Open mike 19/08/2023
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6:00 am, August 19th, 2023 - 58 comments
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- Treasury warns deeper recession worsening Budget deficit
The gift that keeps giving: David Seymour has now opened a split in the coalition over the future of National’s promise to build a new medical school. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / TheKakaKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...2 hours ago - Weekly Roundup 22-November-2024
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Record Numbers: The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, which began at the tip of the North, and the tail of the South, on 11 November, culminated outside Parliament on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, in one of the largest demonstrations in New Zealand’s political history.ACCORDING TO TE ARA, the Ministry of Culture ...3 hours ago - The Rush To Blame “The Activists”
Activists are such easy scapegoats. The right and center have been conditioned for decades to roll their eyes at all protests. The left are easily aggravated over students leading movements they see as belonging to grownups, who have more important concerns like the economy and whether the trains come on ...3 hours ago - Cutting Through An Inundation of Dipshit Racists
Hi,Watching New Zealand from afar offers a strange perspective. It can be a good thing — distance from Aotearoa helped keep me sane while I reported on abuse at New Zealand’s biggest megachurch over the course of a year. It helps fuel my silly podcast. But it can also be ...4 hours ago - This is bad news
The speech yesterday by Treasury’s Chief Economic Advisor warning that the books are in worse shape than forecasted looks like it’s part of a softening-up process for either more cuts or a longer wait to get back into surplus. The speech was a highly unusual public preview of Treasury’s Half-Yearly ...6 hours ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2024
Open access notables Projected increase in the frequency of extremely active Atlantic hurricane seasons, Lopez et al., Science Advances: Future changes to the year-to-year swings between active and inactive North Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) seasons have received little attention, yet may have great societal implications in areas prone to hurricane ...15 hours ago - Chicken Kiev
Chatting in the supermarket this morning, I found I needed to lunge for the chicken drumsticks.Coping mechanisms: who hasn’t felt a greater need for them lately?When it all gets too much, I turn to demonstrating handy butchery hacks.It wasn’t that she’d said anything wrong, our friend, not at all. We ...18 hours ago - The year is 2024 and it’s 1984
This is written in response to the highly significant open letter from a group of economists that was today addressed to Christopher Luxon. The year is 2024, and it’s 1984. The country is reeling from a record Olympic medal gold haul, while the globe grapples with the choice of the ...19 hours ago - The IPCA has failed
Back in 2022, RNZ took an in-depth look at the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority and its handling of killings by police. These are the most serious test of oversight, and you would expect the police's use of lethal force to receive the most severe scrutiny. But despite the police regularly ...23 hours ago - Thursday 21 November 2024
The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti arrived at Parliament on Tuesday – the size is being debated but estimates range from 42,000 to 100,000. The Prime Minister is defending not attending due to some of the organisers being affiliated with Te Pāti Māori. The national gang patch ban came into force ...23 hours ago - ‘These budget cuts are counter-productive and make no sense’
I spoke to former Productivity Chair Nana this morning about the letter he and a group of other economists sent to PM Christopher Luxon to urge the Government to urgently suspend cuts to spending and investment for the sake of the economy, struggling businesses and the wellbeing of vulnerable ...1 day ago
- ACT’s Astroturfing & A Co-ordinated Attack on Te Pati Māori
Unity on the Streets / Unity at the TableAfter the Hīkoi, all three right wing Coalition leaders came together to push the idea that the 42,000 - 50,000 + strong Hikoi was somehow less potent and brave, and more illegitimate than the energy and crowd displayed.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon 20-November: ...1 day ago - Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilizing temperatures
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink The world is emitting over 40 gigatons of CO2 per year, contributing to an accelerating warming of the planet. The world needs to cut emissions rapidly to be remotely on track to meet our Paris Agreement goals of limiting warming to well-below 2C, and we ...1 day ago
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- Economists call on PM to suspend budget cuts for the sake of the economy
Nicola Willis’ budget cuts are under fire from economists for having no clear rationale and worsening the recession. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 21: The news at ...1 day ago
- The end of policing by consent
National has appointed a new police commissioner. And he explicitly rejects policing by consent: Asked if he subscribed to policing by consent, he said he did not. “I don’t talk about policing by consent. I talk about trust and confidence, and it is fundamentally important that the police have ...2 days ago
- The Treaty Principles Bill: A Who’s Who
David Horatio Waterbed SeymourFringe politician and dweeb transformed successfully by ThinkTank money into a well-oiled soundbite robot.Currently programmed to say: Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Was previously programmed to say:I am a proud libertarian andI am a ...2 days ago - Kinleith mill closure shows need for industrial strategy
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to deliver an economic and industrial strategy for regional manufacturing, rather than just expressing sympathy for job losses, following the announced closure of Kinleith mill in Tokoroa. “The closure Kinleith mill in Tokoroa is not just devastating for ...2 days ago
- 27% of kids going hungry, up from 21% in a year
One in four Kiwi children live in households where food runs out often or sometimes. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 20: The lead: The official annual Health Survey found sharp ...2 days ago - Transport modelling is an illusion
This guest post by Tim Adriaansen, an advocate for accessibility and sustainable transport, originally published on LinkedIn and cross posted here with permission. People prefer cars, right? Probably not. Here’s why. Granted, most people in English-speaking countries use a car to get around. This simple reality underpins our transport ...2 days ago
- Young Maori take over
Neither Wellington nor Parliament has ever seen anything like it before. The Police said there were more than 40,000 but however many there were, yesterday’s Hikoi to Parliament was a monumental event. It was almost three times the Foreshore and Seabed martch of 2004 and many,many times bigger than ...2 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Aftermath
The euphoria from yesterday’s hikoi may be transitory, but is no less valuable for that. It is pretty rare for the left to feel itself to be in the overwhelming majority, and speaking as the voice of the people. Lest that momentum be lost, the organisers will no doubt be ...3 days ago - Sabin 33 #3 – Solar panels generate too much waste and will overwhelm landfills
On November 1, 2024 we announced the publication of 33 rebuttals based on the report "Rebutting 33 False Claims About Solar, Wind, and Electric Vehicles" written by Matthew Eisenson, Jacob Elkin, Andy Fitch, Matthew Ard, Kaya Sittinger & Samuel Lavine and published by the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia ...3 days ago
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Mr David Seymour crawling up to the ceilingThe sun don't shine the sun don't shine the sun don't shine at allMamma Pappa say you should go to school, I don't know what forNow that I've grown up and seen the world and all its liesSong: Southside of Bombay"Ake, ake, ake" ...3 days ago - Submit to defend te Tiriti!
The Justice Committee has called for submissions on National's racist and constitutionally radical Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill. Submissions can be made at the link above or by post, and are due by Tuesday, 7 January 2025. But I'd get in quick, in case National grows a spine ...3 days ago
- We need to talk about Kevin
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family has a Drunk Uncle Kevin in there somewhere. If your Kevin is anything like the ones I know, he was getting along happily enough without having to think too much about the Treaty Principles Bill apart from bloody good job, onya guys ...3 days ago - The hikoi
Like everyone else (everyone who wasn't there, anyway), I've spent the morning watching the hikoi march on Parliament. The pictures are astounding: parliament grounds and the surrounding streets are full, and there are still people backed up along Lambton Quay. The police are estimating 35,000 people, and that's a floor ...3 days ago
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There were urgent moves yesterday at Parliament to try and defuse the tension building up over ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill. The Bill’s author, ACT leader David Seymour, told reporters that he understood the Justice Select Committee met yesterday to discuss how long it should take to consider submissions on the ...3 days ago
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3 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Arrival, And Tyler Childers
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The era of neoliberalism has been destructive on so many levels, with a huge growth in wealth and privilege for the one percent. A hollowing out of the state; fraying of the safety net; inadequate government investment in infrastructure; and continued environmental degradation has resulted in damage on a vast ...4 days ago - In a Manner of Speaking
In a manner of speakingI just want to sayThat I could never forget the wayYou told me everythingBy saying nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me everythingSongwriter: Winston TongNext Tuesday, the subscription price for Nick’s Kōrero will ...4 days ago - Monday 18 November 2024
The NZNO have announced a nationwide strike for December over its pay dispute with Health NZ, who have put a 1 per cent cap on pay rises. The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti and Treaty Principles Bill remain front and centre in the media, with the impacts of the Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke-led ...4 days ago
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The divisive Treaty Principles Bill is not just a risk for the National Party, it’s a risk to civil order and unity, warns a National Party grandee. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on ...4 days ago - A clearer network for the City Rail Link?
This post was originally published on Linked In by Nicolas Reid. It is republished here with permission. Auckland is now just a year or so away from having the keystone of its urban rail network complete. As I wrote about here, the City Rail Link will be a literal game changer for ...4 days ago
- National’s support base is wobbling
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I cannot stop grabbing people by the lapels, or shoulders, or similar, and raving at them about the tiny miracles in my ears.I can hear again! There could not be a more satisfied customer in all the world.In a noisy cafe I am even catching words that Karren cannot, she ...5 days ago - Unintended Consequences
Take the baitYou pay the priceIt's much too lateFor good adviceYou know and I know that our good things' throughBecause there's consequences for what we doConsequences for me and youWriters: Kevin Robert Hayes, David Nagier, Bonnie Adele Hayes.Fallout from the first readingOne News began last night by saying that tens ...6 days ago - Thank you, driver!
Today, Saturday 16th of November, is Auckland Transport’s Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Saturday 16 November marks the third annual Auckland Transport (AT) ‘Bus Driver Appreciation Day’, and this year we are encouraging all of New Zealand to thank their driver or let the bus go first if you are in ...6 days ago
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Hi,If I was to accurately sum up my mental state over the week, I’d just say that I got a huge fright from my own shadow.I’d nipped out for an 11pm neighborhood stroll, just to calm down after a day of stress and screens. The Cure and Fazerdaze’s new record ...6 days ago - We Are Not Listening
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
7 days ago - More lawlessness from National
On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...7 days ago
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Yesterday, under cover the the biggest political fight of the year, National quietly - covertly, even - introduced anti-foreign interference legislation. The bill is the product of a years-long work-program aimed at countering shit like this and this, and there's unquestionably a need to do something to counter foreign states' ...7 days ago
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A few months ago, I was in an audience watching a Haka-Kapa and as I watched children dance and sing and sway and shout and beat, I couldn’t help but think “The Haka represents the best of us.”Yes, yes - there will be a thousand voices that rush forth to ...7 days ago
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The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...1 week ago
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Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...1 week ago
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You can pay a great deal of money for the services of a KC. So just what would some peerless legal writing from 40 or so of them be worth, do you reckon?Priceless, that’s what. It’s not even the half of it, but this is my favourite part of the ...1 week ago - D-day for the government
The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
- 97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...
Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...1 week ago - Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to vote down an ACT Party Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights by making it easier for employers to fire workers. Last week ACT MP Laura Trask’s Employment Relations (Termination of Employment by Agreement) Amendment Bill was ...1 week ago
- Seymour causes thousands of unjustified absences by forcing kids to fight for their rights instead o...
The State would like to remind you that they are in control. They manage your employment prospects, and can destroy the job market you and yours rely on by mass-cancelling construction projects, cutting funding, and firing a good chunk of our public servants. They wield the mechanisms that provide scrutiny ...1 week ago - The Weight of the World
As the weight of the world Hangs on your shoulders The weight of the world Starts to take over again And over again All that you once loved, now you hate So slowly relearn how to meditate To have and to hold And never let go Can you feel it ...1 week ago - Thursday 14 November 2024
The Treaty Principles Bill is set to have its First Reading in the House today, as the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti continues. More than 40 KCs have written to the Prime Minister and Attorney-General outlining their “grave concerns” about the substance of the Treaty Principles Bill, while an academic and ...1 week ago
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- An opportunity for a pro-growth tax switch
As the Hikoi against it swells into the tens of thousands, KCs call on National to kill off ACT’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 14: The ...1 week ago
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The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets. ...17 hours ago - Failed boot camp experiment must end
As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...18 hours ago
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The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...18 hours ago
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- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...21 hours ago
- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...21 hours ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...1 day ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...1 day ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...1 day ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...2 days ago
- Pasifika justice as Member’s Bill passes final reading
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- Release: Minister of Education thinks New Zealand ends at the Bombay Hills
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- Economists sound alarm on Government’s slash-and-burn approach
A group of prominent economists has released an open letter to the Government, raising grave concerns about the far-reaching consequences of its fiscal policy. ...2 days ago
- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...2 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...2 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...3 days ago
- Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons
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- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
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- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
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- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...1 week ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...1 week ago
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Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...1 week ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
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The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/08/19/john-campbell-beth-and-taxes-in-election-la-la-land/
John Campbell dismantling labour and the national on tax, !
Unlike John, I got a first in accounting.
And I can note the largest ever increase in base benefits ever (overdue given the cuts of 1991, under-assessment of living costs in the adjustment since then and real increases in MW levels), and the increase in amount of part-time work income someone on a benefit can get before any abatement kicks in (also overdue because of lack of adjustment for over a decade).
The increase of the in work tax credit amount is to continue the targeted support to the families of full-time lower wage workers – there are costs associated with work (particularly shift work) not faced by those on benefits. This is not used to reduce child poverty in beneficiary families, because it was not designed for that purpose.
It is near impossible to prevent child poverty without quality affordable housing* (not enough income related rent housing), accessible health care and food in "working class area" public schools.
In the absence of that*, a rent freeze (a $50 rent rise in the past year and in the next year is also likely) from 2022-2024 would have been the correct policy.
SPC what are these please?
Minimum wage?
Thanks BD, that makes sense.
These valuable increases to benefits/minimum wage and the commitment to regular review may be in danger of being overlooked as the opposition parties try to force a ‘I’ve got bigger baubles than you’ type election.
How many sitting ie voting days do we have left in Parliament?
That RMA replacement has to go through, also Land Transport Safety bill.
Are they running out of time?
I believe the 31st is the last sitting day before closing up shop for the election so that'd mean.
August 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, and 31;
They gave up on the MHA (1992) review completion by the 2023 election.
Someone should ask NACT what their plans for that are, given their love of incarceration of the underclass/more prisons/more youth in institutions/boot camps/less rights for new workers/transferring oversight of those on benefits under 25 to outside providers …
RMA third reading was Wednesday, not that our petty minded gallery journalists would think to inform us – they are far too busy trying to gotcha Hipkins on whether or not passata is going to be GST exempt.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/495939/rma-replacement-bills-pass-third-readings-in-parliament
Also.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/495896/three-waters-amendment-bill-passes-third-reading
Has anyone else had a problem with the unsafe ("safety"?) yellow plastic dots around Auckland Public transport areas?
Apparently AT have know for 5 years of the hazardous, if not dangerous, nature of these dots.
FYI, I am only raising for a safety reason, for AT users, not as a Govt bash exercise.
Tactile paving.
Steel and plastic mistakes and onto concrete …
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/finding-your-way-through-the-city-how-the-blind-use-our-footpaths.htm
Yep, considering how dangerous and expensive these are (to also remove/replace !) , I'm dumbfounded that there wasnt firstly a trial placement on a small area .
Just seems a good idea turned bad/dangerous, through lack of common sense. "Tactile" plastic ..when wet. Auckland rain….
Who let that through?
They first tried steel – got slippery when wet. Then moved to plastic, got slippery when wet.
Just has a dogged "we should know this cant possibly be safe, but we will keep going " element
Would be a humour…but the many broken bones….poor people.
yes. can be quite slippery at times.
Hi, good you know. Take care, as some of the fall injuries have been quite horrific.
good lord, they've got them beside the railway tracks.
What are they for?
To stop the blind walking off platforms onto tracks.
The yellow colour to warn those with limited sight and the raised up bits for those using canes.
I know. Quite bizarre. And they are for a visual and "tactile" alert. Seemingly moreso for blind/low vision people. And they..can be super slippery.
I would think replacement under urgency….with the NON slip alternative…that should have been trialled and used firstly !
Alternate coloured and textured paving would meet both visual and tactile outcomes.
Dude should watch his step ,!!seriously we evolved living out in the open dodging shit that wanted yo kill us ,
We're becoming pretty pathetic when a few slips and trips gets a news story.
Next we'll be suing companies when we spill hot coffee on our selves.
"If" it was one dude…."maybe". I get dodging hazards..(I ride a bike in town !)
But you should also actually read the links..and other replies. Also look at photo's of specifically what they are for and where they are located. And the cost of a failed system. For more actual relevant info….
They have them in a regional shopping centre near me (Takapuna) – many, many, accidents and complaints reported on local FB pages and to the Council. With, as far as anyone can see, no action.
It seems that AT have the budget to implement these 'safety initiatives' but no budget to remove them, when they prove more hazardous than the problem they were trying to solve.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-woman-breaks-leg-in-three-places-after-slipping-on-auckland-transports-yellow-tactile-dots/XKA3S2YB3BBB5GPPMBJEHVSG7I/
The do it to comply with regulations (disability). Tick boxes.
They don't fix because of cost to ratepayers. I wonder how much money they have cost ACC?
If ACC was able to claim reimbursement from public bodies – charge them for their cost …
If they are retaining a hazard, when they know it's a hazard, then I suspect they'll be liable under the H&S legislation under the "duty of care" provisions. Certainly there have been several recent court cases over Council liability in relation to negligence over known hazards (admittedly more around trees and landslips, than built environment)
https://www.tompkinswake.com/insights/knowledge/high-court-finds-council-liable-in-negligence-for-damage-from-fallen-tree/
At least one employee has been injured – so WorkSafe should have agency to intervene. AT, no doubt, would be much more concerned over this – since WS can afford the cost of a court case, whereas injured individuals generally can't.
Oh if you are also a commuter/user, is good that you are aware of the danger….the falls and injuries look real bad.
Occasionally my knee jerks quicker than my brain can react to.
Allgood …you also have the dry quick-wit ..that phrase pretty good : )
Have you looked at the photo in the article? It's a long strip of slippery surfacesbeside where people board trains.
People don't expect landscapes designed and built by humans to be walked on to be slippery. This is completely different from being in nature where we have to pay a different kind of attention.
The bean counters won.
https://www.vanguardgroup.co.nz/product-category/road-safety-cycleways/tactiles-studs-pavers/
Yea, The plastic/steel ones even look pretty UNsafe…..as in unfit for purpose.
Problem with bean counting, as always, there is an extra cost….
https://www.mobilityresearch.co.nz/products
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/mike-hosking-election-2023-chris-hipkins-winston-peters-as-bad-as-each-other/QSJTVC52SBENBDKSU3KKZV5AQM/
But they won't give Mike Hosking a tax cut, he loves tax cuts and they know he loves tax cuts and yet they do not.
So what does Mike do, he does what Hosking always does – says they seek the votes of people poorer than him.
This is a guy so self centred and short-sighted (except when imagining himself on a winter holiday financed by a tax cut), that he would only try and observe his own navel if he had his favourite hand held sucker upper in hand and some crumbs to eliminate.
Anything past mike hosking says , is not worth the effort imho
Is a person who makes jokes about blowing things up “a fit and proper person” to have a gun license?
Forget the gun license. Are they a 'fit and proper person' to be an MP ??
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/08/west-aucklanders-could-cut-20-minutes-from-commute-if-government-s-northwestern-busway-goes-ahead.html
From my reading of other Matt Lowrie Public Transport comments…he thinks, and talks a lot of sense.
Have you read his comment on alternatives to the tunnels ?
I dont live up there….but what do you think ?
300km of light rail sounds..awesome.
I did not vote for or against Wayne, not on me, not a resident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dove-Myer_Robinson
The Rail Link worked (extensions/improvements). Bus lanes work (can later be used for light rail developments). More of them.
They need to improve flow to and off the bridge. They need to plan for coping with higher sea levels (as to where the bridge begins/ends).
The next new development is a new bridge. They need to keep heavy vehicles off the clip-on, so it lasts longer.
Have they considered a congestion tax for lone passenger cars or reserving lanes for commuter (multiple passenger) cars?
Why are bike/foot traffic options not front and centre of early developments (existing bridge)?
Oh and look for people to crew ferries, they operate internationally – we can recruit more than bus drivers.
Hi, thanks for detailed reply. Like Matt Lowrie… youve also thought through some options and alternatives.
And re Dove-Myer Robinson…..I did know the name ? But the wiki page and his backstory…certainly a forward thinker ! As apart from the Bus Rail rapid transit ..he was an Environmentalist too?
More like needed.
Since the clean car tax goes to subsidize new evs, could it also subsidize replacement batteries for cheaper second hand evs?
Thanks for transporting me back to tauranga boys college 3rd form discos, classic days .
The rehabilitation of a mass murderer continues.
Hanna Liubakova
@HannaLiubakova
#Russia History takes its unexpected turn. An 8-meter-high Stalin monument was installed in the middle of Velikie Luki in the Pskov region. The priest of the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated the statue. Yes, the priest blessed the statue of Stalin.
https://twitter.com/HannaLiubakova/status/1692472692459422074
I see Luxon does not rate Woodhouse on his List.. Well he had to get something right. I have read the summary only. I will be looking at Barbara Kruriger as well.
When a leader under-performs, the price is not paid by the leader (safe at no.1) but by those down the list.
A bunch of new ACT MPs will come in at the expense of National candidates. Or – in Woodhouse's case – a sitting MP.
I bet he wouldn't have chucked his toys if National were 40+ in the polls.
Apart from a few at the top (Cabinet group), list rankings only have meaning is the MP's electorate if a marginal one. Kuriger has a safe seat. Promising new MP’s get a safe seat, the chance to win a marginal seat or come in on the list.
…list rankings only have meaning
isif the MP's electorateifis a marginal one …Fifty seven years old, 2,267-kilograms, fifty fucking years in a 24x11x6M tank.
/
Toastie
@Toastie@journa.host
Correct headline:
White people kill Tokitae, matriarch of the endangered Southern Resident clan, after 50 years of imprisonment
Subhead:
Despite longstanding #Indigenous efforts to bring her home to Lummi waters in the #PNW, colonizers persisted in exploiting her
https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/lolita
https://journa.host/@Toastie/110913057931037559
Passed a piece of Council owned land on the North Shore isthmus used for election bill boards. The Labour billboard was down and someone had taken to it with an axe and chopped it into pieces. Rarely seen anyone go to that extent before.
I predict Labour is going to find their billboards are being trashed at a much higher rate than seen before. I base it, in part, on the level of vindictiveness their political and media enemies (looking at ZB hosts in particular) have encouraged, plus the insanity and hysteria around Covid and right wing extremism in general.
I think Labour in particular is in for a very rough campaign ride. Lets hope no-one gets hurt – or worse.
Twenty six years ago.
The Day the Nazi died- Chumbawamba
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Hess
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300953434/russian-general-who-knew-secrets-of-putins-palace-dies-suddenly-in-prison
Polonium poisoning also causes leukopenia.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/58088
Prostate cancer too, apparently.
One of the Russian agents wanted for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko has reportedly developed advanced cancer from the same radioactive poison used in the assassination.
https://metro.co.uk/2023/08/12/putin-goon-gets-cancer-from-substance-used-to-poison-litvinenko-19324690/
The Freedom Party of Brian Tamaki using the loud hailer heckler technique.
The agenda of the party is to get NACT government money for the Tamaki organisation. The pretence of concern about foreign ownership and homelessness, particularly galling given NACT policy.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/08/watch-chris-hipkins-mobbed-by-freedoms-nz-protesters-at-tara-market.html
Maybe liberals will wake up to how shifting activism and protest culture at Let Women Speak Auckland will be used against the left.
There is this :
Brian Tamaki, Sue Grey and assorted conspiracy nuts VS Leighton Baker, Samantha Edwards and assorted conspiracy nuts.
So…let them. Most of NZ will see them for what they are…conspiracy nuts.