3 Waters recognises a looming disaster across the country for local councils because of the parlous state of the "waters" infrastructure through underinvestment. If nothing new is done, ratepayers stand to be required to pay exorbitantly. The Government has proposed a solution. Councils have perceived that some of their number will go, as the "core functions" are taken off them. A great deal of anxiety has swept through the sector. The counter-proposals from councils have been…difficult to hear.
I don't think cost is the sole reason. There's the question of competency; these issues should been attended to already. Kicking the can down the road is generally a political decision. Problems with the cycle of elections, new councillors, capture by staff etc. all have conspired to create a massive problem. I think the extent of the problem is being understated.
Again, my prediction: the Govt will take 2 waters and leave councils with storm water. Just a reckon 🙂
Agree vto a new bearaucracy costing more .Those councils who have spent $100's of millions upgrading their water and waste water will be subsidising Those who have not upgraded.
A massive vote looser and Mahuta seems like a dictator in her portfolio.Because covid is taking all the limelight 3 waters is not being examined by the opposition or media.
“Même ça plus chose” I think is the correct shortened phrase.
Yes, I’m a former public servant but was never a bureaucrat. I made sure Inworked in jobs that delivered outputs & outcomes.
I worry that Labour is increasing the size of the bureaucracy with people who have no direct knowledge or expertise in the fields of their agencies. Which is how we got Cave Creek, Leaky Buildings, & Pike River. All these bureaucrat people are often good for is coming up with checklists & covering their arses when things go wrong because they didn’t know their “business”.
Water is life. We need clean drinking water, good waste water practices and better unified drainage ready for the coming climate caused surges. If we can not agree to improve this there will be huge burdens placed on future generations.
What a wonderful legacy we are leaving./sarc We don't seem to be able to solve local problems in some places. Imagine a patchwork of systems some sound some porous in the combination with rampant covid and the loss of key local people to it.
We only need to look to Australia to see their problems with each State's patchwork of differing views on covid prevention and how that has ended up.
Some Councils have done well, but many have had minimum maintenance for years. Some have had their neglect kill people. The coming costs of sea rise means many Councils will try to placate their most influential members. We have seen NIMBY behaviour swaying almost all Councils.
Rates taxes are now at $70 a week and more, cheap for the wealthy home owner but a burden for the poor one. No Council has raised the rebate much either in all those years.
This is the beginning of Unified Planning. We are talking a plan for the future here, not a prop for the present. Yes there will be pain anger and fightback from threatened interests. Huge changes are needed to overcome the neglect.
Where would our Airline be without Government support in hard times "because it is a strategic asset" So is water, and we already have large overseas entities wanting ours, while Cities are already taking it from nearby places to supliment poor planning.
The number of "shortfalls in infrastructure" this Government is facing is critical.
They have a huge number of important projects underway, and an army of critics and partisan parties to negotiate with including iwi. Yesterday for the first time in years cross party planning took place to try to mitigate aspects of our housing conundrum. I am the first to say that is not the whole answer, but if it encourages developers to consider smaller homes near transport hubs, yes it is a necessary helpful change.
The infrastructure to support such inner city intensification and modernisation needs services of a magnitude no Council is currently considering, except in newer developments. We will argue about this, but those who think this Government is all "Kindness" and "No Spine" may get a surprise. They move when they see it is required.
Having worked 8 years in this industry I think you've gotten the wrong end of the stick here vto. This is a long-overdue reform that will create a number of regional water entities across logical geographic boundaries – it isn’t about centralising everything in Wellington.
Water supply is a high-tech industrial process that requires a range of specialist skills to meet modern standards and expectations. Small councils simply cannot attract and retain the people necessary. Just as an example – we had one of our staff move to a smaller council to an apparently more senior role, but return just a few years later very disappointed at the lack of support and resources available to such a small organisation.
Last I counted in 2013 the Wellington Region alone had 14 organisations responsible for water in one form or another serving a population of barely 650,000. While the formation of Wellington Water in 2014 rationalised this somewhat – it has to be stood in stark contrast to say the UK where there are just 14 entitities serving the entire nation.
Modern water systems are not for well-meaning, under-resourced amateurs.
Yes. I've worked in both small and large settings, private and public. Each has it's strengths and weaknesses. But since councils first started providing water services over 100 years ago the world – and the nature of the task – has changed.
I have to admit to being a little biased here – having lived and worked in multiple countries in the past two decades, I have to tell you that while NZ remains my home and close to my heart – it really is a small nation. Just one large scale water supply authority typical everywhere else in the world could do the whole of NZ standing on it's ear.
On a tangent I recently discovered this extraordinary bit of water history. The WA Goldfields project built over 120 years ago still staggers my imagination. The whole story of it is one of vision, audacity and for the era a mind-bending scale. And also of parochialism, small-mindedness and ultimately a tragedy.
But in time it proved the backbone of the state generating value vastly beyond it's originally contested origins.
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme was designed by WA’s Chief Engineer, Charles Yelverton O’Connor, to provide a reliable source of water for the goldfields. It was an inter-basin transfer water system which extended 560 kilometres from Mundaring Weir (Dam) in the west to Mount Charlotte Reservoir at Kalgoorlie in the east. The scheme included two main reservoirs, the main conduit of the pipeline, eight pump stations, holding tanks and regulating tanks. Pipes were made of 30-inch diameter steel and the original pumps at the eight pumping stations were capable of delivering 5 million gallons (22.73 million litres) of water per day. Work was completed in early 1903.
…
At the time of its opening the scheme was recognised as the largest engineering undertaking of its time. The amount of steel used in construction was greater than any steel structure elsewhere in the world. It attracted worldwide attention. Never before had water been pumped so far or lifted so high.
Incidentally O'Connor came to WA from 20 yrs on the West Coast where among other things he led the building of Westport's harbour.
Nelson Council has decided to opt in for which I am very glad. Seems to me a no brainer to accept funding and expertise and to take away yet another voice of dissent every time we the people decide to make water quality better.
It may get initial funding but in the longterm it will mean a new tax for every household on top of rates and central govt taxes while councils who have already taxed rate payers for upgrades will effectively pay again.
The govt should directly fund upgrades for areas who have poor quality water.
Not installing a whole new bearaucracy which no doubt such up a good percentage of any rate payers funding.
Political commentator Ben Thomas, a former press secretary in the Key government, said such cross-party announcements have proven to be good for opposition politicians in the past, noting that both John Key and Todd Muller benefited from supporting the government on the anti-smacking and zero carbon legislation, respectively.
“If you look at the smacking bill, the government’s intention was to get some political cover, as they didn’t need it to pass the legislation, but by bringing the popular leader of the opposition along, it was seen as a bit of a masterstroke by Clark at the time,” he said.
The next poll will be most interesting. Pipsqueak reckons he must consult his caucus before declaring an Act view of the new law, but he expressed personal disapproval of it. If his colleagues go along with him on that, the right will have a new pivot point.
Labour and National's historic truce on housing all began when Judith Collins wrote a letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in January proposing a bipartisan solution.
In June, Housing Minister Megan Woods and Environment Minister David Parker wrote to National confirming they saw merit in the proposal to increase the supply of residential housing, according to Collins.
"They welcomed National's contribution to further development of policy to allow a serious uplift in new housing in urban areas," Collins says.
JC deserves credit for initiating the bipartisan effort. It proves her capable of being more than merely divisive. I suspect the public will reward her with a poll boost. If it stalls the rise of Act, and the next poll shows a plateau of Act support, her leadership status will probably no longer be under threat.
“It is a significant political step for both parties, which face pressure from urban property owners who are unhappy with more housing being built in their neighbourhoods. By both backing the bill, the parties have essentially agreed to not capitalise on that vote.”
"I suspect the public will reward [Collins] with a poll boost."
…………………………
That's an interesting speculation, Dennis. Wonder if you'll be proven right? Collins has basically been collecting brickbats & down votes all year. Perhaps some of the voting public ARE tired of reacting negatively to Collins' many ill-judged antics.
I think she will certainly be pleased that so much media reaction to this move has been favourable. 👍🏼
We'll see. Perhaps the next RR poll will feature on 3/Newshub soon. Seems noteworthy to me that both major parties are taking a stand against the urban capitalists. The obvious move for Act is to take advantage of their bipartisan representation of the rest of Aotearoa by marketing itself as the party of the nouveau riche. Pipsqueak: "Yeah, we're the aristocracy of the future. You got it."
Dunno if he'll have the balls to go for it. If he does, I bet he fronts with a smoke & mirrors act to deflect attention from his lunge for the plum.
Interesting political trade off by National. They’ve thrown votes ACT’s way by shitting on the ratepayer lobbies, but picked up truck loads of funding from developer lobbies. Puts ACT in an interesting position.
Think the government (Woods?) has played both of them like a piano.
poll-wise Jacinda is going to gather all the negative on this (and there will be large large amounts of it, guaranteed) and Judith will get away scot-free..
If, as mentioned be some experts we go down the path of 'allowing businesses to fail' the govt needs to legislate to override the personal guarantees often needed to secure a commercial lease.
This will avoid at least the spectre of complete financial wipeout and the forced sale of the homes of small business owners and I would extend that to putting requirements on banks to avoid these situations as well.
The pain needs to be shared atm Banks are creaming it.
We have allowed businesses to day since last year. But i am sure that someone is working hard on cracking this issue. One day. One day. Until then, some owners will have to sell their private belongings to pay a lease on a commercial property that is still at the cost of before 2019 – because nothing was done to force property owners to drop their leases either to a more accurate reflection of the business market, or to have a large enough sum ready to pay oneself out of a lease with a lumpsum.
But then, hey, all these tall poppy business people, they all need cutting back a bit, right. If they would have had some foresight (something that we can not ask the government for) then they would have planned for a 5+ year plague, lockdowns, and so on. So they deserve what they get. Right? s/
"The pain needs to be shared atm Banks are creaming it."
Recall the GFC, created by the banks… the banks got saved… so wrong, so very wrong…
But really, let them fail. Pandemics are a well known risk. It aint as if this is something new in the world – they are common. Taxpayers and wage and salary earners are not there to underwrite businesses. No way.
And also keep in mind that such sentiment runs both ways… if wage and salary earners are going to be required to share in the downside then they must also share in upsides… good luck
Yes I appreciate my point lacked those hard political realities. I guess I was pointing out that this entire issue is very fraught and much more complex than high level thoughts typically allow.
Keep in mind that in saying this "you can;'t just let big banks go bust. Too many peoples livehoods and actual lives involved, in more ways than one."….
… actually happens all the time. Small people, and one-offs get shat on by this kind of thing constantly. They don't matter though do they – just one person here, another over there, not enough to make a headline… it is apparently only important if large numbers of people suffer…
injustice
I know because I have been one of those such sufferers – kicked in the head and stomped on by exactly what you refer to – where was my saviour? ha
Having said that. I realise totally that my point seems to send innense bias on behalf of big banks over other people just trying to make a living with their hard worked business.
So kind of admit I am a bit of a hypocrite with it.
I think I kind of look at how many people will be screwed over it. And unfortunately banks win.
Maybe they should have to pay some mega tax, insurance thing to run.
I know actual insurance companies are insured by mega insurance companies
No one ever wants that sort of desperation – at least now it's become visible to people who never recognised how easy that can come about until covid knocked on their doors
At least there has been back-up but TBH most people continue on relatively normally with better understanding for those who genuinely can't & lost income
There was none of that with the GFC you battled on sometimes for months with no work so you mortgaged the house & eventually battled thru
People left for work in Aus, couldn't sell at a loss or even rent their home in 2011-12 what a surprise to return in 2015 & the next year sell it for twice the price the following year
At least NZ has a govt prepared to back all its people, the more they're included the less people will feel pushed to the edges – it's a start
Killing off personal guarantees for commercial leases wont hurt the taxpayers one bit and will stop people becoming suddenly destitute which certainly would.
The second half of that would be requirements on mortgage holders to provde relief to commercial landlords if needed.
Despite fundamentally changing the law of contract, removing personal guarantees and allowing business to default, would just kick the financial pain to someone who has everything they own secured by an Aussie bank.
Unless there was some relief offered to that person, I only see the banks winning with this proposal.
It’s a very complex issue that will take the wisdom if Solomon to resolve. For every tenant like Sabine, and ourselves, (we’re paying 2018 rent and have taken 5% of our rent in last month) who are genuine cases there will be 10 who will have a go to try and screw over their landlord for a lower rent.
Designing a program that gets just the genuinely affected without creating a lot of sad boundary cases that fester in the media will be hard.
Then you get businesses that were marginal / failing before covid but have zombied on thanks to the government support. Whole thing’s a huge stinking can of worms
There has already been cases of big firms using their clout to aviod paying leases during covid.
Even though they certainly have the means to do so. (Have to protect those commercial landlords from tenants bad faith while at the same time helping those with genuine hardship.
Pleasently surprised talking to small business owners I know, how many of their commercial landlords have come to the party on rent.
From experience a while back, big trade creditors are supportive with arrangements when you cannot pay on time. IRD also.
Only the whistle blowers were punished of the Ponzi scheming bank's.
1929 showed it was a mistake to let the Banks fail. BUT the best option used was to Nationalise those banks as in NZ ie BNZ then sell them off when stabilised not loosing taxpayers money and allowing corrupt practices to be rewarded. The 1998 economic correction showed this in Mexico and Ecuador. With new computers that were powerful enough to look at numbers profitability and over all benefits to economies.
But the power of big business has not been blunted and the Trump administration removed protections to stop banks printing and ponzi scheming ie loan to deposit ratios and massive management bonuses .
Iceland bailed out local depositors to the tune €5.8 billion euros.All overseas depositors lost everything. Given the size of Icelands economy they could not afford to bail out the banks.
That's why NZ does stress tests on our banks and are trying to get them to cover their deposits as opposed to govt bailouts.
Our govt paid for insurance in 2007 but remember South Canterbury Finance Bill English forgot to renew the policy sitting on his desk for 6 weeks. So we all paid for that ponzi scheme.
Initial reports of a looming crisis of capitalism will have many thinking `deja vu all over again'. But the blip theory of economics can be considered alongside the gradualist evolutionary view. What evidence of a paradigm shift do we have?
Q: You point out in your books and speeches that markets pay no attention to social justice and income distribution. Yet capitalism is built on the notion of free markets. How are we going to change things?
A: Through politics and through a change in societal norms. Let me just give you a couple of examples. This kind of awareness has led the vast majority of the people in the Business Roundtable [an association of chief executives of leading U.S. companies] to support a move away from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism. Even if not all of them really mean it in their heart of hearts, that change in the way they conceive of it will have effects over time.
Over the next 30 years, we have an enormous amount of work to do to make the green transition, to make sure that everybody has an adequate education, to have a decent infrastructure and so forth.
Stiglitz is very Green/socialist, eh?
Professor Stiglitz — winner of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, a former chief economist at the World Bank and a professor at Columbia University — said in a pre-conference interview that the private sector had proven incapable of responding alone to the global health challenge and that government had a big role to play.
As usual with socialists, the interview is big on telling us what we already know and small on feasible solutions that promise good outcomes.
" country would reopen to the world at a vaccination rate of 85-90 percent of the eligible population "
While I am no fan of Collins, not actually sure why you disagree with this. as long as the countries were each classified as to risk in all their current situations,
Will Collins elaborate? I think the point is she says these blank meaningless things without the subtleties. Like "85%" of all? Or eligible? Of NZ? Of the world? It's just meaningless, simple sloganeering.
90% currently seems to be pushed and achievable. That still means at some stage someone from government will have to actually articulate what happens when that 90% is achieved.
And maybe that needs to happen to entice people to get their jabs.
"Collins said there was no reason why the target couldn't be reached.
"We need to get on. We've got now now around 80, close to 85, percent of people have had at least one vaccination. After a big effort to get people vaccinated. There's another six weeks to go. There's no reason why everyone can't get the rest."
There shes said it, no reason at all, shes said it so I have every confidence it will now happen just as she proposes.
Collins gave an ultimatum which ever comes first, Dec 1 or 85 – 90% vaccinated.
Collins will need a magic wand to manage a fully blown pandemic post 1 Dec if every region is opened up at the same time. The country is under resourced with health workers and ICU beds and any staggered opening up will depend on a region peaking and trending down.
I cannot exclude humanitarian health workers being deployed to NZ.
It’s a gang up against wealthy nimbies. Both parties are now more scared of the backlash from the middle class struggling with housing than scared of wealthier homeowners who don’t want higher density accommodation in their streets.
But let’s be clear – this is not addressing the most critical problem in the housing crisis which is the desperate lack of warm, dry homes for families and tenants on low incomes.
Thing is, John, God helps those who help themselves. If the working class organised themselves into a political force, Labour would have to factor them into the political equation. Since the working class have been resolute in their stand against political action in common cause for as long as anyone can remember, I'm puzzled about your perplexity John! You're only four years younger than me. You've had plenty of time to figure it out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Minto
You're right in respect of history. That link provides useful insight into the mass psychology of employment relations. I learnt about that stuff myself in various career situations. However game theory provides a better view than class consciousness: if you identify as a player rather than as a class member then natural human agency is the determining factor.
As a free agent your chances of being made a victim of life's circumstances depend on how clever you are in relation to any opponents, how lucky you are, and how much willpower you apply to your situations. Depending which choices you make, fate then plays its accompanying hand. In contrast, those who depend on unions are at the mercy of union reps & poor decision-making by them.
" If the working class organised themselves into a political force".
They did. It was called the New Zealand Labour Party and it was founded in Wellington on 7 July 1916. It was of course taken over by the people of academic-socialist beliefs about 35 years ago and hasn't had anything to do with the working class since.
Indeed! Doesn't explain why the working class allowed the middle class to steal their project though. Nor does it explain their apparent lack of effort to co-create an alternative. Nor have I ever noticed any attempt by political scientists to explain why.
So you & I are free to advance our own theories, Alwyn. How about everyone is working together to deny that the working class have any inherent collective political agency? Too intellectual? How about the theory of universal cluelessness stretching to the horizon in all directions? Well that would only work on the basis of allowing all those who believe they are exceptions to the rule to register that dissident identity. Me first!
What about the "human right" to go to work, with out the danger of getting a potentially deadly illness, and taking it home to your family?
Why should someones right to aviod a harmless, and it is harmless, compared with most other things we regard as harmless, needle in the arm override others "Human right to life".
That is without even going into the loss of income, health and jobs for those that get sick. Hundred of jobs plus the delivery of essential materials food and groceries, is at risk if my workplace has covid cases forcing shut down. Watch all those MT supermarket and hardware store shelves, double.
In many workplaces, mine included physical distancing is impossible, when someone arrives with a cold we all get it. Why should my right to try and keep my family safe be overiddin, by someone who, to put it bluntly, is basically too mis-informed, selfish or stupid, to protect those around them.
Not to mention the rights of those who cannot choose, those with immune deficiency, who have allergic reactions to vaccines, who have health problems where vaccinations don't work.
What about their right, to go about their normal day safely?
Anti-vaccers want "Choice". But they want "choice" without personal consequences. They want their choice, even if it removes "choice" and even the "right to life" for others. A very childish veiwpoint.
"Choices" have consequences. If you want "choices" then you also have to accept that society has a right to protect the people those "choices" will harm.
Vaccination is only part of the tool kit. Other measures will be required for some time to come. But it reduces the chances of a disaster in NZ considerably, if enough are vaccinated. The number required looks like well over 90%. Even more in crowded workplaces, schools and hospitals.
[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.]
There's nothing in my post about anti-vaxxer values around choice. Nor am I anywhere saying that vaccination is wrong. And I said that vaccination is a bloody good tool for helping reduce spread of covid and protect individuals.
I probably should have pointed out in the post that people not yet vaccinated are so because of a range of reasons that reducing them all to 'evil antivaxer' is counter productive. But I thought that was obvious from context. Māori and disabled people don't have low vax rates because they're lazy and selfish.
So I'm really not sure what you are talking about.
Do you want to remove existing human rights in order to force people to be vaccinated? What would that force entail. If this is what you want, then please speak plainly. I don't want to do another round of dancing around this.
But please also put it in the context of the actual post.
I thought I have made it obvious over several conversations about this.
We cannot hold people down obviously. And I will never agree to that anyway.
But if someone makes a choice not to be vaccinated. They have to accept, like most "choices" we make in life, that there are consequences for that choice.
Consequences that protect others, like not being able to work in occupations such as teaching, health care and aged care. Or travel where they can spread covid to many people. For example.
Maori, amoung others, have low vaccination rates because of access and mis-information. Both I believe can be addressed. It will take some effort, but it is not insoluble.
And. I didn’t reduce them all to “evil anti vaccers”.
Mis-informed for many. As I believe I made clear. However the people behind the mis-information do not have good motives.
Nothing personal KJT, it’s not just your comment. I’m not willing to have my posts derailed by arguments that all unvaxed people are stupid/selfish/lazy/whatever. This both inhibits good debate, but it also works against getting more people vaccinated.
You are more than welcome to comment under my post if you address what is actually in the post.
The post was all over the place, making a lot of general points about systemic problems. Not surprising that people respond to your most contentious assertions. Are you in Auckland?
There is a reason that people respond with bitterness and frustration. We are tired of the fuckery of a few antisocial idiots holding a city of 1.8 million to ransom.
then address that in the post. Say what the contentious assertions are and put up an argument. That way I will know if you understood the post or are just going off on something about anti-vaxxers. You did address the race/ethnicity issue, and I responded, so we both know how to do this.
I am going a bit crazy under endless lockdown. And then Weka comes along and suggests we should be "kind" while Auckland is held to ransom by a few munters who refuse to paddle the waka, and seem to be actively trying to sink it. Half of the Christian community is spreading this free-dumb bullshit. The vaccine denial and rhetoric about government overreach is endemic across facebook, in Marae pages, Tradie pages, and "Alternative health" practitioners. Facebook needs to die in a fire.
Really frustrating. I want to be kind to people, but people also need to be kind to others by getting a f&$ing jab and wearing a f&#ing mask.
[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.]
[“And then Weka comes along and suggests we should be "kind" while Auckland is held to ransom…” No, that’s not what I said. No-one gets to tell lies on this site about my views (or any author’s), including about a post I have written, and when I am here and available to clarify. If you don’t understand, ask. You are free to tell me how any post come across, and I will clarify.
If I see anyone doing this again, I will be moderating. We’re all stressed and tense, and Auckland people doubly so. My suggestion is to take a breath and remember that TS is for robust debate and that still has actual meaning here. You cannot just choose to make up shit about other people. – weka]
Weka wants people to be kind, but Weka is [deleted]
[I also don’t take this smeary shit from commenters, even authors. Don’t misrepresent what I say onsite for your own agenda. I would clarify, but unfortunately people are being arseholes, I don’t have time or inclination for long time commenters who should know better, so I’m deleting instead. – weka]
I certainly didn't say that living in the country would save me (Ad is outright lying there). I'm booked in for two vaccinations. I explained in the comment, in context, why some people are still unvaxed and aren't lazy/stupid/an anti-vaxer. I've deleted that comment and a quote of it, because people here are stepping over a line here.
Um really not convinced its a good thing to putting an authors vaccination status out there, if indeed true or has Weka laid her position dowm somewhere?
I've deleted the quote and my original comment, because obviously there are people here that cannot be trusted to not use my personal shared details against me politically, by taking my words out of context.
Stop and think about what you are doing (Rob and Ad, and everyone actually). If you feel free to misrepresent my views or my life, how are you ever going to convince anyone to amend social media misinformation?
And, you cannot tell lies about authors on this site.
I'm not making excuses, and given how much time I've put into trying to talk with you today, I'm not going to try and explain further. You're sailing close to short ban if you can't shift out of the accusatory, misleading shit. If you want to make actual arguments you are free to do so (and this I would welcome).
Looking at testing numbers compared to NSW we are only testing approx at 25% the rate NSW.
We need our rate to go up to be able to control the virus.
Especially with the number of unlinked cases.
The govt is allowing health workers to be prioritised in MIQ.But is not giving visas to those migrant heathworkers already here.
This should be highlighted by the opposition.
What do we know about the implications of medical and surgical intervention for children?
Not only is a young child likely to be unable to grasp the necessary information to make an informed decision about transition, it seems that the adults around him or her do not yet even possess sufficient information to make a safe, informed decision on the child’s behalf. We appear to know more about the impact of puberty blockers on sheep than we do on children. Note comments from the Science Symposium on 18-19 October 2018 at The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, cited below in Further Reading. Grateful thanks to @bettytastic to alerting me to this.
We do know something of the effect of puberty blockers on the brain development of adolescent sheep however. Professor Neil Evans of the Institute of biodiversity in Glasgow reported impairments to several functions, including a sheep’s capacity to find its way through a maze, which persist after stopping puberty blockers. This raises questions about the possible neurological effects of puberty blockers on children’s psychological, social, sexual and cognitive development. Some of Professor Evans’s references are listed below (Robinson et al 2014, Hough et al 2017 a & b).
The consequences of a pathway of surgical and medical intervention are not merely physical of course. Stephen B Levine wrote in 2018 in the journal of Sex and Marital Therapy ‘Informed consent for transgender patients’ reminds us that risk needs to be identified across three categories – the biological, social and psychological. Four specific risks arise in each category.
Biological risks include loss of reproductive capacity, impaired sexual response, shortened life expectancy, Insistence that biological sex can be changed cannot alter the possibility of sex based illness – such as prostate cancer arising. Social risks include emotional distancing from family members, and ‘a greatly diminished pool of people who are willing to sustain an intimate and loving relationship’. Significant psychological risks involve deflection of necessary personal development challenges, inauthenticity and demoralisation – when changing your body does not bring about the desired changes to the way you ‘feel’.
Of course, the existence of risk does not mean that one should never embark upon a risky endeavour. It may well be that the benefits outweigh the possible disbenefits to a significant degree and the risk is well worth taking. But that conclusion cannot be reached without clear eyed and dispassionate unpicking of the risks AND benefits.
How can the ‘no debate’ platform and unquestioning acceptance of any child’s expressed wish to ‘transition’ ever reflect the serious ethical duty of medical professionals to be sure their child patient has offered informed consent?
Brian Tamaki in custody. Protests for the cameras. Will lead the news.
It's often said that a key component of political success is to be lucky with your enemies. Tamaki, Goudie, Slater and co must have been selected by central casting, working in the PM's office.
New slogan for the vax campaign: "Annoy Brian with a little prick".
What would be a good idea would be to give Brian Tamaki a 6 month jail sentence which would prevent him travelling overseas insurance and bank loans would be harder for him to obtain.The Tax department should go over him with a fine tooth comb.
I was reflecting on the continued demise of telephone boxes around the country this morning. The continual removal of such as recently even hit the national party. It seems that in many areas the "Retain Judith As Party Leader committees" no longer have venues to hold their meetings. Some committees have however reported that phone boxes are proving too big and they were already looking for smaller venues.
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
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town planning – water – sewer – waste
core functions of local government
being ripped from locals without consent
votes will be falling from labour all over the place
some very poorly political miscalculations methink
aint gonna return for a third term methink
the left can never stop itself from this sort of thing
meme ca plus
not to mention the most foolish idea that all of these things will be done better by wellington than locals
ha ha ha ha ha ha
piss off wellington
seriously
Right on vto. Both Parties playing into the hands of the greedies and promoting mayhem in the suburbs. What could possibly go wrong ?
3 Waters recognises a looming disaster across the country for local councils because of the parlous state of the "waters" infrastructure through underinvestment. If nothing new is done, ratepayers stand to be required to pay exorbitantly. The Government has proposed a solution. Councils have perceived that some of their number will go, as the "core functions" are taken off them. A great deal of anxiety has swept through the sector. The counter-proposals from councils have been…difficult to hear.
The sole reason for taking it off Councils has been its cost.
So fund it.
Dont need new structures or or ownership or pulling into the dark hole of wellington. Just fund it and leave it as is.
Simple
This remains a full-blown vote loser
I don't think cost is the sole reason. There's the question of competency; these issues should been attended to already. Kicking the can down the road is generally a political decision. Problems with the cycle of elections, new councillors, capture by staff etc. all have conspired to create a massive problem. I think the extent of the problem is being understated.
Again, my prediction: the Govt will take 2 waters and leave councils with storm water. Just a reckon 🙂
Cost and priorities that remain longer than an election cycle so projects get completed not derailed or refocused.
It's alot worse than these councils let on. Chatting with the contractors who actually know is a real eye opener.
Reward incompetence and malfeasance? What a stupid idea
Agree vto a new bearaucracy costing more .Those councils who have spent $100's of millions upgrading their water and waste water will be subsidising Those who have not upgraded.
A massive vote looser and Mahuta seems like a dictator in her portfolio.Because covid is taking all the limelight 3 waters is not being examined by the opposition or media.
Labour this is a dumb idea.
“Même ça plus chose” I think is the correct shortened phrase.
Yes, I’m a former public servant but was never a bureaucrat. I made sure Inworked in jobs that delivered outputs & outcomes.
I worry that Labour is increasing the size of the bureaucracy with people who have no direct knowledge or expertise in the fields of their agencies. Which is how we got Cave Creek, Leaky Buildings, & Pike River. All these bureaucrat people are often good for is coming up with checklists & covering their arses when things go wrong because they didn’t know their “business”.
plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
the more it changes the more it stays the same thing
Water is life. We need clean drinking water, good waste water practices and better unified drainage ready for the coming climate caused surges. If we can not agree to improve this there will be huge burdens placed on future generations.
What a wonderful legacy we are leaving./sarc We don't seem to be able to solve local problems in some places. Imagine a patchwork of systems some sound some porous in the combination with rampant covid and the loss of key local people to it.
We only need to look to Australia to see their problems with each State's patchwork of differing views on covid prevention and how that has ended up.
Some Councils have done well, but many have had minimum maintenance for years. Some have had their neglect kill people. The coming costs of sea rise means many Councils will try to placate their most influential members. We have seen NIMBY behaviour swaying almost all Councils.
Rates taxes are now at $70 a week and more, cheap for the wealthy home owner but a burden for the poor one. No Council has raised the rebate much either in all those years.
This is the beginning of Unified Planning. We are talking a plan for the future here, not a prop for the present. Yes there will be pain anger and fightback from threatened interests. Huge changes are needed to overcome the neglect.
Where would our Airline be without Government support in hard times "because it is a strategic asset" So is water, and we already have large overseas entities wanting ours, while Cities are already taking it from nearby places to supliment poor planning.
The number of "shortfalls in infrastructure" this Government is facing is critical.
They have a huge number of important projects underway, and an army of critics and partisan parties to negotiate with including iwi. Yesterday for the first time in years cross party planning took place to try to mitigate aspects of our housing conundrum. I am the first to say that is not the whole answer, but if it encourages developers to consider smaller homes near transport hubs, yes it is a necessary helpful change.
The infrastructure to support such inner city intensification and modernisation needs services of a magnitude no Council is currently considering, except in newer developments. We will argue about this, but those who think this Government is all "Kindness" and "No Spine" may get a surprise. They move when they see it is required.
Having worked 8 years in this industry I think you've gotten the wrong end of the stick here vto. This is a long-overdue reform that will create a number of regional water entities across logical geographic boundaries – it isn’t about centralising everything in Wellington.
Water supply is a high-tech industrial process that requires a range of specialist skills to meet modern standards and expectations. Small councils simply cannot attract and retain the people necessary. Just as an example – we had one of our staff move to a smaller council to an apparently more senior role, but return just a few years later very disappointed at the lack of support and resources available to such a small organisation.
Last I counted in 2013 the Wellington Region alone had 14 organisations responsible for water in one form or another serving a population of barely 650,000. While the formation of Wellington Water in 2014 rationalised this somewhat – it has to be stood in stark contrast to say the UK where there are just 14 entitities serving the entire nation.
Modern water systems are not for well-meaning, under-resourced amateurs.
All organisational systems have flaws.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/126014679/my-hopes-for-a-flood-solution-drain-away
Yes. I've worked in both small and large settings, private and public. Each has it's strengths and weaknesses. But since councils first started providing water services over 100 years ago the world – and the nature of the task – has changed.
I have to admit to being a little biased here – having lived and worked in multiple countries in the past two decades, I have to tell you that while NZ remains my home and close to my heart – it really is a small nation. Just one large scale water supply authority typical everywhere else in the world could do the whole of NZ standing on it's ear.
On a tangent I recently discovered this extraordinary bit of water history. The WA Goldfields project built over 120 years ago still staggers my imagination. The whole story of it is one of vision, audacity and for the era a mind-bending scale. And also of parochialism, small-mindedness and ultimately a tragedy.
But in time it proved the backbone of the state generating value vastly beyond it's originally contested origins.
Incidentally O'Connor came to WA from 20 yrs on the West Coast where among other things he led the building of Westport's harbour.
Being on the ground level of such a project here would have provided the confidence to look at the blank canvas and go big on the water scheme.
Nelson Council has decided to opt in for which I am very glad. Seems to me a no brainer to accept funding and expertise and to take away yet another voice of dissent every time we the people decide to make water quality better.
Unfortunately there is only one place for "other funding" to come from … the people in other areas. So let's TAX other people to solve our problems?
Eventually we run out of both other people’s money and created debt
Central government has cheaper debt funding cost, that quite apart from councils having debt caps that prevent long term infrastructure action.
If we don't have essential infrastructure.
We will not be able to earn any money.
BTW. It is OUR money, we earned. Not "other peoples".
It may get initial funding but in the longterm it will mean a new tax for every household on top of rates and central govt taxes while councils who have already taxed rate payers for upgrades will effectively pay again.
The govt should directly fund upgrades for areas who have poor quality water.
Not installing a whole new bearaucracy which no doubt such up a good percentage of any rate payers funding.
At last we can agree on something subby
Revival of bipartisan politics after a hiatus of 14 years has substantial political implications.
The next poll will be most interesting. Pipsqueak reckons he must consult his caucus before declaring an Act view of the new law, but he expressed personal disapproval of it. If his colleagues go along with him on that, the right will have a new pivot point.
JC deserves credit for initiating the bipartisan effort. It proves her capable of being more than merely divisive. I suspect the public will reward her with a poll boost. If it stalls the rise of Act, and the next poll shows a plateau of Act support, her leadership status will probably no longer be under threat.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/political-consensus-on-nzs-deep-rooted-housing-problems
“It is a significant political step for both parties, which face pressure from urban property owners who are unhappy with more housing being built in their neighbourhoods. By both backing the bill, the parties have essentially agreed to not capitalise on that vote.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/david-seymour-not-keen-on-housing-bill-promises-he-is-still-a-libertarian/YOSF53MIDHM6JQKZGK7KAK2HLY/
"I suspect the public will reward [Collins] with a poll boost."
…………………………
That's an interesting speculation, Dennis. Wonder if you'll be proven right? Collins has basically been collecting brickbats & down votes all year. Perhaps some of the voting public ARE tired of reacting negatively to Collins' many ill-judged antics.
I think she will certainly be pleased that so much media reaction to this move has been favourable. 👍🏼
We'll see. Perhaps the next RR poll will feature on 3/Newshub soon. Seems noteworthy to me that both major parties are taking a stand against the urban capitalists. The obvious move for Act is to take advantage of their bipartisan representation of the rest of Aotearoa by marketing itself as the party of the nouveau riche. Pipsqueak: "Yeah, we're the aristocracy of the future. You got it."
Dunno if he'll have the balls to go for it. If he does, I bet he fronts with a smoke & mirrors act to deflect attention from his lunge for the plum.
Interesting political trade off by National. They’ve thrown votes ACT’s way by shitting on the ratepayer lobbies, but picked up truck loads of funding from developer lobbies. Puts ACT in an interesting position.
Think the government (Woods?) has played both of them like a piano.
Next poll Act and National are close to even.
Act just needs to repeat: “Jacinda sucks”; that’ll do it.
Not sure it do much poll wise actually.
Might just be me missing the obvious, which wouldn't be a first, but seems to have gone largely under the radar with the whole Covid thing going on.
One Ewes at 6 last night made a fairly major news item out of it.
poll-wise Jacinda is going to gather all the negative on this (and there will be large large amounts of it, guaranteed) and Judith will get away scot-free..
what on earth was Jacinda thinking
I think for once, not just PR value tbh
you might be right ct.. what I do know is that the screeching from these inner-city neighbourhoods will reach fever pitch over this..
Think it is actually a clever move by Ardern.
They were looking a bit control freak, closed shop, with the whole Covid, can't say nothing till Tuesday/Friday 4pm
Gives the impression they are open to others input.
Kind of shows how dim Collins is for rollng with it.
Just maybe. Politicians on both sides are looking at solving one of the countires ongoing problems together.
Not a bad thing.
National could follow on from that by making constructive suggestions to help solve the 3 waters problem, instead of Luxon spouting bullshit.
That wouldn't be a "reward" so much as "defibrillation".
Swinging sparrows & sparrows in my kitchen
If, as mentioned be some experts we go down the path of 'allowing businesses to fail' the govt needs to legislate to override the personal guarantees often needed to secure a commercial lease.
This will avoid at least the spectre of complete financial wipeout and the forced sale of the homes of small business owners and I would extend that to putting requirements on banks to avoid these situations as well.
The pain needs to be shared atm Banks are creaming it.
We have allowed businesses to day since last year. But i am sure that someone is working hard on cracking this issue. One day. One day. Until then, some owners will have to sell their private belongings to pay a lease on a commercial property that is still at the cost of before 2019 – because nothing was done to force property owners to drop their leases either to a more accurate reflection of the business market, or to have a large enough sum ready to pay oneself out of a lease with a lumpsum.
But then, hey, all these tall poppy business people, they all need cutting back a bit, right. If they would have had some foresight (something that we can not ask the government for) then they would have planned for a 5+ year plague, lockdowns, and so on. So they deserve what they get. Right? s/
“The pain needs to be shared atm Banks are creaming it.”
………………………….
👍🏼
"The pain needs to be shared atm Banks are creaming it."
Recall the GFC, created by the banks… the banks got saved… so wrong, so very wrong…
But really, let them fail. Pandemics are a well known risk. It aint as if this is something new in the world – they are common. Taxpayers and wage and salary earners are not there to underwrite businesses. No way.
And also keep in mind that such sentiment runs both ways… if wage and salary earners are going to be required to share in the downside then they must also share in upsides… good luck
Kind of unfair. As usless as they can be, you can;'t just let big banks go bust.
Too many peoples livehoods and actual lives involved, in more ways than one.
You kind of want to avoid people offing themselves rather than telling their partner they no longer own their house and all their savings have gone
Yes I appreciate my point lacked those hard political realities. I guess I was pointing out that this entire issue is very fraught and much more complex than high level thoughts typically allow.
Keep in mind that in saying this "you can;'t just let big banks go bust. Too many peoples livehoods and actual lives involved, in more ways than one."….
… actually happens all the time. Small people, and one-offs get shat on by this kind of thing constantly. They don't matter though do they – just one person here, another over there, not enough to make a headline… it is apparently only important if large numbers of people suffer…
injustice
I know because I have been one of those such sufferers – kicked in the head and stomped on by exactly what you refer to – where was my saviour? ha
That is a fair point.
A lot of big businesses have gone tits up and lives have been screwed.
Big banks though man. That could get very ugly.
Lot more people invested
Having said that. I realise totally that my point seems to send innense bias on behalf of big banks over other people just trying to make a living with their hard worked business.
So kind of admit I am a bit of a hypocrite with it.
I think I kind of look at how many people will be screwed over it. And unfortunately banks win.
Maybe they should have to pay some mega tax, insurance thing to run.
I know actual insurance companies are insured by mega insurance companies
Government should be provided with a shareholding proportional to the size of the necessary bailout if the bank is ‘too big to fail’.
Kind of used to think the same thing, but politics and banks could be a bad mix.
Not sure I want the Greens having a say in my savings, or the Nats.
Get your point though. Would put onus on them
Yep. Can't have the Greens stopping the banks from funding hydrocarbon pollution and clearing native bush and wetlands.
No one ever wants that sort of desperation – at least now it's become visible to people who never recognised how easy that can come about until covid knocked on their doors
At least there has been back-up but TBH most people continue on relatively normally with better understanding for those who genuinely can't & lost income
There was none of that with the GFC you battled on sometimes for months with no work so you mortgaged the house & eventually battled thru
People left for work in Aus, couldn't sell at a loss or even rent their home in 2011-12 what a surprise to return in 2015 & the next year sell it for twice the price the following year
At least NZ has a govt prepared to back all its people, the more they're included the less people will feel pushed to the edges – it's a start
Killing off personal guarantees for commercial leases wont hurt the taxpayers one bit and will stop people becoming suddenly destitute which certainly would.
The second half of that would be requirements on mortgage holders to provde relief to commercial landlords if needed.
Shared costs.
Yes you have nailed it.
Despite fundamentally changing the law of contract, removing personal guarantees and allowing business to default, would just kick the financial pain to someone who has everything they own secured by an Aussie bank.
Unless there was some relief offered to that person, I only see the banks winning with this proposal.
It’s a very complex issue that will take the wisdom if Solomon to resolve. For every tenant like Sabine, and ourselves, (we’re paying 2018 rent and have taken 5% of our rent in last month) who are genuine cases there will be 10 who will have a go to try and screw over their landlord for a lower rent.
Designing a program that gets just the genuinely affected without creating a lot of sad boundary cases that fester in the media will be hard.
Then you get businesses that were marginal / failing before covid but have zombied on thanks to the government support. Whole thing’s a huge stinking can of worms
There has already been cases of big firms using their clout to aviod paying leases during covid.
Even though they certainly have the means to do so. (Have to protect those commercial landlords from tenants bad faith while at the same time helping those with genuine hardship.
Pleasently surprised talking to small business owners I know, how many of their commercial landlords have come to the party on rent.
From experience a while back, big trade creditors are supportive with arrangements when you cannot pay on time. IRD also.
Pity that banks have been less helpful.
Only the whistle blowers were punished of the Ponzi scheming bank's.
1929 showed it was a mistake to let the Banks fail. BUT the best option used was to Nationalise those banks as in NZ ie BNZ then sell them off when stabilised not loosing taxpayers money and allowing corrupt practices to be rewarded. The 1998 economic correction showed this in Mexico and Ecuador. With new computers that were powerful enough to look at numbers profitability and over all benefits to economies.
But the power of big business has not been blunted and the Trump administration removed protections to stop banks printing and ponzi scheming ie loan to deposit ratios and massive management bonuses .
Then in the GFC.
Iceland let the banks fail….
Iceland bailed out local depositors to the tune €5.8 billion euros.All overseas depositors lost everything. Given the size of Icelands economy they could not afford to bail out the banks.
That's why NZ does stress tests on our banks and are trying to get them to cover their deposits as opposed to govt bailouts.
Our govt paid for insurance in 2007 but remember South Canterbury Finance Bill English forgot to renew the policy sitting on his desk for 6 weeks. So we all paid for that ponzi scheme.
Initial reports of a looming crisis of capitalism will have many thinking `deja vu all over again'. But the blip theory of economics can be considered alongside the gradualist evolutionary view. What evidence of a paradigm shift do we have?
Stiglitz is very Green/socialist, eh?
As usual with socialists, the interview is big on telling us what we already know and small on feasible solutions that promise good outcomes.
Judith plan," I snap my fingers you do it, "
Judith Collins on National's target for ending lockdowns https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/453883/judith-collins-on-national-s-target-for-ending-lockdowns
" country would reopen to the world at a vaccination rate of 85-90 percent of the eligible population "
While I am no fan of Collins, not actually sure why you disagree with this. as long as the countries were each classified as to risk in all their current situations,
Do you mind elaborating?
Will Collins elaborate? I think the point is she says these blank meaningless things without the subtleties. Like "85%" of all? Or eligible? Of NZ? Of the world? It's just meaningless, simple sloganeering.
90% sounds great but is it enough? Also that 10% may mean 30-40% of māori. Def means all under 12s right now.
"90% sounds great but is it enough? "
Yes I think it is. Other countries seem to think less is.
Honestly. Do you actually want the country to stay closed, when it has been let lose now and shutdowns are no longer the best option?
90% currently seems to be pushed and achievable. That still means at some stage someone from government will have to actually articulate what happens when that 90% is achieved.
And maybe that needs to happen to entice people to get their jabs.
Think she probably means NZ. It actually says eligible, and frankly it is more fricken straight than anything the current govt has said.
Well till we we find out Friday, because although they obviously know, they can't say it till Friday
"Collins said there was no reason why the target couldn't be reached.
"We need to get on. We've got now now around 80, close to 85, percent of people have had at least one vaccination. After a big effort to get people vaccinated. There's another six weeks to go. There's no reason why everyone can't get the rest."
There shes said it, no reason at all, shes said it so I have every confidence it will now happen just as she proposes.
yea right
Well Collins wouldn't even have let the virus get in. "Forever", get a grip, it's been what, a few months? Every country is struggling with this.
We actually do need to get on, unless you want a load of unemployed people.
Businesses are dying
Cellular organisms live and die; businesses succeed and/or fail – get a grip.
We are moving on, and the current pace is a compromise – too slow for some, too hasty for others.
And most are doing OK, if not better than usual.
Unemployment is down. BTW.
Your selective quoting left out the 'or Dec 1st, whichever comes first'.
So any talk of %'s is just fertilizer.
That is a fair point. But I just happen to agree with her for once. It is getting ridiculous, now the thing is spreading.
The thing that's spreading, Collins's reckons or Delta?
Collins gave an ultimatum which ever comes first, Dec 1 or 85 – 90% vaccinated.
Collins will need a magic wand to manage a fully blown pandemic post 1 Dec if every region is opened up at the same time. The country is under resourced with health workers and ICU beds and any staggered opening up will depend on a region peaking and trending down.
I cannot exclude humanitarian health workers being deployed to NZ.
John Minto is perplexed:
Thing is, John, God helps those who help themselves. If the working class organised themselves into a political force, Labour would have to factor them into the political equation. Since the working class have been resolute in their stand against political action in common cause for as long as anyone can remember, I'm puzzled about your perplexity John! You're only four years younger than me. You've had plenty of time to figure it out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Minto
"God helps those who help themselves". That makes sense just like:
"The harder I work, the luckier I am"
union busting may have played a part
https://www.amrc.org.hk/content/union-busting-aotearoa-new-zealand-becoming-subtle-and-psychological
You're right in respect of history. That link provides useful insight into the mass psychology of employment relations. I learnt about that stuff myself in various career situations. However game theory provides a better view than class consciousness: if you identify as a player rather than as a class member then natural human agency is the determining factor.
As a free agent your chances of being made a victim of life's circumstances depend on how clever you are in relation to any opponents, how lucky you are, and how much willpower you apply to your situations. Depending which choices you make, fate then plays its accompanying hand. In contrast, those who depend on unions are at the mercy of union reps & poor decision-making by them.
Unions, unlike workplaces, are Democratic organisations.
" If the working class organised themselves into a political force".
They did. It was called the New Zealand Labour Party and it was founded in Wellington on 7 July 1916. It was of course taken over by the people of academic-socialist beliefs about 35 years ago and hasn't had anything to do with the working class since.
Indeed! Doesn't explain why the working class allowed the middle class to steal their project though. Nor does it explain their apparent lack of effort to co-create an alternative. Nor have I ever noticed any attempt by political scientists to explain why.
So you & I are free to advance our own theories, Alwyn. How about everyone is working together to deny that the working class have any inherent collective political agency? Too intellectual? How about the theory of universal cluelessness stretching to the horizon in all directions? Well that would only work on the basis of allowing all those who believe they are exceptions to the rule to register that dissident identity. Me first!
Look at "deliberate disinfrancising of the working class" since 1984!
Weka.
What about the "human right" to go to work, with out the danger of getting a potentially deadly illness, and taking it home to your family?
Why should someones right to aviod a harmless, and it is harmless, compared with most other things we regard as harmless, needle in the arm override others "Human right to life".
That is without even going into the loss of income, health and jobs for those that get sick. Hundred of jobs plus the delivery of essential materials food and groceries, is at risk if my workplace has covid cases forcing shut down. Watch all those MT supermarket and hardware store shelves, double.
In many workplaces, mine included physical distancing is impossible, when someone arrives with a cold we all get it. Why should my right to try and keep my family safe be overiddin, by someone who, to put it bluntly, is basically too mis-informed, selfish or stupid, to protect those around them.
Not to mention the rights of those who cannot choose, those with immune deficiency, who have allergic reactions to vaccines, who have health problems where vaccinations don't work.
What about their right, to go about their normal day safely?
Anti-vaccers want "Choice". But they want "choice" without personal consequences. They want their choice, even if it removes "choice" and even the "right to life" for others. A very childish veiwpoint.
"Choices" have consequences. If you want "choices" then you also have to accept that society has a right to protect the people those "choices" will harm.
Vaccination is only part of the tool kit. Other measures will be required for some time to come. But it reduces the chances of a disaster in NZ considerably, if enough are vaccinated. The number required looks like well over 90%. Even more in crowded workplaces, schools and hospitals.
[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.]
There's nothing in my post about anti-vaxxer values around choice. Nor am I anywhere saying that vaccination is wrong. And I said that vaccination is a bloody good tool for helping reduce spread of covid and protect individuals.
I probably should have pointed out in the post that people not yet vaccinated are so because of a range of reasons that reducing them all to 'evil antivaxer' is counter productive. But I thought that was obvious from context. Māori and disabled people don't have low vax rates because they're lazy and selfish.
So I'm really not sure what you are talking about.
Do you want to remove existing human rights in order to force people to be vaccinated? What would that force entail. If this is what you want, then please speak plainly. I don't want to do another round of dancing around this.
But please also put it in the context of the actual post.
I thought I have made it obvious over several conversations about this.
We cannot hold people down obviously. And I will never agree to that anyway.
But if someone makes a choice not to be vaccinated. They have to accept, like most "choices" we make in life, that there are consequences for that choice.
Consequences that protect others, like not being able to work in occupations such as teaching, health care and aged care. Or travel where they can spread covid to many people. For example.
Maori, amoung others, have low vaccination rates because of access and mis-information. Both I believe can be addressed. It will take some effort, but it is not insoluble.
And. I didn’t reduce them all to “evil anti vaccers”.
Mis-informed for many. As I believe I made clear. However the people behind the mis-information do not have good motives.
Nothing personal KJT, it’s not just your comment. I’m not willing to have my posts derailed by arguments that all unvaxed people are stupid/selfish/lazy/whatever. This both inhibits good debate, but it also works against getting more people vaccinated.
You are more than welcome to comment under my post if you address what is actually in the post.
And, we can continue the above discussion in OM 👍
The post was all over the place, making a lot of general points about systemic problems. Not surprising that people respond to your most contentious assertions. Are you in Auckland?
There is a reason that people respond with bitterness and frustration. We are tired of the fuckery of a few antisocial idiots holding a city of 1.8 million to ransom.
then address that in the post. Say what the contentious assertions are and put up an argument. That way I will know if you understood the post or are just going off on something about anti-vaxxers. You did address the race/ethnicity issue, and I responded, so we both know how to do this.
because the impression I had from both you and KJT is that you misinterpreted what I said.
I am going a bit crazy under endless lockdown. And then Weka comes along and suggests we should be "kind" while Auckland is held to ransom by a few munters who refuse to paddle the waka, and seem to be actively trying to sink it. Half of the Christian community is spreading this free-dumb bullshit. The vaccine denial and rhetoric about government overreach is endemic across facebook, in Marae pages, Tradie pages, and "Alternative health" practitioners. Facebook needs to die in a fire.
Really frustrating. I want to be kind to people, but people also need to be kind to others by getting a f&$ing jab and wearing a f&#ing mask.
[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.]
[“And then Weka comes along and suggests we should be "kind" while Auckland is held to ransom…” No, that’s not what I said. No-one gets to tell lies on this site about my views (or any author’s), including about a post I have written, and when I am here and available to clarify. If you don’t understand, ask. You are free to tell me how any post come across, and I will clarify.
If I see anyone doing this again, I will be moderating. We’re all stressed and tense, and Auckland people doubly so. My suggestion is to take a breath and remember that TS is for robust debate and that still has actual meaning here. You cannot just choose to make up shit about other people. – weka]
Weka wants people to be kind, but Weka is [deleted]
[I also don’t take this smeary shit from commenters, even authors. Don’t misrepresent what I say onsite for your own agenda. I would clarify, but unfortunately people are being arseholes, I don’t have time or inclination for long time commenters who should know better, so I’m deleting instead. – weka]
I don't believe Weka has ever stated she is unvaccinated or that living in a rural setting will 'save her'.
I certainly didn't say that living in the country would save me (Ad is outright lying there). I'm booked in for two vaccinations. I explained in the comment, in context, why some people are still unvaxed and aren't lazy/stupid/an anti-vaxer. I've deleted that comment and a quote of it, because people here are stepping over a line here.
Um really not convinced its a good thing to putting an authors vaccination status out there, if indeed true or has Weka laid her position dowm somewhere?
See comment 1.3.1.2 on the "Covid and Kindness" post. (not gonna link because the site messes up internal links).
I've deleted the quote and my original comment, because obviously there are people here that cannot be trusted to not use my personal shared details against me politically, by taking my words out of context.
Stop and think about what you are doing (Rob and Ad, and everyone actually). If you feel free to misrepresent my views or my life, how are you ever going to convince anyone to amend social media misinformation?
And, you cannot tell lies about authors on this site.
Sorry if I come across as a grumpy old man. I deffo feel that way lately.
thanks rob, appreciate that. I do understand that some people are doing it way harder than others at the moment. I hope it changes soon.
I clarified upthread.
Mod note.
mod note for you.
All good. Keep making up excuses. I hope your solution works. But Aucklanders' tolerance is running out fast.
I'm not making excuses, and given how much time I've put into trying to talk with you today, I'm not going to try and explain further. You're sailing close to short ban if you can't shift out of the accusatory, misleading shit. If you want to make actual arguments you are free to do so (and this I would welcome).
As I think I've said before, I'm in Auckland and I am over the lockdown and ready to open up tomorrow.
Looking at testing numbers compared to NSW we are only testing approx at 25% the rate NSW.
We need our rate to go up to be able to control the virus.
Especially with the number of unlinked cases.
The govt is allowing health workers to be prioritised in MIQ.But is not giving visas to those migrant heathworkers already here.
This should be highlighted by the opposition.
https://twitter.com/KJ_Harrison/status/1450577708476469260
We must be on the same information quest. Read that this morning, along with:
Stephen B Levine's 2018 article in Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy – Informed Consent for Transgendered Patients
and the article which led me to both on the Child Protection resources website:
In whose best interests, transgender children choices and consequences – Sarah Phillimore.
We need Tommy Lee Jones here. We have another fugitive!
Covid-19: Alleged MIQ escapee still missing, another charged | Stuff.co.nz
Preview of tonight's 6 pm headlines:
Brian Tamaki in custody. Protests for the cameras. Will lead the news.
It's often said that a key component of political success is to be lucky with your enemies. Tamaki, Goudie, Slater and co must have been selected by central casting, working in the PM's office.
New slogan for the vax campaign: "Annoy Brian with a little prick".
Problem I see is you could end up making him just a martyr to his weirdo followers. But not much choice I guess
What would be a good idea would be to give Brian Tamaki a 6 month jail sentence which would prevent him travelling overseas insurance and bank loans would be harder for him to obtain.The Tax department should go over him with a fine tooth comb.
I was reflecting on the continued demise of telephone boxes around the country this morning. The continual removal of such as recently even hit the national party. It seems that in many areas the "Retain Judith As Party Leader committees" no longer have venues to hold their meetings. Some committees have however reported that phone boxes are proving too big and they were already looking for smaller venues.
lol