19 September was a good choice of day for an election until Covid arrived.
Covid is not abating in Europe. A second wave is about to strike. I will need to wait and see the outcome. Flu season is going to be hectic and exhausting for medical workers in heavily affected countries.
I expected Natonal to be doing better in the polls. NZF has not improved. Act seems to be making headway. The Greens are hanging in there. Labour is secure and the party of trust and stamina.
Robertson's cynical dig at voters who support a democracy that pays his salary. I will be taking his "great quip" and the tax cuts into account when I decide who gets my vote.
Regenerative farmer Michael Kay, who’ll be standing under the Attica banner in Ōtaki, said control from the executives of the Outdoors Party and wider disorganisation had made it impossible for the party to get movement on policy development.
“We wanted to change it so that we could have policy subcommittees so there was structure and it wasn’t like herding cats. [But] every time we’d go to do that, they’d say ‘oh don’t be authoritarian’.” He said when he suggested the idea of having something akin to party whips, the reaction from the party was one of horror.
“I realised there was no experience or knowledge of being able to settle the fact that this is how parliament works. If you don’t know what standing orders are or don’t know these processes, what are you going to do when you get there?”
Formal procedures of democracy aren't part of normal lifestyles. Restless natives can't be expected to be disciplined into conformity. On the fringe, random is good.
There’s an increasing amount of common ideological ground between those parties and others outside of parliament like the New Conservatives and the One Party, particularly around a generalised sense of ordinary people losing control over their lives. Flutey said he’s seen debates on the fringes in which “they largely agree with everything they have to say.”
I largely agree with everything I have to say too, so I get where they're coming from. However I ain't ordinary, and have a comfortable degree of control over my life, so I'm not their target market.
For Brown and many others in this area of politics, the upcoming election has an almost epochal, last-chance feel to it that necessitates hard political choices.
Last chance to decide which bunch of nutters to go with! Choose fast! On the shelf at Fringe Supermart we have Out There, Off the Wall, Zany, Fruitcakes United, plus there's Nutters Unlimited, Nutball Supreme and one or two others…
Mike Iles, standing for Attica in Mana, chipped in with his frustration about how the internal processes of the Outdoors Party worked. “There was no control. You’d have a meeting and one person would talk for half an hour, and then the meeting would be over so you wouldn’t achieve anything.”
Out of control is good. That way narcissists can dominate by uttering slogans forever, which is how aspiring leaders run the show, but it does rather presume narcissists in the audience won't compete, eh? Good luck with that.
There was particular frustration from the pair over the issue of writing policy, which never went anywhere when presented to the leadership, nor was there transparency from the leadership about the state of the organisation.
Sounds like an infestation of experienced politicos – refugees from the Nat/Lab duopoly. Tyros would struggle to combat their proven control techniques. Closet stalinism works even better than closet fascism. "What agreements? What documents? They never existed. You're hallucinating."
By definition, a pandemic can't be fringe. Pan means all when used as a prefix (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan). So the active agent causing it can infect all…
Building consensus amongst splitters seems an impossible task. An heroic endeavour, requiring a hero.
A rival meeting aiming to build minor party consensus has been put together by Brad Flutey, a former Outdoors Party political strategist and candidate, who’ll now be standing for Social Credit. Flutey said it was organised in direct competition to Advance NZ, necessitated partly because of a lack of trust in Te Kahika.
Guru aversion. A sensible stance in politics.
The Outdoors Party sprang out of recreational hunting and fishing groups, before moving onto more hot-button policy issues like opposition to 5G technology, 1080, vaccines and Covid-19 restrictions. They define themselves as being in favour of people power and localised decision making.
The last two points they do share with the Greens – but the Greens, being cool, favour cool-button policy issues. Hot-heads hitting on hot-buttons would have to cool down to build consensus with them.
In response to their experience of the Outdoors Party, Kay and Iles intend to run the Attica Project as a largely leaderless movement. Kay said he wasn’t swayed by Advance NZ’s approach, likening their recent anti-lockdown protests to “howling at the moon”.
Readers will be wondering how effective howling at the moon actually is. Humans are predators & so are wolves, but biological determinism may only work on the fringe.
chorus howls involve members of a pack singing in unison at multiple pitches. Together, the chorus may include up to 12 related harmonies. Group howling can protect packs since the combination of harmonies tricks listeners into thinking there are more wolves present. Or sometimes, they'll howl just for the fun of it.
"People from mainland China make up the bulk of those who have purchased honorary citizenship, at the average price of around $US130,000, entitling them to a Vanuatu passport."
And….
"The leader of the country's parliamentary opposition, Ralph Regenvanu said he was concerned that international criminals and people stripped of citizenship in other countries for nefarious activities could more easily become citizens of Vanuatu."
Don't be mean. They want post-Covid holidays in Umbria and a new VW e-Golf (amazingly affordable at $61,990 and looks nice in blue) because they want to do the right thing. And they would, if only the Greens were a 'real environmental Party'.
Reading comprehension fail? Chloe did not say it was expensive in absolute terms – she said it was the most expensive thing she owns. It cost bugger-all, probably, but if she does not own a car or house, maybe it cost more than anything else she owns.
Judging by your attitude, Grafton Gully, it probably cost less than your dinner-dress suit.
a good investment, sofas generally last a long time and thus its good money spend, however, i know no one who has spend 3 grand on a sofa. But its a nice looking sofa and why not, she earns somewhere around 200.000NZD per annum so its not as if she could not afford it.
No reason to be so upset.
The thing that had me chuckle was her tweet about the 'wildcard' race between the three contenders in Auckland Central.
"For the new poll, Reid Research interviewed 532 people in the Auckland Central electorate via landline, mobile, online and on the street in the first and second weeks of September. The results were weighted to match the electorate's demographics. The margin of error is 4.2 percent."
"With 20.7 percent of voters still undecided, there's only a slim chance Mellow can pull off an upset and keep the seat for National"
Right o, so extrapolate this out over the country and what does it mean for current National list MPs. Wouldn't they be close to having an overhang from too many 'safe' electorates and no MPs coming in off their list.
Will make for an interesting dynamic within the National caucus.
.
If we assumed, for argument's sake, that the Poll was both accurate & reflected the swing across the Country as a whole (a somewhat dodgy assumption but, for the love of Christ, humour me just this once !) … then:
That poll was taken when the Greens were being pounded over the (minor issue-turns out to be a grant) green school. Their policy releases since have been strong so 5 per cent is very much on the cards, especially if Labour tactical voters realise they will need the Greens in 2020.
I'd rather have more ACT than more National simply because ACT aren't conservatives. ACT may have silly economic ideas but at least they support personal freedoms like euthanasia, drug policy and free speech etc.
Candidates in the tighter senate races (five thirty eight suggests there are quite a few) are now caught in a political hard place? Maybe not as keen as Mitch.
Senator Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and – in 2018 when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee – Chuck Grassley, however, have previouslyannounced that they were opposed to confirming a new Supreme Court justice in 2020. “Fair is fair,” Murkowski said. Mitt Romney is also reportedlycommitted to not confirming a Supreme Court nominee until after Inauguration Day 2021.
It’s a popular sentiment on the left: Don’t mourn, organize. But with the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that won’t be enough. Ginsburg, a hero of female empowerment and of the Supreme Court, deserves much mourning. But Democrats and progressives can waste no time prepping for the battle royal that lies ahead. After all, it took Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell mere minutes after the news of RBG’s passing to declare that the GOP-controlled Senate will vote on whoever Donald Trump sends its way to fill the Supreme Court vacancy—a direct eff-you to the Democrats after McConnell in 2016refused to consider President Barack Obama’s SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland with the phony-baloney argument that the Senate should not consider new justices during an election year. So yes, Dems will have to organize, but they must do more: They have to get ready to rumble.
The win-over-reasonable-Republicans-with-reason strategy is weak sauce. That leaves the Democrats with one other choice: total political warfare. The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer—with the backing of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi—needs to threaten massive retaliation. Should McConnell try to ram a Trump nominee through, Schumer ought to vow that the Democrats, if they win back the Senate and Biden is elected president, will demolish the filibuster, which will allow the Senate to proceed to make Washington, DC, a state (two more senators, who are likely to be Democrats!) and that they will move to add two or four more seats to the Supreme Court. (There is nothing in the Constitution that limits the court’s size to the current nine justices.) In other words: They will implement a Republican nightmare (which, as it happens, can be justified on arguments of equity and fairness).
Sad that a once in a century pandemic should have come along before the government had a clearly thought out plan for rescuing all the firms and saving all the jobs in the tourism sector. Sad that the government now looks like it was making up the criteria for support as it went along. But guess what? To some extent, they were. Possibly because in the modern era, a pandemic had never before caused international travel to evaporate almost overnight.
I think the bit about Iran was far more important:
Iran, China’s new captive
In effect, Trump has pushed Iran into the arms of China. The result is blood chilling. Reportedly, ordinary Iranians face being turned into the Uighurs of the Middle East:
The next phase of the 25-year deal between China and Iran will focus on a large-scale roll-out of electronic espionage and warfare capabilities focussed around the port of Chabahar and extending for a nearly 5,000 kilometer (3,000 mile) radius, and the concomitant build-out of mass surveillance and monitoring of the Iranian population, in line with the standard operating procedure across China, senior sources close to the Iranian government told OilPrice.com last week.
[The plan] dovetail into Beijing’s strategic vision for Iran as a fully-functioning client state of China by the end of the 25-year period. By that time, Iran will be an irreplaceable geographical and geopolitical foundation stone in Beijing’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ project, as well as providing a large pool of young, well-educated, relatively cheap labor for Chinese industry.
For our lowest paid workers, they can also often feel pressured into going to work when they shouldn’t. It is estimated around 35 percent of people typically come into work despite being sick.
…
Our extension to 10 sick days a year will help to maintain a long term culture of staying home when you are unwell, and doing our bit to keep communities healthy and safe.
Continuing to limit sick days will continue to put pressure on low paid workers to go into work when sick. The increase may decrease the prevalence but we're still going to see poor people going into work when they shouldn't.
Most people don't go to the doc when they are sick however I think if you are off for 3 or more days at a stretch then an employer is justified in asking for a doc note. Not simply because they are suspicious the person is lying and more because you might want to know if your employee is A) OK and B) not going to make anyone else sick by coming in
10 instead of 5 days is halving the pressure, IMO.
It still leaves them with the question of if they should take the sick leave now or save it for when they're feeling worse. Especially for those of the working poor.
After all, there's no guarantee that they're going to require less than 10 days in a year.
What problem do you have with doctor’s certificates?
Because they're usually a waste of time. Get a cold, take a couple of days off and get stuck with
Having to increase the time that your sick due to not being able to stay home to look after yourself
Get stuck with an unnecessary doctors bill
As it is if a person gets sick on Thursday, takes Friday off and needs to get a doctors cert.
Good for privatised doctors I suppose. Boosts their profits. Just no good for the poor who have to pay.
If an employee is sick or injured, or cannot attend work because their spouse, partner or dependant is sick or injured, for:
less than three days, and an employer asks for proof of sickness or injury, they must ask as soon as possible and pay the employee back for the cost of getting the proof, eg a visit to the doctor.
three or more days in a row, even if these three days are not all days the employee would have otherwise worked on (otherwise working day) and the employer asks for proof, then the employee needs to meet the cost.
Since we really want people to not pass covid around I wondered about some sort of pooling plus a subsidy if the pool was exceeded annually.
So if you have 5 employees by 10 days that' s 50 for the company per year. Without interfering with any individual right if people stay home, get covid tests etc then a rebate, subsidy via the IRD kicks in if the pool for the year is exceeded by covid related sick leave. All the usual stuff about medical certificates etc can apply.
Small firms can be hard hit by extra sick leave – larger firms would cover their covid related stuff themselves pretty much. Don't forget we have virtually no other winter flu cases so a lot of firms are doing well out of it. Also I've known companies in the past who had no formal sick leave policies jjust handed out as needed and loved it as overall sick leave was so much lower.
Maybe not a perfect idea but there must be some way to sort this
Yeah, overall sick leave is lower because people are getting less sick? Or maybe because they don't want to look like the one who isn't a "team player"?
Assuming 5 employees, that's something like 950 workdays a year (not including hols). Down to 900. Not quite as crippling.
The problem for smaller units and businesses is twofold: a sick day or two can stuff a workload schedule (especially if you need two for safety); and basic "who covers the other person's lunch break" issues.
but a year at 365 day, – 30 days holiday leave, – 10 day sick leave leaves 325 days working if full time.
950 days divided by 5 would come to 190 work days per person.
the worst abuse of 'not taking sick leave' was in offices. Well paid office people who don't want to upset upper management or ruin their career path. If they get everyone sick, who cares, at least they show up.
As for the poor – most of them don't work full time, that is part of them being poor. So if anything, again this rule will only benefit those that are waged and salaried and often times not poor.
i have not taken these into account – only the guaranteed 4 weeks annual leave and the potential 10 days off.
True that, and no i have not heard of weekends in a long time as i am self employed and i don't have 'weekends'. I have 'Sunday' off, when i don't work Sundays, and the last holiday i had was the four weeks of lockdown before that i had three days of after christmas las year. Go figure. 🙂 And the last time my partner had a weekend off that he did not have to take 'anual leave for ' was just before lockdown, since then he has been on call 24/7 and he and his workmates are not going to educate his employer about the work laws of this country lest they lose their jobs. Not that anyone here gives a flying fuck about people losing their jobs. 🙂 And another friend and his work mates just took a considerable pay cut in order to protect their jobs and i am sure they are thrilled to know that they will get an extra 5 days sick leave under Labour, if they still have a job.
But the point that i was making stands, unless you are working full time or on a annual part time contract the rules are written as such that if i don't want to provide paid sick leave there are plenty of ways around, and non of these ways were addressed by Labour.
But it sure sounds like a nice 'feel good' policy for those that like a good feel good policy that does not apply to the majority of the working public in this country.
True that, and no i have not heard of weekends in a long time as i am self employed and i don't have 'weekends'.
Yes, I've always wondered what would happen if the self-employed had to abide by the same employment rules as everyone else such as paying themselves the minimum wage, minimum holidays etcetera because, from what I've seen, their business wouldn't survive.
Which means, interestingly enough, that their business is non-viable.
And the last time my partner had a weekend off that he did not have to take 'anual leave for ' was just before lockdown, since then he has been on call 24/7 and he and his workmates are not going to educate his employer about the work laws of this country lest they lose their jobs.
Yes, because allowing an employer to break the laws of the nation is such a good idea.
But the point that i was making stands, unless you are working full time or on a annual part time contract the rules are written as such that if i don't want to provide paid sick leave there are plenty of ways around, and non of these ways were addressed by Labour.
Apparently so as your example of your own business not keeping to the minimums required by law shows.
Yes, I've always wondered what would happen if the self-employed had to abide by the same employment rules as everyone else such as paying themselves the minimum wage, minimum holidays etcetera because, from what I've seen, their business wouldn't survive.
true that, but in saying that, so as long as i can pay myself a wage that is still better then getting fuck all from Winz. And if we had to pay ourselfs all these wages and costs, no small business woud start up and thus don't grow to big businesses. But then the main reason for people like me – women – to have their own little businesses is that the job situation in NZ for women is fucked – last time 4% unemployment for women was in 2008 (by the governments own numbers) so we find a niche and hope to make enough money to pay for our lifes, lest we depend on Winz or the generosity of a partner.
And this includes, all cost of running a business, all compliance costs, all supplier bills, acc levy, and so on.
And the last time my partner had a weekend off that he did not have to take 'anual leave for ' was just before lockdown, since then he has been on call 24/7 and he and his workmates are not going to educate his employer about the work laws of this country lest they lose their jobs.
i keep telling him, but he truly believes that paying the bills is a good thing and besides there are no jobs to which he could just switch over to show it to his boss. Go figure.
Apparently so as your example of your own business not keeping to the minimums required by law shows.
please show me where exactly i am breaking the law currently and frankly you should if you accuse someone of breaking the law.
as in my business, i am now the only person working. I have let go of my staff who was employed for 21 weekly fixed hours with full benefits as entitled to by the law at the beginning of march due to loss of business thanks to covid.
Really if you throw out these accusations you better have something to back it up lest you come across as a bit of a wanker.
please show me where exactly i am breaking the law
I didn't say that you were breaking the law. I said that you weren't keeping to the minimums required by law. You do that legally because the law is broken in not requiring self-employed people to provide themselves with the legal minimums.
As I say, a market system can only work if costs are properly accounted for and your example shows that they're not.
And if we had to pay ourselfs all these wages and costs, no small business woud start up and thus don't grow to big businesses.
Which is probably the reasoning that the government uses to keep the broken law in place that gives small businesses a competitive advantage – despite the fact that small businesses almost never grow into big businesses.
I think it would be better if small businesses also covered the full costs of actually providing all those minimums that are considered so important that they're written into law. My solution for encouraging a small business is a UBI.
It's aimed at expanding the rights of employees. I think you'll find the wealthier employees are in a position to negotiate additional benefits like time off, flexible schedules, all that. This is merely a minimum requirement for everyone employed for more than ten hours a week.
I suggest that any employer who feels compelled to avoid paying sick leave by structuring their employment agreements so that no employees works for six months is running their business in an incompetent manner and if they don't go bust from that, they'll end up breaking employment law somehow and going bust from that.
Employment agreements? What is this that you speak of? Oh , contracts right, for waged and salaried workers? Right? lol. Sorry McFlock, but you have no idea what goes on in NZ employments, specially on the low to very low end. But bless your cotton socks.
No one in this country has gone bust from breaking employment laws 'somehow' see Talley, see various Temp agencies, see various people that illegally employ foreign students etc. They don't go bust, they make good bank, and what ever fine they get is less then what they made.
With 200.000 + unemployed (majority of them women for whom no one creates shovel ready jobs or increases the benefits ) with another round of job loses to come, the ones that have one will consider it a blessing and they will not do anything to jeopordize this.
All employees (including part-time and casual employees) are entitled to 5 days' sick leave if:
they have six months’ current continuous employment with the same employer, or
they have worked for the employer for six months for:
an average of 10 hours per week, and
at least one hour in every week or 40 hours in every month.
Two examples here that i have come across in my time working for others in NZ:
so most seasonal workers are already excluded as most will not have six month with the same employer.
retail, one full time manager, one part timer 4 hours a week, one part timer 6 hours a week, one part timer 5 hours a week.
(the two 4 hours and 6 hours are lunch relief, the other is sunday work) only the full time manager will benefit
coffee shop ( a big franchise) barista has a 8 hours a week with the franchise in down town, and another 8 hours with the franchise in up town, these are not the same employer, thus barista will get fuck all.
these are just three examples of people who will not benefit legally in current and normal 'working agreements' from this law, due to the current legislation. They already don't get the 5 days.
Sorry McFlock, but that is going to be a nice thing for the few remaining people that still have jobs and still dare to complain. The rest is gonna shut up, lemsip up and go to work, as they need the pay, and Winz is not gonna help pay the bills.
Never mind all those that already don't work in the 'polite societies economy' but work under the table in order to pay for food and rent, considering that Covid is not enough of a mess for the Labour government actually to do anything of substance for those that have no jobs, no income, and no chance of finding anything soon, or for those that currently would do everything – including giving up pay – in order to keep their jobs.
as for breaking employment laws, how many people have died in forestry and the company is still going? how many laws has talley broken? Are they bust?
now if Labour would get rid of the giant loopholes and say everyone working is entitled to sick leave irrespective of hours worked or length of employment, and that is then paid for via ACC – similar to maternity leave you would have something, but they did not do that.
Thanks for that info and perspective Siobhan – we don't know how lucky we are not to be squeezed by all these problems on low wages and any hours the boss likes to set.
Oh, piss off with that holier than though crap. You think because you've had shit work nobody else has?
There are a fuckload of workers – workers, not managers or bureaucrats – who will appreciate being able to take another paid day if they or a kid are sick. But because they're lucky enough to hold down a job for six months and work ten hours a week there, you don't give a shit about them.
Sure, Talley's can afford to piss away money breaking employment law. Does the retail outlet with only a few staff have the same wiggle room in their budget?
Were you complaining that the covid grants were giving money to employers who didn't need it? Or were you complaining that the government wasn't doing enough to help businesses?
There are a fuckload of workers – workers, not managers or bureaucrats – who will appreciate being able to take another paid day if they or a kid are sick. But because they're lucky enough to hold down a job for six months and work ten hours a week there, you don't give a shit about them.
dude i don't know how you come to that, all i say is that the law change is meaningless if labour at the same time don't remove the loop holes that allows people / bosses/ hr departments to avoid paying the CURRENT 5 DAY sickness benefit. So keep the accusations away.
Sure, Talley's can afford to piss away money breaking employment law. Does the retail outlet with only a few staff have the same wiggle room in their budget?
yes, if they employ people so that they don't get over the min hours, they can legally get away with these rules. Say – i need someone full time, but don't want to pay any benefits other then the wage. I c could hire 5 people – Mon – Fri – each working one day – all of them WINZ beneficiaries – and it would be a win win. They all get the one day they can work without loosing money on their benefits and i would have the week covered. Its actually so fucking easy to get around these rules, because they Loopholes are so big.
Were you complaining that the covid grants were giving money to employers who didn't need it? Or were you complaining that the government wasn't doing enough to help businesses?
Yes, i did. The day it was announced i was here on the standard and called bullshit. I advocated for a full bill holiday – for everyone, inclusive businesses, i advocated for IRD to send a stipend to each household for the duration of the lockdown level that would prevent people from going to work. You can search that. I said very much that this would not help the small businesses as it would not cover the cost of having business closed and it would not cover the bills at home. And you know what, i got called hysteric, whingy and all sorts of other things. So yeah, i knew that that shit would be abused, and i knew it would be abused by the big companies. Everyone in their right mind did.
this is what i said to McFlock at the end of my comment:
Now if Labour would get rid of the giant loopholes and say everyone working is entitled to sick leave irrespective of hours worked or length of employment, and that is then paid for via ACC – similar to maternity leave you would have something, but they did not do that.
This is no more and no less a lolly scramble as the bullshit tax cuts advocated by National.
There is one thing that i know as someone who actually has to work for money, if the people in this country have no money , i have no business. So its not in my interest at all to have a poor populace. You might want to keep that in mind when screaming abuse at me. I am not the one that advocates for feel good bull, i advocate for no income taxes for the first 20 grand – cost of housing, i advocate for a serious increase in well fare benefits, i advocate for rental caps and i have done this since the years of John Key.
And lastly, i am closer to poverty then i ever will be to riches. And i for one know this.
Do you think that there are new groups of people who feel pressured to go into work e.g health workers when they are not well?
It is not just physical illness which requires time off. I did not realise that a student on a work placement is not covered for wages if they have an accident e.g. student nurse injuring their back. They can take some limited sick days so they do not fail their placement.
That has always been the case and currently is the case.
The retail job in my post above – the 'manager' was me. After about three month of working there i got blood poisioning. Pretty bad up the leg, felt interesting to say the least.
I got lots of antibiotics, a note for the white cross clinic that i should be in bedrest for a few days etc. I go to work to my manager, and i was told that i had no rights to 'sick leave' and if i wanted to take off i would have to do so without pay. Which of course does not help to pay the bills.
I went to work. Every day. Drugged to the hilt, white as death, and sick as.
If you have cancer treatment the five days are not gonna get you through. So you go to work.
And everyone i knew in the last office that i worked before redundancy having a cold or the flu was no reason to stay home. they went to work, and everyone got sick, and everyone went to work. Reason? Most hoped to accumulate enough sick days for something 'real' like cancer, or a serious injury, or a serious illness of a family member.
yes, and that is what i learned is what quite a few people do so as to have a bit of a cushion if they have something bad.
a friend underwent a masectomy this year with all the treatments that come with cancer. People in her office 'donated' some of their sick days to her for the treatment so she could stay home.
She got the last treatment just before shutdown and is working from home fulltime.
A side issue, but I heard Bonus Bonds have 3.2 billion to pay out over the next yet as they are folding. It couldn’t come at a better time for the economy imho
I personally am fascinated about this. I bought a single dollar bond in 1969 when it started. I will be so delighted to get it back. I think I will crack a bottle of Champers when I get it. It was actually a paper note back then.
(It never won a prize, but any chance was better than none at all. Moderation in gambling!)
Hold onto it, get it signed and you might increase the value.
Who would you want to sign it?
About 15 years ago I got as change a $5 note and it had on it to Kevin (not sure if it had sir in the signature) but it was signed by Edmund Hillary.
I did not keep the $5 note as the name Kevin had many unhappy memories for me.
A few years later on the radio I heard Kevin Milne talking about loosing a $5 note which Sir Edmund Hillary had signed. I think he tucked it into a picture frame and it fell out.
So had I kept the $5 note signed by Edmund Hillary would I have been the owner?
Yes definitely, especially with a combined 68% left/centre-left party vote – or 70% for the current governing parties if we add in NZF’s paltry contribution.
20 bucks for the minimum wage, good counter to the poxy tax cut for those workers. Also good signal to move us away from a low wage economy with a trickle up flow.
Right to be fairly treated and have free speech – only works when it is a two-way thing. This man was said to 'collect injustices.' Why can't people be held in prison as mentally unfit to be in society? It will have to come if people can't control themselves. Why should women be killed by vicious partners, their children be killed to get at the parent, a nutter go loose because some people care more about their rights than the vulnerable people they verbally and later physically, attack.
I was looking up Carl Hiaasen, author, and saw this about his brother's murder.
It feels this way. Many years ago, my husband and i were 'preferred contractors to the AKL Council' – we did a lot of graffity prevention works in schools etc. Good fun, but gosh arguing for funds was tedious to say the least.
One of the people that we worked with – an ex cop – told me that its always the lowest bidder that wins. And sometimes it just feels that way.
Despite anecdotal evidence and feels, it is not generally true. In reality, the successful bid is usually somewhere in-between the cheapest no-frills one and the most expensive all bells & whistles gold-plated top of the shelf one. True, it is a grey area and depends on available budget and many subjective factors. Think of it like a house sale; the highest bid is not always accepted (the ‘winner’) because of conditions & clauses that make it less attractive or unfavourable even. The ‘game’ is a little (!) different when it is not your own money that is spent but the rules for accountability, transparency, and fairness, for example, are therefore quite stringent, as it should be. The tender process is confidential so it is hard, bordering on impossible, for outsiders or even bidding parties to form a proper judgement of the decision and the decision-making process; the rules are clear and known to all.
Fair enough. Generally i always only hope that the money is well spend and that the things that are being build are well build. That is all i hope for, that the bridge that i am travelling on is not gonna fall down.
Some good moves there – but they are incremental – the real test will be this new wave of "skilled immigration" that's going to get 1000 places in isolation. They are to be for where there is a:
But those were always the criteria, it's just that corruption meant that was allowed to include fruit pickers, exploitable Bottle-O staff, Chorus employees and of course the prototype for this visa scam, the slave fishermen.
It will be a fair litmus test of the government, whether they resume the disastrous mass low-wage immigration policies that gave us the fastest growing inequality in the OECD, or whether they have learned – at last – that migration is not an unmixed blessing.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from 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 public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
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:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Women's Suffrage Day breakfast.
Get up people.
Turnout of 50 for breakfast this morning.
17 last year.
Mood is very good for Labour into governmen here.
Great to hear that Ad.
19 September was a good choice of day for an election until Covid arrived.
Covid is not abating in Europe. A second wave is about to strike. I will need to wait and see the outcome. Flu season is going to be hectic and exhausting for medical workers in heavily affected countries.
Was it french toast or rice bubbles?
Was breakfast around at your place?
Murmurings on Twitter that Nats are down to 26%. And Newshub have polled Auckland Central.
@ScottGn – who's saying that on Twitter, Scott?
I'm wondering too ScottGN – could you follow with details so we have information?
NATs on 26.6% greens about24% LAB about 48%
That's candidate vote in Auckland Central I presume?
Great quip from Grant Robertson, “their tax cuts are less about stimulating the economy and more about stimulating their dire polling…”
Good to see the PM making a push into Wairarapa for McAnulty too.
I expected Natonal to be doing better in the polls. NZF has not improved. Act seems to be making headway. The Greens are hanging in there. Labour is secure and the party of trust and stamina.
Robertson's cynical dig at voters who support a democracy that pays his salary. I will be taking his "great quip" and the tax cuts into account when I decide who gets my vote.
There is a piece at propublica.com about US postal workers catching Covid-19 in large numbers, raising problems with postal voting in the election.
Out on the fringe, shit's flying all over the place: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-09-2020/candidates-defect-in-all-directions-in-ugly-minor-party-battle/
Formal procedures of democracy aren't part of normal lifestyles. Restless natives can't be expected to be disciplined into conformity. On the fringe, random is good.
I largely agree with everything I have to say too, so I get where they're coming from. However I ain't ordinary, and have a comfortable degree of control over my life, so I'm not their target market.
Last chance to decide which bunch of nutters to go with! Choose fast! On the shelf at Fringe Supermart we have Out There, Off the Wall, Zany, Fruitcakes United, plus there's Nutters Unlimited, Nutball Supreme and one or two others…
Out of control is good. That way narcissists can dominate by uttering slogans forever, which is how aspiring leaders run the show, but it does rather presume narcissists in the audience won't compete, eh? Good luck with that.
Sounds like an infestation of experienced politicos – refugees from the Nat/Lab duopoly. Tyros would struggle to combat their proven control techniques. Closet stalinism works even better than closet fascism. "What agreements? What documents? They never existed. You're hallucinating."
Excellent volume of splitter votes off National there to redistribute.
Dennis, is Covid-19 "fringe"?
By definition, a pandemic can't be fringe. Pan means all when used as a prefix (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan). So the active agent causing it can infect all…
heh.
Building consensus amongst splitters seems an impossible task. An heroic endeavour, requiring a hero.
Guru aversion. A sensible stance in politics.
The last two points they do share with the Greens – but the Greens, being cool, favour cool-button policy issues. Hot-heads hitting on hot-buttons would have to cool down to build consensus with them.
Readers will be wondering how effective howling at the moon actually is. Humans are predators & so are wolves, but biological determinism may only work on the fringe.
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/wolves-howling-at-moon.htm
So yeah, quite similar to minor party psychodynamics, when you think about it…
2 weeks and you can vote
Yeah. Can’t wait (more exciting than Christmas 🙂
"citizenship-for-sale"
Wow this doesnt seem dodgy at all…..
"People from mainland China make up the bulk of those who have purchased honorary citizenship, at the average price of around $US130,000, entitling them to a Vanuatu passport."
And….
"The leader of the country's parliamentary opposition, Ralph Regenvanu said he was concerned that international criminals and people stripped of citizenship in other countries for nefarious activities could more easily become citizens of Vanuatu."
That Smile on Ronald Warsal's dial…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/426414/vanuatu-warned-about-citizenship-sale-flaw
You mean they don't even need to pick up a one-year postgraduate Diploma in something or other on the way through? Radical.
Newshub Poll
The Greens are in trouble no one wants to make the sacrifices needed to stop climate catastrophe
Don't be mean. They want post-Covid holidays in Umbria and a new VW e-Golf (amazingly affordable at $61,990 and looks nice in blue) because they want to do the right thing. And they would, if only the Greens were a 'real environmental Party'.
Nats aren't up for it, Labour – Greens .
Mellow Yellow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQNBQI3UDag
And Chloe's expensive leather sofa with the skin of a vegetarian animal and unacknowledged animal rights.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/122410717/the-most-expensive-thing-green-mp-chle-swarbrick-owns-is-her-couch
Reading comprehension fail? Chloe did not say it was expensive in absolute terms – she said it was the most expensive thing she owns. It cost bugger-all, probably, but if she does not own a car or house, maybe it cost more than anything else she owns.
Judging by your attitude, Grafton Gully, it probably cost less than your dinner-dress suit.
just shy of 3 grand as per the article linked.
a good investment, sofas generally last a long time and thus its good money spend, however, i know no one who has spend 3 grand on a sofa. But its a nice looking sofa and why not, she earns somewhere around 200.000NZD per annum so its not as if she could not afford it.
No reason to be so upset.
The thing that had me chuckle was her tweet about the 'wildcard' race between the three contenders in Auckland Central.
I'm not even being negative about this species extincting with a full bank of footnotes.
Hay bales are a fire risk and create such a mess on the floor.
"For the new poll, Reid Research interviewed 532 people in the Auckland Central electorate via landline, mobile, online and on the street in the first and second weeks of September. The results were weighted to match the electorate's demographics. The margin of error is 4.2 percent."
"With 20.7 percent of voters still undecided, there's only a slim chance Mellow can pull off an upset and keep the seat for National"
Right o, so extrapolate this out over the country and what does it mean for current National list MPs. Wouldn't they be close to having an overhang from too many 'safe' electorates and no MPs coming in off their list.
Will make for an interesting dynamic within the National caucus.
.
If we assumed, for argument's sake, that the Poll was both accurate & reflected the swing across the Country as a whole (a somewhat dodgy assumption but, for the love of Christ, humour me just this once !) … then:
2017 ………. 2020
Lab 36.9 ….. 55.3
Nat 44.4 ….. 28.3
NZF 7.2 …….. 4.9
Green 6.3 …. 4.5
ACT 0.5 ……… 3.3
… Which I happen to find quite amusing.
.
That poll was taken when the Greens were being pounded over the (minor issue-turns out to be a grant) green school. Their policy releases since have been strong so 5 per cent is very much on the cards, especially if Labour tactical voters realise they will need the Greens in 2020.
I'd rather have more ACT than more National simply because ACT aren't conservatives. ACT may have silly economic ideas but at least they support personal freedoms like euthanasia, drug policy and free speech etc.
I like your assumption.
bugger
https://twitter.com/gbrumfiel/status/1307100272502673408
Double bugger
The mentions of Cotton and Cruz weren't out of the blue.
https://twitter.com/nataliewsj/status/1307119429231284226
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/09/911194201/trump-adds-ted-cruz-tom-cotton-to-list-of-potential-scotus-picks
Candidates in the tighter senate races (five thirty eight suggests there are quite a few) are now caught in a political hard place? Maybe not as keen as Mitch.
Hopefully they are true to their word:
https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/
Hopefully. I'm pretty sure that some Republicans will vote against the appointment but I'm also sure that some democrats will vote for.
So, IMO, chances are that we'll see Trumps appointment in place before the election.
I'm hoping that the Dems will not take this lying down and a great rallying cry here on Mother Jones.
Gordon Campbell on Scoop being slightly sarcastic.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2009/S00090/on-tourisms-endless-sense-of-grievance.htm
Sad that a once in a century pandemic should have come along before the government had a clearly thought out plan for rescuing all the firms and saving all the jobs in the tourism sector. Sad that the government now looks like it was making up the criteria for support as it went along. But guess what? To some extent, they were. Possibly because in the modern era, a pandemic had never before caused international travel to evaporate almost overnight.
Oh dear it's – The End of the Golden Weather (which was the name of a NZ play. I think it had a sad end too.) https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/the-end-of-the-golden-weather-1991
(By the way there did used-to-be bikini-width beach patrols in NZ.)
I think the bit about Iran was far more important:
Why do we still have a FTA with China?
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/nzlabour/pages/18655/attachments/original/1600459380/FINAL_Workplace_Relations_fact_sheet.pdf
Continuing to limit sick days will continue to put pressure on low paid workers to go into work when sick. The increase may decrease the prevalence but we're still going to see poor people going into work when they shouldn't.
It is the legal minimum requirement for employers.
Yes, so if employers so choose they can increase it. Most don't which is why the government is looking at increasing it from 5 days to 10.
Which means that, for the majority of people, they're still going to be limited and the pressure to go to work sick still there.
And that's before we get into doctors certificates.
10 instead of 5 days is halving the pressure, IMO.
What problem do you have with doctor’s certificates?
Most people don't go to the doc when they are sick however I think if you are off for 3 or more days at a stretch then an employer is justified in asking for a doc note. Not simply because they are suspicious the person is lying and more because you might want to know if your employee is A) OK and B) not going to make anyone else sick by coming in
It still leaves them with the question of if they should take the sick leave now or save it for when they're feeling worse. Especially for those of the working poor.
After all, there's no guarantee that they're going to require less than 10 days in a year.
Because they're usually a waste of time. Get a cold, take a couple of days off and get stuck with
As it is if a person gets sick on Thursday, takes Friday off and needs to get a doctors cert.
Good for privatised doctors I suppose. Boosts their profits. Just no good for the poor who have to pay.
https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/sick-leave/requirement-for-medical-examination/
Since we really want people to not pass covid around I wondered about some sort of pooling plus a subsidy if the pool was exceeded annually.
So if you have 5 employees by 10 days that' s 50 for the company per year. Without interfering with any individual right if people stay home, get covid tests etc then a rebate, subsidy via the IRD kicks in if the pool for the year is exceeded by covid related sick leave. All the usual stuff about medical certificates etc can apply.
Small firms can be hard hit by extra sick leave – larger firms would cover their covid related stuff themselves pretty much. Don't forget we have virtually no other winter flu cases so a lot of firms are doing well out of it. Also I've known companies in the past who had no formal sick leave policies jjust handed out as needed and loved it as overall sick leave was so much lower.
Maybe not a perfect idea but there must be some way to sort this
Yeah, overall sick leave is lower because people are getting less sick? Or maybe because they don't want to look like the one who isn't a "team player"?
Assuming 5 employees, that's something like 950 workdays a year (not including hols). Down to 900. Not quite as crippling.
The problem for smaller units and businesses is twofold: a sick day or two can stuff a workload schedule (especially if you need two for safety); and basic "who covers the other person's lunch break" issues.
not sure about your math,
but a year at 365 day, – 30 days holiday leave, – 10 day sick leave leaves 325 days working if full time.
950 days divided by 5 would come to 190 work days per person.
the worst abuse of 'not taking sick leave' was in offices. Well paid office people who don't want to upset upper management or ruin their career path. If they get everyone sick, who cares, at least they show up.
As for the poor – most of them don't work full time, that is part of them being poor. So if anything, again this rule will only benefit those that are waged and salaried and often times not poor.
Have you heard of public holidays?
Have you heard of weekends?
i have not taken these into account – only the guaranteed 4 weeks annual leave and the potential 10 days off.
True that, and no i have not heard of weekends in a long time as i am self employed and i don't have 'weekends'. I have 'Sunday' off, when i don't work Sundays, and the last holiday i had was the four weeks of lockdown before that i had three days of after christmas las year. Go figure. 🙂 And the last time my partner had a weekend off that he did not have to take 'anual leave for ' was just before lockdown, since then he has been on call 24/7 and he and his workmates are not going to educate his employer about the work laws of this country lest they lose their jobs. Not that anyone here gives a flying fuck about people losing their jobs. 🙂 And another friend and his work mates just took a considerable pay cut in order to protect their jobs and i am sure they are thrilled to know that they will get an extra 5 days sick leave under Labour, if they still have a job.
But the point that i was making stands, unless you are working full time or on a annual part time contract the rules are written as such that if i don't want to provide paid sick leave there are plenty of ways around, and non of these ways were addressed by Labour.
But it sure sounds like a nice 'feel good' policy for those that like a good feel good policy that does not apply to the majority of the working public in this country.
Yes, I've always wondered what would happen if the self-employed had to abide by the same employment rules as everyone else such as paying themselves the minimum wage, minimum holidays etcetera because, from what I've seen, their business wouldn't survive.
Which means, interestingly enough, that their business is non-viable.
Yes, because allowing an employer to break the laws of the nation is such a good idea.
Apparently so as your example of your own business not keeping to the minimums required by law shows.
true that, but in saying that, so as long as i can pay myself a wage that is still better then getting fuck all from Winz. And if we had to pay ourselfs all these wages and costs, no small business woud start up and thus don't grow to big businesses. But then the main reason for people like me – women – to have their own little businesses is that the job situation in NZ for women is fucked – last time 4% unemployment for women was in 2008 (by the governments own numbers) so we find a niche and hope to make enough money to pay for our lifes, lest we depend on Winz or the generosity of a partner.
And this includes, all cost of running a business, all compliance costs, all supplier bills, acc levy, and so on.
i keep telling him, but he truly believes that paying the bills is a good thing and besides there are no jobs to which he could just switch over to show it to his boss. Go figure.
please show me where exactly i am breaking the law currently and frankly you should if you accuse someone of breaking the law.
as in my business, i am now the only person working. I have let go of my staff who was employed for 21 weekly fixed hours with full benefits as entitled to by the law at the beginning of march due to loss of business thanks to covid.
Really if you throw out these accusations you better have something to back it up lest you come across as a bit of a wanker.
I didn't say that you were breaking the law. I said that you weren't keeping to the minimums required by law. You do that legally because the law is broken in not requiring self-employed people to provide themselves with the legal minimums.
As I say, a market system can only work if costs are properly accounted for and your example shows that they're not.
Which is probably the reasoning that the government uses to keep the broken law in place that gives small businesses a competitive advantage – despite the fact that small businesses almost never grow into big businesses.
I think it would be better if small businesses also covered the full costs of actually providing all those minimums that are considered so important that they're written into law. My solution for encouraging a small business is a UBI.
Yeah you're probably right about the math. It's a weekend.
Part-time workers and casual workers also qualify for paid sick leave, as long as it's >10hrs a week.
It's aimed at expanding the rights of employees. I think you'll find the wealthier employees are in a position to negotiate additional benefits like time off, flexible schedules, all that. This is merely a minimum requirement for everyone employed for more than ten hours a week.
and min of six month on the job 🙂
I suggest that any employer who feels compelled to avoid paying sick leave by structuring their employment agreements so that no employees works for six months is running their business in an incompetent manner and if they don't go bust from that, they'll end up breaking employment law somehow and going bust from that.
Lol. 🙂
Employment agreements? What is this that you speak of? Oh , contracts right, for waged and salaried workers? Right? lol. Sorry McFlock, but you have no idea what goes on in NZ employments, specially on the low to very low end. But bless your cotton socks.
No one in this country has gone bust from breaking employment laws 'somehow' see Talley, see various Temp agencies, see various people that illegally employ foreign students etc. They don't go bust, they make good bank, and what ever fine they get is less then what they made.
With 200.000 + unemployed (majority of them women for whom no one creates shovel ready jobs or increases the benefits ) with another round of job loses to come, the ones that have one will consider it a blessing and they will not do anything to jeopordize this.
Two examples here that i have come across in my time working for others in NZ:
(the two 4 hours and 6 hours are lunch relief, the other is sunday work) only the full time manager will benefit
these are just three examples of people who will not benefit legally in current and normal 'working agreements' from this law, due to the current legislation. They already don't get the 5 days.
Sorry McFlock, but that is going to be a nice thing for the few remaining people that still have jobs and still dare to complain. The rest is gonna shut up, lemsip up and go to work, as they need the pay, and Winz is not gonna help pay the bills.
Never mind all those that already don't work in the 'polite societies economy' but work under the table in order to pay for food and rent, considering that Covid is not enough of a mess for the Labour government actually to do anything of substance for those that have no jobs, no income, and no chance of finding anything soon, or for those that currently would do everything – including giving up pay – in order to keep their jobs.
as for breaking employment laws, how many people have died in forestry and the company is still going? how many laws has talley broken? Are they bust?
now if Labour would get rid of the giant loopholes and say everyone working is entitled to sick leave irrespective of hours worked or length of employment, and that is then paid for via ACC – similar to maternity leave you would have something, but they did not do that.
Thanks for that info and perspective Siobhan – we don't know how lucky we are not to be squeezed by all these problems on low wages and any hours the boss likes to set.
Oh, piss off with that holier than though crap. You think because you've had shit work nobody else has?
There are a fuckload of workers – workers, not managers or bureaucrats – who will appreciate being able to take another paid day if they or a kid are sick. But because they're lucky enough to hold down a job for six months and work ten hours a week there, you don't give a shit about them.
Sure, Talley's can afford to piss away money breaking employment law. Does the retail outlet with only a few staff have the same wiggle room in their budget?
Were you complaining that the covid grants were giving money to employers who didn't need it? Or were you complaining that the government wasn't doing enough to help businesses?
dude i don't know how you come to that, all i say is that the law change is meaningless if labour at the same time don't remove the loop holes that allows people / bosses/ hr departments to avoid paying the CURRENT 5 DAY sickness benefit. So keep the accusations away.
yes, if they employ people so that they don't get over the min hours, they can legally get away with these rules. Say – i need someone full time, but don't want to pay any benefits other then the wage. I c could hire 5 people – Mon – Fri – each working one day – all of them WINZ beneficiaries – and it would be a win win. They all get the one day they can work without loosing money on their benefits and i would have the week covered. Its actually so fucking easy to get around these rules, because they Loopholes are so big.
Yes, i did. The day it was announced i was here on the standard and called bullshit. I advocated for a full bill holiday – for everyone, inclusive businesses, i advocated for IRD to send a stipend to each household for the duration of the lockdown level that would prevent people from going to work. You can search that. I said very much that this would not help the small businesses as it would not cover the cost of having business closed and it would not cover the bills at home. And you know what, i got called hysteric, whingy and all sorts of other things. So yeah, i knew that that shit would be abused, and i knew it would be abused by the big companies. Everyone in their right mind did.
this is what i said to McFlock at the end of my comment:
Now if Labour would get rid of the giant loopholes and say everyone working is entitled to sick leave irrespective of hours worked or length of employment, and that is then paid for via ACC – similar to maternity leave you would have something, but they did not do that.
This is no more and no less a lolly scramble as the bullshit tax cuts advocated by National.
There is one thing that i know as someone who actually has to work for money, if the people in this country have no money , i have no business. So its not in my interest at all to have a poor populace. You might want to keep that in mind when screaming abuse at me. I am not the one that advocates for feel good bull, i advocate for no income taxes for the first 20 grand – cost of housing, i advocate for a serious increase in well fare benefits, i advocate for rental caps and i have done this since the years of John Key.
And lastly, i am closer to poverty then i ever will be to riches. And i for one know this.
Yeah, whatevs.
Meanwhile, in the real world, real workers just got a moderate improvement to their conditions.
The recession won't last forever, and thanks to the government you're outraged at you might even keep your business.
Do you think that there are new groups of people who feel pressured to go into work e.g health workers when they are not well?
It is not just physical illness which requires time off. I did not realise that a student on a work placement is not covered for wages if they have an accident e.g. student nurse injuring their back. They can take some limited sick days so they do not fail their placement.
That has always been the case and currently is the case.
The retail job in my post above – the 'manager' was me. After about three month of working there i got blood poisioning. Pretty bad up the leg, felt interesting to say the least.
I got lots of antibiotics, a note for the white cross clinic that i should be in bedrest for a few days etc. I go to work to my manager, and i was told that i had no rights to 'sick leave' and if i wanted to take off i would have to do so without pay. Which of course does not help to pay the bills.
I went to work. Every day. Drugged to the hilt, white as death, and sick as.
If you have cancer treatment the five days are not gonna get you through. So you go to work.
And everyone i knew in the last office that i worked before redundancy having a cold or the flu was no reason to stay home. they went to work, and everyone got sick, and everyone went to work. Reason? Most hoped to accumulate enough sick days for something 'real' like cancer, or a serious injury, or a serious illness of a family member.
Employees can accumulate up to 20 sick days over four years.
yes, and that is what i learned is what quite a few people do so as to have a bit of a cushion if they have something bad.
a friend underwent a masectomy this year with all the treatments that come with cancer. People in her office 'donated' some of their sick days to her for the treatment so she could stay home.
She got the last treatment just before shutdown and is working from home fulltime.
That’s cool!
Yes, i am so happy for her. She is the most loveliest person you could imagine. So far so good.
A side issue, but I heard Bonus Bonds have 3.2 billion to pay out over the next yet as they are folding. It couldn’t come at a better time for the economy imho
I personally am fascinated about this. I bought a single dollar bond in 1969 when it started. I will be so delighted to get it back. I think I will crack a bottle of Champers when I get it. It was actually a paper note back then.
(It never won a prize, but any chance was better than none at all. Moderation in gambling!)
Yep will be getting $20 back, but have a friend who will get $3000.00. 3.2 billon a lot to be coming back into circulation.
Hold onto it, get it signed and you might increase the value.
Who would you want to sign it?
About 15 years ago I got as change a $5 note and it had on it to Kevin (not sure if it had sir in the signature) but it was signed by Edmund Hillary.
I did not keep the $5 note as the name Kevin had many unhappy memories for me.
A few years later on the radio I heard Kevin Milne talking about loosing a $5 note which Sir Edmund Hillary had signed. I think he tucked it into a picture frame and it fell out.
So had I kept the $5 note signed by Edmund Hillary would I have been the owner?
I know the $5 note would be worth a lot now.
so you are saying the bottle of whiskey that i auctioned of Jacinda Ardern before the last election and that is signed by her is worth money? Yei!
That party vote for National in the Auckland Central poll must be giving Nats head office the heebiejeebies!
Yes definitely, especially with a combined 68% left/centre-left party vote – or 70% for the current governing parties if we add in NZF’s paltry contribution.
20 bucks for the minimum wage, good counter to the poxy tax cut for those workers. Also good signal to move us away from a low wage economy with a trickle up flow.
October 17 cannot come soon enough.
Right to be fairly treated and have free speech – only works when it is a two-way thing. This man was said to 'collect injustices.' Why can't people be held in prison as mentally unfit to be in society? It will have to come if people can't control themselves. Why should women be killed by vicious partners, their children be killed to get at the parent, a nutter go loose because some people care more about their rights than the vulnerable people they verbally and later physically, attack.
I was looking up Carl Hiaasen, author, and saw this about his brother's murder.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Gazette_shooting
Auckland Harbour Bridge was built at a time when integrity was queen. Any repairs must be with guaranteed okay steel not from China.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/426479/no-guarantee-engineers-target-temporary-fix-for-harbour-bridge
Like pretty much all the infrastructure we build in NZ the harbour bridge was a cheapskate job from start to finish.
lowest bidder always wins, never best design or best engineering.
That’s way too simplistic. Procurement is much more than just chasing the lowest bid(der), which would be a very simple task/exercise.
You seem to have time on your hands: https://www.procurement.govt.nz/
It feels this way. Many years ago, my husband and i were 'preferred contractors to the AKL Council' – we did a lot of graffity prevention works in schools etc. Good fun, but gosh arguing for funds was tedious to say the least.
One of the people that we worked with – an ex cop – told me that its always the lowest bidder that wins. And sometimes it just feels that way.
Despite anecdotal evidence and feels, it is not generally true. In reality, the successful bid is usually somewhere in-between the cheapest no-frills one and the most expensive all bells & whistles gold-plated top of the shelf one. True, it is a grey area and depends on available budget and many subjective factors. Think of it like a house sale; the highest bid is not always accepted (the ‘winner’) because of conditions & clauses that make it less attractive or unfavourable even. The ‘game’ is a little (!) different when it is not your own money that is spent but the rules for accountability, transparency, and fairness, for example, are therefore quite stringent, as it should be. The tender process is confidential so it is hard, bordering on impossible, for outsiders or even bidding parties to form a proper judgement of the decision and the decision-making process; the rules are clear and known to all.
Fair enough. Generally i always only hope that the money is well spend and that the things that are being build are well build. That is all i hope for, that the bridge that i am travelling on is not gonna fall down.
Well, shit happens, but life has many beautiful moments too.
Some good moves there – but they are incremental – the real test will be this new wave of "skilled immigration" that's going to get 1000 places in isolation. They are to be for where there is a:
genuine and justified need for critical and skilled workers
But those were always the criteria, it's just that corruption meant that was allowed to include fruit pickers, exploitable Bottle-O staff, Chorus employees and of course the prototype for this visa scam, the slave fishermen.
It will be a fair litmus test of the government, whether they resume the disastrous mass low-wage immigration policies that gave us the fastest growing inequality in the OECD, or whether they have learned – at last – that migration is not an unmixed blessing.
If they are desperate, then they'll accept my promise to vote for them if they increase benefits by 50 %.
Wrong column, but I'm referring to National.
Disappointed at the surface politics above. Iceing and not enough cake.