Open mike 20/04/2024
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- Dunedin Protests Against Hospital Cuts
Dunedin is not a happy city at the moment. We are used to being ignored in the nationwide New Zealand media – wrong end of the country and all – but the Government’s recent announcement on the Dunedin Hospital rebuild has got people motivated. How motivated? Well, I couldn’t make ...8 hours ago - The One Who Saw Too Much: accepted
A nice bit of news. I can report that I have had a short story success – my 3,600 word gothic horror piece, The One Who Saw Too Much, has been accepted ... 9 hours ago - Broken Stone
And another pitch shattersAnother little bit gets lostTell me what else really mattersOh, such a costLike pebbles on a beachKicked around, displaced by feetOh, like broken stonesThey're all trying to get homeSong by Paul WellerDoes it feel as though your country has been hijacked? That terrible people have taken the ...14 hours ago - I’m Glad The Right Wing Coalition Won
Dame Jacinda Adern would not accept “acceptable death rates” during Covid. But in the UK the Tory government said “Let them die”.Additions belowYesterday, when I saw the news that a Timaru factory with hundreds of jobs on the line was going to close, I couldn't help but think:"I'm so glad ...17 hours ago - We will never give you up, let you down, or Rickroll you
1. What did the National party promise Dunedin last election?a. We will build the hospital you needb. We will never give you up, let you down, or Rickroll you c. We will bring back John Keyd. Pandas2. What is the National party promising Dunedin now?a. A sawn-off half-pint watery version of ...18 hours ago - The 48 Hours Leading Up To An Execution
Note: This is obviously a very heavy topic — it took me three days to manage to write it — so please read with care. In saying that, in amongst the awfulness I think this piece also contains some hope, and plenty of humanity. Thanks to those of you who ...20 hours ago - Remembering our friend John Mason
We are extremely sad to say that our esteemed Skeptical Science colleague— and good friend to many of us— John Mason passed away on Friday September 20, 2024. Only last week, we blew a horn of appreciation for John's remarkable gift for telling stories about science. Our expectation was that ...1 day ago - How has the New Zealand economy been doing?
Stagnation and ContractionIn this column I use the less familiar measure of GDP per capita instead of the GDP measure favoured by the commentariat. I became familiar with it when I began doing international comparisons because of the population differences between countries, while I depended upon the measure while working ...1 day ago - Luxon taking his cues from Amazon
This is embarrassing: I just had to google who Andrew Jassy is.I come to substack to learn terrible thingsIn my defence, they promoted him during the pandemic and I had other things on my mind. Also watching Amazon injure their workers at a rate of over four times the US ...1 day ago - The Hoon around the week to Sept 27
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate news, including research suggesting a doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could trigger 8° of warming ...2 days ago - Could a doubling of Co2 trigger 8° of warming?
Long stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer:A seventh planetary boundary, for ocean acidification will soon be breached, and may have already done so, according to ...2 days ago
- Trust Us, Luxon Said
Just a little something for the painHospital food getting you down?Honey now I'm not one to complainBut this hangin' aroundIs wearing me outSong by David Gray.Yesterday, Dr Shane Reti, the Minister of Health, and Chris Bishop, the duty Minister for looking sad, sincere and determined, announced that Dunedin’s promised new ...2 days ago - Treasury warns of unprecedented cuts in real spending per capita to achieve surplus
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September 27:Treasury’s Chief Economics Adviser Dominick Stephens gave the year’s most important speech yesterday, saying real and per-capita cuts in public spending implied by the Government’s surplus ...2 days ago - Weekly Roundup 27-September-2024
Welcome to the end of the week and the end of the month. Ready to “spring forward” to Daylight Saving Time this weekend? As always, this post is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew. If you’d like to support our work and keep the posts coming, we welcome ...2 days ago - Please consider submitting on the offshore mining bill: We have 4 full days left
The National led Coalition government intends to bring back offshore oil and gas mining. Shane Jones made that clear as soon as he got into power last year:“Mining is coming back!” he declared in Parliament in December.And this year: “Drill, Baby, Drill!”It’s his brand of politics.It feels futile but I ...2 days ago - The Long and the Short: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
“While a nationwide vote to confirm, or not, the public’s understanding of our foundational constitutional document would be ‘divisive’, ‘racist’, a ‘blunt instrument’, and therefore completely out of the question, a referendum to extend the life expectancy of elected politicians, which no one not deeply involved with the governing process ...2 days ago - Procedures, Processes and Principles: Is It Possible To Defend The Treaty Of Waitangi And Democracy?
Out Of The Loop: The great insight of sympathetic Pakeha jurists, like Sir Geoffrey Palmer, was that, suitably empowered, the judiciary and the executive branch of the state could take on the role formerly played by the non-elected governors of mid-nineteenth century New Zealand. Māori resources could be protected, and ...2 days ago
- Has Government Become A Public-Private Partnership?
Dirty Deals Done In The Dark: There will be times when it is to the considerable advantage of both National and Labour to be able to shrug philosophically and pardon themselves for cooperating in the introduction of controversial and divisive policies by explaining to an outraged public that this is simply ...2 days ago
- Is National A White Supremacist Party?
By Their Deeds Shall Ye Know Them: When the defeated Reform and United parties were persuaded to unite under the rubric of “National” in 1936, the values advanced were unashamedly imperialist and white supremacist. Eighty-eight years later, National is at pains to distance itself (coalition agreements permitting) from the most obvious ...2 days ago
- On the way to another “Mother of All Budgets”?
Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday dismissed a grim warning from the Treasury that the country was headed for a fiscal crisis. Treasury Deputy Secretary Dominick Stephens said that fulfilling the Government’s promise to get the country’s books back to surplus by 2027-28 would require cuts to Government services “unprecedented in ...2 days ago
- The Three-Headed Taniwha Has Begun Biting Itself
When ACT, National, and New Zealand First joined together in a three-way coalition at the end of the last year, it was met with predictions of backstabbing, stonewalling, and inter-party politics. Many seemed convinced this government would get little done with such a diverse agenda. If only that had been ...2 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #39 2024
Open access notables Refined Estimates of Global Ocean Deep and Abyssal Decadal Warming Trends, Johnson & Purkey, Geophysical Research Letters: Deep and abyssal layer decadal temperature trends from the mid-1980s to the mid-2010s are mapped globally using Deep Argo and historical ship-based Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) instrument data. Abyssal warming trends are widespread, ...2 days ago
- Embrace the heresy, touch the third rail
Let’s examine some numbers.This is a public transport number.3% And this is an invitation to make an educated guess: In the morning rush hour in Wellington on Thorndon Quay, what proportion of the vehicles are buses?Yes indeed …the answer is:3% However, what do we find if we look inside those buses? Care ...2 days ago - Another abuse of democracy
This week National introduced its long-threatened bill to repeal the offshore drilling ban and promote the fossil fuel industry, and rammed it through to select committee. Today the select committee opened for submissions. If you have an opinion on this corrupt, ecocidal legislation, you will need to speak up quick ...2 days ago - Bye, Bye Health !
Bye, Bye hospital plans.Today Rachel Thomas reported - $3.2 billion is sleighted to come out of “hospital and mental health infrastructure projects”, and it seems the first formal casualty is Dunedin hospital, South Island.ODT reports former Labour Cabinet minister Pete Hodgson saying:“At the end of the day, the question is ...3 days ago - Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s trade deal with the UAE could unlock Middle East
New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are moving closer together – at record pace. Just a year after agreeing to enter initial talks, Wellington and Abu Dhabi have concluded negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (or CEPA for short). The deal will go down as one of ...3 days ago - Things That Make You Go… Dang
Pull up like a shipwreck in reverseYeah, I do, yeah, I doMaybe it's foreverMaybe it's just shampooDangSong by Caroline PolachekToday, a few things that, depending on your age, might make you go - that’s outrageous, or hmm, maybe WTAF, or just plain old dang.Specifically, I’ll be covering:When Press Secretaries resign, ...3 days ago - Minister ignored widespread concern about GPS, official documents confirm
Two weeks ago, the Ministry of Transport proactively released two tranches of documents that show the advice officials provided to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown as he directed the shaping of his draft and final Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport. You can find the documents via the MoT ...3 days ago
- An attack ‘unbecoming of a leader’
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 26:Days after realising hundreds of thousands of tax-free gains on the sale of one of his rental properties, PM Christopher Luxon responded yesterday to ANZ CEO ...3 days ago - On The Government’s Bizarre Hostility To A Capital Gains Tax
Oyez oyez, CEO Antonia Watson, CEO of the biggest bank in New Zealand has come out in favour of a capital gains tax! Actually, this is not a daring new idea. Over the past three decades the IMF, the World Bank, the expert Tax Working Group and most mainstream economists ...3 days ago
- Hamish is out. Has had enough of Luxon role
Following on from my earlier post … ‘Hamish Rutherford always looks grim these days‘, well, it seems that enough is enough for Hamish Rutherford (and fair enough too). Stuff reports: [Rutherford’s] message said: “It has been an absolute honour to work for Christopher Luxon both in Opposition and for the ...3 days ago - Climate Adam: Turning the Tide on Climate Change
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). As the world heats, we face the consequences from rising seas, extreme weather, and the spread of disease. But what can ...3 days ago
- Reasons to feel positive
Reason to feel positive # 1The next of Life's Little Victories could be just around the cornerSince I got back I have been hearing a wheezing choking rasping sound coming from the Number One Boss element of our gas stove. Wheezy gas is never something you want to hear coming ...3 days ago - David Seymour Got His Wish – Charter Schools Are Back. Who Is Getting the $$$ ?
OPINIONThis morning I wrote that the Charter Schools Bill had passed its final reading. Jan Tinetti called it a “sad, sad day for New Zealand education”. And Green Party MP Dr Lawrence Xu-Nan said the move is “not about education, it’s about privatisation”.$153mn for charter schools in what teachers and ...3 days ago - David Seymour: “The Government is Broke” & Other Politics Headlines
Note: Video of the fricken’ targets and a nanny state mentality at end. Read more ...4 days ago - Climate Change: We can’t afford the gas industry
Yesterday, National finally introduced its long-threatened bill to repeal the offshore drilling ban and promote the fossil fuel industry to the House. They'll be ramming it through its first reading under urgency this afternoon, and while it will go to select committee, they will almost certainly try their usual stunt ...4 days ago
- Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
In your mind you have capacities, you knowTo telepath messages through the vast unknownPlease close your eyes and concentrateWith every thought you thinkUpon the recitation we're about to singCalling occupants of interplanetary craftCalling occupants of interplanetary, most extraordinary craftSongwriters: John Woloschuk / Terry DraperThink of the capabilities of the human ...4 days ago - Nine public transit lessons from Perth
This guest post by Darren Davis originally appeared on his excellent blog, Adventures in Transitland, and is republished here by kind permission. A while ago, I wrote about Perth’s public transport journey, outlining how Perth got to where it is now. I recommend reading that piece if you haven’t already, ...4 days ago
- ANZ CEO says ‘it’s time’ for a Capital Gains Tax
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 25:Ad agency climate activist group Comms Declare today launched the New Zealand version of the globally compiled ‘F list,’ which names 14 local agencies “which have ...4 days ago - Parliament to get its own police force
Parliament yesterday moved to give its security staff powers of search, seizure and arrest. In effect it is establishing a quasi Parliamentary police force which will have the power to handcuff and detain offenders. But it will be a force with some heavy restrictions on what it can do. Most ...4 days ago
- How to complain about a delayed OIA release
A few years back, Te Kawa Mataaho / Public Service Commission started releasing OIA statitistics, on the theory that this would allow failure to be identified and managed, and so improve performance. It may have done so initially, but then the iron laws of bureaucracy (and specifically, Goodhart's and Campbell's) ...4 days ago
- Just have a think: Arctic Sea Ice minimum 2024. Three degrees Celsius warming now baked in?
This video includes conclusions of the "Just have a Think" channel's creator Dave Borlace. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). From the video‘s description: Arctic Sea ice reaches it's minimum extent each year around the middle of September. This ...4 days ago
- Let them eat glue
What is real, what is fake? Do we really know any more?Let's say you want to make tonight’s dinner a bit more appealing by trying something new.Why don't I google it? You say.You type: Idea for fresh and exciting meal.Google tells you: Pizza! Here's a topping combo that will wow ...4 days ago - The Narcissist in Life
OPINIONYesterday, after the Polkinghorne case verdict, Philip Polkinghorne told reporters:"Now we can grieve and let Pauline rest in peace. That is the best gift we can possibly give her."And today his defence lawyer Elizabeth Hall said the case showed the justice system was working as intended.Jurors could not land the ...4 days ago - Do you know what the Coalition Government has done for you in its first 100 days? Here’s a lis...
I decided to finally write my “About Mountain Tui” page and found some of my old posts that I wanted to transfer here. This won’t be distributed by email, but will serve as a record of my writing.Here is one of them:Repealed under urgency No more Fair Pay Agreements, a ...4 days ago - Back in the Office
These things that I've been told can rearrangeMy world, my doubt in time but inside outThis is the working hourWe are paid by those who learn by our mistakesSongwriters: Ian Stanley / Roland Orzabal / Immanuel Franklin EliasSince Covid, life has been tough for many central city businesses. As you ...5 days ago - The Mayor’s Plan for Bridging the Harbour
Discussion of another harbour crossing has been in the news a lot recently as a result of Mayor Wayne Brown pushing for a bridge from Point Chev to Birkenhead. While I believe his proposal is bad, at least some of his reasoning behind his push for a bridge is correct. ...5 days ago
- Gordon Campbell On Nicola Willis’ Perverse Hostility To Working From Home
Vaccine work mandates, no. Work-in-the-office mandates? Hell yes, Finance Minister Nicola Willis is all for them. Given half the chance, she believes, “some people but not all” will just skive off, otherwise. Sigh. But here’s the thing. Normally, when the media wants to query Cabinet Ministers about events in their ...5 days ago
- ACCC accuses Woolworths of misleading pricing
Up then down: Australia’s competition watchdog alleges both Woolworths Australia and main competitor Coles Myer put the price of hundreds of products up before dropping them again and advertising ‘everyday low prices’. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy ...5 days ago - A World Full of Potential Cult Leaders
Hi,In this Webworm podcast episode, I bring you a conversation with someone I found endlessly fascinating to talk to — one of my favourite authors, Jason Pargin. He’s perhaps most well known for writing John Dies At The End, or a host of other books that all have amazing titles ...5 days ago
- Nicola Willis’s Catch-22
Would you like to get paid more and have your work get worse, or have your pay decrease in real terms but when you’re saving lives or raising the next generation of workers, you get to keep your head juuuust above the water level during this flood of fiscally unnecessary ...5 days ago - Luxon Is THAT Asshole Boss
After firing half the capital’s public servants, Luxon and Willis are now trying to blame the remaining few for sending Wellington’s cafes bankrupt. It couldn’t possibly be the economic downturn that resulted from him pulling all the money out of the system and giving it to the wealthy to bank. ...5 days ago - Nicola’s destruction
Today, Stuff led with a headline claiming that forcing public servants to return to the office was “the number one” fix for Wellington’s ‘icy’ economy.No mention until much later of the 6500+ positions the Government culled or its slashing of government programs and spend.That’s been the key differentiator in Wellington, ...5 days ago - Media Link: ” A View from Afar” on multidimensional hybrid warfare and the ineffectiveness of mu...
This week’s “A View from Afar” podcast addresses the issue of multidimensional hybrid warfare using the Israeli pager attacks in Lebanon as a starting point before moving on to discuss the failures of multilateral institutions, the UN in particular, when … Continue reading ...5 days ago - Priorities
Back in 2018 the then-Labour government legislated formal targets to reduce child poverty with the Child Poverty Reduction Act - and took actual steps to achieve them, with a $5.5 billion families package to boost incomes and a school lunches scheme to ensure kids didn't go hungry. While a lot ...5 days ago
- The Dead-End Options Of Political Decay.
Dark Times: Denied the state’s leadership and resources, New Zealand’s economy has been hollowed out and taken over. More importantly, so has its democracy.WHAT’S WRONG WITH NATIONAL? New Zealand’s “natural party of government” (since its formation in 1936 the National Party has won 17 out of 28 general elections) has ...5 days ago
- Fixing child poverty would cost <1% of GDP
The previous Government set a goal of reducing the number of children experiencing “material hardship” from 13.3% down to 6% by mid-2028. But Upston says sticking to that, or even the suggested ‘lower ambition targets’, wasn’t realistic. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to ...6 days ago - If I Only Had a Brain
I would not be just a nuffin'My head all full of stuffin'My heart all full of painI would dance and be merryLife would be a ding-a-derryIf I only had a brainSongwriters: Harold Arlen / Yip HarburgNot much happens in the world of politics on a Monday. I mentioned that recently ...6 days ago - A vision for Swimmable Cities
This is a guest post by Nikki Goodson, a self-proclaimed urbanist and Independent Marketer for businesses building a better world. Looking for projects to connect on, she found the global movement Swimmable Cities and thought advocacy for urban swimming sounded like a pretty good idea. (The header image of ...6 days ago
- Yawning gaps in RMA proposals
The Government’s overriding principles for resource management reform, released on Friday, are likely to be widely welcomed by some and resisted by others. Minister Chris Bishop and Simon Court promise the two replacement bills will be less complex than Labour’s legislation, which was passed by Parliament last year but would ...6 days ago
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #38
A listing of 33 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Mon, September 16, 2024 thru Sun, September 22, 2024. Story of the week Might be added later. Stories we promoted this week, by publication date: Before September 16 Departures ...6 days ago
- No Fricken’ Chicken on Q&A
7 days ago - Eulogy, delayed
There is more to tell about my drive to Masterton earlier this year.The first stop was Turangi, to let my cousin Garth know about Mum, or rather to talk to him on the phone because I soon learned he was in the back country, which is where you will often ...7 days ago - The Luxon Government: turning Aotearoa not just “around”, but completely upside down…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…. cultural, political, economic, environmental, social costs aplenty to our society, every day. It’s been one of those weeks, again. Barely a day, even a minute it seems, can go by before the public get assaulted with some new attack, figuratively, or literally, on the public good. ...1 week ago - Brer Sauron’s Briar Patch: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power, Episode 6 (Season 2)
We are now into the back-half of The Rings of Power, season two. Thus far, I have gushed with praise for how much improved the show has become – at least relative to season one. Never mind my innate sense of charity, I have worried whether my reviews have become ...1 week ago - Who’s to Blame for the Government?
I saw no evil when I looked into your eyesI heard no evil while you told me all those liesI spoke no evil when I called out your nameLook at us now, babyWho’s to blame?Lyrics: Hemberger, Hemberger, Mayo, RaseroToday’s newsletter is a bit of a rant; some of you might ...1 week ago - Political revolutions don’t exist. But economic ones do.
The further you get into radicalism, the more appealing the concept of a revolution seems. Both the far right and the far left dream of taking up arms and overthrowing what they see as an unsatisfactory system, to an unhealthy and unhelpful extent. Instead of revolution, what happens in the ...1 week ago - Hangups
1 week ago - Unfortunately, Being a Hero is Mostly Illegal
1 week ago - My Substack erm… Summer
Hi all,Apparently it’s the end of Summer, hope you enjoyed it. 🙂The rather Northern Hemisphere centric folks over at Substack have sent this out, I’m not sure what time period it covers, I guess the last three months. In any case you might like to give it a go yourself ...1 week ago - Pricing Road Usage
Congestion pricing is easier said than done.The first seminar I attended in Britain – around sixty years ago – explained a scheme for road usage pricing which would eliminate traffic congestion and direct roading investment. It was impressive and elegant (as many such seminar propositions are) but proved impractical and ...1 week ago - Tory Whanau may have to sell Wellington mayoralty to make ends meet
Tory Whanau has revealed that she’s struggling so much financially that she may have to part with her beloved mayoralty, that of New Zealand’s capital city, if she’s to fund her ever-diminishing lifestyle. Whanau was elected to lead Wellington in 2022, winning an overwhelming victory against the incumbent mayor: the ...1 week ago - And round we go again…
One of Labour's few achievements last term was to finally move on RMA reform. Following an independent review and a select committee review of an exposure draft, both aimed at ironing out bugs and producing a compromise most people could live with, Labour passed the Natural and Built Environments Act ...1 week ago
- The Supreme Court stands up for fairness
National is planning to breach te Tiriti o Waitangi by amending the Marine and Coastal Area Act to effectively make it impossible for the courts to recognise Māori rights over the foreshore and seabed. But its also been playing dirty in other ways. Earlier in the year it announced changes ...1 week ago
- My Substack Summer
1 week ago
- Raising speed limits will cost our communities
The Government’s move to disregard all evidence and increase speed limits will result in serious harm. ...14 hours ago - Greens stand in solidarity with Buller community
The Green Party stands in solidarity with the Buller community in its silent protest for better healthcare. ...17 hours ago
- Release: Proposed job losses devastating for Timaru
News that the Smithfield meatworks could close is devastating for the hundreds of people who work there, Timaru and the wider region. ...1 day ago - Release: Question mark over financial sustainability of Polytechs
The Government is taking tertiary education down a worrying path with new reporting finding that fourteen of the country’s sixteen polytechnics couldn’t survive on their own,” Labour’s tertiary education spokesperson Dr Deborah Russell says. ...2 days ago
- TPM issues warning to Govt: Back down or prepare for the wrath of the million Māori
Today the government announced a $30m cut to Te Ahu o Te Reo Māori- a programme that develops te reo Māori among our kaiako. “This announcement is just the latest in an onslaught of attacks on te iwi Māori,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader Rawiri Waititi. ...2 days ago
- Govt set to break promise on Dunedin Hospital
The Green Party is calling on the Government to honour its promise to Dunedin and build its new hospital to full capacity. ...2 days ago
- Release: Dunedin Hospital d-listed by Government
The non-announcement in Dunedin today had Ministers leaving broken promises and a likely severely diluted hospital build in their wake. ...3 days ago
- Release: Labour welcomes UAE trade deal
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed today with the United Arab Emirates (UAE). ...3 days ago
- Release: Hundreds more jobs cuts on housing frontline
The Government has shown its true intentions for the public service and economy – it’s not to get more public servants back to the office, it’s more job losses. ...3 days ago
- Release: Govt not addressing health workforce crisis
The National Government is hiding the gaps in the health workforce from New Zealanders, by not producing a full workforce plan nearly a year into their tenure. ...3 days ago
- Release: Government cuts fair pay for bus drivers
The Government has cut funding for bus drivers to get paid fairly for the work they do, Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...3 days ago
- Crown Minerals Bill Advances Colonisation
Today, the Crown Mineral Amendment Bill was read for the first time, reversing the ban on oil exploration off the coast of Taranaki. It was no accident that this proposed law change was read directly after the Government started to unravel the ability of iwi and hapū Māori to have ...3 days ago
- Landlord govt finds new way to undermine public housing
Proposed cuts to Kāinga Ora reflect a failure to fully commit to fixing the housing crisis. ...3 days ago
- Crown should prove their rights to Foreshore & Seabed – Te Pāti Māori
Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Justice, Tākuta Ferris, has hit out at the Government, demanding the Crown prove its rights to the foreshore, following the Marine and Coastal Area Amendment Bill, passing its first reading. "Māori rights to the foreshore pre-exist the Declaration of Independence, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and ...3 days ago
- NZ must urgently help whanau in Lebanon
The Government must immediately help evacuate New Zealanders and Lebanese whanau caught up in the current conflict unfolding across south Lebanon. ...4 days ago
- Green Government will revoke oil and gas permits
The Green Party vows to reinstate the oil and gas ban and revoke permits when it returns to government following the coalition’s introduction of legislation to reopen offshore oil and gas exploration this afternoon. ...4 days ago
- Government introduces controversial MACA legislation
The Government’s introduction of its interventions in the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act threatens to throw relations between Māori and Crown into deeper disharmony. ...4 days ago
- Release: Gun lobby bill removes regulation at ranges
Gun lobbyist Nicole McKee and her conflict of interest has struck again, this time removing safety regulations from shooting clubs and ranges in New Zealand. ...4 days ago
- Release: Govt forgetting the 6000 jobs they’ve cut
The real problem in the public sector is ongoing job losses and cuts to the front line. ...5 days ago
- Government undermines public service with WFH crackdown
The Green Party says the Government’s retrograde move to tighten up on Work from Home arrangements is the latest in a series of blows to the Public Service. ...5 days ago
- Release: Ministers oblivious to cuts’ effect on families
The National Government is oblivious to the impact cuts to services will have on New Zealanders who are doing the hard yards caring for mentally ill family members. ...5 days ago
- Release: Public service set up to fail under National
Nicola Willis has set up the public service to fail to pay for reckless tax cuts for landlords and the tobacco industry. ...6 days ago
- Release: Coalition cooking up costly RMA replacement
National continues to dismantle environmental protections in the interests of rushing through unsustainable development that will ultimately cost communities. ...1 week ago
- Release: National red-faced as benefit numbers skyrocket
The economy has stagnated and the National Government is having to face the consequences of its atrocious lawmaking, as beneficiary numbers skyrocket past even Treasury’s predictions. ...1 week ago
- Release: National allocating police officers not hired yet
There are 104 fewer police officers now than there were when National came into Government. ...1 week ago
- Economic decline further cause for tax transformation
Today’s GDP figures combined with the injustice of our tax system will mean more pain for our lowest-income households while those at the top remain relatively unscathed. ...1 week ago
- Release: No growth under National, just cuts
The National Government’s decisions have hindered, not helped the economy. ...1 week ago
- Govt must act to avoid the worst of NIWA’s climate projections
New climate projections from NIWA underscore how urgently climate action is needed. ...1 week ago
- Release: More job losses as Government fails on manufacturing
The Government is failing the manufacturing sector with no plan for its future. ...1 week ago
- Tāmaki-Makaurau MP Urges Immediate Support for Families Impacted by Mill Closure
Te Pāti Māori Member of Parliament for Tāmaki Makaurau is urging a full wraparound of services to intervene quickly with families affected by today's announced closure of the Penrose Mill. Seventy-five people are set to lose their jobs right on the eve of Christmas. "I want to extend my thoughts ...1 week ago
- Release: Sentencing package misses the mark by a mile
Sentencing policy announced by Minister Paul Goldsmith today is anything but new, merely window dressing to make up for backwards violent crime statistics under the National Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Seymour’s Ministry of Double Standards
David Seymour doesn’t stick to his own standards of good regulation despite having a multimillion-dollar vanity ministry set up to do so. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour Leader to travel to UK
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins will travel to the United Kingdom this week to attend the annual UK Labour Party conference in Liverpool and meet with members of the new Labour Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt Warned – Increasing Snapper Quota Breaches Fisheries Settlement
An imminent decision to increase the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) for snapper would be a direct violation of the first-ever Treaty Settlement and inevitably breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi, says Te Pāti Māori. Te Ohu Kaimoana has sought a High Court declaration to prevent the Minister of Oceans and ...2 weeks ago
- Govt attacks workers’ rights once again
Today’s announcement from the Minister of Workplace Relations emphasises how deep in the pocket of big business this Government really is. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Māori business not a priority for this Govt
Scrapping the Progressive Procurement programme designed to support and grow Māori businesses is a missed opportunity. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: March 15 inquiry grants cut by Government
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has cut grants helping overseas family of victims to attend the next phase of the Coronial Inquiry into the 15 March 2019 Christchurch Masjidain Attack. ...2 weeks ago
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This won't be the last time this Cabinet gets in trouble with the judiciary.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350249617/lawyers-politicians-battle-over-waitangi-tribunals-oranga-tamariki-inquiry
And the question that will follow will be: will this government simply legislate to eradicate the Waitangi Tribunal?
After all by wiping out the RMA they've already smashed the guardrails of the entire Environment Court judiciary already.
Finally our hard right can get to properly targeting the "activist" judiciary in the Appeals and Supreme Court.
AFAIK the WT is not part of the judiciary. It’s a commission of enquiry, not a court.
The extent to which tribunals make decide outcomes is different
https://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/
https://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/tenancy/about/
https://www.justice.govt.nz/tribunals/human-rights/
The WT makes recommendations, some others make decisions.
https://www.waitangitribunal.govt.nz/about/
"The WT makes recommendations,"
Yes, that was my understanding. Am I right in thinking it is not part of the judiciary though?
It is not one of the tribunals that determines outcomes.
It does get to deliver a verdict.
The Maori Land Court can determine an outcome, where the matter is one for it to decide.
The government acts for the Crown etc …
Might inconvenient courts/commissions be fast-tracked for 'fixing'? Time will tell.
Aotearoa is small, with poverty aplenty. Trust 'our' CoC govt to be fair? That’s a joke
In March ACT reckoned school lunch programmes were nothing more than a marketing campaign, with wasteful spending that's verging on criminal, and need to go. A month and a shitty poll later ACT reckons they're the ones that are saving the school lunch programme.
Wankers
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018928617/healthy-lunches-programme-wasteful-spending-act
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/free-school-lunches-david-seymour-says-the-government-is-saving-the-programme/BGIEYIWJFFHHDCNUV57U2KKUNI/
Wa-hey! Next thing they'll be restoring the chocolate ration to 20 grammes.
The cunning plan is explained here.
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-18-04-2024/#comment-1997116
Brain worms?
/
@MonmouthPoll
NATIONAL POLL: Nearly 1 in 5 Americans (18%) believe @TaylorSwift13 is part of a covert government effort to reelect @POTUS Biden. Among this group, 71% identify with the GOP, 83% are likely to vote for Trump, and 73% believe Biden won 2020 by fraud.
https://www.monmouth.edu/pollinginstitute/reports/MonmouthPoll_US_021424/
https://twitter.com/MonmouthPoll/status/1757797491829821651
We just have accept the fact 40% of Americans are objectively disconnected from reality. Exceptionalism, a hyper-partisan and insular media, relentless targeting by brain rotting social media algorithms, deep seated racism, crushing terms and conditions of work and very poor levels of public education combined with a specific American style of paranoia have seen to that.
An adventurous president of either party would propose legislation to make the big tech platforms subject to the same broadcasting regulations as tv news, and subject to publishing libel laws.
It's a clear bipartisan need.
Not only are they disconnected from reality – they also have guns. Lots of guns.
Not sure how covert it is – the elected part of government is always angling for re-election at least for their party members if not themselves in the case of those retiring.
I have a suspicion that the current winnowing out of the public service is nothing more than a pogrom targeting those with an even slightly different political viewpoint to that of the current mal-administration. Admittedly my “ reckon “ is only based on a few short cryptic conversations with a few affected persons, but what if this is really the case? . It would mean that this is a very serious deviation from our history as a fairly benign political climate. Are NactF the real enemy within?
They have always done this through various means while in power.
Apart from the sheer wastage of money employing the bullshit brigade to state the obvious that public servants have for decades worked to rule for fear of keeping their jobs, one imagines it would be difficult for staff to start believing they no longer needed to keep heads well below parapets.
For years public servants who have given private voice to a political opinion at variance with government policy, have learned quickly that he or she who dares to speak their mind out loud, doesn't belong.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/68614620/bowron-going-blue-makes-me-see-red
And why else would they take on large numbers of new people just before making well forecast cuts if not to replace.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/04/staff-affected-by-public-sector-job-cuts-slam-leaders-handling-of-announcements.html
The policy advisor said the ministry had given a stark warning about speaking to media and people were scared about the consequences if they did.
"We are not waste. How dare you reference us in that way. We are humans. People who worked tirelessly for the ministry – long long hours because, well, that's what we committed to do for you.
Through a modicum of luck I suspect, none of my family in the public service have yet been affected. Ironically one in the private sector contracting to the public sector has.
They like many others worked lots of hours during covid and floods often for no extra pay, worked on weekends they normally would not, and so on. This relies on internal good will and a desire to serve the public. The latter won't wane but the former will – governments attacking public service always underestimate how many hours public servants work to get jobs done without expecting more pay. I know how many hours one of my cousins has been working. She has quite clearly said to me she will be cutting back if not just working her hours. Some are learning the hard way that there is no real thanks from your employer for this effort.
You’re just a number.
" Are NactF the real enemy within?"
I believe so.
You only have to look at what the individual public service entities are doing across the board. Its a slash and smash exercise doomed to bring about ultimate failure. You can't cut the heart out of a body and expect it to survive.
I fear that as each entity agency apart, this government will blame them for the failure and replace them with private corporate entities pliant to their whims and fancies.
I have become more and more convinced that is the end game.
oops… as each agency falls apart,…
Well they are the government, elected by the people of this country, so I’m not sure how they can be the enemy within.
Yeah… 38% voted National 62% didn't. But that's not the point! They are, in actual fact, doing the opposite to what they said they would do. They claimed they were going to solve the health crisis, the education crisis, the economic crisis… military crisis, transport crisis, environmental crisis and social crisis.
So what do they do? They bash, slash and smash so none of them are going to be fit for purpose. That's not solving crisis' that's accelerating them.
If only 38% voted for the government, & 62% did not vote for the government, how is it that we currently have the government we currently have?
This is the same conversation I had back in 2017, except it was with ardent National & ACT supporters.
Ignore the actual point of my comment if you wish. Not my problem. It's yours.
Wot Anne said ..
Hmm okay, but they are the duly elected government. Every time we have a change of government, one side or the other commences moaning and predicts that the end of the world is coming.
Nah..!..David..
This lot are rogernomics redux..
They don't give a fuck about hurting the most vulnerable..all in the name of their rightwing ideology…backed by the opportunists that are NZ 1st .
And all this heavily laced with racism…
They are so ugly…
And there is one outcome from this con job they ran during the election campaign..
Any campaign for four years terms is dead in the water..
Not only are they the duly elected government, as David says, National signalled clearly in advance of the election what they planned. Apart from all of the generalised rhetoric around reducing spending more broadly, there was this:
instruct public sector Chief Executives to start identifying back-office savings and report their spending on consultants, 100 Day Action Plan (national.org.nz)
Reduce spending on back-office functions in government departments by $594 million per year (less than 0.5 per cent of total government spending) to fund National’s Back Pocket Boost tax relief plan Rebuilding_the_economy.pdf (nationbuilder.com)
Soon after the conclusion of the coalition agreement with ACT, David Seymour was talking about 'thousands' of jobs being cut. Thousands of government jobs to be cut, new minister suggests (1news.co.nz)
If the government was not following through on this, we'd be accusing them of breaking their promises.
Phillip, my comment(s) is a reaction to the people who suggest that the government is somehow illegitimate, and that they don’t represent the people.
Every time we have a change of government, I’ve had discussions with people who for some reason cannot comprehend that we have elections and governments change.
Of course they have the numbers…but given the opportunist party that is NZ first ..this dilutes somewhat the far-right mandate they claim to have..
What is also different this time is that national have lurched to the right..it can now be said that national are act with the mask on..and act are national with the mask off…
And so much of what they are doing is so irrational…the trashing of the environment protections arrived at by a consensus between labour/national..is no more..(have we heard from the blue-greens yet…?…their thoughts on this ..
And I am not one who believes every national voter wants to trash the environment..and I am sure a portion of their voters are somewhat aghast…at what is proposed…at what is being done..in their name ..
All of this is only part of what makes this government different…
And arguably without a mandate for much of what is now being done ..
This link provides the numbers for the total public sector workforce in NZ from 2000 through 2023. Workforce Data – Workforce size – Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission. This is useful, because it compares the growth in the public sector during the Ardern/Hipkins government with previous National and Labour governments.
In 2000, at the beginning of the Clark Labour government, the total number of public sector employees in NZ (excluding local government) was 254,971. By 2008, that number had grown by 24% to 60,949. In the 9 years of the Key/English government, the number of employees grew a further 8% to 341,304. Then in just 6 years of the Ardern/Hipkins government, the number of public sector employees grew by 20% to 408,178.
Between 2001 and 2017, the number of public sector employees grew by 34%, at a time when NZ’s population grew by 23% (New Zealand Population Growth Rate 1950-2024 | MacroTrends). Between 2017 and 2023, the public sector grew by 20%, when population only grew by 10%.
What is occurring in 2024 is not "bash, slash and smash". It is not a ‘pogrom’ or a ‘winnowing out’. It is a much needed re-balancing of the public sector after a period of poorly targeted expenditure that failed on multiple fronts.
To quote the headline of this paywalled article Planned cuts to the public service so far won’t even wind back the last six months of expansion – Public Purse – NZ Herald. "Planned cuts to the public service so far won’t even wind back the last six months of expansion.".
Seeing as you have all the facts at your fingertips..
Could you tell us how much the population grew during those key-years..?
I guess I am wondering if the public service needed to make up for nine years of not enough to keep up with population growth..from that key gummint…
4.26 to 4.76M.
On the money. My figures are 4,746,252 in 2017, 4260239 in 2008.
Should have had 4.75 for 2017 … .
"I guess I am wondering if the public service needed to make up for nine years of not enough to keep up with population growth..from that key gummint…"
The population grew by around 11% during the Key years, the public sector grew by 8% (as per above). So let's say the last government had 3% to make up; that doesn't go anywhere near explaining how an increase of double the population growth can be justified.
There are also other factors to consider:
So we have that three percent catch-up..but what would also need to be under consideration is changing demands on that public service.. necessitating an increase in staff to answer that demand..
I can think of numerous examples of this.. without even trying…
And for the case to be made of too rapid expansion…based on the demands of/at 2017…must surely be a nonsense…?
So…how many percentage points can we give that undoubted factor..?..the changing/increasing demands on the public service..(7%..?…10%..?)
So often just the numbers..nuance free..can provide a distorted picture..can they not..?
I would argue that the very idea that the public service should necessarily increase by the same rate as population growth is a nonsense. But parking that, IMHO the main factor to consider is whether the growth in size of the public service led to improved outcomes. There are any number of examples to illustrate this was not the case.
1. In education, staff numbers rose by 10% from 2017 through 2023, which matches population growth. Yet education outcomes fell.
2. In health, staff numbers rose 29%, nearly three times the rate of population growth. Of course some of that is pandemic related, but the headcount increased by 10% in the 2 years 2022, and 2023, when pandemic related expenditure should have been declining significantly.
3. In the 'Public Service' category, staff numbers rose 32%, more than 3x the rate of population growth.
I would challenge anyone to show an equivalent increase/improvement in outcomes. There has a lot written about this across a number of sources, but as one example, take FENZ. The Taxpayers Union commissioned a report on the governance of FENZ since its formation in 2017. 240301_cp_report_upinsmoke.pdf (nationbuilder.com) The organisations operating expenditure has gone from $496m in 2018 to $737m in 2023. That's a 49% increase in 5 years. What is particularly concerning is this (I quote the full paragraph for balance):
"Management and support staff have increased by 31% over the five-year period from 2017/18 to 2022/23 whilst career firefighters and volunteer numbers have only increased by 5% over the same period. At the time of the merger, management and support FTEs supported 15 career firefighters and volunteers. By 2023, this had reduced to 12 career firefighters and volunteers."
In the interests of balance, I quote:
"However, there may be justification for some increase in management and support staff. Price Waterhouse Coopers reported that the corporate centre of the predecessor organisation might be too lean, leading to many operational and strategic planning deficiencies."
Some, maybe. 31%? And clearly at the expense of frontline staff?
@traveller..
See post of business roundtable report (below)..by d.o.s…
Then get back to us…
In health, staff numbers rose 29%, nearly three times the rate of population growth. Of course some of that is pandemic related, but the headcount increased by 10% in the 2 years 2022, and 2023, when pandemic related expenditure should have been declining significantly.
The pandemic isn't over and there is also a rapidly aging population. Hospitals are now having to cope with three main seasonal outbreaks:
1. Cold virus
2. Influenza virus
3. COVID-19 virus (2618 active cases and 152 in hospital as we speak)
The lockdown response was to delay spread while capacity was built up in the health system. I would expect there to be more capacity and staffing in the health system now than in 2020 / 2021.
COVID demands more resources including ICU (which was massively underbedded when the virus hit). This includes more resources not only in frontline medical but in things like data analytics to monitor and track outbreaks.
They also are having to play catch-up to all the operations etc delayed during the pandemic. You cannot do this overnight. It takes a long time.
You may think the pandemic is over and things can get back to "normal" pre-pandemic levels – medical professionals and WHO do not.
See post of business roundtable report (below)..by d.o.s…
Then get back to us…
The balls back in DoS's court, Phillip.
Given as you are given to rely on numbers when making your case .I am kinda puzzled by your studious ignoring of the huge differences in what we pay for our public service..and what the likes of countries like Sweden/Norway pay (i.e.double..).and that we are under the oecd average..
And given the above…what is the actual problem here..?
After scrutiny..our public service comes out as cost-efficient..
..and those numbers make a mockery of this concerted campaign to not only cut the numbers of employees…but in the process to also demean them as some sort of leech on our society..
They do not deserve this treatment ..
..it is just a tissue of ideology -driven lies..
"And given the above…what is the actual problem here..?"
There are a number of problems:
1. There is every possibility the private sector is about to go through a very difficult time (Business journalist Liam Dann warns 30,000 New Zealand jobs could go over coming year | Newshub). It is the private sector that pays for the public service, let's not forget that.
2. The public sector growth between 2017 and 2023 has not been matched by corresponding improvements in service. It could be argued some sectors have gone backwards.
3. NZ faces structural deficits, that are, at least in part, the result of government spending.
4. To the genesis of this conversation (the heroic claims about the changes being made), these are misleading and disturbing to the people you are rightly speaking out for, some of whom are my friends.
I don't see any relevance in the overall spending comparisons. The trend in NZ appears to have been away from the frontline to back-office support functions. That needs to change.
Be interesting what you actually think went backwards. Some things take time to fix eg bulldozing state houses. You can't suddenly magic up state houses.
It is the private sector that pays for the public service, let's not forget that.
It is circular. Much of the private sector depends on the public sector and would not exist without it. Roading, school builds, housing builds, office cleaning, disability support – all these things were once done within the public service. There is no evidence they are cheaper under the private sector and plenty that they are not – apart from apparently rubbish collection.
Benefit expenditure ensures money in the local economy. When Ruth Richardson cut benefits there were about fifty small local businesses went bust over the next six months. Both need each other.
The real issue is the accumulation of profit and capital which does not circulate in the economy.
Number one…you are talking apples and oranges as far as this discussion is concerned..
Number two:..that comes across as a reckon by you…not backed up by any evidence..
3..and as a result of the failure to introduce capital gains tax/land tax/estate duties etc ..as most other oecd countries have..
And am puzzled by your denial of any 'relevance'…that we pay half what Sweden/Norway pay…
..surely this is the case you/the gummint is making..that we have to cut public service numbers..to cut the cost…
Number one…you are talking apples and oranges as far as this discussion is concerned..
Not so. If the economy is shrinking, and the private sector has to tighten it's belt, so should the public sector. Especially when it has grown so heavily in rceent years.
Number two:..that comes across as a reckon by you…not backed up by any evidence..
There are ample examples. I've givena couple here https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-04-2024/#comment-1997250.
3..and as a result of the failure to introduce capital gains tax/land tax/estate duties etc ..as most other oecd countries have..
Perhaps. But that was a call Ardern made.
And am puzzled by your denial of any 'relevance'…that we pay half what Sweden/Norway pay…..surely this is the case you/the gummint is making..that we have to cut public service numbers..to cut the cost…
I don't consider international comparisons to be as relevant. This conversation specifically has been about the OTT reaction to cuts in PS numbers, and how (I have argued) this reaction ignores the rapid rise in PS staffing in recent years, and the poor outcomes achieved.
From a group that isn't normally friendly to the public service the old Business Round Table.
https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/assets/DirectoryFile/Report-NZ-Initiative-research-note-on-the-size-of-the-Public-Service-workforce.pdf
From 2017 to 2022 the Public Service grew 27.8% as the Government invested in the capability of the Public Service following unprecedented population growth and with significant additional resources required to support Government’s COVID-19 response. We have provided you and the previous Minister with a number of reports specifically to this growth.
We agree with the author that international comparisons of Public Service effectiveness show New Zealand to be a high performer. Countries that perform comparably, like Norway and Denmark, spend nearly double as much on their public service per capita compared to New Zealand. In the 2021 OECD Government at a Glance report, NZ’s ‘general government expenditure’ is around US$18,000 per capita, compared with around US$30,000 for Denmark, and US$35,000 for Norway. New Zealand’s spending per capital is also below the OECD average of around US$20,000 and Australian spending of around US$22,000.
Most of the growth in the Public Service has been in frontline jobs. All our measures of government effectiveness suggest the New Zealand Public Service is among the highest performing public services in the world. The New Zealand Public Service is delivering excellent value for money – the best outcomes and services for New Zealanders. That is what matters. The countries that perform comparably, like Norway and Denmark, spend nearly double as much on their public service per capita compared to New Zealand.
Nice one..!..(first time I've said that about the business roundtable…those incorrigible lefties..)
I am looking forward to the answer/mea culpa owed by traveller ..
I wonder how those numbers are going down..
Here's a link to the actual paper.
801 (nzinitiative.org.nz)
The document DoS has linked to appears to be a 'talking points' memo to the Minister to help the Commission respond.
Either you didn't read the document, or you’re being deliberately misleading.
The document is not written by 'the Old Business Roundtable'.
The document is a report prepared by the PSC on research conducted by the NZ Initiative.
The document includes this:
"we have provided your office talking points and have undertaken detailed review pending any further public discussion."
These 'talking points' are little more than a series of excuses.
You obviously missed this bit.
We agree with the author that international comparisons of Public Service effectiveness show New Zealand to be a high performer.
Countries that perform comparably, like Norway and Denmark, spend nearly double as much on their public service per capita compared to New Zealand. In the 2021 OECD Government at a Glance report, NZ’s ‘general government expenditure’ is around US$18,000 per capita, compared with around US$30,000 for Denmark, and US$35,000 for Norway. New Zealand’s spending per capital is also below the OECD average of around US$20,000 and Australian spending of around US$22,000.
Much of the rest of the report basically says the public service shrinks under national and grows under Labour and that they are increasing the inhouse capacity and reducing contractors.
The point I was making is the the report, by a group who is not friendly to the public service clearly shows NZ public service performing well – not perfect but well.
This is pointed out in several places in their report. 2nd highest ranking in Table 7: Civil Service Effectiveness scores by Country in 2019 for instance, 23rd out of 209 in the world bank rankings with a score well above 90.
They have always had an obsession about the size and lets not forget that most of them profited off the sale of government activity to themselves. You seem to share the same obsession.
I didn't miss anything. You misrepresented the report as being written by the Business Roundtable. You misrepresented the comments you quoted in italics in your comment above as having been written by the Business Roundtable. So, rather than selectively quote from a report you thought you were reading but weren't, here's a link to the report so you can: 801 (nzinitiative.org.nz). In the meantime, here's a taste:
"Compared with 2000, or even 2017, tens of billions of dollars more are being spent annually for litle discernible public benefit. Journalist Danyl McLauchlan cites then-Minister of Health, Andrew Litle, as noting that billions more had been spent on health, and that “it did not appear to have made a difference”."
"Public Service Commission statistcs show that salaries of “informtion specialists” increased by $380 million, or 85%, between 2017 and 2022. Spending on managerial salaries rose by $429 million or 61%. Spending on policy analysts rose by 55%, at $140 million. By 2022 spending on the salaries of information professionals was double the spending on policy analysts."
You misrepresented the report as being written by the Business Roundtable.
No I didn't. The link was quite clear about who and where I was quoting from. If I had the link to the actual report I would have added it but I had previously read it and knew that there were stats in there that said the public service was good. It is one of the few times I though that they at least had the decency to show the actual international performance ratings.
"Public Service Commission statistics show that salaries of “inforomtion specialists” increased by $380 million, or 85%, between 2017 and 2022. Spending on managerial salaries rose by $429 million or 61%. Spending on policy analysts rose by 55%, at $140 million. By 2022 spending on the salaries of information professionals was double the spending on policy analysts."
That doesn't mean anything in terms of effectiveness. You think there shouldn't be policy experts or analysts in these days of big data. You think there should be less or are there not enough.
One of the interesting aspects of course is that many of those managers have come from the private sector. So do they simply become useless once they join the public service and when they go back do they become wonderful again? Like how does this work – revered one day and scorned the next.
"No I didn't. "
Now you're being straight out dishonest.
You said "From a group that isn't normally friendly to the public service the old Business Round Table."
Then you quoted from the talking points written by the PSC.
Phillip knew exactly what you were implying when he wrote:
"(first time I've said that about the business roundtable…those incorrigible lefties..)"
I knew what was in my head and what I was referring to. If it came across different that wasn't intended. Again I think it is clear that both myself and the PSC were talking about the information in the original paper when referring to it that says the public service in NZ is efficient and cost effective.
I don't think this can be any clearer.
We agree with the author that international comparisons of Public Service effectiveness show New Zealand to be a high performer.
Growth stuff is really just a red herring. We all know national reduces and Labour increases – that isn't ever going to change.
We all know National kicks people off waiting lists and hides the problems and Labour puts them back on. We all know National doesn't need policy experts because they know how to fix everything all by themselves cause they are specially gifted with insight. Policy expertise that disagrees with them is just another version of truth eg bootcamps – there's another expert that will say something different.
I'm old enough to see this cycle several times – that's why this stuff about growth is bad is just bullshit. Neither you nor I have any idea what those people are doing, whether it is useful or not.
"We agree with the author that international comparisons of Public Service effectiveness show New Zealand to be a high performer."
DoS, with all respect you are quoting from the advisory (which contains a number of inaccuracies) without reading the original report.
The NZI report contains two appendices that cover this issue, neither of which support the claim made by the briefing from the PSC.
Appendix 2, page 26 contains a list of ‘Country scores for Government Effectiveness in 2021’. On that NZ ranks 24th. Figure 6 of the same appendix shows that NZ government effectiveness dropped from 95.7% in 2017 to 92.8% in 2020.
Appendix 3 refers to ‘The International Civil Service Effectiveness Index’. That paints a slightly better picture, until we read that this is primarily based on statistics for 2018. In other words, we can't make any conclusion from this about the effectiveness of spending after that.
There's always a delay in gathering that info. All three rate us highly I have no doubt all three will again. Only time will tell.
Given the others with data for 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic hit still shows high performance I wouldn't really expect much change. If we drop a couple of places then that is OK. Will be interesting how so few covid-19 deaths and a more than good vaccination program features in that particular index. We may even go from second to first.
"The pandemic isn't over and there is also a rapidly aging population. Hospitals are now having to cope with three main seasonal outbreaks:"
We have had an aging population since before 2017. And those 'seasonal outbreaks' haven't suddenly popped up just because we had a Labour government.
We have had an aging population since before 2017.
You realise it is exponential and not flat.
Seasonal outbreaks' haven't suddenly popped up just because we had a Labour government.
Dick. You well know that COVID happened while Labour was in government and it is on top of other seasonal outbreaks and not instead of.
National and ACT of course would have let more people die.
"You well know that COVID happened while Labour was in government"
I wasn't talking about covid. You mentioned seasonal outbreaks of colds and influenza. They are issues the health system has always had to cope with.
You're still being a dick. The point of mentioning all three was to remind that they are on top of each other. Everyone knows the other two have been around for ages. I'm not talking to three year olds here where I have to explain every detailed nuance.
"Once houses were being built it went into improvement."
I'm not sure how you get that impression. In 2017 there were around 5,000 people on the state house waiting list. By December 2023 there were 25,389 (Housing Register – Ministry of Social Development (msd.govt.nz)), and that number had increased by almost 10% over 2022.
Depends what you are measuring. The waiting list reflects the current market failure position and mass immigration. Also there is likely I suspect still quite a hang-over from weather events who don't have homes. That will take longer to solve methinks. In the meantime.
Seventy five per cent fewer households in emergency housing.
https://www.hud.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Documents/factsheet-target-8-fewer-people-in-emergency-housing-8april24.pdf
An additional 1,000 transitional housing places have been delivered under the Aotearoa New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan.
The majority of new transitional housing places (605 out of 1,000) are for families with children and 43 percent are newly constructed homes.
Transitional housing is a temporary solution for vulnerable individuals and whānau who otherwise may become homeless.
During their stay in transitional housing individuals and whānau receive wrap around support services from Community, Māori and Iwi providers to help them transition into long-term accommodation.
https://www.hud.govt.nz/news/1000-more-transitional-housing-places/
It is also beyond me why Labour let in so many migrants in the last few years (and so few refugees at the same time)
"The waiting list reflects the current market failure position and mass immigration. "
I would argue that the failure is not the market. The failure is the planning and regulation that limits the market. The market will meet demand over time if the conditions permit. But it's late, so let's not go down that rabbit hole. My view is that waiting lists for social housing (particularly Priority A) is at least one valid measure of homelessness.
"Seventy five per cent fewer households in emergency housing."
That is good news, and the credit for that certainly goes to the last government.
It is also beyond me why Labour let in so many migrants in the last few years (and so few refugees at the same time)
Key did the same – it is (my opinion) a cheats way of boosting growth. The thing that got me about the numbers for 2023 was that it seemed to catch so many people by surprise when it was announced.
"I would expect there to be more capacity and staffing in the health system now than in 2020 / 2021."
Here’s what Workforce Data – Occupation – Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission tells us, under “Occupational share of the Public Service Full-Time Equivalent workforce”.
In 2017, the Social, Health and Education Workers category totalled 18.1% of the total work force. In 2023, that was 17.2%. In 2017, the Managers category was 11.3% of the workforce. In 2023 it was 12.8%.
So the proportion of managers went up. But the proportion of front line workers went down.
"Be interesting what you actually think went backwards."
Two examples among many:
Education.
System in freefall: why NZ children face education tragedy | The New Zealand Initiative (nzinitiative.org.nz)
In the four years since the 2018 summits, New Zealand’s education system has deteriorated markedly. New Zealand students no longer receive an education that prepares them for life. Despite – or, perhaps, because of – the Government’s frantic activities to reform the sector, New Zealand has entered a period of unlearning.
Homelessness
New Zealand’s homeless have been moved off the streets, but the crisis endures | New Zealand | The Guardian
Re homelessness:
Now you are veering into the failures of the ardern gummint…(..which I can bang on about)..
And/but are kinda off-topic..as far as this conversation goes..eh..?
Actually homelessness is a failure of successive governments. At least the Ardern government acknowledged it. Key's government tried to pretend it didn't exist, IIRR. But it's certainly not off topic. Homelessness is a specific example of an indicator that went backwards, despite the increase in the public service.
Once houses were being built it went into improvement. There has been a large number of homes built. The first government to do so for a long time.
Timeframes planned in 2021 opened in 2023.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/rotorua-housing-housing-minister-megan-woods-opens-42-home-kainga-ora-development-in-pukehangi/LABLIOXGDVDY5EWEXM7V3APV3Y/
And here is my point about the private sector also being dependent on the public sector.
https://www.waikatotimes.co.nz/nz-news/350084055/kainga-ora-homes-keeping-builders-afloat
Also because there is no consistency between parties about measuring waiting lists and NZ sucks at measuring unmet need it is almost impossible to measure improvement in this country. In many respects international comparisons are actually much more useful. And whenever there is a real effort to measure across time National cancels it.
But those working at the coalface claim the minister is not telling the public:
The levels of unmet need are growing unmanageable. The increase in surgeries has not even come close to meeting the demand. Unless a patient's pain is disabling and classified as urgent they no longer get on waiting lists. DHBs are being forced to turn down thousands of needy patients or face financial penalties for not meeting targets.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9407033/Waiting-list-double-speak
In the space of two weeks, funding has ceased for two of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most up-to-date datasets with longitudinal designs.
Longitudinal data tells us how people are doing over time, which means checking in with the same individuals and households over time to understand, as an example, how their income or their wellbeing shifts and in response to policy, economic, and other societal changes.
At the end of March Stats NZ quietly cancelled the Living in Aotearoa Survey, its own longitudinal data collection effort, aimed at, among other things, measuring persistent income poverty and material hardship. These measurements were required by the Child Poverty Reduction Act, the seminal piece of poverty legislation passed almost universally (bar Act leader David Seymour) in 2018.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/04/09/poverty-and-inequity-no-data-no-delivery/
These are some of those analyst and policy jobs that are apparently a waste of time.
National are shite and traitors, but they only got into power because Kiwis were sick of Labour & Ardern's constant failure to make significant progressive reforms, despite all their nice noises and airbrushed photo ops.
As @Liquid_Times put it:
Everyone has their suspicions. But you admit there's no real evidence of such a "pogrom" (surely an inflammatory word). The government isn't telling departments to "fire that guy", or "get rid of her"; the government is asking for a % reduction in spending, and leaves the specifics up to the heads of departments. And how likely is the kind of targeting you describe, when so many of our institutions have been captured by "progressive" ideologies? Can you imagine Adrien Orr purging progressives from the Reserve Bank? Or Cuddles Coster purging progressives from the police? If you want a clear example of institutional capture, read any document churned out by the Tertiary Education Commission, and you'll find it's laden with the language of DEI.
You immediately undercut each and every point you attempted to make by using this derogatory name.
World Press Photo of the Year:
Palestinian woman Inas Abu Maamar, 36, embraces the body of her 5-year-old niece Saly, who was killed in an Israeli strike, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 17, 2023.
https://www.reuters.com/world/reuters-mohammed-salem-wins-2024-world-press-photo-year-award-2024-04-18/
A public servant losing their job has said how upsetting it was for Luxon to call those people "waste" and therefore these people should lose their jobs Yes, another tactless, uncaring remark by Luxon. He really has no idea about what to say in these circumstances. Grinning gormlessly around Asia – cringeworthy.
The Biden Admin has just officially abolished Title IX as we knew it. Now, sex = gender identity.
In a nutshell, the new rewrite means:
– men can take academic AND athletic scholarships from women
– men will have FULL access to bathrooms, locker rooms, etc
– men could be housed in dorm rooms with women
– students and faculty MUST compel their speech by requiring the use of preferred pronouns
If the guidelines above are ignored or even questioned, then YOU can be charged with harassment.
https://twitter.com/riley_gaines_/status/1781330862115610797?s=46
Places of education.
In the beginning
The change does not prohibit the exclusion of transgender athletes.
https://apnews.com/article/title-ix-sexual-assault-transgender-sports-d0fc0ab7515de02b8e4403d0481dc1e7
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/us/politics/biden-title-ix-rules.html
Thanks for that added info SPC, obviously pressure for fair play in women's sport has resulted in some common sense measure.
"Notably absent from Biden’s policy, however, is any mention of transgender athletes.
The administration originally planned to include a new policy forbidding schools from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes, but that provision was put on hold. The delay is widely seen as a political maneuver during an election year in which Republicans have rallied around bans on transgender athletes in girls’ sports.
The administration reiterated that while exclusion from an activity based on gender identity causes harm, the new rule does not extend to single-sex living facilities or sports teams. The Education Department has proposed a second rule dealing with eligibility for sports teams. The Education Department has proposed a second rule dealing with eligibility for sports teams."
https://archive.ph/D7AFV#selection-7157.472-7161.43
(inclusive of a spelling mistake: maneuver instead of manoeuvre)
The awfulness introduced by tRump's regime prompted the changes.
.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education on Friday announced a final rule that will update Title IX regulations governing how schools respond to sexual misconduct, undoing changes made under the Trump administration and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
[…]
This new rule will roll back Title IX changes overseen by DeVos. Those regulations narrowly defined sexual harassment, and directed schools to conduct live hearings to allow those who were accused of sexual harassment or assault to cross-examine their accusers.
https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/04/biden-administration-roll-back-betsy-devos-title-ix-rules/395928/
Charming.
https://knowyourix.org/college-resources/hands-off-ix/
Charming indeed. from your link:
Very worrying, sounds more like a kangaroo court.
"And you make me do it." or "but, it was consensual".
The “western” commitment to defend Ukraine from Russia in 2024 is being determined.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68857046
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68848277
I keep seeing items on Facebook credited to the Granny Herald saying that Mike Hosking has resigned from Newstalk ZB. Is it true?
I doubt we'd be so lucky.
Viona Crowley
@vlcnz
This scam ad has popped up a bit on my FB feed the past week, almost wasted good wine on it NewstalbZB axing Mike Hosking would not be a "sad day" for New Zealand
https://twitter.com/vlcnz/status/1781141618202124787
The world suffers another disappointment.
https://assets.editorial.aetnd.com/uploads/2013/09/chamberlain-declares-peace-for-our-time-75-years-agos-featured-photo.jpg?width=1920&height=960&crop=1920%3A960%2Csmart&quality=75&auto=webp
I thought it was too good to be true.
Heh..!…I just read one of those psychological profile things ..called the nine marks of the confident introvert..
And it nailed me..!..in a disturbing number of ways..given as we all like to fancy ourselves as being unique ..
Mind you..it is kinda reassuring to have a label..
I should get myself a name-tag..saying 'hi..!..hate small talk..wanna go deep..?'
Well, Dr Cigaretti does have multi-billion dollar tax cuts for landlords and property speculators to fund.
/
Prof. Chris Jackson
@drkiwicj
The thing about telling hospitals to "live within their means" is that it's govt who decides what those means are. A hiring freeze on doctors and nurses is a political choice.
Health New Zealand directs hospitals to restrict roles, limit overtime in frontline freeze
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/04/health-new-zealand-directs-hospitals-to-restrict-roles-limit-overtime-in-frontline-freeze.html
https://twitter.com/drkiwicj/status/1781251960978788461
What National won't (and can't) explain is how the "front line workers" will be able to do their jobs effectively without the admin staff – "the bureaucrats" as National calls them.
Front line workers depend on their support staff. Support staff do a lot of the donkey work – make the appointments, research the background material, write the correspondence, make sure shifts are covered, make sure the cars are serviced and ready to go, rearrange schedules when someone is sick etc…….
If front line staff have to start doing this because the NACTZ have sacked the support workers in a binge ideological fervour – it will make the front line workers a whole lot less effective. Front line workers are only as good as their support workers assist them to be, but National never mention that.
But National's propaganda game is in talking big money numbers in such a way as to make their efforts look more impressive.
For instance notice how Police Minister Mark Mitchell told media that the police had rejected the latest pay offer even though it was $25 million more than the first one. Note he actually said "a quarter of a billion dollars" because it sounds a whole lot more impressive than if you say "25 million dollars", even though it is exactly the same.
Ban private health care and insurance, then the fuckers will fix new Zealand s health care
But clearly we have too many public servants, and it's bloated because Jacinda hired too many, and they're all unproductive backroom paper shufflers.
Huge shoutout to all those brave workers at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee who have successfully fought to form a union with the United Auto Workers.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/tennessee-volkswagen-workers-vote-join-uaw-historic-win-union-rcna148656
One in the eye for VW and great job UAW team and all their supporters!
“This creature from hell…”
Israeli ambassador to NZ Ran Jaakoby gets 45 minutes free air time
Q+A, TVNZ1, Sunday 21 April 2024, 9 a.m.
Poor old Jack Tame found it hard to hide his disgust. Most of the time he looked troubled, and probably wanted to say more than he was allowed to say in this carefully controlled encounter. Unfortunately for his credibility, Tame kept nodding and saying "mmmmm" as that practiced liar ranted about Iran and said things like "Boats filled with aid are coming from Cyprus…" and "I can't live side by side with this vicious beast" and “Israel is targeting enemies and those enemies happen to be hiding behind civilians…”
Result: 45 minutes of free, barely interrupted propaganda from Ran Yaakoby; Tame even nodded along as the ambassador repeated the discredited lie about "rapes, gang rapes…"