Mr. Break-It, Steven Joyce, leaves his legacy on Transmission Gully:
A review into Wellington’s much-delayed and heavily over budget Transmission Gully has found multiple problems with the way the road project was established nearly a decade ago.
The review is scathing in parts, noting that the Government tendered the private contract out at an unrealistically low price by essentially “double counting” cost-savings the private sector could bring to the project
I'd like to see that too but the old MOW worked under completely different circumstances to the present with little heed paid to the health, safety, environment, climate change, water quality and the hundreds of other considerations required today. It probably wouldn't do much better. We are the problem, we demanded these things.
A contemporary MOW would heed CC, safety, environment, water etc. As opposed to the current state of affairs that pays lip service to these things but serves the shareholders.
As to we demanded these things, I am not sure what you mean.
Also the Sky City convention building John Key did the deal.Tax payers foot the bills for these poor business deals by the National party which claims it can run the govt like a business because it is the party of business.
"Equally concerning is the fact the review couldn’t actually work out who was at fault for setting the AT so low, with different arms of the government pointing the finger at one another.
It appears we’ll never know the truth, with reviewers concluding that “[n]o Crown-related interviewees could recall/identify which specific project governance forum was responsible for the decision to set the AT based on a P75 value”.
and..
"However, the review stopped short of saying the Public-Private Partnership model used for Transmission Gully is intrinsically flawed."
Thats not surprising because this administration is set on continuing the model despite the wealth of evidence that it fails to deliver any advantage, indeed it is almost always a greater cost.
the government gives the government takes and all with the same hand, but hey be grateful you unwashed masses that you got something, lest you get used to that comfortable living on the benefit.
Humpage said while the $25 increase to benefits was welcomed, it had a “negligible effect”.
“Supplementary assistance like temporary additional support gets clawed back if you essentially earn more income,” she said.
A year on from the government's $25 increase to benefits, some solo parents and people with disabilities or chronic illnesses say it has made very little difference to their budgets.
“For some people, they were actually only getting about $3 more than they had previously, so understandably, they were frustrated by that because costs had gone up during particularly the lockdown period, far more than $3 a week.”
For those in public housing, with income-related rent, the benefit increase meant their rent went up as well, Humpage said.
One woman on sole parent support, interviewed as part of Humpage's research, said the increase meant her daughter could have “a labelled packet of biscuits instead of budget”.
A man on the supported living payment, who is caring for his wife and bringing up two children, described the $25 increase as like “being in an abusive relationship where your partner cheats on you consistently and then buys you a box of chocolate from time to time to make up for it”.
Another man on the supported living payment said the increase did not make “an iota of difference”.
“They need to add $100 to make it feasible,” he said.
That man was living in his car so he could afford his medication. When he was living in a house, he said he would fall short about $100 every week.
“The compromise I've made to be able to afford the health expenses I have and all that, is I've compromised on having a home,” he said.
Imagine the good that could be done if the government could actually conceive to help the people that need it rather then say travel up and down the country to tell people that need help that they need to pivot to something else why it spends millions of dollars a night to warehouse the neglected and unhoused.
Will Carmel Sepuloni again show her face again to talk about the need to keep benefit levels at starvation levels lest people lose the knowledge that is the value of work.
Point two of your list i have argued for since the beginning of this sorry covid mess. Honestly as someone who applied for the wage subsidy for a worker, i would seriously appreciate to not be made the governments handmaid to do their own support payments while at the same time being vilified by various others cause 'businessness rort the workers'.
Point One : The government has no fucks to give, see Rotorua and other places were people are literally dumped in rundown motels without any help from social workers, mental health care workers, without any chance of job training, without any chance of ever moving out of these places of misery.
Point Three: we have currently a government that has no issues with Starship Hospital to crowdfund ICU beds, we have a government that like all others before it has underfunded all health care sectors (never mind Covid), we currently have a government that has toddlers in preschool arrive without food in their bellies and shoes on their feet, but we have uncapped millions of give a way to those that are rich and connected.
the worst thing the left did this last election was to be told to be afraid of J.C, so afraid even that they even not voted or third parties to force these useless eaters into a coalition. Now we have a majority government that only gets hot n bothered when it involves Americas Cup, TV stars and Jeff Bezos.
So all of these three points will never happen because this current government has not fucks to give about those it can't use to advance itself into a nice position after government. Yes, i am that cynical, and that over this current government. Almost 4 years, and the only thing they can pat themselves on the back is to lock the country down into a stasis in more then one way.
When you are poor in NZ there is no difference between the N or L. And i would like to point out that John Key also increased the benefits by 25 NZD and he did not even need a global pandemic to do so.
“Labour understands the housing crisis and we have a comprehensive plan to end homelessness and build thousands of affordable houses, which is more than the current Government can say after nine years of inaction,” – Carmel Sepuloni
Four years on how would you score progress out of 10?
You’re quite right and based on the Grafton Gully fiasco, I reserve the right to downgrade my score to 6. After all, this is not a score of what you asked for but a composite score of all Government-related decisions and actions over the last decades. Actually, because of Roger Douglas, I’m going down to 5. See what I did there?
Even that's generous when you consider they were told that the method of stimulus to counteract a covid depression would over heat housing and that helicopter cash was a better way .
the ones to ask are those that have lost their jobs due to covid with no aid then starvation level benefits that you don't receive if you still have a partner, cause discrimination and taxation without representation is a thing if you are married or partnerned.
the ones to ask are the ones that have no houses and are currently housed in gang ran slum motels
the ones to ask are the ones that don't eat dinner at night so the kids can have some cereals without milk and sugar
but then if these guys were to be honestly asked maybe the government wold just for a second experience shame.
Always interesting to see what other people think, if you were to score it off metrics like housing affordability, the size of the wait list etc, number of people in emergency housing on any given night you could probably score Labour a zero.
But there has been some, albeit slow progress with state house builds etc hence my scoring a 4.
The kindness where 50% of NZers own just 2% of the wealth!
Generations can be a clumsy stereotype to aim at people–I am a ‘boomer’–but opposed Rogernomics and Ruthanasia all the way in my union, and the union movement. Have always supported environmental action. Heh, it wasn’t me personally, but it was my cohort enmasse.
Will the replacement gens under the hammer of student loans, precarious employment and exploitative “scumlords” rise up in the next couple of elections and ongoing Climate Strikes?–lets bloody hope so.
You forgot to mention that we have a Labour Party who’s sole purpose is to protect the image of our PM, as long as ther PR team is successful many labour people are relavent. Pity that the country does not progress and people’s lives today are better than what they were yesterday.
there are many around who believe the hype of the government and are not able or willing to see what is happening for many day to day.
for me, that$25 was approx a 10% increase. not to be clawed back. so, for me, it made quite a difference. but, satisfied benes dont make for good headlines. much better cluck bait to get the bad budgeters, and the benes with multiple add-ons to their benefits(which often have a claw-back)to front this article. the person mentioned, who had to sleep in his car to be able to pay for medication , puzzled me. after 30 prescriptions, they are all free. .would like to know what he needs $100 per week for. not saying that its impossible, but very unusual.
edit
Had a thought – welfare has settled into a mean mess in NZ. It relies on talking down bennies and picturing the younger ones as shiftless, listless, aimless – 'less' is the theme. We used to have a picture of how we wanted NZ to be, thriving with happy DIY's working on their houses, laying concrete paths to the clothesline and the drive with their mates in the weekend with lovely cold beers and fish and chips to finish. Not satisfactory to the upwardly mobile with an itch for wealth and flaunting it though.
How about we flip-flop and regard all these young NZers, even middle aged, as not finding their way in life. Anyone unemployed gets sent off to special courses with practical outcomes, learn to cook and what keeps them healthy, then set a goal for weight and fitness and get a monetary reward for achievement. Learn to use tools, build a bedside table with drawers, and give it a good finish – varnish, french polished, distressed, modern art effect, or historic look with those curved legs and fancy handles – with a monetary reward again. They would go into a scheme where they have a supportive life coach, who would encourage and help them to keep on track.
Then get them to try for a job again, and keep paying them as much as they earn net, and see if they can find good accommodation, with help if the bond and first month’s rent is too much for them to afford. Drop the extra payments after a few months when they have been able to better themselves, to lock it in. They might have to go on a give up drugs program where they have a look at their problems and build personal controls.
Later, when between jobs, send them on a course on how to look after your living area, how to look after a home, unblock drains, regular cleaning of shower, open windows when home to air etc. They are being trained for the life they can have when they can get a steady job, and have a sense of capability and pride.
It would be investing in the nation's raw gold, that is how young people should be viewed. Give them reading skills, discussion groups that are social but with no alcohol present and which start off with a nice simple meal, and then discussion and snacks and tea, coffee etc. That would give them a different paradigm for mingling with others.
What about it eh! Go on give it a go someone connected to welfare in government, but not have anyone directly from the Welfare section. Their negativity, patronising and prejudice against their own clients would be a sure way to curdle the milk!
The people with the add on of TAS get TAS because of financial hardship. It should have been a headline last year that many of the people in hardship didn’t get the full $25. This reporting is long over due.
This will likely have turned some innards to water in various Embassies, Ministries and Security Agency offices! It is refreshing to be able to enthusiastically congratulate a Govt. Minister.
It will be interesting to see if Nanaia continues on this path and has the backing of the Labour Caucus, because the inhabitants of several Ministries will not like her approach one little bit. Carmel Sepuloni could watch and learn.
Its the way she has continued the Great Tradition of Ministers of Social Development and Disability Issues in New Zealand in maintaining the ideology the Work will Conquer All that has impressed me.
All that is required is to get the most vulnerable of the vulnerable into paid Work.
Good on Nanaia Mahuta. She's living up to my expectations of her. NZ once again shows independence of thought and deed. A poke in the eye for the psychopaths who run those allied institutions and who expect 'subordinates' to file meekly in behind them without questioning their motives.
Until the government treats emergency housing like a disaster, homes will not get built as quickly as they need to be built.
I live on a street where a motel has 20 units occupied for emergency accommodation. I see the atmosphere and how the guests cope with living there. The government needs to provide a welfare package to those stuck in motels and this needs to include enjoyment to give a respite from harsh reality. Activities most people do in their stable housing cannot be done in a motel due to the restriction of living in a motel.
Not trying to throw a cat among the pigeons here, just think you lot are a more mature crowd than other social media, and this is bugging me.
As the fight over identity politics wages on…
We need to leave children out of this. It's OK to not know yourself. It's OK to be confused. It's OK to be absolutely convinced of a thing and then change your mind.
It's not OK for adults to tell people who they are; to force them into boxes; to give them labels; to assign their 'type'. It's not OK for family and friends to do the same. We've never had all the answers – never, not even close!
Clearly we have victimised certain groups – and their need to be recognised, and bloody well respected, will not be denied. Hatred of others has given rise to backlash. But it all seems to be getting a bit mad. Are we simply observing the pendulum at it's zenith, and the extremities will level out as a new normal embeds? That's my big question for TS.
When the pendulum swings
It breaks off a few things
Pushes out to extremes
And then back.
The race of another is irrelevant to children, and I hope one day as adults race and gender type will also be irrelevant. Seems it's the adults making a big song and dance of it all, on both 'sides'.
Ironically my wife got a text and an email inviting her to book for her first vaccine shot last week. Shes nowhere near MIQ or anything covid related we thought it was a scam…
Nicky Hager is a rock to rely on. He has been studying a cult that has the potential to undermine this country insidiously not with obvious terrorism. The EBs are reverting to the old name of Plymouth Brethren apparently.
They despise people in general, admit new people into the group who must be compliant and agree or get similar to the Dalek treatment. They are savvy with technology. And interested in advancing themselves and getting wealthy using others skills outside their group. And have the basics for an internal army. Think Brownshirts. And are prepared to put their resources to helping other go-getters in politics, eg have helped National.
Do you follow the work of David Farrier greywarshark? He documents various fringe phenomena/types & I reckon you'd enjoy his work. An honest journo with a penchant for quirky. Tickled is one of his more famous docos, he also plays the reporter in Rhys Darby's series, Short Poppies.
How come there is a problem with drugs for assisting death? Vets have used effective ones on animals for yonks. Such as – pentobarbital
The euthanasia medication most vets use is pentobarbital, a seizure medication. In large doses, it quickly renders the pet unconscious. It shuts down their heart and brain functions usually within one or two minutes. https://pets.webmd.com/what-happens-put-pet-to-sleep#1
People who chose to swallow or ingest the fatal medicines, rather than taking them intravenously, would be given drugs that were compounded (mixed up) by a pharmacist and provided to the patient without being approved by regulator Medsafe.
The Ministry of Health said those who opted for an injection would be given drugs which had been approved by Medsafe but for a different purpose – so the medicines will be provided for an unapproved, or "off label", use…
Among the documents is an email from Dr Bryan Betty, medical director at the Royal New Zealand College of GPs, warning that mixing concoctions of drugs had led to traumatic deaths.
Dr Betty's warning to the Ministry of Health used the example of American states not being able to access death penalty drugs due to cost and availability.
"So they made up their own concoctions initially, with examples of prolonged processes until fine-tuned. Belgium had a standard process but (this was) not used by many doctors for some years, also resulting in prolonged, distressing deaths."…
The most commonly used drug in American executions by lethal injection is pentobarbital mixed by compound pharmacies (most common as in most executions, not necessarily the drug of choice in most states) because that's the Texan method and they are the most prolific state for executions by a wide margin (apart from last year when it was the Federal Gov't, same method and drug though). Opinions on whether it is a sufficiently humane lethal injection option are sharply divided although the division is usually along abolitionist/retentionist lines.
"In 2015/16, there were 12 reported cases of unauthorised expenditure, compared with 19 in 2014/15. The total amount of unauthorised expenditure reported in the Government's financial statements for 2015/16 was $72.5 million (2014/15: $55.8 million). Unauthorised expenditure reported in 2015/16 was 0.08% of the total appropriations for all Votes authorised through the Budget 2015 process (2014/15: 0.07%).
and the year after
"
In 2016/17, the amount of unappropriated expenditure was $124 million (2015/16: $78 million), which is less than 0.14% of the Government's total appropriations for all Votes authorised through the Budget 2016 process (2015/16: less than 0.10%).
The total amount of expenditure incurred without prior Cabinet authority, as reported in the Government's financial statements for 2016/17, was $90 million (2015/16: $73 million). This was 0.10% of the Government's budgeted expenditure for 2016/17 (2015/16: 0.08%).
First, we tend to overlook the role that more strategic tree planting could play in enhancing the resilience of landscapes and catchments. Second, we're at risk of planting forests that are vulnerable to climate change.
The Emissions Trading Scheme is calibrated to discover the least-cost emissions reductions; it's indifferent to other issues like adaptation and biodiversity. By monetising carbon sequestration, it creates a financial incentive for forests that are cheap to plant and quick to grow.
Pinus radiata is hard to beat on this front – which is why it'll continue to play an important role in forestry. But from a climate adaptation perspective, it isn't a good idea to have a national forest estate that's all in one species.
Our best defence is to diversify our forests, to spread our risks, and also to introduce greater biodiversity into the forests themselves, in terms of diverse tree species, age class, and silvicultural systems.
Yet if the ETS incentivises a lot of densely planted, even-aged pine monocultures, then we're setting ourselves up for catastrophic forest loss because these forests are vulnerable to the same shocks.
Vital stuff. The word resilience needs to be understood and implemented into plans by the folks making these decisions, not just pumped out for PR.
Our natives sequester more than pine. they hook up with the soil food web and pump carbon below ground as well as above. Building topsoil, while pines strip it.
'Research published by Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University shows a 75 percent chance of the Alpine Fault rupturing before 2068, up from around 30 percent"
Still very vague numbers and the earth doesnt read geology studies
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Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia and is likely to make landfall early Friday evening. It’s a monster storm of great concern to Western Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Ireland-Piper, Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University A Victorian government decision to allow dingo culling in the state’s east until 2028 has reignited debate over what has been dubbed Australia’s most controversial animal. Animals Australia, an animal welfare ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Overnight, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was confirmed as the secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department. Put simply, this makes him the most influential figure in overseeing the health and wellbeing of more ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard eight hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It was another work from home day for the Justice Committee, the only people in Room 3 being security guards, committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Juris Teivans/Shutterstock In Australia, fatal road crashes are climbing again, especially since the pandemic, and despite years of attempts to reduce road trauma, the numbers ...
In its eagerness to appease supporters of Israel, the media is happy to ride roughshod over due process and basic rights. It’s damaging Australia’s (and New Zealand’s?) democracy.COMMENTARY:By Bernard Keane Two moments stand out so far from the Federal Court hearings relating to Antoinette Lattouf’s sacking by the ...
“The reality is we’re getting poorer. The government this year is leaning heavy on chasing economic growth, which is absolutely the right thing to do.” ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Granta, $28) Han Kang’s astounding novel was based on an ...
This new docuseries about two single comedians looking for love is also a joyful celebration of female friendship. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. “How many people do you think are boning right now?” Kura Forrester asks Brynley Stent as the bright ...
A new poem by Freya Turnbull. Hunger Song – After Kaveh Akbar (Untitled With Hunger And Matcheads) I hold my age in ripped fishnet hold an empty vessel oldyoung body cracks like gunshot like killa i was a father ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominik Koll, Honorary Lecturer, Australian National University View of the Pacific Ocean from the International Space Station.NASA Earth must have experienced something exceptional 10 million years ago. Our study of rock samples from the floor of the Pacific Ocean has found ...
Troy Rawhiti-Connell reviews Kia Tupu Te Ara, a documentary chronicling the meteoric rise of Aotearoa’s groundbreaking metal band. “Two brothers attempt to storm the world of thrash metal with the Māori language, despite the fact they’re both still teenagers,” reads the synopsis of Kent Belcher’s documentary, Kia Tupu Te Ara. ...
Three freelance writers have been awarded grants to work on their ambitious journalism projects. In January, The Spinoff announced the Vince Geddes In-Depth Journalism Fund, supported by the Auckland Radio Trust (ART). The fund was established to provide much-needed financial and editorial support to talented freelance journalists, empowering them to ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist in Avarua, Rarotonga China has confirmed details of its meeting with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown for the first time, saying Beijing “stands ready to have an in-depth exchange” with the island nation. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters during his ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ 2023 strategic foreign policy assessment, “Navigating a shifting world”, accurately foresaw a more uncertain and complex time ahead for New Zealand. But already it feels out of date. The ...
Our parliamentary throuple may be the longest running in the country, but cracks are showing. Gabi Lardies wonders if differing attachment styles may be to blame. Though no one ever anticipated happiness or roses in the three-way coalition, the relationship has wobbled on for over a year without breaking up. ...
As Mike White’s dark satire returns for a third season, we look back on some of The White Lotus’s most memorable characters. The White Lotus looks like a dream holiday, but this resort is anything but paradise. Set in an exclusive five star hotel resort, HBO’s award-winning series is a ...
Analysis: Would the last scientist to leave the building please turn out the lights? Because the confirmation of Robert F Kennedy Jr as US Secretary of Health suggests we’re heading back to the dark ages.It’s a sad irony that President John F Kennedy propelled America into the space age; now his nephew ...
The crux of my message today is that New Zealand needs to bend two curves. One is the long-term economic growth trajectory, which needs to bend upwards to expand our productive capacity and national real incomes. The second is our net public debt ...
Away from the tense scenes on the paepae, under a closely guarded canvas tent, te iwi Māori do the real work of Waitangi: talking. We were invited inside to listen. ...
The Jono & Ben star is self-aware and surrounded by extraordinary women in Three’s latest local comedy series. The first episode of Vince, written by and starring Jono Pryor, opens with intrigue, a loincloth and a man in the middle of some kind of breakdown. As the titular character, a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Barclay, ARC Future Fellow and Professor, Macquarie University Wikimedia “1,000 Letters and 15,000 Kisses” screamed the headline in an 1898 edition of the English newspaper, the Halifax Evening Courier. Harriet Ann McLean, a 32-year-old laundry maid, was suing Francis ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lena Wang, Associate Professor in Management, RMIT University Supplied/AppleTV+ The highly anticipated season two of Severance, released in weekly instalments, has continued to draw interest among viewers around the world. A gripping psychological thriller, this TV series provides an extreme ...
Mr. Break-It, Steven Joyce, leaves his legacy on Transmission Gully:
Accounting errors seem to be his thing.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300281133/review-finds-transmission-gully-doomed-from-the-start-with-unrealistic-expectations-of-cost
Yet another failure of the 'market' driven political ideology.
Do we need a child, a la Greta Thunberg, to point out this emperor wears no clothes?
Bring back a Ministry of Works.
I'd like to see that too but the old MOW worked under completely different circumstances to the present with little heed paid to the health, safety, environment, climate change, water quality and the hundreds of other considerations required today. It probably wouldn't do much better. We are the problem, we demanded these things.
I am not suggesting bring back the old MOW.
A contemporary MOW would heed CC, safety, environment, water etc. As opposed to the current state of affairs that pays lip service to these things but serves the shareholders.
As to we demanded these things, I am not sure what you mean.
Also the Sky City convention building John Key did the deal.Tax payers foot the bills for these poor business deals by the National party which claims it can run the govt like a business because it is the party of business.
An easy piece for a reasonably competent journo to write up on a project clark/cullen's era turned down numerous times IIRC.
Mr fix it and his trail of destruction.
"Equally concerning is the fact the review couldn’t actually work out who was at fault for setting the AT so low, with different arms of the government pointing the finger at one another.
It appears we’ll never know the truth, with reviewers concluding that “[n]o Crown-related interviewees could recall/identify which specific project governance forum was responsible for the decision to set the AT based on a P75 value”.
and..
"However, the review stopped short of saying the Public-Private Partnership model used for Transmission Gully is intrinsically flawed."
Thats not surprising because this administration is set on continuing the model despite the wealth of evidence that it fails to deliver any advantage, indeed it is almost always a greater cost.
the government gives the government takes and all with the same hand, but hey be grateful you unwashed masses that you got something, lest you get used to that comfortable living on the benefit.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300281233/25-benefit-increase-too-little-to-make-a-substantive-difference
Imagine the good that could be done if the government could actually conceive to help the people that need it rather then say travel up and down the country to tell people that need help that they need to pivot to something else why it spends millions of dollars a night to warehouse the neglected and unhoused.
Will Carmel Sepuloni again show her face again to talk about the need to keep benefit levels at starvation levels lest people lose the knowledge that is the value of work.
• Implement the full WEAG (Welfare Experts Advisory Group) Report now!
http://weag.govt.nz/weag-report/
• Pay COVID related amounts directly to workers via IRD rather than filtering through employers.
• Move towards a Basic Income for all administered directly by IRD
Point two of your list i have argued for since the beginning of this sorry covid mess. Honestly as someone who applied for the wage subsidy for a worker, i would seriously appreciate to not be made the governments handmaid to do their own support payments while at the same time being vilified by various others cause 'businessness rort the workers'.
Point One : The government has no fucks to give, see Rotorua and other places were people are literally dumped in rundown motels without any help from social workers, mental health care workers, without any chance of job training, without any chance of ever moving out of these places of misery.
Point Three: we have currently a government that has no issues with Starship Hospital to crowdfund ICU beds, we have a government that like all others before it has underfunded all health care sectors (never mind Covid), we currently have a government that has toddlers in preschool arrive without food in their bellies and shoes on their feet, but we have uncapped millions of give a way to those that are rich and connected.
the worst thing the left did this last election was to be told to be afraid of J.C, so afraid even that they even not voted or third parties to force these useless eaters into a coalition. Now we have a majority government that only gets hot n bothered when it involves Americas Cup, TV stars and Jeff Bezos.
So all of these three points will never happen because this current government has not fucks to give about those it can't use to advance itself into a nice position after government. Yes, i am that cynical, and that over this current government. Almost 4 years, and the only thing they can pat themselves on the back is to lock the country down into a stasis in more then one way.
When you are poor in NZ there is no difference between the N or L. And i would like to point out that John Key also increased the benefits by 25 NZD and he did not even need a global pandemic to do so.
Don’t worry Sabine everything is fine cause 'kindness'
“Labour understands the housing crisis and we have a comprehensive plan to end homelessness and build thousands of affordable houses, which is more than the current Government can say after nine years of inaction,” – Carmel Sepuloni
Four years on how would you score progress out of 10?
6.5
I was thinking somewhere around 4
That leaves more room for improvement; I like your thinking
You’re quite right and based on the Grafton Gully fiasco, I reserve the right to downgrade my score to 6. After all, this is not a score of what you asked for but a composite score of all Government-related decisions and actions over the last decades. Actually, because of Roger Douglas, I’m going down to 5. See what I did there?
Even that's generous when you consider they were told that the method of stimulus to counteract a covid depression would over heat housing and that helicopter cash was a better way .
How can you justify a score of 6.5 after the Kiwibuild failure to date?
I would score them about a 3 and I think that's generous.
Because kiwibuild is only one facet of a full housing policy.
you are asking the wrong people.
the ones to ask are those that have lost their jobs due to covid with no aid then starvation level benefits that you don't receive if you still have a partner, cause discrimination and taxation without representation is a thing if you are married or partnerned.
the ones to ask are the ones that have no houses and are currently housed in gang ran slum motels
the ones to ask are the ones that don't eat dinner at night so the kids can have some cereals without milk and sugar
but then if these guys were to be honestly asked maybe the government wold just for a second experience shame.
Always interesting to see what other people think, if you were to score it off metrics like housing affordability, the size of the wait list etc, number of people in emergency housing on any given night you could probably score Labour a zero.
But there has been some, albeit slow progress with state house builds etc hence my scoring a 4.
i am currently at a 1 out of ten. One for covid, failure for everything else.
Under the new housing minister,the waiting list had doubled,and we cannot see the houses for the Woods.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/images/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/housing/2020/housing-register-full-december-2020.png
The kindness where 50% of NZers own just 2% of the wealth!
Generations can be a clumsy stereotype to aim at people–I am a ‘boomer’–but opposed Rogernomics and Ruthanasia all the way in my union, and the union movement. Have always supported environmental action. Heh, it wasn’t me personally, but it was my cohort enmasse.
Will the replacement gens under the hammer of student loans, precarious employment and exploitative “scumlords” rise up in the next couple of elections and ongoing Climate Strikes?–lets bloody hope so.
You forgot to mention that we have a Labour Party who’s sole purpose is to protect the image of our PM, as long as ther PR team is successful many labour people are relavent. Pity that the country does not progress and people’s lives today are better than what they were yesterday.
there are many around who believe the hype of the government and are not able or willing to see what is happening for many day to day.
for me, that$25 was approx a 10% increase. not to be clawed back. so, for me, it made quite a difference. but, satisfied benes dont make for good headlines. much better cluck bait to get the bad budgeters, and the benes with multiple add-ons to their benefits(which often have a claw-back)to front this article. the person mentioned, who had to sleep in his car to be able to pay for medication , puzzled me. after 30 prescriptions, they are all free. .would like to know what he needs $100 per week for. not saying that its impossible, but very unusual.
edit
Had a thought – welfare has settled into a mean mess in NZ. It relies on talking down bennies and picturing the younger ones as shiftless, listless, aimless – 'less' is the theme. We used to have a picture of how we wanted NZ to be, thriving with happy DIY's working on their houses, laying concrete paths to the clothesline and the drive with their mates in the weekend with lovely cold beers and fish and chips to finish. Not satisfactory to the upwardly mobile with an itch for wealth and flaunting it though.
How about we flip-flop and regard all these young NZers, even middle aged, as not finding their way in life. Anyone unemployed gets sent off to special courses with practical outcomes, learn to cook and what keeps them healthy, then set a goal for weight and fitness and get a monetary reward for achievement. Learn to use tools, build a bedside table with drawers, and give it a good finish – varnish, french polished, distressed, modern art effect, or historic look with those curved legs and fancy handles – with a monetary reward again. They would go into a scheme where they have a supportive life coach, who would encourage and help them to keep on track.
Then get them to try for a job again, and keep paying them as much as they earn net, and see if they can find good accommodation, with help if the bond and first month’s rent is too much for them to afford. Drop the extra payments after a few months when they have been able to better themselves, to lock it in. They might have to go on a give up drugs program where they have a look at their problems and build personal controls.
Later, when between jobs, send them on a course on how to look after your living area, how to look after a home, unblock drains, regular cleaning of shower, open windows when home to air etc. They are being trained for the life they can have when they can get a steady job, and have a sense of capability and pride.
It would be investing in the nation's raw gold, that is how young people should be viewed. Give them reading skills, discussion groups that are social but with no alcohol present and which start off with a nice simple meal, and then discussion and snacks and tea, coffee etc. That would give them a different paradigm for mingling with others.
What about it eh! Go on give it a go someone connected to welfare in government, but not have anyone directly from the Welfare section. Their negativity, patronising and prejudice against their own clients would be a sure way to curdle the milk!
The people with the add on of TAS get TAS because of financial hardship. It should have been a headline last year that many of the people in hardship didn’t get the full $25. This reporting is long over due.
Chance of a more independent NZ foreign policy indicated by Nanaia Mahuta?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/19/new-zealand-says-it-will-set-china-policy-not-us-led-five-eyes
This will likely have turned some innards to water in various Embassies, Ministries and Security Agency offices! It is refreshing to be able to enthusiastically congratulate a Govt. Minister.
Too hard to discern from the crowded metaphors.
At minimum putting some pushback on Five Eyes is a good thing.
On Natrad this morning also…https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018792264/foreign-minister-outlines-plan-for-china
Mahuta speaks with confidence and insight, and while in no way in Winston's league, demanded the interviewer stfu and let her finish her korero.
I hope all those naysayers step forward and acknowledge now that Mahuta was an appropriate and somewhat inspired choice for Foreign Affairs.
Agree that she was a great choice.
It will be interesting to see if Nanaia continues on this path and has the backing of the Labour Caucus, because the inhabitants of several Ministries will not like her approach one little bit. Carmel Sepuloni could watch and learn.
Carmel Sepuloni could watch and learn.
She could. But she won't.
well she could learn the value of working…..lol, which right now she does not need to know.
Money for nothing and perks for free.
Its the way she has continued the Great Tradition of Ministers of Social Development and Disability Issues in New Zealand in maintaining the ideology the Work will Conquer All that has impressed me.
All that is required is to get the most vulnerable of the vulnerable into paid Work.
Those who simply cannot work don't count.
never mind there are no jobs, not for the able bodied, not for the healthy and certainly not for anyone else.
Ghost Jobs under N and L are just that Ghost Jobs.
Good on Nanaia Mahuta. She's living up to my expectations of her. NZ once again shows independence of thought and deed. A poke in the eye for the psychopaths who run those allied institutions and who expect 'subordinates' to file meekly in behind them without questioning their motives.
Lets hope it lasts.
Until the government treats emergency housing like a disaster, homes will not get built as quickly as they need to be built.
I live on a street where a motel has 20 units occupied for emergency accommodation. I see the atmosphere and how the guests cope with living there. The government needs to provide a welfare package to those stuck in motels and this needs to include enjoyment to give a respite from harsh reality. Activities most people do in their stable housing cannot be done in a motel due to the restriction of living in a motel.
Not trying to throw a cat among the pigeons here, just think you lot are a more mature crowd than other social media, and this is bugging me.
As the fight over identity politics wages on…
We need to leave children out of this. It's OK to not know yourself. It's OK to be confused. It's OK to be absolutely convinced of a thing and then change your mind.
It's not OK for adults to tell people who they are; to force them into boxes; to give them labels; to assign their 'type'. It's not OK for family and friends to do the same. We've never had all the answers – never, not even close!
Clearly we have victimised certain groups – and their need to be recognised, and bloody well respected, will not be denied. Hatred of others has given rise to backlash. But it all seems to be getting a bit mad. Are we simply observing the pendulum at it's zenith, and the extremities will level out as a new normal embeds? That's my big question for TS.
When the pendulum swings
It breaks off a few things
Pushes out to extremes
And then back.
The race of another is irrelevant to children, and I hope one day as adults race and gender type will also be irrelevant. Seems it's the adults making a big song and dance of it all, on both 'sides'.
It's divisive, all these labels.
Hipkins needs to get on top of this urgently. You cannot keep blaming the various supply companies if this is happening.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/employer-reveals-vaccine-delay-for-staff-working-in-miq-and-hospitals/YBTRB4ZKSNE6XAW6BOC4WTJHOI/?utm_campaign=nzh_tw&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=nzh_tw#Echobox=1618528196
Ironically my wife got a text and an email inviting her to book for her first vaccine shot last week. Shes nowhere near MIQ or anything covid related we thought it was a scam…
Nicky Hager is a rock to rely on. He has been studying a cult that has the potential to undermine this country insidiously not with obvious terrorism. The EBs are reverting to the old name of Plymouth Brethren apparently.
They despise people in general, admit new people into the group who must be compliant and agree or get similar to the Dalek treatment. They are savvy with technology. And interested in advancing themselves and getting wealthy using others skills outside their group. And have the basics for an internal army. Think Brownshirts. And are prepared to put their resources to helping other go-getters in politics, eg have helped National.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018792258/we-had-vehicles-outside-the-house-exclusive-brethren-used-thompson-and-clark-to-spy-on-ex-members
Do you follow the work of David Farrier greywarshark? He documents various fringe phenomena/types & I reckon you'd enjoy his work. An honest journo with a penchant for quirky. Tickled is one of his more famous docos, he also plays the reporter in Rhys Darby's series, Short Poppies.
And this is why all the MIQ and border people need to be vaccinated.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300281691/covid19-border-worker-at-auckland-airport-returns-a-positive-test
open problem with airborne disease.
https://twitter.com/KarenGrepin/status/1383785013548777475
Terrifying. Surely that's one of the new-fangled strains, to spread like that. Again, terrifying.
And the way so many are chomping at the bit to get back on planes. Can be even scarier, that stupidity.
Seems the cleaner was fully vaccinated,
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300281691/covid19-auckland-airport-border-worker-tests-positive-transtasman-bubble-not-affected
Ribonucleic acid is the nuclear issue of our time.
Yes, that is good news. It doesn't give the opposition more ammo to complain about the government.
Who is going to blink first Australia or NZ?
How come there is a problem with drugs for assisting death? Vets have used effective ones on animals for yonks. Such as – pentobarbital
The euthanasia medication most vets use is pentobarbital, a seizure medication. In large doses, it quickly renders the pet unconscious. It shuts down their heart and brain functions usually within one or two minutes. https://pets.webmd.com/what-happens-put-pet-to-sleep#1
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/440824/distressing-death-warning-for-unregulated-euthanasia-drugs
People who chose to swallow or ingest the fatal medicines, rather than taking them intravenously, would be given drugs that were compounded (mixed up) by a pharmacist and provided to the patient without being approved by regulator Medsafe.
The Ministry of Health said those who opted for an injection would be given drugs which had been approved by Medsafe but for a different purpose – so the medicines will be provided for an unapproved, or "off label", use…
Among the documents is an email from Dr Bryan Betty, medical director at the Royal New Zealand College of GPs, warning that mixing concoctions of drugs had led to traumatic deaths.
Dr Betty's warning to the Ministry of Health used the example of American states not being able to access death penalty drugs due to cost and availability.
"So they made up their own concoctions initially, with examples of prolonged processes until fine-tuned. Belgium had a standard process but (this was) not used by many doctors for some years, also resulting in prolonged, distressing deaths."…
The most commonly used drug in American executions by lethal injection is pentobarbital mixed by compound pharmacies (most common as in most executions, not necessarily the drug of choice in most states) because that's the Texan method and they are the most prolific state for executions by a wide margin (apart from last year when it was the Federal Gov't, same method and drug though). Opinions on whether it is a sufficiently humane lethal injection option are sharply divided although the division is usually along abolitionist/retentionist lines.
The governments sheen is wearing off. This is a bit embarrassing. It looks like the purchase of the land at Ihumatao was unlawful…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300281951/auditorgeneral-rules-the-299m-the-government-used-to-buy-ihumtao-was-unlawfully-spent
The question for the public is whether it is technical, or material. I doubt many will be seriously exercised about it.
Common
"In 2015/16, there were 12 reported cases of unauthorised expenditure, compared with 19 in 2014/15. The total amount of unauthorised expenditure reported in the Government's financial statements for 2015/16 was $72.5 million (2014/15: $55.8 million). Unauthorised expenditure reported in 2015/16 was 0.08% of the total appropriations for all Votes authorised through the Budget 2015 process (2014/15: 0.07%).
and the year after
"
In 2016/17, the amount of unappropriated expenditure was $124 million (2015/16: $78 million), which is less than 0.14% of the Government's total appropriations for all Votes authorised through the Budget 2016 process (2015/16: less than 0.10%).
The total amount of expenditure incurred without prior Cabinet authority, as reported in the Government's financial statements for 2016/17, was $90 million (2015/16: $73 million). This was 0.10% of the Government's budgeted expenditure for 2016/17 (2015/16: 0.08%).
https://oag.parliament.nz/2017/central-government
Tree planting and ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme). https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covering-climate-now-is-nz-getting-forestry-right/5J2IA4YVDQO2K4YEEIFKHBCQIQ/
First, we tend to overlook the role that more strategic tree planting could play in enhancing the resilience of landscapes and catchments.
Second, we're at risk of planting forests that are vulnerable to climate change.
The Emissions Trading Scheme is calibrated to discover the least-cost emissions reductions; it's indifferent to other issues like adaptation and biodiversity.
By monetising carbon sequestration, it creates a financial incentive for forests that are cheap to plant and quick to grow.
Pinus radiata is hard to beat on this front – which is why it'll continue to play an important role in forestry.
But from a climate adaptation perspective, it isn't a good idea to have a national forest estate that's all in one species.
Our best defence is to diversify our forests, to spread our risks, and also to introduce greater biodiversity into the forests themselves, in terms of diverse tree species, age class, and silvicultural systems.
Yet if the ETS incentivises a lot of densely planted, even-aged pine monocultures, then we're setting ourselves up for catastrophic forest loss because these forests are vulnerable to the same shocks.
Vital stuff. The word resilience needs to be understood and implemented into plans by the folks making these decisions, not just pumped out for PR.
Our natives sequester more than pine. they hook up with the soil food web and pump carbon below ground as well as above. Building topsoil, while pines strip it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/71665123/alpine-fault-spreads-across-south-island-researchers-say'
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440834/alpine-fault-probability-of-damaging-quake-higher-than-previously-thought
Speculation.
'Research published by Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University shows a 75 percent chance of the Alpine Fault rupturing before 2068, up from around 30 percent"
Still very vague numbers and the earth doesnt read geology studies
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