Open mike 20/01/2022

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 20th, 2022 - 216 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

216 comments on “Open mike 20/01/2022 ”

  1. Dennis Frank 1

    In the UK "partygate has helped Labour to its biggest lead over the Conservatives since 2013." https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/19/stop-talking-about-the-problem-fix-the-bloody-thing-keir-starmer-on-boris-johnsons-parties-and-his-plan-to-win-power

    I half expect the leader of the opposition to be on a high. But I am not sure he does highs. Starmer is the anti-Johnson. While the prime minister appears to pride himself on being a feckless buffoon, Starmer is the straight man’s straight man – so solid he verges on stolid.

    Starmer is always well briefed, as you would expect of a QC and a former director of the Crown Prosecution Service… a talented musician (violin, piano and flute) and active in Labour politics – yet somehow he had the ability to slip under the radar. He still has it. This may prove to be his strength as a leader…

    One problem for Starmer is that he still talks like a lawyer.

    Kiss of death? Media training ought to be obligatory.

    After all, he is not only positioning himself as the anti-Johnson, but also the anti-Corbyn. As so often, though, nothing is as simple as it appears. Starmer may play the arch-centrist now, but he stood on a radical platform to win the Labour leadership.

    Shapeshifter? Could be clever enough to know that the path to the top in Labour is to play dumb as often as possible.

    He should be the leader the party has waited so long for – the working-class boy named after a Labour legend who rose to the top by dint of his ability. What could go wrong? Despite everything, people have found Starmer hard to relate to – starchy, metropolitan, dull and controlling.

    Authentically British, in other words.

    After Starmer published a 14,000-word essay on his vision in September, the Guardian’s Rafael Behr gave qualified praise for the words “security” and “opportunity”. “The problem is in the other 13,998, which suffocate decent ideas with platitude and entomb them in boilerplate,” he said.

    Which reminds us how essential literary criticism is in politics. Can never get enough!

    “I accept that’s because we need to up our game in communicating.” Does he want a Labour government to be remembered for its green new deal? His face lights up. “Yes! I want to be remembered for bringing about profound change in the country, part of which is a green new deal.”

    In the 10 pledges he made as prospective leader, under common ownership he stated: “Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water.” What has brought about such a change of heart? Were the pledges made just to get him elected? “Firstly, there is a distinction between common ownership and nationalisation. There are different forms of common ownership and top-down nationalisation is not one I’ve ever thought is right.” He says he has always preferred co-ops and mutuals… He promised to unite the party with his radical agenda.

    Not only has he failed to do that, but he has made a point of not trying to do so. Membership has fallen by tens of thousands, not helped by the fact that many on the left have been kicked out of the party.

    I ask if he knew when he stood that he had no intention of standing by the radical agenda or the promise to unite the party. He argues that he has done much to unite Labour… Your critics call you Stalinist, I say; they claim you have zero tolerance of ideological difference. I mention three high-profile cases.

    The interviewer comments

    at times you have to play six degrees of separation to get to the antisemitism. For example, party members have been suspended for discussing Corbyn’s suspension after Labour’s general secretary, David Evans, barred them from doing so.

    Starmer's attempts to get Labour out of antisemitism seem a bit like a blind boar's attempts to get out of the middle of a boxthorn thicket.

  2. Blade 2

    MIQ disaster ( again). Postponed Black Caps Tour. The PM to give us an update on the traffic light system today.

    Unfortunately it's too late for many. Kiwis overseas are losing hope and Omicron has stepped up to the starting line. Businesses continue to close and shop shelves empty. Of course not all of that is the governments fault, but I doubt voters will consider those finer points once in the voting booth. Political polls from now on should be interesting, especially around how political parties reconfigure themselves based on poll trends.

    I'm fascinated to know if the government can resist their default setting of a lockdown once Omicron spreads?

    • Blade: "…not all of that is the government's fault".

      None of it is the government's fault; it is the fault of Covid and this government's response has been one of the best in the world.

      Australia had 554,000 cases of Covid in the last week. Is this what you want with only 20% having had booster shots in NZ?

      • Kiwijoker 2.1.1

        Will someone ask the question. “ Why are dozens of these people flying in to visit their dying relatives testing positive for Omicron on day 1?” Were they suddenly infected on the air bridge, by a flight attendant or a toilet seat? Perish the thought that fine, ethical Kiwis would get on a plane when knowingly infected with the virus.

      • Blade 2.1.2

        ''None of it is the government's fault; it is the fault of Covid and this government's response has been one of the best in the world.''

        This governments response after the first response to Covid has been a mixture of incompetence, half truths and plain weirdness – eg around alternative vaccines and rapid antigen tests for starters.

        All of that really hasn't mattered because the government has been blessed with GOOD LUCK, a small isolated nation and a compliant population. The result is NZ is an international star on the Covid response front.

        The truth is Covid could call the emperor's state of undress at any moment… and this government will be shown up for the posers they are.

        • Bearded Git 2.1.2.1

          "This governments response after the first response to Covid has been a mixture of incompetence, half truths and plain weirdness"

          I didn't realise you were living in Australia Blade-my apologies.

        • Robert Guyton 2.1.2.2

          "..NZ is an international star on the Covid response front."

          We have been blessed with "GOOD LUCK" – the great fortune of having Jacinda Ardern as our Prime Minister during this critical time 🙂

          Cheers, Blade!

          • Blade 2.1.2.2.1

            Robert…hope springs eternal.

            Let's hope the international community doesn't walk around the back of Jacinda. My, what a shock that would be.

            https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/03/ghostly-facades-with-no-buildings-behind-them/

            Cheers

            • Robert Guyton 2.1.2.2.1.1

              We back Jacinda, Blade. She's proved herself, over and over.

              Don't be bitter.

            • Drowsy M. Kram 2.1.2.2.1.2

              My, what a shock that would be.

              Yep, she's pretty amazing. That you see only a facade, and prefer to pin your hopes on another hollow man, is intriguing. Still, best of luck – you'll need it.laugh

              • Blade

                Please excuse my dry Tory wit, Drowsy.smiley

                • Drowsy M. Kram

                  "Dry Tory wit" is a Blade original (a 'Bloriginal') – do I hear ‘copyright’? No instances anywhere in the Googlesphere, apart from The Standard!
                  No hits for "dry Tory twit" either, which surprised me wink

                  Did enjoy "The Wit of Malcolm Fraser" – a huge lol from the moment I opened the cover – and thought Keating's colourful description of Fraser, while accurate, was unnecessarily cruel.

                  The paradoxical Malcolm Fraser [March 2015]
                  But the stereotype of the big, stolid, rarely smiling man remained throughout his political life. It was captured by Paul Keating's cruel jibe: "You look like an Easter Island statue with an arse full of razor blades."

                  Nor had they ever warmed to Fraser. A slim booklet appeared called The Wit of Malcolm Fraser. Its pages were empty.

                  His best-known quote – "Life wasn't meant to be easy" – appeared to sum up his morose view of life.

                  • alwyn

                    You say " A slim booklet appeared called The Wit of Malcolm Fraser. Its pages were empty.". When was that published? It sounds as if it might have been plagiarising one of Bob Jones' early works.

                    Back in 1974 Bob Jones wrote and published a book entitled "The First Twelve Months – The Achievements of The Third Labour Government". All of its pages were blank.

                    Was the one about Fraser published before or after Jones' opus?

                    • Drowsy M. Kram

                      I don't have that one 'Alwyn' – could you perhaps lend me a copy?

                      Wouldn’t surprise me if Aussies had ripped off another Kiwi original. Wonder if Jones has considered suing – seems to be a habit of his. Although I hardly think the idea is a Jones original, unless he’s older than he looks!

                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empty_book

                    • Blade

                      Bob Jones was at his maniacal best around that time. The Reserve Bank folly, Real Estate seminars, a mouse let loose in the studio while Bill Rowling was being interviewed( the only thing Jones admitted to regretting), grey shoe wearing bearded bureaucrats and Lefties giving him the finger while he drove his Roller were all on his hit list. At one time Jones had a column in our local paper. Every column would be followed by at least four letters to the editor regarding Jones' right to express an opinion because of his wealth.

                      I would suggest 'Memories Of Muldoon', our greatest socialist, as a good read. Many Lefties pop up throughout the book. The way Mike Moore's support team let him down during an election campaign left a sour taste in my mouth. Whoever coined the phrase 'your enemies are behind you in the house, got it spot on.

                    • alwyn

                      @DMK

                      I was far to mean to buy Bob's works. I'm sure I would have borrowed that one from the library. The person doing the purchasing for the WCL would never have noticed the contents.

                      I wouldn't recommend it though. He got a bit repetitive after the first 40 or so pages, He didn't have enough material to fill the whole 125 page word and started repeating himself.

                      There. Isn't that a useful review? And no, I'm also quite sure he wasn't the first person to try this.

                  • Blade

                    ''No hits for "dry Tory twit" either, which surprised me''

                    Be not surprised, Drowsy. I like to be …to be…zzzz!!laugh

                  • mikesh

                    How many dry Tories are there? And how many wet ones?

          • Patricia Bremner 2.1.2.2.2

            yessmiley Yes, Robert, and Robertson and Chippie and the whole lot. Bless them one and all. Blade you are rather blunt. Go try Aus. They are a lot like you.

        • As Sanctuary said the other day:

          (and like all luck, the better your countries leadership the luckier you are).

          Thank goodness for Jacinda, Chris, Ashley etc.

    • weka 2.2

      MIQ disaster ( again).

      What disaster?

      Unfortunately it's too late for many. Kiwis overseas are losing hope and Omicron has stepped up to the starting line. Businesses continue to close and shop shelves empty.

      What shops have empty shelves in NZ?

      I'm fascinated to know if the government can resist their default setting of a lockdown once Omicron spreads?

      Does that mean you want them to not use one of the most effective tools we have for preventing death, hospitalisation, disability and health system overwhelm?

      Afaik, the existing Traffic Light system always included the option of local and regional lockdowns. But it's obvious that the system needs updating, it was designed for delta not omicron.

      Likewise the MiQ system. But here's the thing. If you believe the pandemic is nearly over, then why bother spending all that resource fixing it? Why not just wait a bit longer? If you believe that the pandemic is here for another year at least, probably longer, then we should go ahead and fix it, make it fair and easier to use.

      Once we know what omicron is doing (rather than using early data to guess what it is doing) it will be easier to design good solutions.

      I don't want that to include letting covid run free prematurely in NZ. I suspect lots of voters think likewise.

      • Blade 2.2.1

        ''Does that mean you want them to not use one of the most effective tools we have for preventing death, hospitalisation, disability and health system overwhelm?''

        I personally aren't fussed either way. But the majority of people I know will not tolerate another lockdown. I would say that'd go for most businesses, too.

        The government knows this. They are stuck between between a rock and a hard place. The call of a lockdown once Omicron spreads will be hard for Jacinda to resist. But will she have the balls to call one? Hence my fascination.

        There are many other factors to consider re a future lockdown. What will happen if Omicron spreads rapidly through the unvaxxed Maori community? Maori will want a lock down. I'm ASSUMING the vaxxed majority of Kiwis wont.

        There's so much for the government to consider.

          • Blade 2.2.1.1.1

            You must understand Maori mentality. One for all…all for one, especially if people fully vaxxed keep getting Omicron on a regular basis.

          • Nic the NZer 2.2.1.1.2

            Even 84% is likely an exaggeration of the Maori vaccination rate differences. Inside most age ranges the Maori rates are higher again (indistinguishable from or even higher than non-Maori rates) and its the relative ages of the populations causing this artifact.

            Specifically the vaccine uptake rate ratios in the linked page show the overall ratio is larger than all the age category ratios which make it up.

            • pat 2.2.1.1.2.1

              Perhaps….however

              "At all ages the size (weightings) of the age groups becomes a major contributing factor to comparative ratios, which is why the all ages (12+) figure may not appear to be in line with the age splits."

              It would require considerable work and raw data to cross check and there is no reason to think that the released figures are anything other than reasonably accurate.

              • Nic the NZer

                That's an observation, and I assume the MoH data is accurate.

                "At all ages the size (weightings) of the age groups becomes a major contributing factor to comparative ratios, which is why the all ages (12+) figure may not appear to be in line with the age splits." is the MoH highlighting the same possibility between their age category aggregates and the overall DHB aggregate.

                If you look at the rate ratios chart (named "Vaccine uptake per rate ratio (unadjusted) Māori and Pacific compared with Non-Māori non-Pacific 12+") above you can observe this occurring as the rate ratio "Overall" is wider (taller bars above or below zero) than any of the rate ratios by age category (which make it up), including 19-34 which is the widest age category.

                Once you account for ages Maori and Non-Maori vaccination rates are much more similar.

        • weka 2.2.1.2

          sorry to disappoint but Ardern just announced no regional lock down but nationwide Red instead.

          But the majority of people I know will not tolerate another lockdown

          Really? What will they do?

          • Blade 2.2.1.2.1

            Whoa..

            I said:

            ''The call of a lockdown once Omicron spreads will be hard for Jacinda to resist. But will she have the balls to call one? Hence my fascination.''

            A lockdown is NOT off the table yet.

            And have you thought what a red light means in terms of policing and inconveniences and stress. Not much difference if you think about it?

            ''But the majority of people I know will not tolerate another lockdown.

            Really? What will they do"

            Ignore it. Then what?sad

            • weka 2.2.1.2.1.1

              so they in fact will tolerate it.

              Regional lockdowns have always been an option under the traffic light system afaik. Ardern has said they won't be using them this time.

              If you think lockdowns should never be used again, what happens if we end up with a pandemic where the death rate is 10%? Or higher?

      • Jimmy 2.2.2

        What shops have empty shelves in NZ?

        Countdown supermarkets in Auckland.

        • Visubversa 2.2.2.1

          For a couple of days when their warehouse workers had an industrial dispute.

          • Jimmy 2.2.2.1.1

            That strike has been over a long time ago so it's not that. No toilet rolls in Countdown Meadowbank the other day.

        • tc 2.2.2.2

          Inevitable the way folk are clearing out shelves too quickly to be restocked.

          Soft drinks appear an essential item.

        • Blade 2.2.2.3

          Pak n' Save Napier ( when I was there). Sugar, toilet paper, some frozen lines, seaweed flakes, walnuts, straight tuna ( only local at the moment),sausage meat, stuffed chickens, some deli items, Sunlight dishwashing Liquid( someone should be shot).

          • Jimmy 2.2.2.3.1

            Yes, and their shelf stackers weren't on strike.

          • weka 2.2.2.3.2

            I have no doubt that some lines are interrupted at times. But given your noted propensity to exaggeration, I'm going to assume that it's not literal supermaket shelves empty like in Australia, just some missing items here and there. Welcome to the climate future.

            • Blade 2.2.2.3.2.1

              ''But given your noted propensity to exaggeration.''

              I'm afraid you don't understand the situation. Watch and learn. And remember…I told you first.

              Did you watch One News tonight… and the problems the business community is having with the gummint?

              • weka

                I'm afraid you don't understand the situation. Watch and learn. And remember…I told you first.

                Snort. Mate, I write about things like climate induced food shortages. I've been talking to people on twitter in recent weeks about what's likely to happen to the NZ supply chains once omicron is here. I've been watching what's happening in Oz. There's nothing you are saying here that is new to me. All I'm doing is pointing out that you exaggerate the current situation. I'm not the only one saying that.

            • Jimmy 2.2.2.3.2.2

              Next time I'm in Countdown I will take a photo of the shelves and try and add it to my comment so you can see. Meadowbank Countdown literally had 4 packets of the cheapest brand toilet rolls left. There was about 15 metres of empty shelves where all the Purex and Paseo brands would have normally been.

              • weka

                I believe that. Blade was suggesting whole shelves missing, not a few specific lines.

                I expect it to get worse over the next few days, the government has basically told people to stock up.

                • Sabine

                  I have told you to stock up to last at least 4 weeks if you have the means to do so a while ago, or at least everytime you go out shopping add a few items more.

                  The one thing no one should want to do is stand in a line in front of a supermarket to get toilet paper, or other such important thing.

                  Anyone who by now still lives with the just in time model for hteir supplies should not be surprised when they can't get what they need or want.

                  And btw, its not only Kmart, its everything and eveyrwhere, from spare parts to fix machinery/cars/air cons etc, to toilet articles, to food, to computer ink.

                  And fwiw, Blade is right it is whole shelfs.

                  • weka

                    you're not telling me anything I don't already know Sabine. Neither is Blade.

                    Anyone who by now still lives with the just in time model for hteir supplies should not be surprised when they can't get what they need or want.

                    Yeah, well, some of us aren't able to get ahead in the way you mean, and we still won't be surprised. I'm better off than a lot, many people just don't have the cash to stock up.

                    • Sabine

                      I am on a strict budget, and will stock up on stuff when it is 'cheap'.

                      And that is something that poor people need to do more then rich ones as they are the ones that can not absorb surge pricing.

                      but we have people that actively refuse to see the thinly stacked shelfs, that lack of either this or that, and that still want to pretend that this does not affect us so as long as we keep our borders closed, our infected locked up( three motels in rotorua with homeless people are under total lockdown, with meals delivered etc – i am sure that will work wonders for their mental and physical health).

                      It is everywhere, and fwiw, no one in this country, not one person in politics gives a fuck about poor people other then a nice op- ed by some wanna be political superstar of tomorrow. We have seen for the last few years just how much no one gives a fuck.

                      So in essence, the poor should be the first ones to stop listening to government and the poor need to start looking out for themselves, as the government will maybe send them a 5 NZD increase in benefits before taking 10 NZD away from a fringe benefit. Cause Labour 2023 has run out of the fucks it pretended to give a long time ago.

                    • weka

                      no argument from me that Labour are shitty towards the poor,

                      https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1484042251714310145

                      But what do you want? Keeping the borders closed protects poor people. Vaccination protects poor people. Contact tracing protects poor people. All the things we are doing protects poor people alongside everyone else. You criticise the government for their pandemic response, but don't say what you want.

                      Citation needed for the homeless being locked into a motel. Not seeing anything in a news search on that.

                  • Sabine

                    No citation should be needed for the reality that is 'transitional' housing in Rotorua. It is homeless people that are being warehoused in motels for long periods of times as the Government and hte private market can not be bothered to provide proper housing to people who may be unable to pay market price rents or are other wise unable to find accommodation.

                    And now we are having three motels under 'lockdown' in Rotorua. I guess its ok for the government to 'lockdown' those that the country as a whole don't really care about. .

                    Also, i really need a citation that the government keeps the borders closed to protect the poor.

                    I always thought, and i would posit even with good reason, that we keep the borders closed so as to not let to many sick people in lest we overhelm our already overwhelmed health care sector which btw, two years in is still underfunded, understaffed, under resourced. I think they used to call that 'flattening' the curve.

                    Here is the citation of todays article in the herald as to how our poor who are warehoused in motels can expect to be treated should covid raise its ugly face.

                    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-delta-outbreak-three-rotorua-transitional-housing-motels-in-lockdown-following-covid-outbreak/7QZIRJCOCZOX7PUSJRJKUXKAGI/

                    Those staying at the motels were considered close contacts and could not leave. The public was not allowed to visit.

                    …….

                    Extra security and fencing have been added to the facilities to ensure the public didn't walk through and allow residents space to isolate safely.

                    Meals and welfare support were being provided to support people to remain isolated.

                    The poor are the last group of people this government- a left leaning so called progressive majority labour led government with its helpers the green party – cares about .

    • Kiwijoker 2.3

      So Blade, if we have as claimed but unexplained by you, an MIQ disaster, how would you describe the situation in Tonga?

      • Blade 2.3.1

        A disaster.

        • McFlock 2.3.1.1

          That's the trouble with hyperbole: one runs out of adequate descriptors when something genuinely extreme happens.

          • Blade 2.3.1.1.1

            Look up the MANY meanings of the word disaster. Hyperbole your perception of my comment.

            • McFlock 2.3.1.1.1.1

              I didn't say your descriptor was not consistent with common usage. Dictionaries describe, rather than prescribe.

              I was pointing out that calling a delayed cricket match a "disaster" left little room for a description of a volcanic tsunami.

              And now I need to go donate to a relief effort for bored cricket fans.

              • Blade

                You misread my comment.

                However, I assume you are a cricket fan? If that's correct you are relegated to the bottom of my 'dislike' list.

                My dislike of cricket goes back to the 60s and 70s when all we had on TV , either from TV1, or AKTV2, was three days straight of cricket during the season. Guys in white standing around, sometimes rubbing their balls with a ball, followed by an ecstatic arms raised above their heads dance now and again when someone was bowled out… it was just torture.

                Cricket fans don't need a relief fund (good one), they need to be put on contraceptives so they don't breed.

    • Treetop 2.4

      I am not sure if animals with Covid bother me more than humans with Covid. The two pet shop workers in Hong Kong getting Covid from hamsters imported from the Netherlands is an example of the magnitude of what Covid is doing between humans and animals.

      As for new variants crossing between animals and humans I am not going to go there.

  3. Dennis Frank 3

    Left & right are playing dumb & dumber again:

    Senior Democrats, including some White House aides, describe a West Wing lacking both a political strategy and the discipline to execute one. Focus groups are giving party operatives nightmares.

    Biden is coming across as old and absent, they say. Real and perceived fumbles play into deep fears that he's not up to the job and that Democrats are incompetent. Few Americans can say what was in the massive bills he's signed, though many have heard about Democratic infighting and failure in what he hasn't signed.

    "What is the plan to fix that?" asked one operative in touch with the White House. "They can't tell us…" White House aides downplayed these complaints. The President has been more focused on addressing the pandemic and global economy than helping plot campaign strategy. They chalk much of the grumbling up to officials upset that they're not getting everything they want, including Maloney's unprecedented request last year for the Democratic National Committee to transfer $20 million to House Democrats' campaign committee. (So far, $0 has been transferred).

    Meanwhile, on the dumber side, we have Biden migrants: https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2022/01/19/todd-bensman-many-of-joe-bidens-migrants-die-on-trek-to-u-s-border/

    Many migrants are being killed or brutalized on the global smuggling route created by President Joe Biden and border chief Alejandro Mayorkas, says Todd Bensman, a former intelligence official who now works with the Center for Immigration Studies.

    The Darien Gap is a rough trail over the mountains between Columbia and Panama. Many people — especially women — die along the trail.

    multiple administrations have undermined Americans’ border laws since the 1980s because they wanted to extract people from poor countries to serve U.S. investors as cheap workers, government-aided consumers, and high-density renters in the U.S. economy.

    So there you have it: capitalists using left & right glove-puppets in the White House to reduce operational costs for the system…

    • joe90 3.1

      So there you have it:

      A nativist hate group singing to the choir?

      https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/center-immigration-studies

    • Sanctuary 3.2

      "…Biden is coming across as old and absent,…"

      It is what happens when your country is run by a gerontocracy (Hillary Clinton, the "youth option" is 74 FFS) and your party & Washington establishment would rather let Trump win than let on the ticket a dynamic youthful candidate like, say, AOC.

      • alwyn 3.2.1

        Why not get the Democrats to pick someone capable of doing the job, rather than that nit wit Alexandria O-C

        Pick Pete Buttigieg, currently the US Secretary of Transportation? And have a race where he runs against John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio. Their debates would really be worth listening to,

      • Ad 3.2.2

        Actually AOC was too young to qualify as a candidate.

        In 2024 she's old enough.

        Whether she'd survive getting elected outside Brooklyn is … to be seen.

        • Sanctuary 3.2.2.1

          I meant in 2024. She is clearly Sander's heir apparent. Off the top of my head I think Teddy Roosevelt was the youngest ever president in his mid 40s so I suspect AOC will need a bit more time yet – she would probably have to serve a VP. She has charisma to burn. She is polarising, but so was Lincoln in similar febrile political climate where the whisper of civil war is getting ever louder.

  4. Herodotus 4

    Spent a few days in Waiheke, saw my first Kakas in the wild.

    Noted: with no possums, what a noticeable difference in how the bush looks and the abundance of bird life, the island could do with some rain though.

    • weka 4.1

      Incredible birds, especially when in flocks. Can't wait until it's normal to have kākā all over the place again.

    • JanM 4.2

      I've just come back from a few days on Waiheke too. Heard kaka but didn't see them. But I saw a weka who lives under my friend's bach on the way to Oropiu. Didn't realise Waiheke had weka. Cool!

    • Puckish Rogue 4.3

      If you get the opportunity visit Stewart and Ulva Island, well worth the money I reckon

    • roy cartland 4.4

      They fly over my place at 4am, shrieking like devils; spilling out from the Karori Zealandia Sanctuary I guess. And when you look for them in the bush, they're almost invisible until they fly off and you get that flash of red under the wing. Most enjoyable.

    • weka 6.1

      thanks, really appreciate someone putting up a link.

      I think it's protesting, but it's bullshit protesting to do that to kids. It will backlash against them once there is video online showing this kind of thing. Or, hopefully, it's an isolated incident, and the protestors come to their senses.

      • Ross 6.1.1

        If some kids are scared witless by a handful of protestors exercising their rights, it doesn’t bode well if the kids get the virus. The anxiety and stress among those kids could compromise their health.

        https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/blog/how-can-stress-affect-covid19-immune-response

        https://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/how-worrying-affects-your-body

        • weka 6.1.1.1

          yes, way better in a pandemic where immunity counts and stress undermines immunity, to not stress those kids more than they already are.

        • Visubversa 6.1.1.2

          They do not have the right to beat on car windows and get in people's faces shouting lies when children are there. They behave in a disgusting manner which seems to be the default setting.

          • Ross 6.1.1.2.1

            They behave in a disgusting manner which seems to be the default setting.

            Nice rant. How you know how everyone behaves would be interesting to discern. Were police called? The report doesn’t say so.

            According to the report:

            They say that the North Shore coordinator "has no recollection of any such incident taking place".

            So, this could have been a false claim from an anti-anti-vaxxer (especially if police weren’t called). We've already seen one prominent anti-anti-vaxxer compare deliberating driving a car into oncoming traffic (ie murder) with those who choose to be unvaccinated. Some anti-anti-vaxxers have no shame.

              • Anne

                Thanks for those posts Observer. I didn't see them.

                Ross @ 6.1.1.2.1

                * We've already seen one prominent anti-anti-vaxxer compare deliberating driving a car into oncoming traffic (ie murder) with those who choose to be unvaccinated.

                Lets be blunt. Ross is a liar, a cheat and a troll. The anti-anti-vaxxer he refers to is Tim Watkins who wrote a brilliant piece on his blog site "Pundit" a few days ago. Ross' gross misrepresentation (*) was corrected by several people and here he is… trying to get away with it again.

          • mauī 6.1.1.2.2

            Shouting what lies?

            One would think it would be the MoH responsibility to ensure the venue is safe.

            • observer 6.1.1.2.2.1

              See my comment at 2.18 pm. See the linked statement (in red circle) from the manager of the vaccination centre.

              Look, we know the tactic here. Keep inventing and spreading the lies on social media, keep being corrected by the people who were there, and run down the clock.

              And it works, short-term. I'm not going to spend all day on the Standard, or even the internet, constantly re-posting the same incontrovertible evidence, from the horse's mouth. The paramedics and vaccinators and parents of non-existent children aren't going to, either. They have lives.

              You can keep this up as long as you want, but it still doesn't change reality.

              • mauī

                So you have no evidence of lies being shouted at the general public and children? Only evidence of Gunn confronting media with a rumour. Alrighty then…. yes I would agree that is wasting your time reposting this same "evidence".

              • weka

                mauī has a point. They're asking a specific question. What lies were shouted in people's faces while children where there? The red circle is about online false information sharing as far as I can tell, not the in person protest.

            • Anne 6.1.1.2.2.2

              My God, you sink low sometimes. Inferring that vaccination centres are not safe places. Have you ever been to one? Probably not.

              I'll tell you about them. They are efficiently run. The staff are fantastic. They make the whole process enjoyable. They care about what they are doing and treat everyone as though they are special. They will be doing everything to make sure the kiddies know they're in a happy place and go away with lolliepops and cuddly toys and remember the experience for a lifetime.

              You’re a miserable wretch.

      • The Chairman 6.1.2

        For balance, here's a perspective from the other side.

        The bit about approaching vehicles can be found from around 1.45mins in.

        https://www.bitchute.com/video/JSA6pCxD8yX8/

        • observer 6.1.2.1

          Somebody unbalanced isn't "balance". Liz Gunn needs professional help. I hope she gets it, it's sad to see.

          Balance this:

          .https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19-01-2022/#comment-1853043

          • Ross 6.1.2.1.1

            Liz Gunn needs professional help.

            I didn't realise you were a psychiatrist lol

            So much for being kind…Jacinda would be devastated.

            • observer 6.1.2.1.1.1

              You don't need to be a psychiatrist to recognise a public meltdown when you see it.

              Her comments have become increasingly incoherent, detached from reality. The sad thing is … most people and the media are doing the right thing by trying to ignore her, because it's clear there is no rational dialogue possible.

              Whereas her so-called supporters are the kind of "friends" who buy drinks for an alcoholic. Shame on them.

          • weka 6.1.2.1.2

            Somebody unbalanced isn't "balance". Liz Gunn needs professional help. I hope she gets it, it's sad to see.

            I just watched TC's link from the time stamp, and I see a women talking in a calm manner, explaining her position clearly. I'm not seeing someone having a melt down.

            • Gezza 6.1.2.1.2.1

              I've now just watched it too. For the segment she filmed at home she's talking in a calm manner, explaining her position clearly. For the segment at the end which is video of where she tackled the 1 News reporter and accused her of not doing her job by not going back and asking questions about the reports Liz claims to have heard that 5 children collapsed, she gets pretty wound up.

              Some might consider her reaction there a meltdown.

              I read the linked letter on her video page:

              https://freenz.org/new-shub/

              Liz and her supporters don't seem to have any evidence, and they blame reporters for their not having any evidence?

              • weka

                I haven't seen the second video 🤷‍♀️

                • Gezza

                  Her video in TC's link is 23.00 long. She added the video of the incident to the end of her home video. It starts just after 17.12.

                  • weka

                    thanks Gezza. Watched it now. Still not seeing a melt down. Obviously she's wrong about the five kids collapsing thing and her bias is stopping her from understanding quite a number of things. She acknowledges she is very angry, but she's still explaining her thoughts, hardly a melt down.

                    • Gezza

                      She makes numerous claims in her home video that doctors and hospitals are all in on it. That they don't put adverse reactions to vaccines in their discharge papers etc. What did you think when she stated in her home video that the government is paying the relatives of dead vaxed people for their silence, up to $200,000?

                      If this is the kind of thing she's been claiming it's probably well known in the industry & no wonder tv reporters are avoiding getting into talking to her.

                    • weka

                      please listen: I think her ideas are daft. I don't however think she is having a melt down and requires mental health professional help. If you sanction that kind of online diagnosing, then it will get applied to all sorts of people and it's just a really shitty thing to do personally and politically.

                  • Blazer

                    I watched it…and find her very plausible…winning the 'hearts and minds' of the chattering class has been a default setting for our …ruling class since ..forever.

                    Hey jobs are hard to find in MSM these ..days.

                    • Gezza

                      She certainly sounds plausible, but that doesn't mean she's correct.

                      In that video she seems to be basing her claims on what she says people who've been affected (or maybe seen) are telling her about adverse reactions & even deaths of relatives. Absent hard evidence, this seems like classic conspiracy theory stuff.

                      It will be interesting to see what the next few video reports that she promises to post turn up in the way of verifiable evidence.

                    • Blazer

                      'what she says people who've been affected (or maybe seen) are telling her about adverse reactions & even deaths of relatives. This seems like classic conspiracy theory stuff.'

                      This is the basis of everyday allegations of crime and or misdemeanour….X saw Y do ?…evidence…now prove ..it.

                    • Gezza

                      Sorry, I did an edit and added:

                      Absent hard evidence, this seems like classic conspiracy theory stuff before your reply posted.

                      You're correct, but we'll have to wait and see what evidence she produces. At present we don't even know if she's checked out those people who she says have contacted her.

                    • Blazer

                      @G…what 'hard evidence' is available regarding vaccination of young children and any side effects?

                    • Gezza

                      I don't know, B. But if she's been contacted by people who've suffered adverse reactions, or whose rellies or kids have, and people whose relatives have died after vaccinations, as she seems to be claiming, presumably she can give some details such as ages, sex, the town or city, and the hospitals or vaccination centres.

                      In that video she pleads with ambulance drivers who know of such cases to get in touch with her.

                      The problem she (and we) have in trying to establish whether her claims are credible is it all seems to be hearsay. We don't even know if the people contacting her are genuine.

                      That's why I'm interested to see what other videos she puts out.

                      On the face of it, her claims that the mainstream media are all buying into the official version of events are at least credible.

                    • Blazer

                      @G…so no 'hard evidence' either way then.

                      Not very compelling is it?

                      I have seen so many so called 'conspiracy theories' proven to be real and so much MSM propaganda in my lifetime,that I need alot of..convincing.

                      TBH..I went and got dbl vaxxed and was disappointed to discover I was ..conned.

                    • McFlock

                      Doesn't "hard evidence" from the day in question include the venue manager calling BS on the story?
                      Or hard evidence from a wider perspective is an assessment of 9 million pfizer vaccine doses given to US kids so far with, once again, much lower incidence of problems than from covid.

                    • Blazer

                      @McFlock…the venue manager….?

                      'Now the new study shows that these "preliminary safety findings are similar to those described in the clinical trials" that led to the vaccine's emergency approval,'

                      Don't know how inspiring that is…either.

                  • The Chairman

                    That's why I'm interested to see what other videos she puts out.

                    Have you seen this one (link below) Gezza? It has been out for a while

                    https://youtu.be/UB_5pL74EoA

                    • Gezza

                      No, I hadn't seen that one, TC. Watching it now.

                      I googled "bitchute Liz Gunn” and watched quite a bit of this one late last night though.

                      https://www.bitchute.com/video/Rz6kNasz01v5/

                      I've seen enough to know that Liz is not crazy. And she's finding people who are prepared to publicly share their experiences of the really awful things that happened to them after they got jabbed.

                      It's pretty disturbing stuff.

            • joe90 6.1.2.1.2.2

              @ 07.19' – are there payments being made to doctors if they can keep the jab out of it – but sure, she's not having a melt down…

              /

              • weka

                can't be bothered to watch any more tbh. I watched the first two timestamps I was given and there's no melt down. Plenty to disagree with on her politics, world view and strategy, but I'm responding to the comment that she needs professional mental health help.

              • Gezza

                From some googling it seems that a meltdown is an intense response to an overwhelming situation. It happens when someone becomes completely overwhelmed by their current situation and temporarily loses control of their behaviour.

                So she's definitely not having a meltdown. But I'm certainly wondering about her grip on reality and whether she's suffering from some kind of psychosis.

                That said, I’m not professionally qualified to judge. But I’d sure put her in the category of conspiracy theorist.

                • weka

                  I have friends that belief, variously, that not that many people have died from covid, or that the vaccines are going to kill a lot of us this year. They're not psychotic. They have strong beliefs and a lot of emotion. Some of what they feel about the situation actually makes sense eg the issues of personal freedom and government overreach.

                  People attaching false information to important beliefs they hold is not new.

                  • Gezza

                    Yes, I understand that, weka. Liz in that video has gone a few steps further and is claiming that there are multiple deaths and adverse reactions and that GPs, nurses, ambos, hospitals, and the government are covering it up and even paying people to stay silent.

                    • pat

                      Id suggest that the overwhelming majority would view that 'report' and treat it with the seriousness it deserves….not everyone however.

                    • weka

                      no, my friends are well down that rabbit hole as well. It's not psychosis though.

                    • The Chairman

                      Liz in that video has gone a few steps further and is claiming that there are multiple deaths and adverse reactions…

                      Perhaps, she has seen reports like this in the link below?

                      https://hatchardreport.com/relationship-between-covid-19-vaccination-and-all-cause-mortality/

                    • McFlock

                      That dude is basing a lot on a chart that says old people die during winter.

                    • The Chairman

                      @ McFlock

                      That dude is basing a lot on a chart that says old people die during winter.

                      More than the winter before the vax rollout?

                      Furthermore, it also just happens to coincidentally follow weekly vaccination numbers, as they rise to a peak, deaths peak. And as vaccination numbers begin to fall, deaths also fall.

                    • McFlock

                      Depends on how fuckily you want to play with the axis and with which months you include or exclude, like that dude did.

                      lol I actually had a wee bit of fun getting the deaths by month from statsNZ. Download 'em yourself and check my figuring.

                      His chart is apparently fortnightly. He's ballparking 1200 deaths a month at the july/sept peak. That's about half the deaths in those months for 2020. But 2020 still follows the same seasonal pattern (as do the preceeding years). It's just not very obvious when you start the Xintercept at zero.

                      Deaths having 500 as the lower value and 700 as the upper makes the peaks look proportionate. They're not.

                      The really interesting bit is how deaths peak before vaccinations peak. Not hugely obvious because the line colours are so similar and the legend is incredibly tiny, but the clue is that vaccine doses start from the xy intersection while deaths start a wee way up.

                      Now, that could be statistical noise, fair enough. But there's no lag effect, either. Sure, the peaks are scaled to look similar, but that means that the deaths must happen within a few days of injection and no further, because then they'd appear in the following datapoint. But in reality you might expect some of them to hang around a bit on life support. Hence a lag.

                      There's a lot of little things in that piece that raise eyebrows – could be amateur, could be intentional. Things like the line colours and small legend making it difficult to see which peaks first, or the scale-play. The leaps in logic based on very sketchy chart skills.

                      But there is one thing I can't fault in it:

                      Disinformation has unnecessarily divided our nation.

                      I agree with that entirely.

                    • Nic the NZer []

                      Do we think 65+ mortality almost halved in 2020? From prior years.

                      I would say probably not but we did have a small number of covid deaths in NZ this winter.

                      What has the guy done to leave out points? Surely its time so all points must be included and all deaths have a well known date.

                    • McFlock

                      my bad, the chart labels were fortnightly because every other one was dropped off – excel issue…

                      Rest of my comment holds up surprisingly well for midnight-1am.

                      Also, the 2020 death numbers were similar to previous years for that age group, so don't know why the dude couldn't do a comparison with previous years. I can think of why a wingnut wouldn't want to, though.

  5. joe90 7

    Aww…the babbling fuck your feelings twerps find it discomforting to talk about the exploitation, rape and murder their nation was built on.

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A bill pushed by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that would prohibit public schools and private businesses from making white people feel “discomfort” when they teach students or train employees about discrimination in the nation’s past received its first approval Tuesday.

    The Senate Education Committee approved the bill that takes aim at critical race theory — though it doesn’t mention it explicitly — on party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.

    https://apnews.com/article/business-florida-lawsuits-ron-desantis-racial-injustice-3ec10492b7421543315acf4491813c1b

  6. GreenBus 8

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2022/01/covid-19-ministry-of-health-denies-viral-claim-children-collapsed-at-north-shore-vaccination-centre.html

    Are the MoH lying to us? Very unlikely to say the least.

    This is typical anti vax misinformation and fear mongering.

    • Peter 8.1

      "Newshub contacted Gunn to ask if she had any evidence but she did not provide any, instead responding with an angry, conspiratorial rant."

      People like Gunn should be called out.

  7. gsays 9

    I am getting to the age where little things get bigger health wise. Tony V's comment the other day about lowering consumption has also played a part.

    A hernia is starting to give me gip so went to the G.P. Long story short, the referral to the hospital for surgery was met with a no.

    I figure I will need to do some things myself to help myself.

    Largely, (boom boom) this centres around weight loss and it brings together a few other strands; over-consumption, local resilient food supply, diesel miles etc, etc. A friend has reported great results health wise with intermittent fasting.

    Then this popped up in the University Tube feed.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TT2hYoFpbDQ

    Well worth 10 minutes.

    • Dennis Frank 9.1

      I figure I will need to do some things myself to help myself

      I'm trim & a lot fitter than I once was. Took a few years of incorporating techniques to achieve that but figured em all out myself & the mix works via regular use. You can miss a day or two no problem but the more regular the better seems to be the trick.

      • gsays 9.1.1

        I figured that is the case.

        Hilary's observation comes to mind, "It is not the mountain we overcome but ourselves."

        Breaking poor habits is where the challenge lies

        • Dennis Frank 9.1.1.1

          Breaking poor habits is where the challenge lies

          I have some experience of that. How it works for me is like this:

          1. gnosis of time to switch

          Can't break free from the pull of the past if the timing isn't right. Sense of time is the key to this. Are you ready, willing & able? That's the question to pose to oneself. Although with me it never gets conscious – I usually have a tacit sense of necessity, and the time coming right follows in the wake of that.

          2. resolve

          Call it will-power if you like. Determined to switch, you self-empower it when the time is right. It helps to have a track record of doing so, so success tends to be relative to whether one has incorporated self-discipline & method.

          3. context

          Already explained the relevance of temporal context so this points more to lifestyle. Work commitments, relationship stuff, family stuff, all may need alteration &/or adjustment, negotiating.

          In my experience #3 is trickiest and can take longer to get right. That's the thing with resilience up-skilling – it has a communal dimension. Good luck!

    • Puckish Rogue 9.2

      Deadlifts.

      If you only do one exercise Deadlifts are the way to go.

      Your back can thank me later smiley

      • joe90 9.2.1

        With a hernia? Nope. Isometrics all the way.

        • Puckish Rogue 9.2.1.1

          Not deadlifting when the hernias flaring up but when it's settled

          Take it easy, take it slow, don't do quick, heavy increases in weight

          Your lower back will, eventually, respond to it

          • joe90 9.2.1.1.1

            Jiggered myself a couple of years ago doing decline-bench sit-ups, radiculopathy related to an ancient L4-5 rupture, first manifesting as a hammy but turned out to be causing a glute insufficiency which turned out to be some serious biceps femoris fuckery. No deadlifts since but they are included in this year's programme.

            • Puckish Rogue 9.2.1.1.1.1

              I've found the heavier my squats and deadlifts go the less I feel need to train my abs

              Having said that unless theres a radical change in my diet those abs won't be seen again laugh

              • joe90

                Well, abs are made in the kitchen.

                • Puckish Rogue

                  Decisions, decisions.

                  Do I like roast pork, pasta, fish n chips, fried chicken, takeaways etc more than I like visible abs..?

                  Yeah thats a tough call wink

      • Blade 9.2.2

        You know this from experience…or by watching a YouTube clip?

        • Puckish Rogue 9.2.2.1

          Experience and common sense.

          I'm pushing 50, my backs at the stage where getting out of bed first thing is a strain, sit too long in one position and the back stiffens up, that kind of thing.

          So after, finally, finding a work out routine that actually works properly I've found my back hurting less, I don't know if its hurting less because the weight is going up and therefore the muscles are getting stronger or simply the movement itself is enough but really I don't care because I've got less back pain than before I started

          Also we all have to sometimes pick stuff off the ground so the deadlift seems the most logical and most useful movement to train

          • Robert Guyton 9.2.2.1.1

            Pucky – if it's not too indelicate a question, how do you get out of bed?

            That is, do you sit up, or roll?

            Rolling's the only way to go, according to the physio that taught me how not to strain neck and back first thing in the morning.

            For me, it made ALL the difference in the world – never sit "bolt up-right" – roll to the edge, get your feet on the floor and enjoy your strain-free day!

          • Blade 9.2.2.1.2

            Sorry PR… I mistook you for Blazer.frown

            I used to lift very heavy on the deadlift. It is in my opinion the best all round exercise. But it demands respect and if you lift too heavy it becomes a negative on the body. 90% of people deadlifting in the gym will be doing it wrong.

            Older guys are now using resistance bands. In fact, unless you are a powerlifter going for huge lifts, resistance bands offer as good as, and in many cases, better results than weights because of their constant tension. Even powerlifters use them.

            Try this for your back pain. I have a few friends it worked for. A young relly of mine was given similar exercises by his physio to stop knee and back pain.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWmGArQBtFI&t=5s

            • Puckish Rogue 9.2.2.1.2.1

              'Sorry PR… I mistook you for Blazer'

              I'm used to being insulted but that takes the cake…just kidding everybody angel

              Thanks I'll check it out

      • Stuart Munro 9.2.3

        Exercise needs an objective.

        The combination of gentle whole body exercise and the Zen-like pursuit of the perfection of the cast, only punctuated by the occasional success. Rainbows run big in the hydro canals.

    • Blade 9.3

      I'm a 16/8 guy. Sometimes 18/6. The amount of time you save not having breakfast is excellent. We are conditioned in the West to believe breakfast is the most important meal of the day. For most it's not. We are also conditioned to snack right throughout the day. In days past, you had three meals a day with little to no snacking inbetween.

      I recently read of a Mayo Clinic doctor changing her mind on intermittent fasting as many studies coming back are showing its efficacy.

      AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and autophagy are now buzz words. I don't think many people realise the huge strides made regarding human longevity over the last few years. With intermittent fasting and supplement regimes, it is now possible to stretch human life out to over 100.

  8. Dennis Frank 10

    Bomber does leftist moral outrage in punctuation marks:

    We are spending money on helicopter reconnaissance for a plant that almost 50% of the population called on to be a legal market???

    And let’s not forget the class issue! The real issue here is that middle class children named Apple and Bruschetta can party safely at their expensive summer festivals while working class stoners have their rights going backwards!

    Look, I’m pro pro pro pro pro Drugs! I’m all for Apple and Bruschetta getting their kicks safely at their expensive middle class summer festivals but the long suffering working class stoners are getting sweet fuck all. The obscene farce Labour have allowed with medicinal cannabis to become dominated by corporate pharmaceuticals and billionaires is the antithesis of what we should be building and things are worse now than when Labour started!

    https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/01/20/cops-hunting-weed-in-choppers-things-for-cannabis-are-worse-now-than-when-labour-started/

    Labour would roll their eyes & remind him of the usual feeble excuses.

    1. Police operational decisions are nothing to do with politicians.
    2. Pandemic response is our focus.
    3. Walking & chewing gum simultaneously is real hard.
    4. We don't need 48% of the electorate to support us.
  9. weka 11

    Paleovirology, cross-species transmissions, evolution, genomics, viruses, selfish genes, ERVs. UCU NEC, Oxford UCU VP 👇

    https://twitter.com/ArisKatzourakis/status/1483825682803269634

    /grimlaugh

  10. arkie 13

    "Labour has demonstrated our ability to manage challenges and change and will continue to demonstrate our ability to manage challenges and change when it comes to climate, housing, poverty, and everything that we continue to face as a nation."

    Really? They have demonstrated a commitment to the economy over almost everything.

    Despite the challenges thrown up by the pandemic, Ardern stressed the government must continue to make progress in other areas.

    Its attention will be on keeping the economy "humming", progressing health reforms, lifting children out of poverty, as well as having a sharp focus on climate change and mental health, Ardern said.

    Yeah.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/459876/omicron-will-be-a-different-foe-pm-jacinda-ardern-warns

  11. mac1 14

    Luxon today at a meeting criticised the school absenteeism rate at 40% being of concern. The figures I found on Google had a survey in mid 2021 with these figures, so I thought old news but still a concern.

    The survey mentioned a trend going back to 2016. Here are the figures from a 2018 survey. “The report shows that in 2018 regular attendance stabilised at 63.8% of students, following declines seen in the two previous surveys; 67.2% in 2016 and 63.0% in 2017.”

    So it's been a long standing problem that is now being focussed upon by Luxon. A problem that goes back to National's time in government is now the first issue he speaks of in a public meeting.

    He then mentioned the state of hospitals, but we know that is a problem of years of underspending as well.

    In 2013, National did away with truancy services. Is the 2016 and ff absenteeism a result of this?

    I wonder when in the arguments of "who did or did not do what" that an opposition can blame the government fairly for its failures, and conversely a government can no longer use the argument that it's the opposition's fault for their failures while in government?

    At the moment, Luxon seems to be caught in this political bind.

    Interesting to hear today also that Bishop has accused the government of taking a holiday on covid issues just before the government this afternoon will issue a policy statement on these issues.

  12. Tricledrown 15

    The free market reforms have lead to this ongoing problem.

    Itinerancy has got out of control homelessness etc makes it very hard for broken families to get their children to school.

    The child allowance of what was$25 per child per week back in the early nineties which would be at least $50 per child per week in today's money.

    Should be paid out for those children who attend school 90% plus of the time with medical exemptions allowing for follow up education for those.

    • pat 15.1

      "The child allowance of what was$25 per child per week back in the early nineties which would be at least $50 per child per week in today's moneyThe child allowance of what was$25 per child per week back in the early nineties which would be at least $50 per child per week in today's money"

      I think your memory deceives you.

      "In 1991 universal family benefit payments were incorporated into means-tested family support tax credits. In 1996 a $15 child tax credit was introduced, but was only available to parents in paid work. Although other liberal states such as Canada also changed their family support programmes at this time, the changes in New Zealand were particularly swift and severe. They were less generous and more targeted to low-income families in paid work (rather than beneficiaries) than either the UK or Australia."

      https://teara.govt.nz/en/family-welfare/page-6

      or

      http://www.weag.govt.nz/assets/documents/WEAG-report/background-documents/133db2ad05/History-of-family-support-payments-010419.pdf

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    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    10 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    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 Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    11 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    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 Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    11 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    13 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    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 ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    15 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    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. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    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 ...
    1 day ago
  • 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 ...
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    2 days 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
    3 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
    3 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
    3 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
    4 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
    4 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
    5 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
    5 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
    5 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
    6 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 ...
    6 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
    6 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
    6 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

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours 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
    9 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
    11 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
    11 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
    1 day 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
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