment of gender identity with assigned sex.
Personally i identify as WitchBitch, pronouns this and that. 🙂 s/
If a person does not call herself or himself as 'cis' no one should. Either we are cool with self identifying ourselves as what ever we want or we are not.
Agreed. However I'm weird, because I don't identify as anything. Probably others identify me as something, but I don't give a fig what it is. I quite like TS Eliot's maxim – "the progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality". Or better still Keats' insistence on the loss of self in the moment "…if a sparrow come before my window I take part in its existence and pick about the gravel." We live in strange times that the self should matter so much.
I often read the cis-woman combo word in the company of words like Terf, transphobic or bigot. .
Why would that be?
Cis seems to be in use as a rather derogatory term (as many woman related phrases are) and here I salute Sabine's WitchBitch). and I would rather not use a label like ‘cis’ anything.
What is being done, do you know, to counter the use of the combo word cis-woman in a pejorative sense?
Cis isn't derogatory or a pejorative though, it is an adjective used to add meaning just like trans is. Definitionally 'Witch/Bitch' certainly is derogatory and a pejorative. You seem comfortable with that, why is that?
Witch bitch is a call out to the angel/bitch dichotomy that woman face everyday. It is also a recognition of the fact that women with different ideas to the patriarchy in times gone past were often labelled, then lost their lives, because they were felt to be witches*.
It is an example self deprecating female humour, We need humour, it opens doors sometimes. For this reason if I had a choice on an official form between cis-anything and witch bitch I would probably chose 'witchbitch'. For the laugh, for the recognition of the place that witches have played in the history of women……
Also in recognition that older women of any sexual leaning are not 'seen' in our current world. They never have been. While it gives us freedom to operate outside the edges of society it is irritating as well We have ageist propaganda used against us, if people can get away with it they 'Karen' us.
Cis is so ugly. I see it often lumped in with Terf etc. So I am suspicious.
*And why this should be is is the stuff of Women's Studies and has a foundation in the hidden nature of the female sexual response together with the impact of wise words that older woman, in every society I have been in, often irritatingly have to say in mixed company.
Witchbitch harks back, it's tongue in cheek…….I love it. Showing my age now but it makes me think of the old Helen Reddy song that was a stalwart for some back in the day 'I am woman'
If you have not heard of it here is the song……changing it to put cis-woman does not work does it? Yet it is relevant and much more powerful because the word is not it chopped up in tiny othering pieces…It speaks to women no matter how we want to define ourselves/what we look like.
You can cis but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul
We can’t decry the ‘hollowing out’ of terms and definitions if we are also going disregard or create new meanings for other words, based on a perceived ‘ugliness’ or unfamiliarity.
I haven't hollowed out any words. I do not see the need for tiny little chopped up words to describe biology. I am not keen in Cis because
a) it is not necessary ……main point
b) it is an example of 'othering' that we do not need second main point.
c) it is so b…. ugly……also concerning
Indeed I supported a poster on the Womens' Day thread who stated
We do not need to empty the terms woman and female of meaning in order to protect trans rights
Back in the day Ms was thought to be ugly. We realised that it had a great use to anonymise the marital status of women, something men had been able to do for aeons. We recognised therefore that it was pro-women.
I have yet to be convinced that my status as a cis-woman is pro women at all. In fact the point is I have more often seen it sharing it paragraphs with words like 'Terfs', 'oldies', 'bigots' and 'transphobic'.
because I was not consulted about whether I wanted to be labelled this way. It has been foisted on me and others
it is a label inserted where no label was needed. All that is needed are a few extra words to describe the category, if one is needed.
it signifies division and 'othering' Women as a group do not need any more othering and made-up names unless we self select them.
it keeps bad company with Terf, transphobic and bigot also oldie
it does not seem to be a step on the path of enhancing the lot of women, in the widest sense, in society.
it has no back story, pedigree or 'aha' moment that would make it relevant for women – it has come from nowhere that I recognise
Having had friends from the 1970s who identified themselves as 'Trannies' more along the lines of drag queens and Carmen & workmates I am familiar with the prefix 'trans'. The prefix trans "across, over, or beyond."is used far more in day to day life.
Again there was a mine of self deprecating humour behind the adoption of the term Trannies by my friends. I'm smiling to myself just thinking about them and their sayings. One of them had a 9-5 job as a male (dressing etc) in a Govt dept.
Anyway……that's it from me on the use of 'cis' . Female/woman suits me. You could add; for reasons where this was necessary, like enrolment for health care; 'female with hetero orientation'.
Cis isn't derogatory or a pejorative though, it is an adjective used to add meaning just like trans is. Definitionally 'Witch/Bitch' certainly is derogatory and a pejorative. You seem comfortable with that, why is that?
Witch/bitch here was self ID. In the same way that black people have reclaimed the word nigger, and homosexuals have reclaimed queer. Context determines if something is derogatory or a pejorative.
Cis is a term applied by one group to another whether the other group wants that or not. That's bullshit. And it’s fast becoming a pejorative.
if it's about self, sure. I know very few people that politically object to other people's self expression. Gender self-ID is a different thing where it impacts on women politically and socially as a class, and where GAs actively suppress women being able to talk about that. Can you see the difference?
I am wondering if rather than hollowing out/emptying the words man/woman or male/female we leave them and then say
male includes but is not limited to…….
female includes but is not limited to
intersex includes but is not limited to
unspecified X includes but is not limited to
Different people have different needs and the medical surgical needs of any of our rainbows could be catered for by greater specificity where it matters ie in day to day life access to healthcare. housing education. So any health plans that came up to MOH would need to show that the agency recognised and was catering for everybody.
Self-ID is definitionally about the self, but it is good to know we don’t object to that then.
And yet Gender self-ID is different?
I guess I fail to see how we can not object to other peoples self expression while at the same time considering gender self-ID to be something other than someone else’s self expression.
I have left a comment at the very bottom of the women thread in regards to the self ID bill. Please read it – it might at the very least makes my stance to it clearer.
For the record i have hired worked with and have until she moved to a different town for her studies a transgender women. She came recommended as a good pastry chef / baker and i came recommended as a 'welcoming' workplace of people who don't fit in neat boxes. My workplace was her first step at 'social' transitioning.
I guess I fail to see how we can not object to other peoples self expression while at the same time considering gender self-ID to be something other than someone else’s self expression.
I thought I already explained that. Society should be free enough so that people can express themselves how they want. Men can wear dresses, women can look like men, gay pride, vanilla sex, whatever. There are some limits on this (eg I think prohibitions on public nudity are good for society, I don't think Pride marches should had dog fetishists or nappy festishists hanging out with kids while in role)
Gender-self ID where it intends to suppress other people's needs and politics and expressions is a different thing. If we are talking about legislation that will impact on women and women are being pressured to not talk about it or have say, then that's a really different thing than self expression. I want women (ie biologically female) only space, and if some people in society want to change that, then as a woman I want a full and open debate on what is fair. We haven't had that yet.
Society should be free enough so that people can express themselves how they want. Men can wear dresses, women can look like men, gay pride, vanilla sex, whatever.
So to clarify: this ‘whatever’ allows trans people to express themselves how they want?
Gender-self ID where it intends to suppress other people’s needs and politics and expressions is a different thing
This is where you lose me, how does gender-self ID intend to supress etc. etc.? It allows people to express themselves how they want.
I want women (ie biologically female) only space, and if some people in society want to change that
What is this space you want? Where is it? If it’s a space meant for all the public then that seems unrealistic.
I want a full and open debate on what is fair. We haven’t had that yet.
I dispute that we haven’t had the ‘debate’, what we have is an impasse. However, what does a full and open debate look like, and what do you think is the fair outcome/answer to the debate?
Arkie, for mine the separation is between birth certificate status and subsequent status/identification.
I have no problem with an identity certificate saying a person has the legal name Samantha, a female sex identity and their date of birth (but their birth certificate says they were born male sex and they were named Sam). I would add the option of adding gender ID and name known by to this identity certificate. And this identity certificate can be used for getting a drivers licence or passport.
Such an identity certificate could also be used by cisgender people to add a gender ID and provide greater information to employers and community/club groups than the birth certificate does.
It would be great, while you are here, if you could go through the posts and answer the questions that many have asked.
That would be a great use if time rather than slinging off at others who may be your supporters but do not (yet) have the answers to their questions or concerns.
There are too many queries to list here but if you scroll down through the posts .and answer them in a factual unemotive way …..
But for those who disagree, their choice is to provide and or utilise a womans space.
It's a bit like the control of the body thing, personal choice. Beyond that is freedom of association. Then beyond that the right to be free from discrimination.
PS. Two cisgender females questioning each others ID as women is taking “debate” too far.
There is a special column open for women and other entities for their particular assertions so why is Open Mike flooded with input on identity politics?
Do a large number of such people want to take over NZ/the western world and impose their authoritarian views upon it?
Um … this was moved from that womans space to open mike (presumably because of the questioning of the need for there to be a separate place for this debate).
I'm struggling enough with the thought that Boris is trying his best to do exactly that with his "Freedom Day". I don't even want to go near contemplating what the consequences of his arrogance and stupidity may actually mean.
I just keep reinforcing to her to stay home. Fortunately she doesn't need much convincing.
Someone said on a different blog, that covid like with climate change, the ones who make rules know that it is real, but they expect themselves to survive and if half of the rest of the world dies then that can only be good.
Friends in the US and in England have stated that even while vaccinated they will continue to wear masks, keep social distance and still limit their outings in many ways.
So the best that one can do is hope that people will take this seriously, and try themselves to be safe, advice from their governments be damned.
The Auckland based Immunisation Advisory Centre, appears to have such a monopolistic contract with the MoH that university's are unable to train their own students as vaccinators during a Pandemic. What?
"We have been trying for so long and every so often I get to the point where I think, ‘Oh just leave it’ but then I think of all the good that all our vaccinators could be doing and think that perhaps I shouldn’t give up."
There's "a clear plurality of New Zealanders either strongly or somewhat oppose the Government’s proposals – 43 percent in total. But, the number of eligible voters who somewhat or strongly support the proposed measures, at 31 percent, represents an extremely solid minority. With 15 percent of voters currently taking a “neutral” stance, the Prime Minister still has everything to play for."
So the undecided hold the key – no surprise. What comes out of the submissions process will be crucial, and I'm expecting that the bill which eventually goes to select committee will be quite conservative and woke idealists will become disillusioned.
Trotter illuminates the multitude of ways that the proposal is divisive, supplying the stats on those resulting divisions. They will spook Labour moderates big-time…
So the undecided hold the key – no surprise. What comes out of the submissions process will be crucial, and I’m expecting that the bill which eventually goes to select committee will be quite conservative and woke idealists will become disillusioned.
Why do you conflate an opinion poll and submissions to SC? Do you believe that bills are decided in some kind of popularity contests in/by SC and ‘decided by undecided’, i.e. a simple count of for & against submissions? In the end, the whole Parliament gets to debate and then vote on the bill, not the SC.
In any case, a poll is just a snapshot and I’d like to think that there could be considerable movement in those opinions, e.g., support becomes undecided, et cetera.
I agree re snapshot & movement & dunno why you see me conflating the poll & sc. What I meant re the undecided is that the public mood will firm up pro & con when the govt produces the bill to go to select committee & the media reports the details.
That's what usually happens, eh? The govt is seeking submissions in order to finalise their design of the bill, right? So the interim proposal seems nebulous to many & they wait to make up their mind on the government's reading of the public mood and the subsequent (re) design – which will then head into the sc. If you think the process works differently than that I hope you will explain precisely how (I've never been party to the process so can't testify from personal experience).
Dunno why you reply with such binary waffle straight out of PDF’s spin manual.
The way the process works is that Government takes professional and expert advice from wide range of sources as well as feedback provided through the submission process to SC. Maybe you need to re-read the piece in the NZH by Russell Palmer that you linked to in OM this morning, yes?
You do realise that making law is not a popularity contest but for the benefit of all New Zealanders and the whole NZ society, yes?
Finally just getting time to look at the comment editor again. I 'fixed' it on the 11th, and did a bit of fiddling sometime last week. I was a bit sick over the last two weeks so I'm unsure exactly where I left it.
I was getting my rental apartment ready for new tenants over this last weekend. My extremely valued previous tenants got a bigger place for their new cat, and started accumulating their own furniture. But I'll try to have a look at it this week.
I see that I lost the edges of the edit box.
There is a known issue with the Cancel edit button.
Anything else that I should look at (I'll scan through the previous comments as well).
A few of us still have issues commenting from Mobile phones. I can't comment from Desktop view, the text box is there but won't take the cursor. Can comment from Mobile but don't like it because there is no Replies or Comments list, which makes it harder to follow what is going on (including for moderation). https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-07-2021/#comment-1803279
Posting images in comments still seems quite tricky to get the size right. This could probably be solved by me writing a protocol for how to do that as a reference.
All I did was to take your image url. Pressed the image button tool. Added URL, tabbed out of the field. It them loaded the original size of 4000+ pixels. I clicked into that field and changed it to 250. It adjusted the height. Saved it.
The one below was the same, but I didn't set a size. Then I clicked into the image and set the width to 450. Did this on chrome on linux.
All I did was to take your image url. Pressed the image button tool. Added URL, tabbed out of the field. It them loaded the original size of 4000+ pixels. I clicked into that field and changed it to 250. It adjusted the height. Saved it.
Interesting. I was able to comment from teh Desktop/mobile phone by trying to post an image with the image button. Couldn't size the image so deleted it but this left me an active cursor text box. Cursor was still there when I replied to my own comment below Sacha, but disappeared again when I went to reply to 12.1
While it looks like there are multiple comment areas. There is in fact just one on any one page. It just gets moved from place to place.
When you save a comment (ie force s refresh of the page) or manual refresh it, then the comment will get updated as part of the page load.
Currently the Cancel comment button isn't working because it has some old handlers in it and just doesn't work. I have to try for that again this weekend.
Third time trying to post in the right place (keeps taking me back to where I started to comment but decided not to after reloading the page). Apologies if this has caused any issues.
Sounds like it was inevitable someone stuck overseas would get this in front of the Ombudsman.
Read yesterday of a lovely lady who has had surgery to have mesh inserted, and now is stuck in the US in pain and without the ability to pay for treatment or book in our MIQ system.
This isn’t about her, but a tech dude stuck in Singapore and unable to book without bot help.
Sean Gourley, a Canterbury University Physics and Complex Systems PhD who went on to become a NASA research scientist before founding an AI startup, divides his time between the US and NZ, and told Brewer's experience was typical. Gourley's logs showed bookings "happening in under 750 milliseconds [three-quarters of a second] which is faster than a human can navigate this UX [user-interface].
Maybe some sort of STV+lottery process would be better – every day opens a new bunch of slots, you apply in order of preference, then at the end of the day they divvy up the slots randomly? With a certain allocation for priority/humanitarian entry?
Stonewall are over in the UK, I don't know how they define gender, Weka. From an Aotearoan perspective, I would argue that; the National Council of Women are better placed for any NZ woman to interact with if they are wanting to affect NZ law.
I particularly like this diagram of theirs. With the whole debate being but a tiny aspect of many social interactions within the overarching issue of climate change. If we don't get that right, then I doesn't really matter who does what where.
Sure some of the reaction to the term "cisgender" comes because of a disagreement with those who use the categorisation – just as resistance to "Pakeha identity" comes from those of the assimilationist or integration, rather than bi-national identity and recognition of indigenous peoples status.
But what's influencing my current perspective is the value of the female sex birth status to those who do not conform to feminine stereotype in physique or social aspect. If we allow people to change their birth sex status this can have unintended consequences for this group.
Resistance to Pakeha from white folk includes it being a name they did not create for themselves. So much so that Stats NZ stopped using it after a massive backlash.
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Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
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Thinking of those so badly affected by weather events, in both islands and in Europe.
I wonder if those people on the lowest wage rate feel any better off now that they are earning $20 an hour. With inflation running high they will now need another pay rise to keep up. But that will increase inflation further.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125733642/nzs-jump-in-inflation-to-33-a-problem-of-growth-says-finance-minister
It was inevitable that inflation would rise due to a global pandemic.
Can it be forecast how quick and how high inflation will rise?
Funny how we always hear about wage rises, "causing inflation" and not extra profit taking, bank interest rates, asset stripping, privatisation of infrastructure and services, the increase in capital share of the economy, while the wages share has decreased, and executive salaries.
We have just had this illustrated locally with dog licence fees. A 50% increase. Obviously the private contractor that won the contract with a cheap quote isn't making enough, despite dropping the pay of their staff when they took over
My large coffee from Dunkin donuts went from $5.60 to $6.00 pretty much as soon as the wage increases came in to effect. (I hadn't noticed dog regos increasing that much, I just paid $107 but cant remember what I paid last year).
I still think reducing tax on the first say, $30k of earnings, would have been better than increasing costs to businesses and therefore inflation.
I would agree with removing the ,"paper boy tax".
However continuing to subsidise inefficient businesses with low wages, that tax payers then have to top up, is not good for the economy or even business, long term
I'd rather have the government with the tax revenues to pay nurses more and fully staff wards.
That requires taxes on those who can afford to pay, and have also benefited the most from tax funding.
Those of us who are well off. Including CGT, etc so that those currently avoiding tax have to contribute.
Incomes under say 30k should not be taxed
There is a high tax loss to a zero tax band up to $30,000 (one would have to apply a 33 cents rate from $30,000 to claw the cut back from those on higher than median wage incomes).
The historic alternative was an income tax rebate for those on lower incomes.
Not impossible. If we apply the same rate we do now to the band's up to twice the median income. And taxed gains, and income with a top rate similar to Oz.
Would be nice if those with non-working (disabled, unwell or otherwise) partners got a tax break.
The extra $5,000 to $6,000 paid in tax each year over a couple earning the same amount via two incomes would at least allow one income couples to join Kiwi-saver or pay a bit extra off the mortgage.
It is a decent chink of extra money that goes to the government while trying to support two people. Basically $100 plus per week net income.
Coffee bean increases are well up with Arabica up 56%,as are most food groups reaching decade price levels globally.
https://twitter.com/i/events/1416772045053087746
Food security is a well defined boundary under the Paris agreement,something policymakers need to understand.
Everyone seems to forget about commercial rents. In several local businesses I have numbers for, it exceeds the wage bill.
Typically rent increases recently have been 50 to 100% while total costs of employees have increased around 10%.
Commercial rent growth should have been constrained,due to the Covid response policy of the reintroduction of depreciation.Rates growth however are ursury at best.
well, not everyone will feel better, never mind inflation.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/majority-beneficiaries-wont-20-better-off-despite-budget-boost
One hand giveth, one hand taketh. Thus it is, and always was.
+1. And that $15 will likely fall short of the rise in the cost of living in reality, regardless of spin.
3.3%, huh. Tragic lol
$20/hr from $18.90/hr = 5.8% increase.
Inflation 3.3%.
2.6% pay rise in real terms.
But you had a 7.1% hike in your latte price. I suspect you're using faux concern for the wellbeing of minimum wage workers to preserve your comfortable emphatically-not-minimum-wage lifesyle, Mr $6 Coffee.
That's a long-winded "Wanker!".
lol
It’s addressing the comment rather than shooting the messenger with crass insults that could draw attention from Moderators.
lol Sorry Incognito… but Jimmy!!
Now why would you focus on coffee rather than rent or food? Trying to think why that would be.
Because that's what Jimmy brought into the discussion.
Responding to what is actually in someone else's comment often seems to cause confusion around here, or even be regarded as an unfair tactic. If you can figure out why that would be, let me know.
Coffee was just the first example I thought of. Yes rents and petrol have increased significantly too but not due to minimum wage increase. Also many examples of price increases at the supermarket (even the cheap bread).
I still believe the tax bands need to be increased (as KJT has mentioned above) as you only need to earn over $48k in a year to then start paying 30% which IMO is way too high. Even a person fulltime on minimum wage is getting close ($41,600?) to that rate.
Sorry about the wanker observation.
In my wafer thin defence, it was buying from Dunkin Donuts that tipped me over the edge. In a past life I was a pioneer, introducing espresso to a rural town.
The news of Government giving and taking, it was under National exactly the same. So why so bitter that it is exactly the same under Labour.
Actually
rents have gone up,
insurance cost have gone up,
dairy has gone up,
eggs, flower etc all gone up,
rates – paid by the leaseholders of commercial properties up,
as for the wage increase this 1 dollar will also affect kiwi saver, holiday pay, sick leave, maternity leave, bereavement leave, domestic violence leave, miscarriage leave etc.
Coffee is getting very expensive soon, in your supermarket too, as well like Cocoa Beans and soon enough also Tea we are hell bent on cutting down the forrests that grow these fruits in order to grow some soy beans n stuff. But if you grow dandylions in your garden – pesticide free of course – you can dig the roots up, roast them and they will make a good Kaffee Ersatz.
As for the 6 dollar coffee, no one needs to buy one. Free country.
By a jar and make your own for ten cents lol
lol Buy!!
To be fair I expect when you look at the 'basket' of goods used to calculate the cpi the items which a minimum wage earner would buy have increased greater than the 3.3 percent figure.
yeah, probably. I suspect an expression of genuine concern would look at issues like that, rather than bitching about the price of lattes.
But then talking rents and basics here is like reminding Greenpeace members that greenhouse gases are bad.
Tories are all about concern for the poor when they really want to leverage that concern to only help themselves.
When they get a pay rise and the lattes are still cheap, their concern for the poor is promptly overruled by the plight of the struggling small business owner who is being extorted by hospo/retail/farm workers who want a living wage.
The MW goes up every year. 2.5% on $20 is 50 cents (even National increased it by that much most years). Labour usually does it by around a dollar – that's 5%.
Inflation while house prices flat-line (as they will when mortgage rates rise) is the only way to reduce property values to incomes.
Jimmy, there is a pandemic on. I guess by your rhetorical question you think there is no sensible reply.
Imported inflation and transport woes, creating competition for goods is the cause of 2/3rds of the inflation.
Nobody is really "better off" in the current situation. Even those gaining through house sales are finding rises outstrip the "gain" unless they are buying down or cashing up.
Those on lower fixed incomes will feel it most along with the unemployed and underemployed. The fact the economy is bouyant gives job security for many.
Those business models relying on low paid workers with low margins on high volumes, will come under pressure, and yes those workers are always at the margins. Some businesses need a government mandate to raise wages.
Sadly when they get squeezed they cut hours. Then they wonder why people are not spending. Self defeating behaviour.
Often they will blame regulations or employment law for their predicament, as it has become a mind set in, for example, the fast food industry.
The Olympic games test athletes physically and psychologically. Due to the global Covid – 19 pandemic it is likely that medal contention will come down to not being infected with Covid or if infected with Covid how a person's immune system responds.
I am interested to know if an athlete will be disqualified because they are infected with Covid or if they are a close contact and will be told to isolate?
The South African athletes and support staff (2+1) who tested positive are isolating. The British (6+2) who were contacts of different positive individual on the flight over to Japan are confined to their rooms for now, waiting test results.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/18/south-africa-footballers-test-positive-for-covid-19-in-tokyo-olympic-village
If it manages to take out all human competitors before a sport's medal ceremony, the Olympics ought to award the medal for that sport to the virus!
It appears that teams competing are a lot more vulnerable than individual competitors.
Any ceremony for awarding medals is going to be contentious due to appeals for being disqualified.
Can the Olympic Committee prevent an athlete from competing due to Covid?
This sounds like a nasty risk for anyone who has used certain apps on their phones. And it's not entirely certain what apps they all are yet. WhatsApp and iMessage seem particularly vulnerable.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/18/what-is-pegasus-spyware-and-how-does-it-hack-phones
Fortunately, it seems the old; switch it off then on again, trick still works for the moment. I prefer to leave my phone in a bag pocket where it can't spy on me when I am not using it, though I guess it still gets location data and incoming messages there. However, I do often miss text beeps; which is sometimes an advantage and sometimes a disadvantage
That’s enough for me to turn off iMessage. Hardly ever use it anyway
how does putting your phone in a bag stop it being tracked?
Having my phone in a pocket of a handbag inside a backpack blocks the camera from filming me under remote control. It probably also muffles the audio to the point where it is ambiguous unusable too. Doesn't do anything about being cell-tower location tracked though (unless I fully turn it off as well – some people say take the battery out too, but that's easier said than done with newer phones).
TBH, I mainly do it so all my stuff is in one easily grabbable package when I need to rush out somewhere while juggling kids.
Ah, I get you now.
I have location services turned off as default and a few other tricks, but it's getting harder and harder.
I know my Samsung 4g phone not only eavesdrops on verbal conversations but also 'mines' data from text messages. Where we live we have very limited and occasional cell coverage, so it is only the occasional txt that gets through. I once sent a txt to an acquaintance suggesting a particular make and model of campervan she could consider buying. Within 1/2 an hour this laptop I'm using now threw up an ad for the self-same vehicle. The phone and laptop share our independent provider wifi. This type of thing has been happening for a few years now and has gone beyond spooky. Short of putting the phone in a foil-lined baggie….we have no idea how to manage this other than having the occasional piss-take loud conversation to see if we can provoke a Minority Report response.
And because our wifi also provides our 'landline' phone, a power cut would render us incommunicado. Keeping the cellphone in a spot where occasionally we get reception is kind of necessary.
The move from copper wire landlines to broadband connected landline phones would enable warrant less surveillance.
Ah, copper! Chorus, bless them, no longer maintain the copper lines here in the North of the North. Those still on the copper have seriously shit service. Those of us unable to hook into the copper rely on either crap cell- based hotspotting or line -of- sight signal wifi such as Uber. Which doesn't work in a power cut.
My Vodafone source no longer provides copper landline service in areas where its HFC cable service is available (Wellington and Christchurch) – we get our phones linked to the broadband modem (presumably so they can stop paying Chorus for the copper wire upkeep).
That's all they can be sure of having proved it out.
Zero day vulnerabilities in the OS, Bluetooth, network etc and the no touch aspect are major concerns….what's not known and currently being exploited.
I thought that the govt made most apprenticeships free? If so you have to ask the question, when the armed forces demonstrate so clearly how you will be treated, why stay on?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125748342/covid19-defence-force-booting-unvaccinated-apprentices-off-trades
Given that the Defence Force is managing many of the MIQ facilities, and so where they are being deployed at the moment… that seems to be in line with existing protocols for vaccination when they are deployed overseas and need to get vaccinated for malaria, diptheria etc.
It's one of the many expectations that are made of you when you enlist. Should not come as a surprise.
From your link: “But it’s no different to any other vaccination process we go through. There will be a number of people who cannot be vaccinated, and an obvious one is pregnant service people and those that have underlying issues at the moment.
“So we’re not going hard on any issue. We’re just saying you need to volunteer. It’s no different to what they’ve volunteered for in joining the organisation.”
My nephew has just recently marched out, in one of the first intakes since Covid-hit. He will be in a trade, BUT his first deployment is to an MIQ unit. The Defence Force has responsibilities beyond providing trades training, and interweaves both.
A young friend has been serving for nearly a decade and has been in Trades Training for less than a year. She has declined this vaccine as there was no satisfactory guarantee that it will not affect her ability to have kids…the Pfizer mRNA vaccine having no long term safety data on effects on fertility. The sticking point here is that instead of being able to simply leave the armed forces, she has to work out her time to make up for time spent doing her trades training. This will be a very difficult time for her and the other 'refusniks' as since she is not vaccinated with this new vaccine her duties will be extremely limited.
As is said in the article…this The Return of Service Obligation is vindictive, under these circumstances.
Just let them leave, and get on with their lives.
Some of these youngsters are highly skilled and very capable and have much to offer the wider community.
Then they should pay for the training received as they are highly skilled and very capable and have much to offer to the wider community and where they will be paid according to their skills.
don't join a group that has mandatory vaccinations if one is worried about getting vaccinations or is selective about which vaccinations to get.
The training they received costs money. They could have left that training space to someone who has no issues getting the vaccination.
As far as i know, military service in NZ is voluntary not mandatory.
Then they should pay for the training received … I wonder how many young women join the forces because they come from lower socio-economic backgrounds and are not in a position to take out large loans to pay for tertiary or trades training? They want to get ahead…but can't afford to get into debt.
These same young women will suffer greater impact should they have to pay refund the cost of their trades training.
They were also working hands- on during that training as well as still being serving personnel, I'll have to find out if this is taken into consideration at the accounting session.
In the US, where Te Covid has run rampant with the bodies piling up in the streets, the military has struggled to bring the vaccination rates up. Even 'shoot em up' Biden has refused to make the Covid vaccines mandatory…possibly because…
Military leaders have long insisted that they cannot require coronavirus vaccinations — as they do for myriad other inoculations — because each type is being administered under an emergency use authorization and has yet to receive formal approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
Meanwhile in the UK, the Vaccine roll out to the armed forces should be well underway by the end of this month. And 'Blighty has a particularly clever method for incentivising vaccine uptake…
…orders to the Royal Artillery and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers state:
“Covid-19 vaccination. Anyone who is refusing to have the CV-19 jab is to be educated by the CoC (Chain of Command) and any rumours quashed. If they still refuse they may be deemed as unfit to soldier and dealt with accordingly as the CV-19 jab may be a requirement to deploy on operations/exercises, much like yellow fever.”
The Daily Mail report(s) that by law the Army cannot force soldiers to get jabs. Yet being ‘unfit to soldier’ is an offence under the Armed Forces Act.
I had this discussion several years ago with two kids whom i have helped grow up for a while, who came from a single mom, no money household in France.
Both the boy and the girl were wanting to join the Army for training and jobskills. France is involved in military conflict in various places and has had its fair share of soldiers come back in a box or come back with all sorts of mental and physical issues.
During the discussion the kids were trying to tell me how awesome the job training would be. I agreed with them, but i also told them that the first job training they would get was that on how to best and most efficiently kill a person. I told them if you do not want to go to Mali (on of the 'conflict' zones) to kill people, you better don't join the Army. The boy did join the army, the girl did not.
So a young person in NZ i would advise that if you don't want vaccinations or are selective in the vaccinations one is comfortable with, Don't join the Army. Try and get your training elsewhere. Simple as. And joining the Army and being told what to do, when and for how long is in effect a sort of 'student loan'.
Once you join the Army, you are no longer a 'free citizen', you are a Member of the Army and as such subordinate to orders, some of whom may go against ones believes. It sucks, but as i said, the Army is voluntary here, not mandatory.
I come from Army parents, and have close relatives serving. They are aware of the cost/benefit choice they made.
During the discussion the kids were trying to tell me how awesome the job training would be. I agreed with them, but i also told them that the first job training they would get was that on how to best and most efficiently kill a person. I told them if you do not want to go to Mali (on of the 'conflict' zones) to kill people, you better don't join the Army. The boy did join the army, the girl did not.
I had the same discussion with my children. Despite the very interesting lives led by their relatives, including varied deployments, and overseas trips, including several to Antartica, the possible involvement in questionable exercises or conflicts didn't appeal.
Everything costs in one form or another.
A little nice tool to check just where the world is on fire – well unless the world is drowning.
This little neat feature now has a 'bio' option and all the little red and yellow dots are fires. Siberia. oh boy.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/bio/surface/level/annot=fires/orthographic=134.78,23.31,396/loc=134.666,23.090
And while we have our own floods here,
the ones in Europe are now in Germany – Rhurland – the ones were now 188 people are dead, and a 1000 still missing, are also in Saxony, Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, last week England/London and so on and so forth.
In Bavaria and Austria alone another huge rain falls are expected. – Both Bavaria and Austria 'should' have dry summers from July/Aug/Sept.
In Canada in the meantime fruit bakes on trees and in the fields, mussels cook in their beds, and towns spontaneously combust into fire.
Maybe we need a shift form feel good Band-Aids that give us a bit of a sugar rush of 'helping the environment' and more of a realization that we are now well past the idea that tinkering on the edges will change and or prevent these 1 in 1000 years events.
And while Oregon burns in the US, Flagstaff in Texas is having flashfloods.
https://twitter.com/christofspieler/status/1415496090015698944
As for us here in NZ, i pity the people that have lost their houses as i expect them to find it quite hard to rebuild atm.
If anyone has a link for donations to local groups to give to i would appreciate it as i would love to direct some money to where need is. Thanks.
"Maybe we need a shift form feel good Band-Aids that give us a bit of a sugar rush of 'helping the environment' and more of a realization that we are now well past the idea that tinkering on the edges will change and or prevent these 1 in 1000 years events."
I agree. Often feel out of step with others when talking about the imperative need to address climate change and the destruction of the environment immediately, effectively and from now on.
Firstly, I'm a little disturbed at the premise of a cis women's only debating space. Since when did we need to be protected by white knights? I can hold my own, thank you, without anyone needing to shield me from what may come my way.
Next, who decided that we cis women needed a space? "Weka"? A sexless, anonymous entity, who may be gasp a man??
Lastly, if "Weka" intended to exclude the entire LGBT+ community in a discussion about trans people and non-binaries, then they have succeeded.
In fact, if you want to know what trans exclusionary feminism looks lok, this is it. Well done, "Weka". You've created a discussion forum straight from Mumsnet or 4Chan which debates the validity of trans women but they cannot, according to your rules, reply?
What next, a page for cis het men only, no gays, to debate the validity of heterosexuality vs homosexuality??
This is exclusionary.
It is reactionary.
It does nothing to further understanding between those who have an interest in this issue.
I look forward to the day when we don't debate the validity of an already marginalised group just because, you know, we can.
Do better please.
[well “Jane B” if you’re going to be a plonker I’ll treat you as one. Read the site Policy and About so you know what the debate culture here is and where the boundaries are. After that, if you want to join the women’s space and you are female, you will be welcome so long as you can abide by the site rules. Although I’m not sure why you would want to given your disdain for women’s space, but we’re here for the robust debate, I’m sure you’ll get some response to the issues you raise – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Who decided that we are 'Cis-women"? Seriously, who did, and why do have i to adhere to this standard?
Cis-women is more and more becoming an insult, if it not ever was intended to be one.
I am not a cis anything, i am a biological women, born with the attributes of the 'female' of the human species.
So please, you too, do better.
Agree Sabine. Obfuscation and confusion by renaming items that are not in need of renaming is evident in this whole debate. It so patently 1984 and Brave New World-esque. Humpty Dumpty said "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."
This cis montrosity has been with us since 2017. I have never seen it used in a caring sharing way only in ways to put bio women down. (A good illustration in the post we are replying to.)
It is laughable if it were not so serious.
It's been around a while longer.
Obviously it would be as a frame of reference in human differentiation.
It was not designed to marginalise the majority, female or male, but to provide a framework in which minorities were specifically included.
It's like a shell game, how many minorities can be identified and included before the majoritarian become intolerant – and at which point is peak tolerance load identified.
Does it not mean 'real'? I'm going to interpret it as meaning 'real' from now on.
Have I got this right? You think cis means real? Are you saying that women are real and trans women aren't?
I don't see myself as cis either, and the word is now hugely problematic. I included it in the post as message to people who ID as cis that they're welcome too. Thing is, I fit under the trans umbrella anyway (thanks Stonewall) so "Jane B" is hoisted on her own binary thinking petard there.
Yes, this is one thing that i find so strange, many women that i know have body dysphoria to various extends, and thus might actually fit under the umbrella, but rather then go trans decided to just make peace with the biology that they are born with and i am sure that some men are also fall into that bracket.
And to believe that 'cis'ers' can't be gay/lesbian. And that to be cis means excluding gay/lesbians.
I must not understand something.
Cisgender is about gender identity not sexuality, you are incorrect to say there aren't cis gay, lesbian or bi people, it merely means not trans.
then we don't need the word CIS at all. Full stop.
There are Transpeople, and there are people.
Transpeople are different to people. Well, that's not exclusionary at all. 🙄
Well yes, the "TRANS" states it. All others who don't fall under this label are hence 'NOT' Trans but are maybe a whole lot of different things. And thus the label 'cis' becomes an insult rather then anything else.
For "transpeople" to count as "people" then some "people" must be "transpeople".
But if "There are Transpeople, and there are people", then the implication is that "transpeople" aren't really the same as "people".
Transpeople are people, surely. Unless this is some woke slogan, now?
In which case if one needs to refer to people who are not transpeople, just saying "people" would fail to do that. hence the use of the "cis" prefix.
You'd think one of the first rules of debate is that we all agree on certain definitions.
In this debate we really need to agree that 'biological sex' is real and cannot be changed and that that is what is recorded on one's birth certificate.
It is not 'assigned', it is observed, and in the vast majority of instances is an accurate description of the biological sex of that child. Sex is recorded as 'male' or 'female' or 'intersex'. Sometimes 'boy' or 'girl' or 'indeterminate'. Mature males and females are called 'men' and 'women'.
What the transgender community seems to be demanding is that the definition of 'sex' be permanently and artificially changed so it now means what is commonly understood to be 'gender'…a potentially fluid social construct.
By definition, sex and gender are not interchangeable.
Baffling indeed that this fundamental definition of a biological term has been changed with absolutely no public debate allowed whatsoever…because "violence" and "exclusion".
That would be arguing for born biological sex, distinct from sex identity. Not the same as gender ID – for example Camille Paglia, the only out lesbian of her time at Yale Graduate School, now identifies as transgender.
There is a case for an ID document separate to a birth certificate to cater to sex and gender ID where this is different to that of the birth certificate (which would suffice for the cisgender).
lol I know, right, the lack of public debate is deafening. The minister only sent letters across the spectrum, and social media is constantly sidetracked by the issue, and one or two rounds of submissions on the proposals but there's been zero "public debate". /sarc
As for "violence" and "exclusion", we're at the "slapping demonstrators" and "cops dun took our guns cos tweets" stage of it. How much longer will you keep putting quote marks around "violence" and "exclusion"?
lol. I know right. " https://terfisaslur.com/ "
How about we try a bit of "good faith" and at least discuss/debate the definitions at the centre of this issue.
Then we can move on to discussing if it is ok for a small minority of biological males to demand that we talk about "pregnant people" because "pregnant women" is exclusionary.
I'll give you a little clue. "Woman", by the traditional definition means "adult human female". Only female humans can be pregnant. So what is exclusionary about "pregnant women"?
If we are going to radically change the definitions of fundamental biological words we need a discussion about it, and at least some kind of consensus.
And we should really examine the motives of this very queer movement…
Queer ideology is a set of beliefs based on Queer Theory. This theory arose in academia, and is concerned with subverting the ‘normative’ and is invested in ‘queering’ the meaning of words and conceptual categories. Queer ideology discounts or denies biological sex, in favour of the primacy of gender identity. Following this line of thinking, same-sex orientation is now considered exclusionary,
Queer theory follows a typical Hegelian analysis form. Hegelian dialectic analysis is a pseudo logic (it doesn't form a valid logical argument) but is typical in Critical Theory fields in the analysis of power.
A Hegelian dialectic will take some supposed societal oppressive category (a thesis) and contrast it with the oppressed category (the anti-thesis) and supposedly advance discourse by reforming the categories into a synthesis.
Now in actual logic your system of logic can not contain any false statements. So much so that a valid logical argument form is proof by contradiction, where you sometimes prove a statement is untrue by assuming its true and then demonstrating that further statements which were true are now false. This is sufficient to show the statement you assumed true must have been false. So you can see why in Hegelian analysis forming a synthesis makes non-sense of facts, and that its a pseudo-logic.
The other issue being the dialectic supposedly advances society. While in logic establishing proof of some original fact didn't alter the fact that was always true, it merely demonstrated it is true. But this is the reason Critical Theory feels the need to correct peoples discourse because otherwise no advances are made.
I think this highlights why altering the meaning of terms is part of the point the way this creates nonsense discourse is not considered important at all.
So what is the purpose of this proposed "debate"? One of us will change the other's mind after the fifteen millionth iteration of the argument? Is the theory that enough repetition will stop language from evolving? What odds for reaching consensus do you give a debate on the mutability (or even the non-binary nature) of sex?
And frankly, if you think that all the discussion and written invitations for submissions mean "absolutely no public debate allowed whatsoever", then either Tinetti's office did not send those letters or we don't even share an understanding of the term "good faith".
And the origin of the term queer was related to indebtedness, a debt inquiry, a debt query and going to debtors prison (and for some how they paid off the debt to avoid going to prison and poor people committing theft of food etc). Related was the incarceration of homosexual men in prisons (and poor women resorting to prostitution and homosexual women being "committed" by fathers and husbands for treatment for being nonconformist).
One could make a case for queer theory being revolutionary, to change the world. Which would be the world accepting that someone not born of the female sex could have their birth certificate say they were. There are so many George Orwell quotes …
But there is another, one I have very recently invented – It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than it is for any one individual to get the world to conform to their personal life journey, as they live and experience it. For that would require them to rule the world and define truth within it.
Nic. How about free speech is good and hate speech is bad. If they are both right, what can be done to reconcile divergent truths?
There is of course the paradox of tolerance meme, which could be claimed as a synthesis of those claims together.
But so were clear I don't think every free expression of speech is necessarily morally good. Nor do I think Hegelian pseudo-logic is a valid logical form. Nor do I think truths are necessarily moral or falsehoods necessarily immoral.
Can't say I've overly studied the "Queer Theory" academic field (any wokeness most likely comes from sharing offices with people at the pointy end of trying to stop young queer folk being thumped or killing themselves), but I agree Hegelianism is pants.
I don't have gender or bodydysphoria, it's just that Stonewall et al have broadened the trans definitions so widely now that I fit into the GNC and gender queer categories. I don't think of myself that way particularly, but I don't think of myself as cis either.
no idea what "Jane B" was on about re excluding all LGBTQI people.
Really? You are Trans, Weka? Forgive me, but that sounds like the setup for a joke whose punchline is Stonewall's (UK) definition of trans-ness. Probably from a thread I didn't read.
Anyway, I have to agree with Jane B that TS has a pretty trans-exclusionary reputation in NZ's rainbow community. In fact, I often get looked at sideways for saying that I engage with the site at all. But I've always thought that it is necessary to consider viewpoints other than your own.
I didn't read the "Adult human female" thread, so can't really comment on anything there. If I am going to read text on which I am forbidden from commenting, then I have stacks of that already – it seems a bit pointless for a blog.
I don't consider it a joke. If Stonewall and the gender lobbyists are going to socially engineer transness in the general population and I fit into their definition, then I fit into their definition 🤷♂️
If that backlashes on SW, fuck 'em, they should have tried working with women and lesbians in particular instead of trying to control.
Well said Weka the comment was intrusive. humourless and unwarranted. And surprising ……I had not thought it was 'on' here to comment about another's sexuality. . I was a bit surprised it was not moderated out.
.
which comment?
8.1.2.2 Second sentence.
oh, I don't mind being asked. It's ok to ask as long as there is no pressure and it's not politicised/aggro. I opened the way for that upthread.
(trans is a gender ID not a sexuality 👍)
I thought you were talking about "Jane B" saying I was sexless or man, which I found really funny from a gender activist.
I appreciate your presence here and your willingness to engage in the conversation. Having been commenting as feminist here for a long time, I don't consider TS to be a particularly safe place for feminists, or trans people, or many groups of people.
I am so happy for the German word 'Mensch'. I am a Mensch. More then my sexual organs for reproduction, more then my identification by gender, more then my own identification by my sexual attractions, but am Mensch. It seems that we forget that in our need to build boxes to neatly arrange things so that we can cope with this world that is becoming very unkind towards Menschen.
Either reject being categorised against one's wishes (easy), or work through it.
[link fixed]
Is this a quote from somewhere? If so link please. Thanks.
As an early adopter of Ms then more than happy with forename surname forms of address, I have and will continue to look at the ciswoman.
At first glance and several other glances it has always struck me as an attempt to 'other' and in the long history of woman & politics and life yet more instances or opportunities of othering is the last thing women need.
Apologies Shanreagh, I botched embedding the link to Molinier’s paper "Becoming Cisgender" – hopefully this one works.
Re ‘othering‘, perhaps ‘cis‘ is an attempt by some in the trans community to allow us ‘normies’ to reflect on how it might feel to be ‘othered’? Just guessing.
You might be a normie, but a hell of a lot of GCFs, women, and lesbians aren't. You think we don't know how it might feel to be 'othered'? Why do you think that?
I feel like a 'normie', even though (very) few might see me as such.
Weka, I wouldn't presume to suggest that you, or indeed any stranger, doesn't know how it might feel to be 'othered'. If you believe that's what I'm suggesting, then we can respectfully agree to disagree – this shouldn’t become personal, imho.
Fwiw, I read Molinier's paper for the first time today, and found it both compelling and transformative.
My respect and understanding is evolving. I believe I learn new things everyday (and try to integrate them into my worldview), but then I am becoming rather forgetful. Kia kaha.
We either respect a person unconditionally or not at all?
Well that's not true.
Might be an opinion/belief, and/or not universally applicable? Imho, of course.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisgender
Personally i identify as WitchBitch, pronouns this and that. 🙂 s/
If a person does not call herself or himself as 'cis' no one should. Either we are cool with self identifying ourselves as what ever we want or we are not.
Agreed. However I'm weird, because I don't identify as anything. Probably others identify me as something, but I don't give a fig what it is. I quite like TS Eliot's maxim – "the progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality". Or better still Keats' insistence on the loss of self in the moment "…if a sparrow come before my window I take part in its existence and pick about the gravel." We live in strange times that the self should matter so much.
Thanks Arkie for the explanation.
I often read the cis-woman combo word in the company of words like Terf, transphobic or bigot. .
Why would that be?
Cis seems to be in use as a rather derogatory term (as many woman related phrases are) and here I salute Sabine's WitchBitch). and I would rather not use a label like ‘cis’ anything.
What is being done, do you know, to counter the use of the combo word cis-woman in a pejorative sense?
Cis isn't derogatory or a pejorative though, it is an adjective used to add meaning just like trans is. Definitionally 'Witch/Bitch' certainly is derogatory and a pejorative. You seem comfortable with that, why is that?
Witch bitch is a call out to the angel/bitch dichotomy that woman face everyday. It is also a recognition of the fact that women with different ideas to the patriarchy in times gone past were often labelled, then lost their lives, because they were felt to be witches*.
It is an example self deprecating female humour, We need humour, it opens doors sometimes. For this reason if I had a choice on an official form between cis-anything and witch bitch I would probably chose 'witchbitch'. For the laugh, for the recognition of the place that witches have played in the history of women……
Also in recognition that older women of any sexual leaning are not 'seen' in our current world. They never have been. While it gives us freedom to operate outside the edges of society it is irritating as well We have ageist propaganda used against us, if people can get away with it they 'Karen' us.
Cis is so ugly. I see it often lumped in with Terf etc. So I am suspicious.
*And why this should be is is the stuff of Women's Studies and has a foundation in the hidden nature of the female sexual response together with the impact of wise words that older woman, in every society I have been in, often irritatingly have to say in mixed company.
Witchbitch harks back, it's tongue in cheek…….I love it. Showing my age now but it makes me think of the old Helen Reddy song that was a stalwart for some back in the day 'I am woman'
If you have not heard of it here is the song……changing it to put cis-woman does not work does it? Yet it is relevant and much more powerful because the word is not it chopped up in tiny othering pieces…It speaks to women no matter how we want to define ourselves/what we look like.
2013 version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAo8k0Fq1OM
1975 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6fHTyVmYp4
Perhaps women could sing:
You can cis but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul
We can’t decry the ‘hollowing out’ of terms and definitions if we are also going disregard or create new meanings for other words, based on a perceived ‘ugliness’ or unfamiliarity.
I haven't hollowed out any words. I do not see the need for tiny little chopped up words to describe biology. I am not keen in Cis because
a) it is not necessary ……main point
b) it is an example of 'othering' that we do not need second main point.
c) it is so b…. ugly……also concerning
Indeed I supported a poster on the Womens' Day thread who stated
Back in the day Ms was thought to be ugly. We realised that it had a great use to anonymise the marital status of women, something men had been able to do for aeons. We recognised therefore that it was pro-women.
I have yet to be convinced that my status as a cis-woman is pro women at all. In fact the point is I have more often seen it sharing it paragraphs with words like 'Terfs', 'oldies', 'bigots' and 'transphobic'.
Can you put your finger on why you consider 'cis' to be ugly and/or concerning? Is 'cis' intrinsically ugly, or ugly only in a cisgender context?
As an aside, are terms such as 'trans' and/or 'transgender' similarly less than beautiful in your view? Just trying to learn/understand.
It is ugly:
because I was not consulted about whether I wanted to be labelled this way. It has been foisted on me and others
it is a label inserted where no label was needed. All that is needed are a few extra words to describe the category, if one is needed.
it signifies division and 'othering' Women as a group do not need any more othering and made-up names unless we self select them.
it keeps bad company with Terf, transphobic and bigot also oldie
it does not seem to be a step on the path of enhancing the lot of women, in the widest sense, in society.
it has no back story, pedigree or 'aha' moment that would make it relevant for women – it has come from nowhere that I recognise
Having had friends from the 1970s who identified themselves as 'Trannies' more along the lines of drag queens and Carmen & workmates I am familiar with the prefix 'trans'. The prefix trans "across, over, or beyond."is used far more in day to day life.
Again there was a mine of self deprecating humour behind the adoption of the term Trannies by my friends. I'm smiling to myself just thinking about them and their sayings. One of them had a 9-5 job as a male (dressing etc) in a Govt dept.
Anyway……that's it from me on the use of 'cis' . Female/woman suits me. You could add; for reasons where this was necessary, like enrolment for health care; 'female with hetero orientation'.
Sorry the phrase/dichotomy is 'Madonna/whore'.
It's like reclaiming the word queer.
The patriarchy and outlier males were dogs and females were witches – thus the term bitch.
Witch/bitch here was self ID. In the same way that black people have reclaimed the word nigger, and homosexuals have reclaimed queer. Context determines if something is derogatory or a pejorative.
Cis is a term applied by one group to another whether the other group wants that or not. That's bullshit. And it’s fast becoming a pejorative.
So Self-ID is fine then?
if it's about self, sure. I know very few people that politically object to other people's self expression. Gender self-ID is a different thing where it impacts on women politically and socially as a class, and where GAs actively suppress women being able to talk about that. Can you see the difference?
I am wondering if rather than hollowing out/emptying the words man/woman or male/female we leave them and then say
male includes but is not limited to…….
female includes but is not limited to
intersex includes but is not limited to
unspecified X includes but is not limited to
Different people have different needs and the medical surgical needs of any of our rainbows could be catered for by greater specificity where it matters ie in day to day life access to healthcare. housing education. So any health plans that came up to MOH would need to show that the agency recognised and was catering for everybody.
Self-ID is definitionally about the self, but it is good to know we don’t object to that then.
And yet Gender self-ID is different?
I guess I fail to see how we can not object to other peoples self expression while at the same time considering gender self-ID to be something other than someone else’s self expression.
I have left a comment at the very bottom of the women thread in regards to the self ID bill. Please read it – it might at the very least makes my stance to it clearer.
For the record i have hired worked with and have until she moved to a different town for her studies a transgender women. She came recommended as a good pastry chef / baker and i came recommended as a 'welcoming' workplace of people who don't fit in neat boxes. My workplace was her first step at 'social' transitioning.
Yet where has this cis come from if we are able or not to use it to describe ourselves?
If it was only used as a self ID, fine, but imposed 'nah'.
By using it in a context to differentiate, cis, is being imposed ie it has moved drastically from being self ID to being a way of 'othering'.
I thought I already explained that. Society should be free enough so that people can express themselves how they want. Men can wear dresses, women can look like men, gay pride, vanilla sex, whatever. There are some limits on this (eg I think prohibitions on public nudity are good for society, I don't think Pride marches should had dog fetishists or nappy festishists hanging out with kids while in role)
Gender-self ID where it intends to suppress other people's needs and politics and expressions is a different thing. If we are talking about legislation that will impact on women and women are being pressured to not talk about it or have say, then that's a really different thing than self expression. I want women (ie biologically female) only space, and if some people in society want to change that, then as a woman I want a full and open debate on what is fair. We haven't had that yet.
changing legislation to remove single sex exemptions in equality law isn't self expression. It's major politics.
@weka
So to clarify: this ‘whatever’ allows trans people to express themselves how they want?
This is where you lose me, how does gender-self ID intend to supress etc. etc.? It allows people to express themselves how they want.
What is this space you want? Where is it? If it’s a space meant for all the public then that seems unrealistic.
I dispute that we haven’t had the ‘debate’, what we have is an impasse. However, what does a full and open debate look like, and what do you think is the fair outcome/answer to the debate?
Arkie, for mine the separation is between birth certificate status and subsequent status/identification.
I have no problem with an identity certificate saying a person has the legal name Samantha, a female sex identity and their date of birth (but their birth certificate says they were born male sex and they were named Sam). I would add the option of adding gender ID and name known by to this identity certificate. And this identity certificate can be used for getting a drivers licence or passport.
Such an identity certificate could also be used by cisgender people to add a gender ID and provide greater information to employers and community/club groups than the birth certificate does.
did you see the s/ ? sarcasm.
I have never stated anything other on this blog then my 'sex' female, and my female name Sabine.
Anything else I personally consider no-one elses business.
But if you need to know, my stepfather called me 'bitch' my mother called me 'witch'. Patriachy or something.
It would be great, while you are here, if you could go through the posts and answer the questions that many have asked.
That would be a great use if time rather than slinging off at others who may be your supporters but do not (yet) have the answers to their questions or concerns.
There are too many queries to list here but if you scroll down through the posts .and answer them in a factual unemotive way …..
Cheers
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/denial-science-chris-mooney/
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170131-why-wont-some-people-listen-to-reason
I both agree and disagree with your argument.
But for those who disagree, their choice is to provide and or utilise a womans space.
It's a bit like the control of the body thing, personal choice. Beyond that is freedom of association. Then beyond that the right to be free from discrimination.
PS. Two cisgender females questioning each others ID as women is taking “debate” too far.
This is a very interesting conversation for someone that had to google "cis" (and amusing if you don't mind me saying).
There is a special column open for women and other entities for their particular assertions so why is Open Mike flooded with input on identity politics?
Do a large number of such people want to take over NZ/the western world and impose their authoritarian views upon it?
Um … this was moved from that womans space to open mike (presumably because of the questioning of the need for there to be a separate place for this debate).
Thought experiment
How would you react to someone who had killed one of your children?
I'm struggling enough with the thought that Boris is trying his best to do exactly that with his "Freedom Day". I don't even want to go near contemplating what the consequences of his arrogance and stupidity may actually mean.
I just keep reinforcing to her to stay home. Fortunately she doesn't need much convincing.
Someone said on a different blog, that covid like with climate change, the ones who make rules know that it is real, but they expect themselves to survive and if half of the rest of the world dies then that can only be good.
Friends in the US and in England have stated that even while vaccinated they will continue to wear masks, keep social distance and still limit their outings in many ways.
So the best that one can do is hope that people will take this seriously, and try themselves to be safe, advice from their governments be damned.
Under what circumstances did the act occur and to what circumstances am I reacting?
Exactly
This is pathetic!
The Auckland based Immunisation Advisory Centre, appears to have such a monopolistic contract with the MoH that university's are unable to train their own students as vaccinators during a Pandemic. What?
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/vaccinator-plan-hit-stalemate
Trotter reports the result of a recent Curia poll on the hate speech law proposal: http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/
There's "a clear plurality of New Zealanders either strongly or somewhat oppose the Government’s proposals – 43 percent in total. But, the number of eligible voters who somewhat or strongly support the proposed measures, at 31 percent, represents an extremely solid minority. With 15 percent of voters currently taking a “neutral” stance, the Prime Minister still has everything to play for."
So the undecided hold the key – no surprise. What comes out of the submissions process will be crucial, and I'm expecting that the bill which eventually goes to select committee will be quite conservative and woke idealists will become disillusioned.
Trotter illuminates the multitude of ways that the proposal is divisive, supplying the stats on those resulting divisions. They will spook Labour moderates big-time…
Why do you conflate an opinion poll and submissions to SC? Do you believe that bills are decided in some kind of popularity contests in/by SC and ‘decided by undecided’, i.e. a simple count of for & against submissions? In the end, the whole Parliament gets to debate and then vote on the bill, not the SC.
In any case, a poll is just a snapshot and I’d like to think that there could be considerable movement in those opinions, e.g., support becomes undecided, et cetera.
I agree re snapshot & movement & dunno why you see me conflating the poll & sc. What I meant re the undecided is that the public mood will firm up pro & con when the govt produces the bill to go to select committee & the media reports the details.
That's what usually happens, eh? The govt is seeking submissions in order to finalise their design of the bill, right? So the interim proposal seems nebulous to many & they wait to make up their mind on the government's reading of the public mood and the subsequent (re) design – which will then head into the sc. If you think the process works differently than that I hope you will explain precisely how (I've never been party to the process so can't testify from personal experience).
Dunno why you reply with such binary waffle straight out of PDF’s spin manual.
The way the process works is that Government takes professional and expert advice from wide range of sources as well as feedback provided through the submission process to SC. Maybe you need to re-read the piece in the NZH by Russell Palmer that you linked to in OM this morning, yes?
You do realise that making law is not a popularity contest but for the benefit of all New Zealanders and the whole NZ society, yes?
Yeah, nah.
Finally just getting time to look at the comment editor again. I 'fixed' it on the 11th, and did a bit of fiddling sometime last week. I was a bit sick over the last two weeks so I'm unsure exactly where I left it.
I was getting my rental apartment ready for new tenants over this last weekend. My extremely valued previous tenants got a bigger place for their new cat, and started accumulating their own furniture. But I'll try to have a look at it this week.
I see that I lost the edges of the edit box.
There is a known issue with the Cancel edit button.
Anything else that I should look at (I'll scan through the previous comments as well).
A few of us still have issues commenting from Mobile phones. I can't comment from Desktop view, the text box is there but won't take the cursor. Can comment from Mobile but don't like it because there is no Replies or Comments list, which makes it harder to follow what is going on (including for moderation). https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-07-2021/#comment-1803279
Posting images in comments still seems quite tricky to get the size right. This could probably be solved by me writing a protocol for how to do that as a reference.
test
. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-07-2021/#comment-1803279
^
For those of us that like to link in a separate line.
Which also displays correctly for me now.
Does "100%" not work for image sizing?
It does! but it’s about where and when to use that, and how.
Putting it into the width box doesn’t work. Can you get it to work without having to use the edit comment function?
test
https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Cute-cat-lying-on-his-back-on-the-carpet.-Breed-British-mackerel-with-yellow-eyes-and-a-bushy-mustache.-Close-up-e1573490045672.jpg
That's me putting 100 into the width box on the first pass, no editing.
btw Lynn, it displays at the correct size in the comments list in the back end.
That’s me adding width=100 or width=100% at the end of the tag, in double quotes.
See <a href=”#comment-1804083″>comment here
All I did was to take your image url. Pressed the image button tool. Added URL, tabbed out of the field. It them loaded the original size of 4000+ pixels. I clicked into that field and changed it to 250. It adjusted the height. Saved it.
The one below was the same, but I didn't set a size. Then I clicked into the image and set the width to 450. Did this on chrome on linux.
testing first option
trying again (see how the width doesn't take in the tag?)
that's me following the instructions exactly.
The 'saved' is clicking on the ok button, right?
trying again in Safari not Firefox.
Interesting. I was able to comment from teh Desktop/mobile phone by trying to post an image with the image button. Couldn't size the image so deleted it but this left me an active cursor text box. Cursor was still there when I replied to my own comment below Sacha, but disappeared again when I went to reply to 12.1
While it looks like there are multiple comment areas. There is in fact just one on any one page. It just gets moved from place to place.
When you save a comment (ie force s refresh of the page) or manual refresh it, then the comment will get updated as part of the page load.
Currently the Cancel comment button isn't working because it has some old handlers in it and just doesn't work. I have to try for that again this weekend.
The typo bug in mobiles is still happening (name and email boxes, I think it's a cursor issue too)
eg https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-07-2021/#comment-1804036
Ok, that I'll have to test at home. That may have to be a javascript fix because it is device/browser specific.
What I'll try to do is to always set the cursor to the edit box after the comment gets moved. You have to click out to the name etc.
that's what it used to do, but it changed a year or two back. Not sure that it does that for everyone though.
I do a set of tests across platforms
Ok – that gives me some things to do towards the weekend. My spare time for the next day will be taken up with editing a tenancy agreement.
Test image for size
This is your image set to a width of 300
Does the editor not take %?
I have not used it.
Testing – nope. It only takes a number which is pixels (px).
I think that weka was referring to changing the IMG parameters.
Yes, either 100 (or whatever) in the width box, or editing the comment after posting to add 100% or width=100. None seem to work consistently
Fake news, as per usual, on Murdoch's infamous Fox News
Those Cuban "street protests" were not what Fox News would have its mouth-breathing viewers believe.
https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1416713677378629636
Third time trying to post in the right place (keeps taking me back to where I started to comment but decided not to after reloading the page). Apologies if this has caused any issues.
Sounds like it was inevitable someone stuck overseas would get this in front of the Ombudsman.
Read yesterday of a lovely lady who has had surgery to have mesh inserted, and now is stuck in the US in pain and without the ability to pay for treatment or book in our MIQ system.
This isn’t about her, but a tech dude stuck in Singapore and unable to book without bot help.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/tech-industry-figure-stuck-in-singapore-takes-unusable-miq-booking-system-to-ombudsman/VNFJGTO4MJ5R75BR6GCCMNTU2E/
Maybe some sort of STV+lottery process would be better – every day opens a new bunch of slots, you apply in order of preference, then at the end of the day they divvy up the slots randomly? With a certain allocation for priority/humanitarian entry?
I dunno.
Stonewall are over in the UK, I don't know how they define gender, Weka. From an Aotearoan perspective, I would argue that; the National Council of Women are better placed for any NZ woman to interact with if they are wanting to affect NZ law.
I particularly like this diagram of theirs. With the whole debate being but a tiny aspect of many social interactions within the overarching issue of climate change. If we don't get that right, then I doesn't really matter who does what where.
https://www.ncwnz.org.nz/what
That was supposed to go upthread somewhere in response to comment 8.1(.2.something…). Still on that learning curve.
[image resized and posted below – weka]
Reading above I'm reminded of the reaction of some white New Zealanders to the word Pakeha being used to describe us. Privilege dies hard.
Are you a male or a female? just asking on behalf of privilege 🙂
Sure some of the reaction to the term "cisgender" comes because of a disagreement with those who use the categorisation – just as resistance to "Pakeha identity" comes from those of the assimilationist or integration, rather than bi-national identity and recognition of indigenous peoples status.
But what's influencing my current perspective is the value of the female sex birth status to those who do not conform to feminine stereotype in physique or social aspect. If we allow people to change their birth sex status this can have unintended consequences for this group.
Resistance to Pakeha from white folk includes it being a name they did not create for themselves. So much so that Stats NZ stopped using it after a massive backlash.
The same people who stuffed up the last census …
I would have had New Zealand European/Pakeha as a category – it's all very New Zealand English/Aotearoa Maori affirmative.
And they will probably end up there … He Puapua etc