Open mike 20/08/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 20th, 2020 - 212 comments
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212 comments on “Open mike 20/08/2020 ”

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  1. Tricledrown 1
    20 August 2020 at 6:21 am

    Chris Bishop's father opinion piece on stuff is full of factual inaccuracies.

    Saying Muldoon loaded next generations with huge debt's raising the top tax rate.

    Yet Muldoon left office leaving $1 billion in debt over 9 years.

    Roger Douglas gave us tax cuts and $16 billion in debt over 6 yrs.

    Scaremongering false narratives.

    • Nic the NZer 1.1
      20 August 2020 at 8:21 am

      You should not judge *any* of our leaders on their public debt records. Its completely beside the point.

      https://larspsyll.wordpress.com/2020/08/16/rethinking-public-debt-2/

      • Tricledrown 1.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 11:32 am

        As Brian Easton pointed out years ago debt is not as bad as everyone makes out it's the ability to pay .

        Then it's better to go to improving productivity also going to mainstreet ie wage subsidies benefit top ups.

        The govt gets at least 15% back in GST plus taxes on the economic activity it creates.

        The Thatcher BS that economies should be run like a home budget is pure BS.

        If that was so most of the big economies would have fallen over years ago.

        • Nic the NZer 1.1.1.1
          20 August 2020 at 6:19 pm

          Such views, even moderate ones like those of Brian Easton, are part of the problem. Its now pretty well understood that debts in a currency a government issues are never an issue. This is for two related reasons,

          1) the same government issueing the debt issues (and issued) every single unit of the currency the debt is repaid in. If it wants to repay the debt it can always issue more and transfer payment to the lender.

          2) In the same way it can make a payment to a lender it can also pay somebody it brought goods and services from. This means it doesn't need to issue further debt to make further payments. (Though in countries where this occurs including New Zealand its done to facilitate how monetary policy is implemented).

      • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2
        20 August 2020 at 1:04 pm

        The real issue … is not whether it is possible to shift a burden (either in the present or in the future) from some people to other people, but whether it is possible by internal borrowing to shift a real burden from the present generation, in the sense of the present economy as a whole, onto a future generation, in the sense of the future economy as a whole … The latter is impossible because a project that uses up resources needs the resources at the time that it uses them up, and not before or after.

        Yep, its physically impossible to pay for things later as the resources need to be provided now.

        And the government already owns all of the nation's resources which is why they can create money as needed and there be no debt. The problem of debt only applies when the private banks create the money or the government, on the nation's behalf, borrows from another country.

        • Nic the NZer 1.1.2.1
          20 August 2020 at 6:05 pm

          The country obviously does not already own all the resources. For example you are not compelled to work for the government nor even is any public sector employee.

          For the most part even the USSR didn't have conscripted labour (with some notable well known exceptions).

          • Draco T Bastard 1.1.2.1.1
            20 August 2020 at 8:44 pm

            Obviously, I didn't include people in 'resources'.

            Still, the money that the government can pay will, generally speaking, get people who can do the job required to make the nations resources available.

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    20 August 2020 at 6:32 am

    Two months after the horse bolted, the govt has slammed the stable door:

    the Government announced a new team to oversee issues at the border. Helen Clark’s former chief of staff Heather Simpson and NZTA board chair Brian Roche have been brought in to oversee the changes. The Government has also boosted the number of Defence staff involved in the Covid-19 response.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300085944/coronavirus-ashley-bloomfield-must-front-parliament-on-border-issues-national-urges

    Better late than never. Nat health spokesperson wants an explanation for the late reaction – to discern why the cover-up succeeded for so long, I presume.

    Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield needs to answer questions about lacklustre border testing before Parliament’s health select committee, says National’s health spokesman Shane Reti.

    Reti wants Parliament's health select committee to reconvene to question Bloomfield about the lack of testing at the border. “I have sent a letter to chair of the committee Louisa Wall, asking for the committee to reconvene and review the Covid-19 response, and requesting that Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield appears before the committee for questioning,” Reti said.

    I trust Bloomfield will be honest, if this happens. "Yes, I appointed managers for each relevant operational sphere involved, and issued them instructions on how to set up the procedures. No, I can't explain why some failed – you'll have to ask them. No, I can't explain why they didn't tell me they failed. Yes, I may have been given false assurances by some of them."

    He may even go on to explain that the public service proceeds via a random walk: some serve, some screw up, some don't feel like doing anything much at all, but they are all part of the privilege system of governance, so they can always hide from the public…

    • Just Is 3.1
      20 August 2020 at 8:41 am

      Whats the relationship between the supposed failed testing regime and the current outbreak, thus far their is no link to any border failure.

      • Dennis Frank 3.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 8:56 am

        Red herring. The govt gave the public service the job of protecting the public from further infestation, hence cabinet's directive weeks ago, and their irritation that the appropriate measures were not instituted.

        The part of the situation that you aren't recognising is public confidence in govt operations – and the undermining of that by performance failures. Do you need to have Labour drop below 50 and National leap above 40 in the next poll to get the message? Could happen. Paranoia strikes deep…

        • Just Is 3.1.1.1
          20 August 2020 at 9:18 am

          The part of the situation you're not realising is that NZ is STILL THE SAFEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD TODAY wth regard to the Virus.

          Every other country wishes they could've achieved the results we have, but they didn't want to do the hard yards.

          The whole "Failure" meme is a politicization of a very dangerous pandemic that NZ just happens to be at the forefront of controlling, we have global recognition for our efforts, those who wish to berate the Govt for achieving the results thus far should go and climb back under the rock they've hiding under for the last 5 months.

          Realativity is important.

          As yet THERE IS NO LINK BETWEEN THE CURRENT OUTBREAK and the border controls

          • ScottGN 3.1.1.1.1
            20 August 2020 at 9:27 am

            We get all that. Shouting it every single time isn’t really progressing the discussion.
            No one is arguing about the country’s marvellous success and brilliant leadership to date.

            But Dennis and I have been interested to consider the POLITICAL implications of the information that has been revealed about the situation at the borders. An election still has to be fought with hearts and minds won or at least held. To that end the missteps (perceived or otherwise) of the last week will have most likely made that endeavour more difficult for the government.

            • Anne 3.1.1.1.1.1
              20 August 2020 at 10:07 am

              … the missteps (perceived or otherwise) of the last week will have most likely made that endeavour more difficult for the government.

              I doubt it will have a meaningful outcome for Labour's election chances provided of course they manage to contain the latest outbreak.

              Having said that I agree the apparent 'missteps' need to be publicly debated and when the time is right… a review into all aspects of the pandemic response so that any mistakes and missteps are unlikely to happen again.

              It is more about the future than the here and now.

              • ScottGN …
                20 August 2020 at 10:34 am

                I agree Anne. The last week probably won’t derail the government’s election chances at all. But my worry is that the Nats have been given a golden opportunity to prosecute their narrative that the government is good at the talk but not so good at the walk. I’d prefer them not to have those opportunities.

                • Drowsy M. Kram …
                  20 August 2020 at 10:53 am

                  I'm not as worried as you and Dennis appear to be – the opposition National party is all talk (their 'walk' has always been self-serving), and everytime Collins raises an eyebrow, or Brownlee goes off half-cocked on one of his crazy conspiracy jags, or Woodhouse trips over another homeless man, it's just one more reminder not to trust them.

                  Trust (not trusts) is the main issue for me this election.

            • AB 3.1.1.1.1.2
              20 August 2020 at 10:09 am

              I'm hoping most voters are mature enough to realise that their own workplaces are simply and inevitably a sequence of missteps masquerading as planning. And that this is general across all human organisations. Knowing this, they may focus on intent – that it's actually not entirely about the delivery, important though that is. What matters instead is Labour's courageous (and correct) choice of a hard elimination policy – a decision National would have been ideologically unable to make.

          • Dennis Frank 3.1.1.1.2
            20 August 2020 at 9:30 am

            Realativity is important.

            Yes, and I know it's a good idea to acknowledge the upside of our situation. A balanced view of the ups & downs is always best.

            The thing about waiting for science to establish links is that the public mood gets shifted by paranoia way more than by science.

            The failure meme occurred at press conferences when the PM & DG separately acknowledged it as fact. Do you really want to accuse them of berating the govt??

            • McFlock 3.1.1.1.2.1
              20 August 2020 at 3:14 pm

              The thing about waiting for science to establish links is that the public mood gets shifted by paranoia way more than by science.

              Your efforts in that regard are unceasing.

          • Shanreagh 3.1.1.1.3
            20 August 2020 at 9:47 am

            Agree Just Is, to conflate what has been happening re testing on the border with the current set of cases in Auckland which have not been linked to the border is definitely not a red herring.

            At the moment they are two different sets of issues.

            What is noticeable to me, and I mentioned this yesterday after seeing Digby Webb stating that there had been 60% declines to be tested, is that 60% declines is skewed. I asked if there was a cultural issue that I was not picking up on. It appears that these border people were offered vouchers, aah bless such a right wing answer to the issue, to get tested at Community testing sites, presumably in their own time.

            I had thought this testing would have been done on site, with records kept of the declines and why. If more than one decline then a suggestion to the employer that the person be shifted somewhere else.

            To me, now, this is a case of a slack private enterprise who were in charge of the guards at hotels etc and I am glad they are now being replaced. It appears that the employers of these guards do not have a tight control of them and it is wise to replace them with public service people who are used to the sort of command and control regime that is needed.

            Surely the DG of Health can be excused having a misplaced trust in these private sector employers, especially if they are constantly reassuring him 'yes, yes they are being tested when all that was happening was that vouchers were being handed out.

            Hopefully Roche & Simpson will be looking at this. In some cases it seems we cannot trust private enterprise and this may be/is one of them.

            Agree though with ScottGN the implications this has for the election can not be overstated. This plus the over-extension of the election date (2 weeks would have been ample) has given me an uneasy feeling that we have just given the Nats a bounty, that hopefully Lab is not about to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

          • Bearded Git 3.1.1.1.4
            20 August 2020 at 10:18 am

            Agreed Just Is.

            As usual Dennis is, rather pathetically, buying into the media hype that calls the border controls a "fiasco" today when they are nothing of the sort.

            • Just Is 3.1.1.1.4.1
              20 August 2020 at 10:27 am

              Thankyou

              The hype is a distraction from reality.

            • Dennis Frank 3.1.1.1.4.2
              20 August 2020 at 11:12 am

              Try to trandscend your inner binary, huh? I quoted Ben Thomas yesterday from his Spinoff analysis that criticised the Nats' inept attempt to exploit the failure. If a known rightist can transcend the binary, why can't you?

              My critique has not resembled the Nats' bullshit in the slightest. Their leader called it a total shambles. I acknowledged yesterday that it was merely partial.

              Since I was proceeding on the basis of the admissions from the PM and DG, my critique is valid. I don't get why any leftists see political advantage in retreating in denial. Labour aren't. Learn from them!

              • Ed1 …
                20 August 2020 at 1:12 pm

                I agree that we should learn from facts as they appear. The admission from Ardern and Bloomfield were that testing had not been at the level the government had asked for. That is quite a different issue from accusations of a breach of the border. It now appears that the infection of the maintenance worker was from the surface in a lift – possibly inadequate 'deep cleaning' of the lift, but also possibly an indication that the depth of cleaning and possibility of infection from surfaces has not been well understood – it may be that we should all be wearing gloves. That remains a possibility also for the larger Auckland cluster, which may have resulted from the surface of imported goods. If so again that may mean that changes to practices will be needed for a risk that has previously been discounted as being very low.

                Certainly we seem to have got that cluster tracked very well; so nothing really wrong with our border procedures in terms of the known risks until these two cases – do you agree, Dennis?

              • Just Is …
                20 August 2020 at 2:12 pm

                Dennis, the Govt stated it was "disappointed" that the testing regime wasn't as they expected, but reality is, there are no consequences of the lower than expected testing regime, the testing was a backstop for all the measures currently in place which appear to be operating as expected.

                Too much emphasis has been placed on the lower than expected rate of testing rather than reiterating the primary defences that prevent/catch the infections. which have been 100% successful so far.

                No ones retreating, just reinstating what is factual and what is hyperbole pursued by a few in the media with an axe to grind.

                Each day at 1, 2 reporters with the loudest voices keep reiterating the "failure" meme, the "gothcha" girls, Tova and Mackay, each day they are proveded with the same info, which they duely ignore and persist with the failure meme.

                Sure testing wasn't upto the expected levels, but there has been no negative outcomes as a result of this, which means it "cannot be defined as a failure"

        • Incognito 3.1.1.2
          20 August 2020 at 10:39 am

          One person’s red herring is another person’s red flag.

        • Gabby 3.1.1.3
          20 August 2020 at 12:39 pm

          Imperfection isn't failure. You should know that, of all people.

          • Just Is 3.1.1.3.1
            20 August 2020 at 2:24 pm

            Exactly.

            There is a learning curve for all of us, we all learn best from our mistakes, it also makes us more conscious of preventing any further errors.

    • Gabby 3.2
      20 August 2020 at 12:36 pm

      He'll probably feel obliged not to expose the gnatsy leaning MOH saboteurs and empire builders, and private sector profiteers unfortunately.

    • Draco T Bastard 3.3
      20 August 2020 at 1:08 pm

      Can you just fuck off with your conspiracy theories? You're starting to sound like Gerry Brownlee.

      Oh, and the answer is this:

      https://twitter.com/i/status/1258168742971756547

  4. Andre 4
    20 August 2020 at 6:35 am

    💋 💋 💋

    Needy Amin has been crushing hard on Poots for a long long time. The Senate Intelligence Committee got some of his old billets-doux and published them in their report on Russia-Drumpf cmpaign jiggery-pokery.

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-putin-fan-mail_n_5f3c91aec5b6835236037b4c

    Seriously, is this what has to be done to get ahead in high-level international business?

    🤢 🤮

  5. Observer Tokoroa 5
    20 August 2020 at 8:03 am

    Twisted Reti

    You came out with this miserable low line: "I trust Bloomfield will be honest",

    In doing that, you gave us the measure of your low ability.

    Quite simply, you have become yet another National bully.

    New Zealanders will not be happy with your abuse towards Dr bloomfield.

    • Chess Player 5.1
      20 August 2020 at 8:39 am

      New Zealanders simply want what has been promised, to actually happen.

      Am amazed that the politicians still don't seem to understand that concept.

      It's all about the follow through, and the delivery.

      Trust takes a long time to build up, but can be lost very very quickly.

      People remember, which is why Labour were not trusted for such a long time after the Rogernomics period.

      • anker 5.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 9:51 am

        Chess player off course we want what has been promised and follow through. So did Ardern, Hipkins, and cabinet. They are in the same position as we are. They were told that testing border staff has been rolled out…………and it was being rolled out, but the roll out was too slow.

        • new view 5.1.1.1
          20 August 2020 at 3:43 pm

          FFS. Anker. How hard would it have been for the Government to audit what was happening at these Hotels. Do they trust us to pay our taxes. No they check that we are. Saying that they told us it was being done, so we didn’t know, is infantile bollocks.

      • Tricledrown 5.1.2
        20 August 2020 at 11:45 am

        Because the Cloth cap Labour Party had been highjacked by the Business elite.

        Every govt is having similar problems we are relying on human's to beat this virus.

        Humans make mistakes just looking across the ditch private security contractors are having similar problems..

        Taiwan is the only country which has had a nearly perfect response.

        One of the reasons is that authorities have access to everyone's cell phone records for contact tracing.

        Chess player how would that go check it out mate don't just be a pawn running interference.Your move.

    • Just Is 5.2
      20 August 2020 at 8:50 am

      Reti might want to remind everyone that NZ has only had 22 deaths ascociated with Coronavirus, that's an indisputable fact.

      There is still no link to a failure at the border and the current outbreak.

      Can you imagine how things would be going right now if Reti were minister of Health, history indicates we would be down the same path as every other country.

      • Pataua4life 5.2.1
        20 August 2020 at 8:55 am

        What has Dr Reti done in the past that shows us we would be down this path.

        Please link.

        • Just Is 5.2.1.1
          20 August 2020 at 9:26 am

          Reti hasn't achieved anything at all, all those yrs under Key and the constituency he covers saw reduced public sevices, a hospital that needed replacing a decade ago and run into the ground.

          Claims his party had funded and planned the 4 lane highway to Whangarei are just outright lies.

          National do NOT have a reputation for looking after the needs of NZers, they do however have a reputation for looking after themselves.

          • Tricledrown 5.2.1.1.1
            20 August 2020 at 9:31 am

            Cutting DHB funding cutting mental health funding in Canterbury in the aftermath of the earthquakes

          • Kay 5.2.1.1.2
            20 August 2020 at 10:46 am

            This is by no means an endorsement of Reti (he's still a Nat) but he was extremely good in his HSC role tearing shreds out of Pharmac, Medsafe and the MoH over the ongoing lamotrigine scandal. His medical background was actually useful and he did his job. And he was also the ONLY MP who ever directly responded to our emails.

            • Just Is 5.2.1.1.2.1
              20 August 2020 at 2:29 pm

              Thats great to hear Kay.

              I was of the understanding that Pharmac had been severely underfunded by the then Govt, which led to a lot misery for people waiting on medications.

        • anker 5.2.1.2
          20 August 2020 at 9:55 am

          Reti may or may not be good. But his leader appears to not understand some pretty basic things e.g contract tracing and the Covid app and how it works, as per her interview on Radio NZ yesterday. She seemed to be pinning Nationals ability to manage Covid all on Reti, who has only recently been made shadow health minister. She sounded quite ignorant in my opinion.

          Gerry's performance has been alarming. Their strong team slogan surely must be meant ironically

    • greywarshark 5.3
      20 August 2020 at 11:27 am

      Chris T has done a post on Reti over at The Daily Blog OT. I haven't read it yet but will. I thought you could be interested in his opinion of the man, I hadn't had good vibes about him in the past.

  6. Uncle Scrim 6
    20 August 2020 at 8:16 am

    Have the Herald released the actual results of their latest Kantar poll? I only saw the bit about who Labour should govern with. Based on that and Claire Trevett’s latest story, clearly the poll put Labour over 50% again, as have the last 9 (?) polls – even though in part at least it would have covered the latest lockdown period.

  8. Robert Guyton 8
    20 August 2020 at 8:38 am

    Collins' promotion and praising of Dr. Reti might be strategic – perhaps he's being groomed for the top Nat role, sometime down the track.

  9. ScottGN 9
    20 August 2020 at 8:55 am

    5,000 seventeen year olds will turn eighteen in the extra month provided by the delayed election date and will be eligible to vote.

    About 2,800 people will die in the same month, presumably mostly older people.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122471241/about-5000-young-people-now-eligible-to-vote-after-delay-to-2020-election

    • Blackcap 9.1
      20 August 2020 at 9:00 am

      However in that time the rest will all get older and potentially change their political views?

    • Adrian 9.2
      20 August 2020 at 9:04 am

      A report ( Stuff ? ) yesterday stated that there were 1600 less deaths in NZ in the months since lockdown than the average for the same period of the last 10 years, with accompanying graphs explaining why.

      Incredible, absolutely incredible ! The only country in the world to do such an amazing thing so it is about time that all the whining "FAILURE " fanboys just shut the fuck up.

    • ScottGN 9.3
      20 August 2020 at 9:17 am

      I fully support lowering the voting age to 16 but I think it’s drawing a long bow to suggest that the 5k newly eligible teenagers would have been disenfranchised by the original Election Day as suggested in the article. Obviously a voting day has to be chosen and obviously anyone whose birthday falls just after that is going to miss out until the next election. 18 or 16 it doesn’t really matter.

      • Just Is 9.3.1
        20 August 2020 at 9:48 am

        Scott

        Young people of today are way better informed than previous generations, social media and the like are part of everyday life.

        The young people of today are our future of tomorrow.

        • ScottGN 9.3.1.1
          20 August 2020 at 10:40 am

          I work with a lot of that twenty something cohort. And, yes, if you push them their thinking generally aligns with what we would call a centre-left perspective (though it’s always surprising just how many think like their grandparents). The problem is most of them feel disenfranchised. I’m not sure how many of my lot will actually bother to vote but it won’t be very many.

      • Herodotus 9.3.2
        20 August 2020 at 11:07 am

        So you would allow 16 year olds all the "rights" of 17 and18 year olds and the consequences that go with these ?

        http://youthlaw.co.nz/rights/legal-ages/#:~:text=18%20Years,once%20you've%20turned%2018.

        And from your comment below "The problem is most of them feel disenfranchised." Many other than this group feel this way.

  10. ianmac 10
    20 August 2020 at 9:46 am

    All the talk of failure is in denial of what the experts think. Susie for example:

    "I would give the response an A+. Or how do they do it nowadays? Excellence," Siouxsie Wiles, a microbiologist and infectious diseases expert at the University of Auckland, said.

    "It's been incredible. Absolutely incredible. The ramping up of testing and the amount of contact tracing that's going on is absolutely phenomenal."

    For once Marc gives a fairer report.

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/covid-19-one-week-on-how-are-we-doing?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=96e4c1d5ea-Daily+Briefing+20.8.20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-96e4c1d5ea-95522477

    • greywarshark 10.1
      20 August 2020 at 11:32 am

      I love Souxie, she's a bright spot literally in grey times and tells it like it is, a presenter to take notice of.

    • McFlock 10.2
      20 August 2020 at 3:22 pm

      That's the thing – all this wanking on about "shambles" this and "failure" that leaves nothing to describe the response in many other parts of the developed world.

  11. Just Is 11
    20 August 2020 at 9:58 am

    ianmac

    Its Great to have a Reality Check.

    Negative politicization of this one in a hundred yr Global Pandemic in NZ is simple bullshit, not a single critic can produce a remedy that is an improvement on what has been achieved thus far.

    Anyone arguing they'd do a better job is full of it, this whole excersise has been developed as we go, the whole world is in a learning phase, we just happen to be near the top of the list for our methods and respones.

  12. Dv 12
    20 August 2020 at 10:14 am

    Yes i see ACT are planning to save money by having a brand new govt dept for covid

  13. esoteric pineapples 13
    20 August 2020 at 10:29 am

    An excellent article for anyone wanting to dig deeper into the Beirut explosion:

    "Ammonium nitrate is quite stable, making it one of the safest explosives used in mining. Fire normally won’t set it off. It becomes highly explosive only if contaminated – for instance by oil – or heated to a point where it undergoes chemical changes that produce a sort of impermeable cocoon around it in which oxygen can build up to a dangerous level where an ignition can cause an explosion.

    Why, after sleeping in Hangar 12 for seven years, did this pile suddenly feel an itch to explode?"

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/escobar-who-profits-beirut-blast?fbclid=IwAR1JG0K3InJFvfngKPTMjeVme9upCyaw7F1kVSsU_TGF2rNGI6lSAzqJLP4

    • greywarshark 13.1
      20 August 2020 at 11:34 am

      Gosh I didn't know that it was stable normally. A few conspiracy theories starting to float around that I noticed.

    • joe90 13.2
      20 August 2020 at 11:47 am

      An excellent article for anyone wanting to dig deeper into the Beirut explosion:

      tl;dr

      It wuz the Juice!

      /

      • Morrissey 13.2.1
        23 August 2020 at 1:47 pm

        The outlaw Israeli regime is not "the Juice", as you so coyly, and unamusingly, term them.

    • Gabby 13.3
      20 August 2020 at 12:49 pm

      The middle east is quite warm.

    • McFlock 13.4
      20 August 2020 at 3:29 pm

      For one thing, there are so many recordings of it because the warehouse was on fire before the main explosion. Who knows what else was stored at the warehouse? Gas cylinders, mining explosives, confiscated weapons, chemicals that make each other angry?

      We do know the fertiliser was stored inappropriately. By definition, almost. So maybe there was additional contamination from being stored inappropriately? How hot did the warehouse get inside? Demonstrate there was something more than a freight handling accident elsewhere in the warehouse before speculating about motive.

    • gsays 13.5
      20 August 2020 at 5:56 pm

      Good read, cheers EP.

  14. Mika 14
    20 August 2020 at 10:35 am

    One very commendable announcement yesterday was the move to reduce the employment of security staff at the MIQ facilities by private security contractors. This particular change was a little bit lost in the attention given to the increase in defence force staffing at the sites.

    Ardern announced that these staff would be brought into employment by MBIE, allowing security of employment, a living wage, training in infection control and prevention practices. It also means that these staff will not be rotating around multiple workplaces.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/423911/managed-isolation-and-quarantine-facilities-to-get-boost-in-defence-force-support

    The Victorian outbreak originated with breaches in infection practices at their isolation hotels, with low paid, casualised, untrained privatised security staff who socialised with the returnees.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12345261

    I see this as a really good example of how the gig economy, privatisation, casualisation of the workforce and a race to the bottom in employment practices can have a devastating impact on public health.

    • Just Is 14.1
      20 August 2020 at 10:48 am

      Private businesses are run for profit, and, for no other reason.

      "I see this as a really good example of how the gig economy, privatisation, casualisation of the workforce and a race to the bottom in employment practices can have a devastating impact on public health."

      Not only public health, but the Health of the economy and the Health of Indivduals working under those conditions.

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 14.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 11:59 am

        And I expect the cost of paying the living wage will be negligible, because they are at the same time dropping the payment of a profit margin to the private owners of the security firms.

    • Rosemary McDonald 14.2
      20 August 2020 at 11:19 am

      Ardern announced that these staff would be brought into employment by MBIE,

      I missed that bit…it will be almost like performing a miracle. The contracting out to private companies of core Government work has to stop. The Ministry of Health did this with almost the entirety of Disability Support Services work….from assessments to delivery of care and support. A bountiful trough that literally hundreds fed at. And as 'costs' increased and 'operating surpluses' are viciously protected and providers team up to negotiate valuable contracts with the Ministry the services provided to disabled people often fail to meet the standard required. People die.

      This is touted as 'efficiency'.

    • gsays 14.3
      20 August 2020 at 5:58 pm

      Well said.

  15. Just Is 15
    20 August 2020 at 10:40 am

    It appears NSW has had several infections that have No origin, heres the story from the Sydney Morning Herald.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/more-mystery-cases-of-covid-19-confirmed-in-nsw-as-the-state-records-seven-cases-20200819-p55nb5.html

    So, all this berating by the opposition and Media, it appears we are not alone over the mystery cases, maybe the media could keep Kiwis better informed, maybe.

  16. AB 16
    20 August 2020 at 10:43 am

    An irony.

    Ardern's exceptional response to the pandemic is doing a good job of protecting and enabling the continuance of a BAU that works very well for the National Party's members donors and supporters.

    Whereas if National had been in power, their prioritisation of 'the economy' would have let the virus in, and given us worse health AND economic outcomes. Most likely, the resulting misery would have led to a hostile public mood more willing to entertain the sort of radical economic change that might disadvantage those same National Party members, donors and supporters.

    There will be a few more thoughtful theorists on the right who are delighted and amused by the fact that they get to attack her for saving them.

  17. mac1 17
    20 August 2020 at 11:03 am

    "…..these staff would be brought into employment…. allowing security of employment, a living wage, training……."

    What a pity that the nation's farmers, orchardists and viticulturists can't do the same for tractor drivers, milkers, workers in general, using NZ citizens.

    Where's the plan for those industries to solve their hiring problems with decent wages, training, housing, tenure and prospects?

    I worked willingly as a farm worker back in the Seventies, got trained on the job which was permanent, paid OK and had a house, firewood, free meat and power thrown in.

  18. mike appleboy 18
    20 August 2020 at 11:19 am

    Good god, watching Judith Collins press conference – the continual smirks and rolled eyes at questions is just pathetic. The woman has no filter for presenting her true self – that being an utter cow.

  19. greywarshark 19
    20 August 2020 at 11:23 am

    TS commenters might like to add to the pot that Scoop is providing for juicy ideas for NZ.

    https://thedig.nz/transitional-democracy/what-do-we-mean-by-transitional-democracy/

    • Dennis Frank 19.1
      20 August 2020 at 11:59 am

      Excellent link, thanks! 👍

      Just as turkeys will not vote for Christmas, politicians on most points on the ideological spectrum appear to be loath to hand over any real power to citizens. This means that if we want to upgrade our democracy in New Zealand, it is up to us all to drive this change both from within and outside of the established political system.

  20. ScottGN 20
    20 August 2020 at 11:24 am

    Did Judith say if any law change would be required in order for the government to be able to deny NZ citizens and PRs entry to the country if they returned a positive test?

    • George 20.1
      20 August 2020 at 11:27 am

      Frankly a completely pointless and useless idea.

      • ScottGN 20.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 11:37 am

        Of course. But as an idea it’s bound to be popular. So I’m trying to get an idea of how the government can pull it apart. If a law change is necessary then that means that nothing will change until at least xmas probably later. And just how much it infringes on NZers right to enter the country?

    • Treetop 20.2
      20 August 2020 at 3:14 pm

      So would a person need to wait for a result before boarding and isolate until they depart if negative?

      Would a person get a refund or be able to rebook if positive?

  21. observer 21
    20 August 2020 at 11:35 am

    The debate on the Right between authoritarian and libertarian has been refereed by Judith Collins – authoritarians win by a knockout.

    Now wait for the mental gymnastics as people who attack "dictator Jacinda" suddenly decide a heavy dose of compulsion and punishment is exactly what they want.

    • ScottGN 21.1
      20 August 2020 at 11:38 am

      Judith has never shied away from showing her authoritarian side though.

    • Draco T Bastard 21.2
      20 August 2020 at 1:31 pm

      Scratch a libertarian and you'll find an authoritarian beneath.

    • Macro 21.3
      23 August 2020 at 3:47 pm

      She Pulls No Punches.

      Just what the country needs in a PM.

      /sarc

      There are a few aggressive individuals who might see this as an admirable quality, but frankly over the past few years, what this country has needed has been a PM who has empathy and compassion, and the ability to get alongside people, and lead them in the right direction, (qualities that JC does not have). Fortunately we have a PM who displays these qualities on a daily basis.

  22. greywarshark 22
    20 August 2020 at 11:39 am

    Many are hoping that humanity and legality will get together and result in Julian Assange getting out while he is still alive!!

    https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/some-169-lawyers-and-legal-groups-join-calls-for-julian-assange-extradition-to-halt/

    Aug.17

    “We call on you to act in accordance with national and international
    law, human rights and the rule of law by bringing an end to the ongoing
    extradition proceedings and granting Mr Assange his long overdue
    freedom,” the letter, signed Lawyers for Assange, reads.

    The signatories include barrister Lord John Hendy QC and groups
    including the UK’s Arab Lawyers Association as well as the European
    Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights.

    The letter said the political nature of Assange’s alleged offences
    prohibits his extradition under the US-UK extradition treaty and that UK
    judges in his case have been subject to conflicts of interest    .

  23. weka 23
    20 August 2020 at 11:46 am

    Just in case it wasn't obvious enough what National's kaupapa is,

    https://twitter.com/nz_voter/status/1296231356461006848

    • weka 23.1
      20 August 2020 at 11:46 am

      that, and they possibly have an inept social media/PR team.

    • Editractor 23.2
      20 August 2020 at 12:01 pm

      It's unbelievable that they think a bullet-proof vest will stop someone from being infected with SARS-CoV-2.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 23.3
      20 August 2020 at 12:03 pm

      Border Force Raptor for the WIN! Hopefully with life sentences for littering in an airport (at least on the third offence) and bundling of protesters into blacked-out vans by anonymous "security contractors"

      Tuff on the Crims! Vote National and join Trump's USA. Anyone keen on a spot of torture?

    • Tricledrown 23.4
      20 August 2020 at 12:06 pm

      Looking at Siouxsie Wiles post further down she has provided a graph comparing Victoria's response to their outbreak to ours going hard and early is way better.

      Maybe someone can provide a link.

  24. Pat 24
    20 August 2020 at 11:53 am

    A sidestep Beauden would be proud of…

    "National’s border policy doesn’t address international students. National’s former deputy leader, Nikki Kaye, had campaigned on allowing universities to take care of isolating students on arrival, rather than the Government.

    National Party Leader Judith Collins didn’t say she wanted to keep the virus out of New Zealand. Rather she said she wanted to “keep the virus at bay and allow our economy to thrive”.

    https://www.interest.co.nz/news/106640/nationals-border-policy-testing-entering-nz-compulsory-contact-tracing-arrivals-and

  25. aj 25
    20 August 2020 at 11:55 am

    Midweek Media Watch with Hayden Donnell last night was interesting (as was the prior interview with Dr Denis Muller, the senior research fellow at the Centre for Advancing Journalism in Melbourne.

    Is the NZ media taking control of the 'accountability narrative' for Covid-19?

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018760261

    Hayden Donnell runs cover for journalists, and especially for Michael Morrah of Newshub. (He who asked Bloomfield at a presser recently if he would resign over 'failures')

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018760262

    What little sympathy I have for journalism in this country evaporated when a clip was played of Morrah being supported in an interview with Sean Plunkett (about 9 minutes in)

    Karyn Hay's long silences during this segment were telling.

    • Bearded Git 25.1
      20 August 2020 at 12:45 pm

      Thanks aj….I caught the end of Mediawatch last night and thought it was a bit odd…so the Right has taken over Mediawatch now. Will give the full programme a listen.

      Hayden will be quoting Tova next week.

  27. Just Is 27
    20 August 2020 at 12:17 pm

    Here's quite a good story on Swedens efforts to fight Coronavirus from the ABC.

    Herd amunity has not occured in the younger education sector.

    It will be years before there is an outcome to their strategy

    Death rates as a proportion of the population is nearly the highest in the world

    https://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-20/swedens-herd-immunity-strategy-for-coronavirus-covid-19/12570918

  29. Dv 29
    20 August 2020 at 12:28 pm

    See trump is withering on about how Nz has a surge and how well he is doing.

    if the USA had the same infection rates as nz the would have 360 cases a day not 40000

    man trump can’t count

  30. joe90 30
    20 August 2020 at 12:55 pm

    Why wingnuts should never get the media oxygen they crave.

    https://twitter.com/_cingraham/status/1295787945064927238

    • observer 31.1
      20 August 2020 at 2:28 pm

      One value might be …

      "Thanks to the virus, and the delayed election date, I have picked up an extra month's pay for doing nothing, which I will donate to local agencies helping those hit by the economic fallout."

      Show us your values, Hamish.

  32. aj 32
    20 August 2020 at 1:31 pm

    "I live by certain values"

    Honesty is not one of those values. Tell us who gave him the advice. He should never be in a place where he has access to personal data ever again.

  33. PaddyOT 33
    20 August 2020 at 1:48 pm

    [deleted]

    [see my note below in replies – weka]

    • Rosemary McDonald 33.1
      20 August 2020 at 3:15 pm

      Bogus? Harmful?

      I suggest you petition to have Dr Sandhya Ramanathan struck off.

      Seriously…you clearly didn't watch the entire clip, did you?

      And you quote commentors without providing the links?

      • PaddyOT 33.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 3:35 pm

        I did watch both videos full length and went to the sources of 'studies' underlying them.

    • weka 33.2
      20 August 2020 at 4:12 pm

      I started editing your comment for formatting reasons, to make it clear what were quote and what weren't. Unfortunately none of the things you had in quotation marks were showing up in a google search, so I can't check them.

      You are welcome to post your comment again, but I'm going to ask that you do a few things:

      1. link to the TS conversation you are referring to as well as the two videos.

      2. if you are not doing a cut and paste, then please don't use quotation marks. Use some other way of signalling what you are trying to communicate (italics would probably work).

      3. link to your sources in line with the quote or example, or use numbers, or something so it's clear what is what.

      4. put a line break between your points so the text is easier to read.

      You probably have some important points to bring to the debate, but I don't want to have to spend so much time just making sense of the formatting and references before I even get to think about the content.

      I still have copy of your comment if you don't. If you want to redo it, I can email it to you.

      • weka 33.2.1
        20 August 2020 at 4:20 pm

        there's a further problem. You use quotes around some statements and appear to imply they are from TS, but I can't find those quotes anywhere on TS.

      • PaddyOT 33.2.2
        20 August 2020 at 5:33 pm

        1. link to the TS conversation you are referring to.

        This was not the point. Over time have been a number of commentators.
        The comments were examples of masses of commentary on social media platforms endorsing hypothesis floating out there.

        The further leap in comments to stating that named supplements were treatments for Moari and Polynesian people is dangerous.
        My post was to highlight harmful interpretations planted in very publically read spaces; an example is of how the chain of information of President Trump's disinfectant theory went viral and posed real harm.

        The " bogus" is WHO's and other expert Authority's calls on myths. Not mine. The direct links posted. That at such a time of a disease rampaging across the globe, unscrutinised myths of treatments were the reason for WHO'S publication as one of many Authority's directives calling for scrutiny of myths around Covid19.

        2. if you are not doing a cut and paste, then please don't use quotation marks. Use some other way of signalling what you are trying to communicate (italics would probably work).

        Once pasted my post loses bold or italics. The formatting tools in TS reply box then allowed on both mobile and desktop versions only single word by word highlight to enable formatting. Hence, the standard, correct quotation marks are there.

        Direct quotes from the research cited WERE cut and paste and " " quotation marks were put around them correctly.

        3. link to your sources in line with the quote or example, or use numbers, or something so it's clear what is what.

        I have done before. But I followed the standard of many commentators by putting links at the bottom.

        4. put a line break between your points so the text is easier to read.

        My post was constructed on "word" then , all was pasted.
        Once in the reply box I did carefully check and fix formatting. And checked or corrected line breaks.

        Line breaks were there and once posted in entirety were still there.

        There is then left a clear choice on yourself to eliminate correct information from a much read sphere because of formatting and punctuation; of which, when I viewed after posting was correct.

        • weka 33.2.2.1
          20 August 2020 at 6:44 pm

          a few further suggestions

          1. make it clear that you are referring to social media generally if that's what you are referencing.

          2. once you have clicked Submit Comment, check it on the site and then use the edit button. I think it's set to 10 mins at the moment.

          3. cut and pasting from applications into the comments is fraught. I'd suggest writing your comment in plain text and adding any formatting once you are in the comment box

          4. I'll check the quotes on your next comment like this, but as I said, a google search for the quotes either brought nothing, or it brought up obscure sites that weren't being referenced in the comment.

          Once pasted my post loses bold or italics. The formatting tools in TS reply box then allowed on both mobile and desktop versions only single word by word highlight to enable formatting. Hence, the standard, correct quotation marks are there.

          5. I'll check that and talk to Lynn. Using " " is fine, but you *have to make it clearer than you did eg not running one quote into the other. Please only use double quotes for actual quotes/cut and pastes.

          • PaddyOT 33.2.2.1.1
            20 August 2020 at 8:29 pm

            1. Commentator links referred to were a sampling of how information changes on a grapevine and becomes endorsed more widely.

            The persons were not to be singled out that was NOT the purpose of the message needed to be made.

            Points were scrutinised of specific substances posed as combatting Covid19 were named clearly in the now deleted post. A direct analysis of the many specific 'substances' promoted I followed up on to see the validity. This included a namebrand product promotion of one source only of iodine for an audience to buy into. That audience – the public.

            The efficacy of the advice of videos posted, the 'truth' assumed and interpreted when discussed, the lack of scientific context leading to questions of safety and hence harm for the public were correctly under a spotlight of " bogus" misinformation for many, many months now that Health Authorities have been continually working hard at to stop the myths.

            Incognito today rightly identified one source of applying an authorative source to Covid19 myths still circulating widely after months of being debunked.
            Bringing untested promotions of 'medicines' was my investigation.

            I viewed these posted videos, and like you did and posted commendation on I initially thought 'that's good' and where you then posted a caveat on same first video, I started out of curiosity looking at where the source of findings came from. This was also prompted because it was stated, as if a fact, that Maori and Polynesians need to do this. I then posted the link to different ethnic countries studies behind these promotions, result deleted by you.

            I had also read some weeks back of the foolish Japanese Governor falsely promoting one of the same so called false cures and the negative fallout this created. This I posted but now deleted.
            I asked my daughter ( medical field) who pointed to authorative sources and the unfounded claims. How I take seriously Covid19 information, I then researched over hours many works to post those conclusions. They were NOT my findings.

            2. I check my post when composing on whichever platform before pasting into Reply box. eg. Often use samsung note as now.
            Then even before pushing Publish button, as explained, I check format and correct.
            Once clicked to Publish , yes it is 10 minutes, you will see that the majority of my posting are again edited by me once more in that time slot.

            3. I do. (see 2. above).

            4. I have the link to the samples and others but check reason at 1.above.
            The videos still exist despite many notices issued by Health authorities dispelling them. You deleted these for each analysis of all the substances discussed or promoted and so the ' bogus' scientifically unsubstantiated information still stands.

            5. I did "only use double quotes for actual quotes/cut and pastes". You removed them. Even in indented italics all work by other authors should still have commentators using "-" or it is plagiarism was my understanding over years.

  34. greywarshark 34
    20 August 2020 at 2:44 pm

    What about a knighthood for Dr Ashley Bloomfield at the end of this, er sometime? The Man from the Ministry has done good.

    • Just Is 34.1
      20 August 2020 at 5:22 pm

      Sadly Greywarshark, a Knighthood no longer has the same level of respect it once had attached to it.

      Not naming any names or anything.

      NZ should have its own awards system, with real, measurable criteria.

      • woodart 34.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 6:13 pm

        thought we did? order of New Zealand? agree, knighthoods have had there luster well spoiled, soiled,sold?

      • gsays 34.1.2
        20 August 2020 at 6:15 pm

        “NZ should have its own awards system, with real, measurable criteria.”

        Call the highest one The Bloomfield.

    • Stuart Munro 34.2
      20 August 2020 at 8:38 pm

      He should at least get to say to the assembled press vermin:

      "Alright you primitive screwheads, I'm Dr Ash, and this is my Bloomschtick"

  35. Pat 35
    20 August 2020 at 2:49 pm

    "Up until March, the number of people in the country on work visas had been growing steadily and had more than doubled over the last six years, hitting an all time high of 221,166 in March this year.

    But the number of work visa holders in the country has declined in every month since, dropping to 205,416 in July, down by 15,333 (-8.1%) compared to the March peak.

    However that reduction may be nothing more than a normal seasonal fluctuation, rather than anything to do with lockdown restrictions."

    https://www.interest.co.nz/property/106637/covid-19-lockdown-appears-have-had-only-minor-impact-overseas-student-numbers-so-far

    When numbers dont match the narrative

  36. PaddyOT 36
    20 August 2020 at 3:28 pm

    Into the mix of so much information out there I would add some alternative views.

    We did not identify any evidence for the use of zinc as prophylaxis for COVID-19, nor as a standalone treatment. The results of clinical trials including zinc in the intervention regimens should provide definitive evidence of the effectiveness and safety of this treatment in the context of COVID-19.

    https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-188

    The letter states the research did not involve giving ivermectin to people or animals, and that it only stopped replication of SARS-CoV-2 in a petri dish

    In vitro promise leads to clinical failure in the vast majority of cases, and in the volatile environment of the current pandemic, it is critical that we are sensitive to the implications of our communication and apply our resources to compounds most likely to succeed,

    Associate Professor Steven Tong is an infectious diseases clinician at Royal Melbourne Hospital, the principal investigator for the AustralaSian COVID-19 Trial (ASCOT) and a co-lead of clinical research at the Doherty Institute.

    He has not seen any clinical evidence to support Professor Borody’s claims.

    [deleted]

    https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/insufficient-evidence-to-currently-support-ivermec

    https://theconversation.com/ivermectin-is-still-not-a-miracle-cure-for-covid-19-despite-what-you-may-have-read-144569

    [the deleted bit was out of order from your previous quote. I’ve tidied up some of your formatting so it makes sense, but there are limits on my time – weka]

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

    • weka 36.1
      20 August 2020 at 4:34 pm

      mod note for you Paddy.

      In addition to the points I made in OM.

      1. It's convention here to put the supporting link immediately after the quotation

      2. Please put new, separate quotes in a new line separate by a line space.

      3. I strongly suggest you learn how to use the quotation tags, it will make your comments way easier to understand and much less likely to be modded. Let me know if you want me to talk you through that.

    • PaddyOT 36.2
      20 August 2020 at 6:14 pm

      You have taken away the correct use of quotation marks that were put around direct excerpts, the " " marks bind and represent the entire and exact language (either spoken or written) that has come from somebody else.

      Your reformatted post then makes these statements falsely as mine and my understanding is that your taking away of quotation marks is then plagiarism.

      For each direct quote I followed your instructions and put the direct source as you asked next to them.

      You then took those sources away disconnecting them and placed them at the bottom.

      You then selected and deleted direct quotes to make the post fit your picture.

      I resign.

      Make sure weka that you do the same consistently to all post commentators if the intent is other than eliminating true information.

      [as a moderator I have to be able to read comments and make sense of them. When someone writes comments that are hard to read, I usually try and help them sort that out for future comments. I’ve spent a fair amount of time today trying to show you what the problem was and how to change it going forward. As far as I can tell you’re not interested. That’s up to you. But you know where the boundaries are now. – weka]

  37. mpledger 37
    20 August 2020 at 3:49 pm

    I see National want people to have a negative test before boarding a plane.

    I have thought about that but I don't see it as being particularly helpful for a number of reasons –

    a) you have to 100% trust the medical system in the country of origin – that they don't have screw-ups, are using a good testing regime, the results come out on time, the test results are impervious to forgery or tampering.

    b) the riskiest part of coming back to NZ is actually the travelling – getting to the airport, being in the airport, queuing etc – so having a test done at least 3-4 days before doing the travelling isn't that helpful.

    c) the cost of travelling is so expensive ($20k for a family)/travel options are so limited that not being able to get on a flight is really costly (time/money) which will make people try and cheat the system – not do the test and used forged test results.

    d) I don't think NZ has any authority over people in a foreign airport to make them force people off planes (aside from the rules under international negotiated treaties). Counter staff are going to be reluctant to police testing results (look out for forgeries) if it's just going to end up in an angry confrontation between people that just makes boarding planes even more inefficient.

    The practical realities of trying to do a test pre-boarding just seems too problematic … unless they get a quick spit test at the airport … but even that seems time consuming for a plane load of people.

    • observer 37.1
      20 August 2020 at 4:09 pm

      All that really matters is that the clock starts at zero, when they arrive in NZ, and enter isolation.

      Any attempt to reduce that time is a risk that is not worth taking. And if it doesn't reduce that time, if they are all entering isolation for 2 weeks anyway, then it is a whole minefield of trouble – for no gain.

      Example: "Sir, I see your negative test has come from a doctor in India that does not meet our standards. You cannot board."

      Result: diplomatic row. Probable result: NZ accepts tests from Country A (worth X billion in trade) but not from Country B (worth peanuts).

      Of course it's not meant to be implemented, it's just a headline. Like Bridges' bonfire of regulations, and Muller's call for international students, it will be in the shredder by next month.

      • ScottGN 37.1.1
        20 August 2020 at 5:13 pm

        Yes. National are still advocating quarantine for 14 days and tests at day 3 and day 12 and all the other health checks. It’s just a headline grabber to hang the policy on. Ain’t ever going to happen.

    • Gabby 37.2
      20 August 2020 at 4:20 pm

      I wouldn't put it past them to auction the right to issue negative test certificates (comes with free 3 months work visa).

    • ianmac 37.3
      20 August 2020 at 4:55 pm

      Imagine trying to time the test and its answer coinciding with the booked ticket. Delay with answer? Just book again for a new costly ticket. What's a few thousand more and do you mind getting the test done in the timeframe- again? No?

  38. John G 38
    20 August 2020 at 4:02 pm

    I see AB has been nominated for kiwi of the year. Stiff competition, Gower has been nominated as well. I presume he nominated himself. (Gower I mean)

  39. Stuart Munro 39
    20 August 2020 at 5:06 pm

    Vincente Fox – maybe the best counter-Trump commenter of all.

  40. Pat 40
    20 August 2020 at 6:04 pm

    Street and/or suburb lockdowns….WTF?

    Is their understanding of this virus really that flawed?

    Judith Collins , One News 6 pm tonight

  41. anker 41
    20 August 2020 at 6:53 pm

    Melbourne did the street/suburb lockdown and look how well that worked out

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  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

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