Open Mike 19/11/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 19th, 2017 - 56 comments
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56 comments on “Open Mike 19/11/2017 ”

    • ianmac 1.1

      And artificial milk will be a huge worry for those dairy farmers who have invested vast amounts of money to make money while destroying water. Where to from there?

      • Ms Fargo 1.1.1

        They’ll walk away like all polluters, toxic industrial sites etc do and let the taxpayer live with the consequences and try and clean up after them.

    • Adrian 1.2

      What a load of bullshit, the crop is down because of a big frost in Europe, it happens so every year to a greater or lesser extent, the last nasty was 1987 and in the 60s a couple of times and 1945 was every bit as bad, and don’t start me on the ” Little Minimum” of the late 1700s when France didn’t produce a usable crop for 12 years.
      I could go back another 700 years or so but records get a bit patchy.
      Enjoy your manufactured factory built wine which will require most ingredients to be genetically modified to be cost effective.
      Some people will swallow any old shit.

    • greywarshark 1.3

      What about the other half?

    • Molly 2.1

      This is my neck of the woods, so to speak, and I was involved with community submissions all the way through the Unitary Process and know a few of the long term growers. It won’t be surprising that the land owners – as opposed to the leasees – have looked on the housing price rise as a capital gains windfall.

      Retirement age landowners have processed Private Plan Changes that give them a large capital injection by selling off their productive land. The previous local board – not sure about the current – was very supportive of business and subdivisions, as they considered it brought more people (and money) to the region.

      Bill Cashmore, in another article said these are legacy projects from Franklin District Council, but that is not true. One local PPC took 50 acres of Class I soil, and Paerata Rise makes use of the SHA legislation to convert 300 ha. I’m sure there are more cases, these are just down the road so I am aware of them.

      There is a degree of lip service paid, but it seems the bigger the development the more likely it is to go ahead. Pressure is brought to bear on the smaller subdivisions of people trying to divide their own properties, although eventually those tend to go through.

      I would think that allowing sustainable subdivision of lifestyle properties around community hubs – where they are often located – would be a better approach to increasing housing, rather than taking Class I soils out of food production. But my cynicism of the Unitary Plan process and outcomes is likely colouring my view. Not rosily either.

      (Good article about the uplift value of land when it is earmarked for housing and not for production on the Guardian today)

    • savenz 2.2

      Yes they should. Rampant zone changes are not improving Aucklander’s lives at all. Quite the opposite. Also it’s corporate welfare to big developers making as much profit as possible and loads of charges to someone trying to build their family home. It’s a double standard.

      It seems an Absurdism that the government and councils are obsessed with more development when they don’t even have proper public transport or can keep their beaches from being contaminated. Now they are taking Aucklander’s food sources to build more houses for profit that are not only so far away but locals can’t even afford them. Lucky under TPPA foreigners can still speculate on New build houses so that’s ok then. We don’t want the global elite to mis out on a business opportunity while the poor starve. sarc.

  1. savenz 3

    Pretty sad some of NZ’s iconic beaches like Kare Kare and Piha are not safe to swim. It’s been like this for years now. When are the council going to do something about it, if they spent less time revenue gathering as their prime motivation for everything, they might actually get somewhere.

    16 Auckland beaches closed due to water contamination
    http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/national/some-auckland-beaches-closed-because-water-is-too-dirty/

    • You do understand that, under our present system, the council needs revenue to be able to afford to do anything at all don’t you?
      And that the scaremongering over the last few decades about rising rates by the RWNJs have limited the ability of councils to raise rates to do what’s needed?

      • savenz 3.1.1

        Plenty of Auckland rates money for Westfield developers and feasibility studies for billion dollar stadiums Draco. Plus the 1 billion on wasted IT that nobody cares about. We could have got trains for that!

        • Sacha 3.1.1.1

          The IT thing is a fake story pushed by the Act party’s Auckland wing via useful idiots like Orsman in the Herald. No evidence whatsoever.

          • savenz 3.1.1.1.1

            ??????? – it’s in the council accounts how much they are spending! The council IT is a train wreck. Zero accountability.

            • savenz 3.1.1.1.1.1

              It was the supercity integration that never worked, that blew the money advocated by ACT!

            • Sacha 3.1.1.1.1.2

              The budget for running regular IT systems is not the same as wasting money on new development – which is a legitimate problem area with a much smaller cost blowout. The responsible manager was shown the door (though several years too slow).

      • Cricklewood 3.1.2

        Would you be happy to pay more when… there are massive salaries… vast contracts given to multinationals in the name of ‘cost saving’ when in reality it hammers workers forces down wages and conditions and indeed kills some of them. (That rubbish truck death in the news this weekend springs to mind) Fuck em they aint having another cent from me unless there are massive changes in the pipeline.

        • Draco T Bastard 3.1.2.1

          Do I think that people at the top of the council are paid too much? Yes I do.
          Do I think that the people ate the bottom are paid too little? Yes I do.

          Do you have any fucken idea as to what would happen if we changed so that the people at the top got less while the people at the bottom got more?

          HINT: Everybody would be whinging about rates going up.

    • Ad 3.2

      Sewerage and stormwater reform at those beaches has been consistently opposed by privileged locals. Many of whom are strong left activists.

        • Anne 3.2.1.1

          Yes. My reaction too DTB. Lefties care about the environment so to suggest some are opposed to environmental remedies is suspect indeed.

      • savenz 3.2.2

        The water is supposed to be improved by a COO – Metrowater. Now Aucklanders have monthly bills increasing rents and cost of living, and glossy pamphlets with the water rates but not much action on pollution. Not sure if Kare Kare is on the grid but Coxes bay is in central Auckland, no excuse there for pollution. Apparently after a deluge of rain and we have poos in the sea, still.

        Funny though some so called lefties seem to love less democracy and less community involvement if it suits them. No idea why the left are losing ground in Auckland (sarc) when they consider most people NIMBYS and support rampant development by private providers – the net result to all the zoning is affordable houses being bowled and McMansions being put up at 2 mill + and apartments with expensive Body corporates that less and less (0n NZ wages) can afford. Progress.

        • The Fairy Godmother 3.2.2.1

          Central Auckland has an aging wastewater system where waste water goes down the same pipes as sewerage so when ever it rains there is pollution as the sewerage system can’t handle it. Its got worse because of all the development and no one thought to ask the developers to pay for the infrastructure required. The rwnj controlled Auckland City Council was all into saving money so never did anything about it. Now the Super city is constrained by promises to keep rates down and will also do nothing about it. It is up to the population to get out on the streets and demand to be able to pay more rates. Unfortunately that is just not going to happen.

          • Draco T Bastard 3.2.2.1.1

            It is up to the population to get out on the streets and demand to be able to pay more rates. Unfortunately that is just not going to happen.

            QFT

            Decades of having the RWNJs whinging about paying rates/taxes and telling everyone that it should be cheaper. So we get rates cut and the cut in services to go with them.

            Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to connect the dots there.

      • savenz 3.2.3

        @AD I would say that the locals lack of support on the septic issues is because septic tanks used to cost $1000 now they cost $13,000 plus. You used to pump them out every 5 years, now you have to pay a private provider $300 to check your septic tank system every 6 months. You have to wonder about progress!

        Then people wonder why rents are so out of control and why houses are so expensive compared to other countries. It could be rampant profiteering supported by government’s ideology in this country. If you have a new septic tank why the heck does it need checking every 6 months????

        • joe90 3.2.3.1

          why the heck does it need checking every 6 months????

          To remove solids.

          btw, twenty five years ago the waste water system I installed coast a damn sight more than a grand. From memory, the concrete products, tank, risers, drainage field and vault slabs alone cost $4 – 5k. Machine hire, labour, pipe and fittings about the same.

          • savenz 3.2.3.1.1

            wrong again. It’s because all the electronics are so ridiculous that they break down so often that you have to check them. Unless you have a family of 30 you would be hard pressed to fill a septic tank with shit up in 6 months.

            Things like $13,000 septic tanks not having surge protectors so that when subjected to the dirty power from Vector not bothering to upgrade the lines etc they blow up is the reason they need checking so often plus money for jam obviously for the firms that make the money off that. It costs $2 for a RCD – apparently now they have worked that one out. But anyone who bought one of the fancy new eco ones would not go back after the hassles the new ones have breaking down.

            By the way $13000 does not include installation, drainage etc, add on double for that. Then you can get an inkling why there is no action on affordable housing. If you fixed costs are so high, it is not economic to build small or cheaply.

        • Draco T Bastard 3.2.3.2

          You used to pump them out every 5 years,

          Which probably explains why they over-flow and pollute Piha.

          The problem is that NZers tend to be too cheap for their own good and then whinge when the council needs to put up rates to pay for them being cheap.

      • Molly 3.2.4

        Really? It was lefties that got a SHA approval for Clarks Beach – you know affordable housing – and then took the capital gains without building anything and selling the lots?

  2. eco maori 4

    Well I don’t trust many people just my immediate family my wife sons and daughters and one son in law no one else get my trust unless I have test them with minor issues to show me I can trust them.
    I was pretty much only educated till I was 9 the rest of the time I spent at school was eating lunch.
    But my wife is highly educated in computers she has studied Alot and I have learned a lot from here but she has some issues sensitive ones that ACC should have payed her out 3000.00 but I no that that dick from Gisborne decide he was going to be judge and jury and interfered in my wife case hence the 20 a week she gets from ACC I want to sue them but she doesn’t want to go through all the bullshit again reliving bad past memories so I don’t push it on her to sue ACC. I take her advice very seriously and my eldest daughters as well because I no that they will have our best outcomes for our future at heart and no other conflict of interest to sway there thoughts of wisdom.
    But everyone in my circle doesn’t no about the fight I have with the NZ justice system or the Mana that eco Maori has so my star sign is a Ram a leader but a loaner as I’m fighting these pricks buy myself and I’m going to win PS I Still say OUR Kiwi league team have the skills to win they just needed to all have the will to win. Enough said.
    Kia Kaha

    • eco maori 4.1

      PS I don’t believe in star signs well just the caretristics of the Animals I would prefer to use a Octopus really intelligent and resort full and my connection to the sea I have got a cousin working at waitangi restorationing some of the carving there he is going to draw my ta moko on my back I say when I have earned the Mana my brother says I already have but I don’t think so so me and my cousin are going to my Marae to do this I think we will have a hangover or two when this happens I want a Octopus riding a whale on my back he is a great artist so it will be good Ka pai

  3. Philip Ferguson 5

    Today is the 7th anniversary of the first explosion at Pike River.

    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/11/14/pike-river-tragedy-without-end/

  4. Looks like the ICC may be taking the US to court for war crimes:

    What happens when a global criminal court takes on the world’s dominant military power? That was the question earlier this month when the International Criminal Court’s Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda took a decisive step toward direct confrontation with the U.S government.

    The Prosecutor’s brief announcement that she would seek permission to launch a formal investigation into the situation in Afghanistan followed a series of annual reports making clear that this investigation will cover not just the Taliban and Afghan security forces, but also U.S. military and intelligence officers. This is a scenario that both ICC critics and supporters in the U.S. government have fretted about ever since the formation of the court. Yet the official Department of Defense reaction was distinctly muted. Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon’s statement to National Public Radio that an ICC investigation with respect to U.S. personnel would be “wholly unwarranted and unjustified” drew in tone and content from U.S. government talking points that have been used for years. Will the government shift to a more aggressive response once senior leadership turns its attention away from the President’s trip to Asia and has a chance to weigh in?

  5. adam 7

    Stinking Foreign Agent desperately trying to defend itself from the corporations.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_YLPUvBcDM&ab_channel=RedactedTonight

    • Bill 7.1

      And bang on cue, “The Guardian” sallies forth with MPs defend fees of up to £1,000 an hour to appear on ‘Kremlin propaganda’ channel

      And , of course, a mugshot of Nigel Farage is used to highlight the piece. 🙄

      The closing para’s are kind of funny. Or maybe a tad scary.

      The European Values thinktank, which has received money from the UK and US governments, as well as the European commission, recently published a report that listed more than 2,000 US and European politicians who have appeared on RT.

      Monika Richter, the report’s author, said RT’s purpose was “to fundamentally pollute the information space”.

      “People who don’t understand this issue very well might think it’s harmless to appear on a satirical show [Sam Delaney’s News Thing?] , but it’s a failure of judgment and a lack of imagination in understanding how insidious the whole machine is,” she said.

      edit – have I previously mentioned that Alex Salmond (ex- First Minister of Scotland) is going to be fronting his own show on RT? (The peeps at “The Guardian” are Not Impressed 🙂

  6. gsays 9

    I am a parent helping a child going through ncea for the first time.
    Maths and sine, cosine and tangent.
    This is before we get to parabola, pi and other headache inducing stuff (and I am the mathematician in the family).
    I am an engaged parent, dutifully attending every parent teacher evening and am surprised at the holes in the learning.
    I am not blaming teachers at all, just realising that a tutor may have been wise and on the eve of the exam is a bit late.

    • savenz 9.1

      You got it gsays! You are not alone! Hopefully the new government does something about the absolute devastation on our education system at primary and secondary levels. (They apparently plan too, so hopefully good news).

      • gsays 9.1.1

        The fundamentals seem to be lacking. What is known as basic facts, or as when I went through, the times table.
        I see now, what great benefits knowing instinctively what up to 12 times 12 is.
        Patterns emerge, confidence grows, numbers can be held in mind while other sums are done…

        Politics wise, my son has been in school for 10 years, so if things arent up to scratch, we can blame the tories. ;-).

    • AB 9.2

      Ditto – though Year 9, not NCEA yet. I think we need a club where we can confess our stuff-ups and outbursts of irritation? Not asking for forgiveness, just understanding.

      • greywarshark 9.2.1

        They set up small booths in some Catholic churches for that, I understand.

        Or in line with some Asian countries, we could have a day where one goes to a public square where a little metal tree with spiky branches stands, and on each spike each parent sticks a little piece of coloured paper with all their faulty thoughts and actions on it. At a certain time it is set on fire and all the miserable efforts and unfortunate blues turn to ash and float away, gone. Purified, and ready to start on another year’s struggle.

    • Andre 9.3

      Being an engineer, I can help mine with math and science, although for the life of me I can’t figure out why anyone thinks things like properties of geometric shapes is something the general population needs to know.

      It’s english that’s the problem for me. All I can say is write lots of stuff that sounds like it’s on the topic and hope like hell the marker likes your flavour of waffle.

      • gsays 9.3.1

        I think the waffling part of it applies to most subjects.
        If I have said it once today I said it a dozen times, show your working out.
        Written ebullience isn’t often a strength of young males.

    • The Fairy Godmother 9.4

      Sometimes the problem is a child who is afraid to ask questions and/or a teacher who makes it hard to ask. This was the problem with my eldest and I did engage a tutor as year 13 maths was beyond me. Then the second one came along and aced maths so I never had to help the third one

      • gsays 9.4.1

        Funny you should say that tfg, his teacher is a big , assertive senior master, who is difficult to approach, and that is me as an adult saying that.
        Child, a tad immature and shy to ask, (not afraid of being cheeky, unfortunately).

    • greywarshark 10.1

      Thanks Joe90 even a child of five could understand that. Me I’m much older but am trying to keep up with the young.

  7. greywarshark 11

    I hadn’t looked at the post The Yellow Peril and now I have I am shocked that it has fallen so low beneath TS standards, which have been mixed up while this long and wearisome trail of insults and explanations has unravelled.

    It was started by Mike Smith 1030 pm on Nov 15 and at this time on the 19th has 325 comments listed. Most appear to have added little information but have given a lead on the sort of crap that occurs when you let people take sallies at each other and needle each other. Take up fencing and go and play outside children.

    One sure indication is when slang terms and sexual jibes get used. It seems that the whole thing should have come to a halt mid afternoon on the 17th. There appears to have been some weak-kneed desire to allow free expression or something but when the crudities continue, and the desire to retaliate pervades then any useful point is lost. Can The Yellow Peril be closed for comments now. It would be good if it could be put to bed.

    RedLogix talked about people ganging up, I thought that was a good point. I have seen that when it has been other contentious issues.
    As I indicated in the back-end, I’ve raised this issue of ‘piling on’, or ‘mobbing’ a commenter a number of times in the past and received no support at all. So in this respect I fully welcome this new moderating guideline.
    https://thestandard.org.nz/the-yellow-peril/#comment-1416017

    I don’t see why that can’t be applied earlier to stop the build up of mud throwing and harrassment of each other. Say for some hours.

    • Graeme 11.1

      Yeah, that post isn’t exactly The Standard’s finest moment.

      I’m surprised that it went as long as it did, and wasn’t heavily moderated from mid morning on 16th. It was definitely in the gutter by lunchtime that day.

      Maybe for a topic that had the potential to be as polarising, and contentious as that one, full moderation from the start, even with a a light and discrete hand, could have facilitated a meaningful and enlightening discussion on a topic that is going to have a huge bearing on our future. Once the insults started all hope of that was lost.

  8. mosa 12

    I see Q+A are still using their old anti left ambush tactics even when the Left is now in authority and governing the country.

    Phil Twyford had to respond to the story run last week about growers in Pukekohe alarmed at the loss of prime land used for growing our food that is being swallowed up with Aucklands ravenous need for more space to accommodate its huge population.

    Their alarm is warranted as their income and these precious soils are being buried under more and more housing developments which will have a direct impact on produce supplied nationwide.

    The thing is the last National government never intervened or pressured the council to reconsider these developments on this most precious agricultural land and these new subdivisions have been growing at an alarming rate.

    Where were these growers over the last nine years all of which i bet were voting for the National party.

    To Phil Twyford’s credit he said he will meet with the growers about their concerns and rightly so but where was this concern over the last nine years and where was the pressure to front up to this for the previous housing minister.

    I never remember Q+A ever putting the last National government under the scrutiny they now expect of Mr Twyford it would have been seen as a ambush and would never have been countenanced by TVNZ or the right.

    While their is a anti left bias we will never have the balance we should expect in covering these serious issues and informing the public without the usual anti left propaganda.

    It is time Clare Curran and this government reviews TVNZ and its role in our media landscape.

    • Molly 12.1

      “Where were these growers over the last nine years all of which i bet were voting for the National party.”

      If you noticed, the growers complaining are leasees. The landholders as you say, are mostly National and are delighted to take the capital uplift value when their lands are rezoned. I can say that because I personally saw a few local owners of market land advocating for rezoning during Unitary Plan submissions.

      The Unitary Plan possessed no teeth, in terms of creating new housing models, addressing climate change and ensuring some kind of return to community for uplifted values.

    • joe90 12.2

      anti left ambush tactics

      @14.00, they’re cowered

      https://crooked.com/podcast/what-is-the-medias-bias/

  9. McFlock 13

    More on Harvey Weinstein.

    My immediate take-home was that it illustrates just what people risk making complaints against the powerful, the resources that they’re up against.

    Then I considered that his list of 91 names was people whom he could remember doing something to that he thought might be perceived as seriously wrong. So people whose names he knew, and incidents he remembered/put in a diary.

    Then there’s the entire idiocy of singling out people for specific attention – I’m sure the media that got those names would be looking for people who haven’t yet come forward but had marks by their names.

    And then there’s the timeframe – he was in damage control for months before the allegations came out (probably heard about a media investigation).

    [edit – took out a comment about being on graham norton – must have been a rerun a few months ago, originally aired in 2015]

  10. In Vino 14

    My God. The latest Fonterra ads (wiv Wichie or wivout) are even more nauseous than their previous ones, which were pretty bad.

    A sad commentary when the general public drink in such obvious excrement.

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  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    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 ...
    1 day ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 day ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    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; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    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 ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    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 ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    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 ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    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, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    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, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    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, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$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 ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    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. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    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 ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    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 ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    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 Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    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 ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    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 ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    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 ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    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. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    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 ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter 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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    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 ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    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, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    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 ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    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 ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    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 ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    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, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    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.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    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, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
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