But she wouldn't be drawn on how soon the hike would come.
"We will be addressing income adequacy this term, but I'm not going to rule in or out what will be in the Budget… I cannot talk about what might be in or out of the Budget before the 20th of May. We'll just have to wait until then."
btw, that ‘target’ was an increase demanded by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group set in 2019 and as a full immediate increase.
So they are already two years behind, and per this announcement think it will take three years to roll out. But i guess it passes at doing something at some stage.
and last, if this increase is on the main benefit, pretty much any other fringe benefit will go down and some people will probably be worse off. Details, Details.
His right-wing narcissist precursor Paul Henry didn't do so well over there I recall. Aussies' superior mental toughness means they have no time for vain puffballs with an unconcealed agenda.
Posturing…probably his contract negotiations are coming up and as a 53 yr old trying to pretend hes 33 doesnt have a lot bargaining chips left
And they have a new hire for the Wellington ZB breakfast show and christchurch cant be far behind
Highest rating commercial breakfast radio show. Whether most listeners tune in for him, would be happy with some other generic dickhead, or are primarily interested in the actual news is also an interesting question.
Here is a voice rarely heard in western media…an Hamas official from the legally elected representatives of the Palestinian people the Hamas party…. Dr. Basem Naim who heads of the Council on International Relations in Gaza for Hamas, and former head of Gaza's Health Ministry.
We willl say it again, the United States is a direct participant in the crimes against our people.
Why?
We are asking ourselves, why?
What is the fault, what is the sin we have done?
That the Americans are supporting the crimes against our people.
The Americans are dealing with Israel, as a state above the law.
Is this the way to peace and justice?
This is the law of the jungle.
We are not attacking anyone. We are seeking freedom and dignity and independance.
We are a people under occupation, and we have the right to defend ourselves……
@ 23:15 minutes
…….Look today the international community, the whole countries of the world are calling for a Security Council session, or meeting to call for a ceasefire.
I am sure that the Security Council will not come and support Hamas, or support the resistance. They will call for both parties to stop the escalation, and firing, and so on, and on.
No wait you forget, Biden/Harris are the lesser of two evils…oh that's right I forgot, that is a position we can only take from our safe living rooms, because USA is not an active terrorist in their relationship with our country as they are with so many countries all round this world of ours..including of course the terrorized Palestinian people…….and then just two days ago, this big fuck you with the middle finger well and truly waving in the worlds face to peace in the Middle East by way of the lesser of two evils Democratic Party this outrage…..
Biden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel
In this great contest between caring about people and caring about profit the winner is…..PROFIT (of all sorts not just money, power etc.) It just makes sense – money and profit are the measures that chop clean-edged through all other agitations to a clear decision. /sarc
At the time that Israel was recognised as a member of the United Nations in 1949, this was conditional on two things.
Israel is a full member of the Unitied Nations, if two conditions are fulfilled; The independence of a Palestinian state, and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.
As long as these two conditions are not fulfilled, Israel must not be a member of the United Nations, of the international community.
It is strange that this is only on paper.
Therefore in the 21st Century, we can not accept having an occupation for more than 70 years backed up by the United States.
I have heard Hamas officials say this many times.
I recall one Hamas official saying, "We don't care what you call the country, Israel or Palestine, or whatever. We just want equal rights, including the right of return for all those Palestinians expelled by Israel in 1948 and since.
And we will never give up this demand.
Because of this principled stand by Hamas, Israeli officials have accused Hamas of wanting the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state and so therefore a terrorist organisation.
From that blinkered point of view, Hamas demand for the right of return, (A right by the way enjoyed by any person of the Jewish faith), would of course mean the end of the state of Israel as an ethno-religious apartheid state with separate laws that discrimate on race and religion.
(Under pressure from Israel and the US, the P.A., Palestinian Authority, which rules in the West Bank has officially dropped the demand for the right of return.
As reward for turning their backs on the millions of Palestinian refugees, the PA which is the inheritor of the PLO, was taken off the US terrorist list, and given limited autonomy in the West Bank, in part collaboration with the Isreli occupier)
It might also might be worth mentioning here that Hamas as well as being the democatically elected government of Gaza, also carried the democratic vote in the Westbank, but the result was overturned by the PA
When Biden says he is having discussions with both sides. He means Israel and the PA.
Hama as a designated ‘terrorist organisation’ is not included.
This bad faith bargaining is no recipe for de-escalation.
"The higher proportion of cases among Māori and Pacific peoples linked to the August 2020 cluster demonstrates the significant risk of infection and transmission in these communities," said a paper which Cabinet considered on March 1
"The rate of infection during the second wave was six people per 100,000 for Māori (47 cases) and 32.3 people per 100,000 for Pacific peoples (104 cases), compared to rates of 1.3 for European/other and 2.2 for Asian per 100,000.
"Officials recommend that in the roll-out of Tier 3 to older people, a risk-adjusted age
factor of 15 years (younger) is to be explicitly applied to Māori and Pacific peoples."
Did anyone else hear the lady who commutes regularly on the new Hamilton-Auckland train being interviewed on Jesse Mulligan's show (RNZ) just before 2pm yesterday?
She loved the service and said it was much more relaxing than driving. She also said it was running at 80% plus capacity. Ye of little faith in these columns.
Given this success the next move is obviously more Hamilton-Auckland train services and a better/faster section into central Auckland.
Good to hear. A lot of people can't cope with anything that doesn't solve 95% of problems in one application. Perhaps delivered by cleanser Handy Andy, et al (I don't have a particular al in mind).
One of those using the train is NZ Herald journalist and podcaster Frances Cook, who lives in Hamilton
Any train is better then a car. That does not mean people can't voice their objections or fears considering how public transport is treated in NZ.
And considering that public transport is often set up to fail or to be run on a minimum, i think it is ok for people to be apprehensive of this in the long term to be again to little too late and not enough after that.
Meanwhile, WDC was concerned continued spending on passenger trains by the WRC would increase the rates of rural residents.
The district council voiced its concerns about the potential for "rates creep" in submissions on the regional council's long-term plan, now open for public feedback.
In a decision on Tuesday the WDC cautioned the WRC about extending the service to include additional inter-peak services on Wednesdays and extend the service from Papakura into Auckland.
The council said the uptake of the existing Te Huia service was unknown and the district council was concerned about potential rates creep into rural district councils to support service between two metro centres.
The Te Huia passenger service between Hamilton and Auckland is supported by $12.8m of money from local authorities, plus $85.8m from the government.
The cost over the first three years of the proposed plan would fall on Hamilton ratepayers.
The estimates are $400,000 for the 2021/22 year, $100,000 for the 2022/23 year, and $3.005 million in year 2023/24.
Hamilton city rates increases to pay for it are said to be 53 cents per $100,000 of each ratepayer's property's capital value in year 2021/22, 13 cents per $100,000 of capital value in year 2022/23 and $1.61 per $100,000 of capital value in year 2023/24.
I hope that you are correct. I would love trains to go everywhere. I love them. But i can see rates not being a good way to finance – even part finance – a public utility.
And i can see rates increases for that to be a point of contention in the future.
This is Who are the hoi polloi which is announced with – Google makes us all seem clever. As he rambles on with general facts and informed comment on them, it is very restful even quite funny. It is good for a mind break, and a switch from listening to people who are always trying to impress us with, they know best, while we try to get our poor minds to understand the latest panacea.
Gordon Campbell on Scoop has a piece on the times of the future Governor-General and how that will encompass the change to the UK throne from Queen Elizabeth to the reign of her deeply uncharismatic son.
I don't think he is at all. Naturally different because of his age. He seems a pleasant man who has an interest in organics and managing his estate well. And has a settled life with his wife after big trauma. Gordon says he is 'deeply' uncharismatic. Could it be that Gordon is still in allegiance to the past beautiful woman?
In a rare moment of weakness, I watched the 6pm news.
There was an item about the sanctions beneficiaries face if they do not turn up at court. It featured footage of Ardern getting stuck in to Bennett about the injustice.
Best part of 1 and a half terms later no change in this punitive stance. Sepuloni had a sound bite along the lines of when in power, there are lots of things to do…
My assumption would be it would be unlawful to provide funds,that would enable a miscreant with a warrant for arrest(for not attending court) to evade capture.
Hopefully its removal is part of this work "Continuing to remove ineffective sanctions that negatively impact individuals and families. We have already started this by removing the harmful section 192 sanction which punished women for not naming the other parent of their child, and we will remove the subsequent child policy in 2021 to ensure parents are not penalised for having an additional child while on a benefit"
Oh blah. Have to run it past roly-poly genial Robertson first I suppose.
And this failure – to adjust tax rates. People tend to forget most of us pay 15% on most things we trade in or services, as well as income tax, (also beneficiaries pay some income tax on their benefits). I note that the IRD is calling the winter heating payments, a wage or some word, that sounds as if they want to tax it though the official gummint has said it's not taxable.
Terry Baucher has just written a piece for The Spinoff arguing that our tax system is "broken". The tax thresholds were last set in October 2008, Baucher told Jesse Mulligan.
Good on Terry if he has written a full informative piece. I haven't time to read it – have forms to fill out for some services with personal information that could end up on the web through some hacker. The web is soooo efficient, we mere mortals in authority can't be bothered to even speak to us and we don't speak to our friends, too busy looking at our hand-held portals to the world.
ome health workers have been left unpaid by a cyber-attack that has crippled Waikato District Health Board’s computer systems.
And they’ve been told they won’t be paid for another two weeks.
The cyber attack has been plaguing the DHB since Tuesday morning, when it blocked all information technology (IT) services except email in Waikato, Thames, Tokoroa, Te Kūiti and Taumarunui hospitals.
The incident has now created a massive payroll issue, with some staff members only receiving part of their pay, while others didn’t get paid at all.
Another person who works for the Waikato DHB confirmed the pay issues, and said it sounded like everyone had been affected.
Waikato DHB was approached for comment on Thursday morning and was yet to respond.
OK, gonna spoil a joke for all the freeze peach advocates here who reckon there's no right to protection from being offended by speech.
The racist who was filmed being racist in a store during the Christmas break? Cops cranked the wheel of justice slowly, but she's made a court appearance.
[…] charged with using insulting words while being reckless about whether any person was alarmed or insulted by those words.
(my emphasis).
Section 4 of the summary Offenses Act was last amended in 1998, to adjust the value of the fine. Another subsecton includes the word "offence".
Looks like causing offence and insulting people in public has been illegal for decades, with no inexorable slide into woke dictatorship.
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Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
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 The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
It's budget day. Should be interesting though Grant cant please everyone.
He only has one person to please, himself. The rest will have to do with what ever they get.
I doubt that dear Grant gives a dime about pleasing 'us' the people.
Good point , theres never any pleasing you
I like quality over quantity, but then others are pleased about everything and nothing at the same time.
Sabine
Apparently benefits are on the way up. Not too sure by how much though.
I guess we will see.
57 NZD over the next three years for those on the Unemployment Benefit.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/05/carmel-sepuloni-promises-massive-boost-to-jobseeker-benefit-but-won-t-say-when.html
btw, that ‘target’ was an increase demanded by the Welfare Expert Advisory Group set in 2019 and as a full immediate increase.
So they are already two years behind, and per this announcement think it will take three years to roll out. But i guess it passes at doing something at some stage.
and last, if this increase is on the main benefit, pretty much any other fringe benefit will go down and some people will probably be worse off. Details, Details.
Gee, reading your posts , it seems your not a very grateful person?
R u comfortable where u are in life?
[your approved user name is Bob, so please use this if you want your comments to go through]
I don't have to be grateful. I am not on a benefit. 🙂
and as i said, better late then never
Mike Hockskin is leaving. Yay!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/mike-hosking-progressive-politics-in-new-zealand-is-on-borrowed-time/O54WFNDQ3EIH522RFCQ3XQJRYA/
Haere ra Mike!
Mikes leaving for Oz. What did Muldoon say about raising the IQ of both nations.
if mike does leave it will one of Labours greatest achievements.
They will love him over there. He might even get his own show in Sky News Australia
His right-wing narcissist precursor Paul Henry didn't do so well over there I recall. Aussies' superior mental toughness means they have no time for vain puffballs with an unconcealed agenda.
You mean like Alan Jones?
Or Andrew Bolt?
Posturing…probably his contract negotiations are coming up and as a 53 yr old trying to pretend hes 33 doesnt have a lot bargaining chips left
And they have a new hire for the Wellington ZB breakfast show and christchurch cant be far behind
I wouldn't say he "doesn't have a lot of bargaining chips left?".
If the statistics are correct, love him or hate him, I think he has the highest rating breakfast show in NZ.
Highest rating commercial breakfast radio show. Whether most listeners tune in for him, would be happy with some other generic dickhead, or are primarily interested in the actual news is also an interesting question.
Paul Henry found that one out the hard way.
Here is a voice rarely heard in western media…an Hamas official from the legally elected representatives of the Palestinian people the Hamas party…. Dr. Basem Naim who heads of the Council on International Relations in Gaza for Hamas, and former head of Gaza's Health Ministry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7xW1Yp7PRE
No wait you forget, Biden/Harris are the lesser of two evils…oh that's right I forgot, that is a position we can only take from our safe living rooms, because USA is not an active terrorist in their relationship with our country as they are with so many countries all round this world of ours..including of course the terrorized Palestinian people…….and then just two days ago, this big fuck you with the middle finger well and truly waving in the worlds face to peace in the Middle East by way of the lesser of two evils Democratic Party this outrage…..
Biden administration approved $735 million arms sale to Israel
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/biden-administration-approved-735-million-arms-sale-israel-sources-2021-05-17/
….and most of the worlds western governments/media have the fucking gall to target Hamas as a terrorist organization!!!
Yup agree selling precision guided munitions to Israel at this time is about as tone deaf as it gets.
In this great contest between caring about people and caring about profit the winner is…..PROFIT (of all sorts not just money, power etc.) It just makes sense – money and profit are the measures that chop clean-edged through all other agitations to a clear decision. /sarc
I have heard Hamas officials say this many times.
I recall one Hamas official saying, "We don't care what you call the country, Israel or Palestine, or whatever. We just want equal rights, including the right of return for all those Palestinians expelled by Israel in 1948 and since.
And we will never give up this demand.
Because of this principled stand by Hamas, Israeli officials have accused Hamas of wanting the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state and so therefore a terrorist organisation.
From that blinkered point of view, Hamas demand for the right of return, (A right by the way enjoyed by any person of the Jewish faith), would of course mean the end of the state of Israel as an ethno-religious apartheid state with separate laws that discrimate on race and religion.
(Under pressure from Israel and the US, the P.A., Palestinian Authority, which rules in the West Bank has officially dropped the demand for the right of return.
As reward for turning their backs on the millions of Palestinian refugees, the PA which is the inheritor of the PLO, was taken off the US terrorist list, and given limited autonomy in the West Bank, in part collaboration with the Isreli occupier)
It might also might be worth mentioning here that Hamas as well as being the democatically elected government of Gaza, also carried the democratic vote in the Westbank, but the result was overturned by the PA
When Biden says he is having discussions with both sides. He means Israel and the PA.
Hama as a designated ‘terrorist organisation’ is not included.
This bad faith bargaining is no recipe for de-escalation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Palestinian_legislative_election
Love to know who convinced Cabinet against expert advice to vaccinate the highest-risk ethnic groups younger. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-coronavirus-govt-rejected-expert-advice-to-vaccinate-160000-maori-and-pasifika-earlier/56FWQAES2P5W4LNN2X66FPCXMU/
I guess we only have so many doses in t he country currently and its Triage time.
Did anyone else hear the lady who commutes regularly on the new Hamilton-Auckland train being interviewed on Jesse Mulligan's show (RNZ) just before 2pm yesterday?
She loved the service and said it was much more relaxing than driving. She also said it was running at 80% plus capacity. Ye of little faith in these columns.
Given this success the next move is obviously more Hamilton-Auckland train services and a better/faster section into central Auckland.
(apologies if somebody posted similar yesterday)
Good to hear. A lot of people can't cope with anything that doesn't solve 95% of problems in one application. Perhaps delivered by cleanser Handy Andy, et al (I don't have a particular al in mind).
I guess you are talki ng about this one? Frances Cook?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018796114/te-huia-train-service-on-track
Any train is better then a car. That does not mean people can't voice their objections or fears considering how public transport is treated in NZ.
And considering that public transport is often set up to fail or to be run on a minimum, i think it is ok for people to be apprehensive of this in the long term to be again to little too late and not enough after that.
So lets see next year.
and there is reason to be 'apprehensive' :
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/441720/doubt-raised-about-sustainable-house-scheme-in-waikato
Yes that is the one Sabine-thanks.
I don't think this service has been set up to fail-it is an excellent first step; may there be many more.
I hope that you are correct. I would love trains to go everywhere. I love them. But i can see rates not being a good way to finance – even part finance – a public utility.
And i can see rates increases for that to be a point of contention in the future.
When you get tired of political double-speak here is someone who goes on and on about things we might like to know, unlike pollies.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnR5k8Kdxls
This is Who are the hoi polloi which is announced with – Google makes us all seem clever. As he rambles on with general facts and informed comment on them, it is very restful even quite funny. It is good for a mind break, and a switch from listening to people who are always trying to impress us with, they know best, while we try to get our poor minds to understand the latest panacea.
Who dat?
Gordon Campbell on Scoop has a piece on the times of the future Governor-General and how that will encompass the change to the UK throne from Queen Elizabeth to the reign of her deeply uncharismatic son.
I don't think he is at all. Naturally different because of his age. He seems a pleasant man who has an interest in organics and managing his estate well. And has a settled life with his wife after big trauma. Gordon says he is 'deeply' uncharismatic. Could it be that Gordon is still in allegiance to the past beautiful woman?
but but William!!!!!! 🙂
Let Charles have a go first I think.
i think he would not be bad, to be honest.
In a rare moment of weakness, I watched the 6pm news.
There was an item about the sanctions beneficiaries face if they do not turn up at court. It featured footage of Ardern getting stuck in to Bennett about the injustice.
Best part of 1 and a half terms later no change in this punitive stance. Sepuloni had a sound bite along the lines of when in power, there are lots of things to do…
it's so hard to understand this from Labour.
The only thing I find difficult to understand is that so many on the left seem to be surprised. Did they really expect anything different?
Lol, that didn’t age well
My assumption would be it would be unlawful to provide funds,that would enable a miscreant with a warrant for arrest(for not attending court) to evade capture.
Far better for some miscreant to have a few extra crumbs than a provider go without because of sone legitimate reason for not attending.
The point was well made that it is children that beat the brunt of this heartless, indiscriminate policy.
Especially after seeing the footage of an impassioned Ardern 'giving' it to Bennett in the (largely empty) House.
Why? Honestly Weka?
Hopefully its removal is part of this work "Continuing to remove ineffective sanctions that negatively impact individuals and families. We have already started this by removing the harmful section 192 sanction which punished women for not naming the other parent of their child, and we will remove the subsequent child policy in 2021 to ensure parents are not penalised for having an additional child while on a benefit"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/13uhcVrn8HUXEoWoPQgkJYjHX_d_Za-O0/view
Oh blah. Have to run it past roly-poly genial Robertson first I suppose.
And this failure – to adjust tax rates. People tend to forget most of us pay 15% on most things we trade in or services, as well as income tax, (also beneficiaries pay some income tax on their benefits). I note that the IRD is calling the winter heating payments, a wage or some word, that sounds as if they want to tax it though the official gummint has said it's not taxable.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018795948/shaking-up-the-tax-system-in-this-year-s-budget
Average income earners are paying more tax than 12 years ago because thresholds have not been adjusted, a tax specialist says.
Terry Baucher has just written a piece for The Spinoff arguing that our tax system is "broken".
The tax thresholds were last set in October 2008, Baucher told Jesse Mulligan.
Good on Terry if he has written a full informative piece. I haven't time to read it – have forms to fill out for some services with personal information that could end up on the web through some hacker. The web is soooo efficient, we mere mortals in authority can't be bothered to even speak to us and we don't speak to our friends, too busy looking at our hand-held portals to the world.
oh boy.
when technology so runs your world that you can't even pay your staff without it.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125190923/waikato-dhb-staff-members-go-unpaid-as-cyber-attack-woes-continue
OK, gonna spoil a joke for all the freeze peach advocates here who reckon there's no right to protection from being offended by speech.
The racist who was filmed being racist in a store during the Christmas break? Cops cranked the wheel of justice slowly, but she's made a court appearance.
(my emphasis).
Section 4 of the summary Offenses Act was last amended in 1998, to adjust the value of the fine. Another subsecton includes the word "offence".
Looks like causing offence and insulting people in public has been illegal for decades, with no inexorable slide into woke dictatorship.
Great to see that anti-worker a-hole CEO Gibson resigning from Ports of Auckland.
No idea why Michael Barnett is so butthurt, unless it's just reflexive class loyalty.