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
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
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This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
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Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
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Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
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Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
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TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
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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
🖕