this represent the fall of the speculator class
watch as they head for the exit door all at once in blind panic as they realize there debt positions are hopeless
Bear in mind too that this behaviour equally applies to the NZ dollar.
I’ve already come across several people gloating about how they bought significant amounts of US currency in the last few weeks and have just made an enormous tax free profit.
Capitalism attacks what it doesn’t like via all means possible.
This is indeed , Winstons , NZ Firsts ,… and this country’s finest hour.
His namesake is and was prophetic,… and with co workers the Greens and a conciliatory Adern and Labour party ,… expect a real resurgence of NZ popular culture and prosperity.
This is the real New Zealand calling ,- with all its rambunctious , good hearted , slap happy and ‘ no worry’s mate ‘ way of dealing with life.
This is what we are all about , – prosperity , hard work , and a sense of equality among our community. The exact opposite of the Roger Douglas / Ruth Richardson era.
We are the New Zealanders.
We are a great nation.
And we are self determined.
And we reject globalism , neo liberalism and being pawns to global banking elites and their advocates.
Aye … an idealist I know,… but these are the essence of the NZ experience that generations understood. It was terminated in 1984. There is no reason not to reclaim back what was once ours by birthright.
It is simply a reversal of many of the tenuous ‘legislation’s’ passed under the auspices of the NZ Initiative ( former Business Roundtable ) using willing politicians of the time .
You will find ,… that it is not all that hard to reverse.
All it takes is some blunt honesty and the guts to say ‘ no more’ .
It feels good doesn’t it? Just to know most people want truth fairness and hope.
Keep posting Eco Maori, you often express new ways of looking at familiar things. That is valuable.
Finally there is hope for our once fair Country.
I am really looking forward to the resurrection of public broadcasting. The media have so much to answer for.
TVNZ needs a big sort out either get rid of the likes of Hoskins or so we keep the so called “freedom of speech” return Channel 7 that can give an alternative counter-argument against the crap that is regurgitated all the time.
Made a point of hunting out Hoskings this morning and what a hoot! Over the top. Doom and Gloom from a chap who used to be scathing of those who talk Doom and Glooom. Hypocrite.
Along with sorting out tvnz,
winz and their reptilian ways,
housing nz and their p hysteria,
the police- either sledge hammer to open a walnut a la Nicky Hager or ‘nothing to see here’ a la Todd debarclay.
Our letter to all parties in the new Labour lead government sent this morning.
Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre. (CEAC) Est’ 2001.
PO Box 474. Napier. Email; clean.air@xtra.co.nz
Protecting our environment & health.
In association with other Community Groups, NHTCF and all Government Agencies since 2001.
20th October 2017.
Public COMMUNITY letter
TO all Executive MP’s/Ministers of the new labour Lead Government.
Firstly we congratulate all your wise choices that has given us a ‘new dawn’ of change to a warm, caring, inclusive, considerate Government for our future.
Our message blog (below) has been sent to you for real change for today to consider.
Please seriously consider those points for our regional communities environmental & social wellbeing for our future please.
We must have this new Labour lead Gov’t to swiftly purge all former National cling-on’s from all government positions and agencies and SOE’s such as Kiwi rail as these National cling-ons were placed inside kiwi rail and it’s own board to kill our rail system off and isolate the management from public contact, this we know as we have emails from kiwi rail management saying the public have been excluded from contacting all Kiwi rail management last year. Top Board of Kiwi rail appointees by National were Paula Rebstock must be fired now as she was so toxic to Kiwi rail’s survival.
NZTA/Kiwi rail/Ministry of Transport all must loose their top National Party placed management and be replaced by labour Lead appointed administrative positions.
A new Minister of rail must be announced by Labour lead government to protect our own Rail company again and setup to restore our regional freight and passenger rail services again.
The Ministry of the Environment Management must loose all national party appointees also.
The Parliamentary commissioner for the Environment must re-instate a labour chosen appointee as national have just chosen a former national MP as the new commissioner for the Environment so that is such a bad move and must be stopped.
“Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment” (PCE) is one of the most important agencies Labour must return full funding to provide complete public services to and conduct regional studies on all environmental issues of concerns to all communities again as labour had set up this agency when last in Government.
Also included must be similar changes in all Regional Government Management positions as those National appointed managers were becoming un-cooperative with the communities they are supposed to serve.
We must re-instate the Ministry of Transport as “principal advisory” to Government again, as it was during the last labour Government.
National had deliberately reduced Ministry of Transport to a door stop for government policies under National and have deliberately advanced NZTA as ‘king of transport’ which is wrong as NZTA is only simply an ‘RCA’ or a (road controlling agency)
Next we need to return all Government documents to the Former labour government policy platforms & positions regarding the insertion of the “policies for agencies to have regard for “Environmental and Social policy planning” inside all documents supplied to public, Local, and central governments.
This will ensure we move to save our society’s environment, health and regional wealth of our NZ Nation again after a painful nine year loss to us all.
[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.]
We must have this new Labour lead Gov’t to swiftly purge all former National cling-on’s from all government positions
“Purge”?
Add to that the demands for Hosking and others to be fired …
I know the internet is essentially about sad little powerless people venting their madness (that’s why I feel at home on it) but you don’t think you’re striking rather too Stalinist a note here?
If I was Duncan Gardner I would see reality and change my tone or is all that cash national has in his right pocket to heavy for him to see his future.
Ka Pai.
Herald on-line:
Mike Hosking: “Already a mess – we are all in trouble.
Winston Peters opens with a dissertation on how the world is coming to an end, and it won’t be the new government’s fault. ”
Yes Mike, the world is going to end. People like you are convinced it is. You tell us we are in trouble. Peters says something at the beginning and you say it means the world is going to end.
The dire degree of the trouble we are in is shown by the fact that such a limited, self-absorbed drama queen like you has any role in our media to splurge out your nonsensical rantings. The dire degree of the trouble we are in is shown by the fact the numbers in the country are sucked into believing you and the dumbness you spout.
I heard this morning that Jacinda Ardern was to be on your programme. Her pre-election visits to pre-schools would have prepared her I suppose. If she got to speak to the three year olds.
Feeling blessed with the new government. Thank you to all.
Also feeling blessed with our underfunded health service still doing it under adverse circumstances. I had a heart attack yesterday, helicopter flight, stent put in..
Make sure you say I love you to those you love – life is a journey no doubt about that. Kia kaha.
Holy shit marty! Thanks for letting us know you are ok and as always focussing on the things that matter. All the best with recovering, be good to yourself too e hoa. Kia tino ora ki a koe.
But these days it’s spectacular how well they can deal with these things – I had a mate who literally died in ED, and two days later they had a consistent blood pressure, new meds for him, a stent in, and he was good to go home.
And, being Otago, they gave him 4 cheese rolls for lunch lol
Was it before or after Winston’s news Marty? You’ll be able to take the political news more calmly now, thank goodness. Relax and enjoy, you have put your time in keeping the discussion alive making points to be considered. When you are back on the beat again you can give us a report on the Nelson? Hospital standards. Mauri ora!
Ouch. Just catching up on that news. It is a bit of shock. But if you’re operating afterward enough to write comments on a blog and get annoyed with the colour beige you’re probably OK.
I effectively died at home in 2011 with a severe myocardial infarction after a pile of goop dropped out of a artery wall and caused a blood clot that stopped a large part of the flow of blood to the heart. Fortunately I live only a few minutes from the ambulance base and I have a deeply suspicious partner who was wondering why I was making funny noises, knew CPR and kept hitting me while juggling the phone. A case of spousal abuse that I can live with.
The stents work and drugs are effective once you get the right dosages and if you haven’t taken too much heart muscle damage. I was back at work a week later because it was so frigging boring being at home.
The worst of it for me was giving up smoking and then putting on weight. Still trying to get that off.
The whole world will take not of this date in time for the cataclysmic shift in our political system to a society that does not worship money over people”s
Welfare or over our future mother earth and our grandchildren future .P.S. I was matching Tv 1 and 3 news on 2 lap tops this morning please be fair
Kia Kaha
Instead of hanging out Taika Waititi as a traitor, the first useful thing this government could do is make every single real estate agent unemployed. They can go milk cows for a while.
“When Kiwi Keith, Barry Gustafson’s biography of Holyoake was published in 2007, Michael Bassett criticised the lack of explanation about ‘the accusations leveled at Holyoake over his influence to get essential services into Kinloch that appears to have turned him and his partners into wealthy men’. [2] Bassett was referring to the fortuitous building of a government road to the edge of the partners’ property. But in truth there is much more to scrutinize than Holyoake’s influence in having the road built. There are the circumstances, for instance, of his acquisition of Māori land there in 1956.”
While road use is up 15% from 2013, deaths are up 60%.
According to the report, more lives could have been saved for half the cost of one of the National Government’s roads of national significance.
The entire state highway network could have had median barriers put in place for half the cost of one of the National’s roads of national significance.
Let’s hope our new Government will pick up on this.
A little disappointed the Greens failed to achieve their preference (a full coalition deal with Labour). And from what I can gather, secured no core benefit increase.
I’ll have more comment once the dust settles and policy is announced.
While road use is up 15% from 2013, deaths are up 60%.
According to the Ministry of Transport’s information, the road toll in 2013 was 253 and in 2016 it was 328. That’s a 30% increase, not 60%.
Next time you’re out on the roads, ponder this: Your risk of dying in a crash is 40% higher now than it was in 2013.
Relative risk increases are great for scare stories in the media, but not much use otherwise. When the level of risk is very low, significant percentage increases still leave the risk very low, eg if your risk of getting a particular cancer in the next five years is 0.0001 and there’s something that increases it to 0.00014, that’s a 40% increase but nobody in the media is going to make headlines out of a risk increasing by a fraction of a tenth of a percent, so you give them the 40% relative increase instead and they run with that, horribly misleading though it is.
In other words, your risk of being killed in a crash this year is not significantly greater than it was in 2013.
Aye using %ages without providing the underlying numbers is always dishonest. It gives no sense of context especially if the increase is off a low base.
”According to the Ministry of Transport’s information, the road toll in 2013 was 253 and in 2016 it was 328. That’s a 30% increase, not 60%”
You only went as far as 2016, this research goes to 2017.
Total road fatalities in New Zealand in the past 12 months alone was 373.
Whether or not it is coming off a low risk base, the chance of having a crash is still 40% higher now than in 2013.
And regardless if it is a low risk rate overall, there is far too many people being killed and harmed on or roads. Median barriers would go a long way in reducing those numbers.
Sure they would. But “Your risk of X is 40% higher” is a completely worthless piece of information. If your risk X was 0.5 and now it’s 0.7, that’s pretty scary. But it was 0.0001 and now it’s 0.00014, so what? Without the context, the percentage is worth nothing.
If fewer people were killed on the roads, that would be great, yes. Funnily enough, I’m not taking issue with that sentiment (might be a bit of a contrarian, but few are that contrarian).
I’m taking issue with your view that next time I drive I should think about my alleged 40% increased risk of dying. Given that my risk of dying has gone from extremely low in 2013 to, er, still extremely low in 2017, no I’m not going to think about that. Trying to achieve safer driving through misuse of statistics isn’t a good plan.
I wasn’t trying to achieve safer driving through the misuse of statistics (not that the statistics were misused). I was highlighting the reported increase in risk and the need for median barriers.
No more privatisations.
NIMT electrification intact
No more rail line closures.
No more new charter schools or private prisons (though existing contracts will need to be honoured).
A new day has dawned with a fresh new government. Won’t be easy with the multiple issues to be sorted, but they will give their best and everything seems more optimistic after the stale, tired regime that will now thankfully be the opposition.
Mike Hosking’s childish, petulant display last night was totally unprofessional. Only watched to see what was happening and he should be ashamed and embarrassed (unlikely, since he is so full of his own self-importance).
This is a positive response amongst some pretty negative ones:
“Federated Farmers said it was ready to engage with the new coalition government and that it was time to “cast aside” the divisions that arose during the election campaign, said president Katie Milne.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11935046
Great news, the Greens will have two ministers, it was hoped that the Greens would be full coalition partners, but it still is a Historic moment to finally have members inside Government, things can only get better for them, we all look forward to a long and enduring presence.
A word of warning for Jacinda. She needs to get her coalition together in a private room and tell them to get all their dirty laundry sorted out (if they have any) because the opposition are known for dirt digging and they will be digging to Africa trying to find any dirt which could destabilise her new administration.
Also she needs to tell them in no uncertain terms that they will be required to live a scandal free life from now on in for the duration, no leaving emails, texts around on their phones which could be hacked etc . The opposition will do everything in their power to play their dirty tricks as they have skin on the game big time in this area. I will tell her to keep a tight ship like her mentor and friend Helen.
It wasn’t a matter of one party being prepared to pay more. It was about whose policies were more in line with each others. If Peters asked for repeal of the Employment Relations Act and a 30% cut to all benefits it wouldn’t have been a price at all for English to pay. But it would’ve been a price way too high for Ardern.
Christ, there is a lot of sour grapes out there at the moment, things I have seen written and said to me since Peters said he would go with Labour and it is only 11.00 am Friday morning.
The sky is falling
We are heading back to a communist controlled country like it was under Clark
only allowed to used shower heads and light bulbs they approve off.
Interest rate will go through the ceiling
Banks will stop lending
The dollar will fall
It is a coalition of losers
Food prices will go through the roof
Farmers will walk off their land(haven’t heard that one for a few years) as Labour and the Greens have a hidden agenda introducing a fart tax and tax the water
Our personal taxes will rise
Massive unemployment as NO ONE will be able to afford to employ people.
Crime will skyrocket
It is the end of NZ as we know it (yeah that is right like the last nine years)
You name it and that’s what is going to happen so I added a couple myself.
Birds will now shit on Hoskins car.
The Labour lead coalition will cancel any fine weather this summer and we will have to put up with bad weather for the next three years
Ha ha fucking ha I have not laughed so much for ages, like the last nine years.
It takes time to recognise and live with loss of power.
i recall that in the Nats’ first term under John Key, NZ Labour seemed to present the attitude that they were better political managers – Nats threw everything at gaining power, and few hard plans of what to do with it; John key was a novice leader, kept away from many hard interviews – and I got the impression that the majority of the Labour caucus believed they would most likely regain power after one John key term.
“We are heading back to a communist controlled country like it was under Clark
only allowed to used shower heads and light bulbs they approve off.”
Because Clark, Cullen et al ordered the cumplosolry collectivization of agriculture and forcibly siezed farms around the country with armed Party members.
‘Interest rate will go through the ceiling’
Interest rates are set by the RBNZ, and will be adjusted in December. It will be likely that the OCR will be unchanged, or move only a quarter to half of a percentage point. There will be some bluff and bluster though from the Gov. A hard left governor will probably be appointed. but we shall what happens there
‘Banks will stop lending’
Not loading people up with unsustainable debt is probably a good thing
‘The dollar will fall’
Good for exporters, and FDI?
‘t is a coalition of losers’
English could have given Winston what he wanted.,.but didnt.
‘Food prices will go through the roof’
They already are — thanks to the shit weather over the past year or two.
‘Farmers will walk off their land(haven’t heard that one for a few years) is Labour and the Greens have a hidden agenda introducing a fart tax and tax the water’
Jacinda has chopped the water tax from the sounds of it, and Winston will never allow for a fart tax.
‘Our personal taxes will rise’
But you will get better public services.
‘Massive unemployment as NO ONE will be able to afford to employ people.’
There is a lot of unemployment already, with immigrants taking all the farm and hospo jobs
‘Crime will skyrocket’
It will be no worse or better than it has always been. Doesnt help that a bag of P is probably cheaper than a pack of smokes.
One of the things I’ve found interesting in the last twelve months is the discussions I’ve had with skilled qualified Chinese immigrants.
All have a strong sense of community and of government looking after all it’s citizens.
They are highly supportive of state health care and welfare – and also understand the value of a strong work ethic.
I don’t know any wealthy Chinese overseas investors, and as always anecdote is an example not a trend but I’ve dialogued with enough now to know that those people at least share many of the socialist values that the left do.
I’m not surprised at that – it’s always been interesting see the right sell their souls to the communist enemy (that includes the labour party right-wing neo-libs as well). Course they haven’t really sold their souls – the whole point of capitalism is to make money any way you can.
There’s something there though in congruity that I hope Labour/NZF/Greens can tap in to.
I’m not afeared of more socialist policies vs free market laissez-faire rubbish we’ve endured. While the right argue for individual poor choices being the problem it’s much more evident it’s the higher macro economic settings that are the problem. Less and less and less tax, more and more and more productivity, less and less support for those in lower socio economic circumstance, more and more surveillance of citizens, less and less rights for workers, more and more and more state assets sold, less and less and less public service has not delivered improvement for our country as a whole.
Many of these things need to be wound back.
I just hope that many of those public servants who whole heartedly embraced, and in some cases instigated the selling off of such assets, who wholeheartedly demonised beneficiaries, who privatised and outsourced, who bean counted everything to the bare minimum (health I’m looking at you) and so on – instead of ensuring the public service did their job vanish (in some cases back to the countries from whence they came) quietly.
I hope an environment is re-created of true public service as a priority. One in which authoritarians don’t wish to be in.
It’s a mixed bag, but I’m inclined towards the positive this morning. We have escaped three more years of uncaring government, and who knows what consequences of further starving our public services and ignoring our crises of health, mental health, poverty and neglect. We have a real opportunity for change: but we cannot assume it’s a done deal.
With NZ First inside the government, it will require NZF and Labour to agree on the TPP – so there will be trade offs. Nats may then add to the numbers rather than the GP – but it won’t be the TPP the Nats want. And Peters mentioned being against ISDS in his speech last night – so that’s probably not going to be accepted in new trade agreements.
members of the cabinet must publicly support all governmental decisions made in Cabinet, even if they do not privately agree with them. This support includes voting for the government in the legislature.
Her [Ardern’s] party was critical of the TPP during the campaign, arguing that the deal as it stands would not give the government sufficient power to limit foreign ownership of housing and land. Ardern reiterated Labour’s position on the trade pact during Thursday’s news conference.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who played the role of kingmaker in forming the new government, declared that his party will support Labour’s stance on the TPP.
Peters also revealed his desire to work with Labour to seek a review of the investor-state dispute settlement provision, the last sticking point in the original TPP negotiations, which included the U.S. The provision, known as ISDS, is controversial because it lets investors and corporations challenge regulatory sovereignty by suing national governments in international courts.
“New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who played the role of kingmaker in forming the new government, declared that his party will support Labour’s stance on the TPP.”
Seeing as Labour’s stance is soft, that’s going to disappoint a few. The two concessions don’t cover the vast concerns, but if secured, will help soften the blow. But still, some will feel let down.
wasn’t isds one of the things Labour had an issue with, too? I forget.
My take is that Lab wants an improved TPP without the yanks, whereas nat wants to sign it as-is with all the concessions to the yanks still in, even though the yanks aren’t in it.
And even if the grand coalition for tpp was anything more than tc’s wet dream, it would immediately imperil the coalition arrangements with both the greens and nz1, and I don’t see that as being high on the list of Labour’s priorities at the moment.
As for other right-wing policies, the “even if” criteria still stand. Sure, they might get some stuff though, but the main influences on Labour are economically centrist/left, with a couple of social conservative things from nz1 but overall I reckon benefits, regional development, housing, employment, cheaper tertiary education, and integrated transport (more than roads) are all on the table.
With the eagerness National has expressed for the TPP, I’m sure they’d accept it either way (concessions or not).
A grand coalition is not my wet dream.
There should be some good from this (change of Government) as you rightly highlighted. But there are still some potential downsides, such as the use of a flat regional tax to pay for transport improvements.
holy shit, a coalition government where adults make compromises isn’t going to be completely perfect according to your personal political manifesto? Better emigrate, then…
Dude, I’m not immediately familiar with that policy, which party favours it, or what it will be taxed on. It seems to me that the only person who’s raised it here is you, which means it’s probably not earth-shattering in its impact.
Although regional transport development needs a look at anyway, so anyone who came up with that policy is probably asking the right questions, even if their answers aren’t perfect.
tl/dr: tell me what you’re talking about, and maybe even suggest why I should give a shit.
Well now some of the corporate drugs have been cut off – welfare money & unlimited immigration – lets see if those corporations can step up to the challenge.
Corporations could stop keeping the bulk of their jobs in Auckland -outsorce to the provinces.
Stick some call centre’s and other business units in Palmerston North,Napier, New Plymouth, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin and other places. Shift jobs that can be done easily by older populations to those areas.
Take the pressure off housing & transport in Auckland , cut welfare bills , use under utilised provincial resources, spread prosperity, in a wired world everyone doesn’t need to be parked up in a multi story building in Auckland.
Let me guess, some libertarian tech dude who believes his billions are endangered by governments and their regulations.
In September 2013, the man who bought Brexit – Arron Banks – was in trouble.
For the past two years, financial regulators in Gibraltar had been scrutinising his insurance under-writer, Southern Rock. They had discovered it was keeping reserves far below what was needed.
[…]
One question remains though. If Banks was in such a tight spot in September 2013, how did he manage to be so generous the following year?
So many people have been given hope with our new government, so many.
Every time the news comes on, am smiling ear to ear as I’m reminded of our talented, clued up new government, and it makes me feel so freaking proud to be a NZer.
And then to make things even better, am reminded of the outstanding policies that are going to happen. Loving listening to the news today.
Miss Twelve is walking around wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, she says it’s like Christmas come early.
The kids at school all cheered when I reminded them that with the change of government they will have some incredible opportunities such as going to university, due to the steps that will be taken towards free tertiary education. For kids at the local low decile school, this is MASSIVE
What a wonderful day for so many many New Zealanders
THANK YOU Labour, NZ1st and Greens, thank you for giving us hope 🙂
FPP thinking from Mr. Prebble. None of the parties won or lost the election. Each party received a different amount of votes. The government is made up of the parties able to offer more than 50% of the electoral seats available. The coalition won fair and square.
A discussion on the situation for NZ in coming years as China and USA front of with each other to see who is going to be top dog put NZ as a bone of contention, the meat in the sandwich and other gristley fillings.
The analyst assumes that between the two we must arm ourselves against China.
I think we need to debate this.
Well this is my third vaping pipe I brought one thought it got lifted moko’s . Brought another found the old one was to stressed to use it gave one to my m8 and sent one to my brother . Less stress now I have it worked out now .Its just $50 for a joyetech stainless one and the vanilla tabbco vap juice is ok it only cost $5 a week for this big saving and one just has to remember what it was like when you first started smoking and persist and you will get use to it and no more spending heaps on smokes an your health will improve real quick. P.S if your congested and need to by that stuff on tv just take a panadol it does the same clears the chest and clears the cough Ka pai
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Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM
FFS. It’s bad enough Winston has his claws on the levers of power again, but that song just makes it worse.
Proper song, with some funky dance moves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdvITn5cAVc
I’m sure Jacinda will ask Andrew to dance with her to this catchy tune. Paula meanwhile couldn’t stomp to the beat.
Yes Yes!! Andrew has achieved so much since he earnestly told us “the Labour Party has so much to renew and change”
Well Andrew you did that, and you built a base of enthusiastic candidates and new members.
You selected well from the membership and then with grace passed the torch.
Andrew, your brave call gave us a charismatic Leader to lift us with hope and truth.
Your reward is our grateful thanks to a truly good man.
We salute you and Jacinda and the team you built.
We are fortunate in the maturity and dignity of the coalition Leaders.
Jacinda Winston and James. You will do us proud.
this represent the fall of the speculator class
watch as they head for the exit door all at once in blind panic as they realize there debt positions are hopeless
Real estate agency boss fears ‘Fortress NZ’ under new Government http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11934643
Weren’t these the people who told us foreign buyers were less than 5% of house buyers?
https://www.linz.govt.nz/news/2017-06/linz-releases-latest-property-data
Exactly.
And it just aligns us with how our allies treat foreign ownership here.
These comments from this Real estate agency boss reek of self interest and greed with no thought about what is good for the country.
Interestingly there’s about as many people now employed in real estate at the moment as there was when the market last crashed.
One suspects, as well as from other signs, that it is pretty close to crashing again regardless of which government got in.
The wealthy meanwhile will talk it up so they can offload their properties, their shares and so on the mum and dad investors.
They did this in 87 and they did this prior to the last crash. Sell em when it’s coming and buy em back post crash.
Bear in mind too that this behaviour equally applies to the NZ dollar.
I’ve already come across several people gloating about how they bought significant amounts of US currency in the last few weeks and have just made an enormous tax free profit.
Capitalism attacks what it doesn’t like via all means possible.
Good on you, Winnie – you’ve (almost) restored my belief that politicians should work in the best interests of ALL the country!
This is indeed , Winstons , NZ Firsts ,… and this country’s finest hour.
His namesake is and was prophetic,… and with co workers the Greens and a conciliatory Adern and Labour party ,… expect a real resurgence of NZ popular culture and prosperity.
This is the real New Zealand calling ,- with all its rambunctious , good hearted , slap happy and ‘ no worry’s mate ‘ way of dealing with life.
This is what we are all about , – prosperity , hard work , and a sense of equality among our community. The exact opposite of the Roger Douglas / Ruth Richardson era.
We are the New Zealanders.
We are a great nation.
And we are self determined.
And we reject globalism , neo liberalism and being pawns to global banking elites and their advocates.
Bryan Ferry – This Is Tomorrow [Official] – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnr5eCEoXro
Ah, Wild Katipo, your soaring flights of fancy are quite, quite inspiring!
If nothing else, if a sense of pride in our country and a ‘good as the next man’ feeling is returned to this country, I will be well contented.
Aye … an idealist I know,… but these are the essence of the NZ experience that generations understood. It was terminated in 1984. There is no reason not to reclaim back what was once ours by birthright.
It is simply a reversal of many of the tenuous ‘legislation’s’ passed under the auspices of the NZ Initiative ( former Business Roundtable ) using willing politicians of the time .
You will find ,… that it is not all that hard to reverse.
All it takes is some blunt honesty and the guts to say ‘ no more’ .
Its that simple.
Many thanks to Winston Peters and NZFirst for choosing a bright clean and fair future for everything in our Country.
It feels good doesn’t it? Just to know most people want truth fairness and hope.
Keep posting Eco Maori, you often express new ways of looking at familiar things. That is valuable.
Hear hear
Just read the other day that from the 18th Century “Hear. Hear.” was originally “Hear him. Hear him.” before women could speak up of course.
Finally there is hope for our once fair Country.
I am really looking forward to the resurrection of public broadcasting. The media have so much to answer for.
Agree with that.
TVNZ needs a big sort out either get rid of the likes of Hoskins or so we keep the so called “freedom of speech” return Channel 7 that can give an alternative counter-argument against the crap that is regurgitated all the time.
Made a point of hunting out Hoskings this morning and what a hoot! Over the top. Doom and Gloom from a chap who used to be scathing of those who talk Doom and Glooom. Hypocrite.
Along with sorting out tvnz,
winz and their reptilian ways,
housing nz and their p hysteria,
the police- either sledge hammer to open a walnut a la Nicky Hager or ‘nothing to see here’ a la Todd debarclay.
Our letter to all parties in the new Labour lead government sent this morning.
Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre. (CEAC) Est’ 2001.
PO Box 474. Napier. Email; clean.air@xtra.co.nz
Protecting our environment & health.
In association with other Community Groups, NHTCF and all Government Agencies since 2001.
20th October 2017.
Public COMMUNITY letter
TO all Executive MP’s/Ministers of the new labour Lead Government.
Firstly we congratulate all your wise choices that has given us a ‘new dawn’ of change to a warm, caring, inclusive, considerate Government for our future.
Our message blog (below) has been sent to you for real change for today to consider.
Please seriously consider those points for our regional communities environmental & social wellbeing for our future please.
A very warm regards to you all,
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2017/10/19/labour-win-nz-first-go-with-labour/
1000% Maama,
My blog today 20th October 2017.
We must have this new Labour lead Gov’t to swiftly purge all former National cling-on’s from all government positions and agencies and SOE’s such as Kiwi rail as these National cling-ons were placed inside kiwi rail and it’s own board to kill our rail system off and isolate the management from public contact, this we know as we have emails from kiwi rail management saying the public have been excluded from contacting all Kiwi rail management last year. Top Board of Kiwi rail appointees by National were Paula Rebstock must be fired now as she was so toxic to Kiwi rail’s survival.
NZTA/Kiwi rail/Ministry of Transport all must loose their top National Party placed management and be replaced by labour Lead appointed administrative positions.
A new Minister of rail must be announced by Labour lead government to protect our own Rail company again and setup to restore our regional freight and passenger rail services again.
The Ministry of the Environment Management must loose all national party appointees also.
The Parliamentary commissioner for the Environment must re-instate a labour chosen appointee as national have just chosen a former national MP as the new commissioner for the Environment so that is such a bad move and must be stopped.
“Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment” (PCE) is one of the most important agencies Labour must return full funding to provide complete public services to and conduct regional studies on all environmental issues of concerns to all communities again as labour had set up this agency when last in Government.
Also included must be similar changes in all Regional Government Management positions as those National appointed managers were becoming un-cooperative with the communities they are supposed to serve.
We must re-instate the Ministry of Transport as “principal advisory” to Government again, as it was during the last labour Government.
National had deliberately reduced Ministry of Transport to a door stop for government policies under National and have deliberately advanced NZTA as ‘king of transport’ which is wrong as NZTA is only simply an ‘RCA’ or a (road controlling agency)
Next we need to return all Government documents to the Former labour government policy platforms & positions regarding the insertion of the “policies for agencies to have regard for “Environmental and Social policy planning” inside all documents supplied to public, Local, and central governments.
This will ensure we move to save our society’s environment, health and regional wealth of our NZ Nation again after a painful nine year loss to us all.
[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.]
“Purge”?
Add to that the demands for Hosking and others to be fired …
I know the internet is essentially about sad little powerless people venting their madness (that’s why I feel at home on it) but you don’t think you’re striking rather too Stalinist a note here?
If I was Duncan Gardner I would see reality and change my tone or is all that cash national has in his right pocket to heavy for him to see his future.
Ka Pai.
Loved seeing hosking spit and choke last night on the telly …. Looks like he’s still vomiting this morning in the herald … Haha
Herald on-line:
Mike Hosking: “Already a mess – we are all in trouble.
Winston Peters opens with a dissertation on how the world is coming to an end, and it won’t be the new government’s fault. ”
Yes Mike, the world is going to end. People like you are convinced it is. You tell us we are in trouble. Peters says something at the beginning and you say it means the world is going to end.
The dire degree of the trouble we are in is shown by the fact that such a limited, self-absorbed drama queen like you has any role in our media to splurge out your nonsensical rantings. The dire degree of the trouble we are in is shown by the fact the numbers in the country are sucked into believing you and the dumbness you spout.
I heard this morning that Jacinda Ardern was to be on your programme. Her pre-election visits to pre-schools would have prepared her I suppose. If she got to speak to the three year olds.
Nice one
Poor Mikey Hosking on Herald website. “it’s a mess” apparently. That’s rich. Hair. Skinny jeans. Mutton. Grieving, entitled wanker.
It’s a mess, i think he was ttalking about his hair.
John Campbell burns The Australian in it’s response to the new government.
https://twitter.com/JohnJCampbell/status/921084868246818817
Yes, I saw the front page, Losers Take Power, it’s another Murdoch mouth piece distributing FAKE news, sorry opinion.
Foreign Editor of The Australian ??? Apparently doesn’t know about MMP. Fucking idiot. Embarrassed for him.
Feeling blessed with the new government. Thank you to all.
Also feeling blessed with our underfunded health service still doing it under adverse circumstances. I had a heart attack yesterday, helicopter flight, stent put in..
Make sure you say I love you to those you love – life is a journey no doubt about that. Kia kaha.
All the best in your recovery marty 🙂
Hang in there Marty you are a good sort and sufficiently annoying to keep on board here.
Feel better Marty.
Kia kaha Marty
Glad your day ended better than it started.
Lots of work to do but first and foremost get yourself right.
Aroha
Sorry to hear that Marty but glad to see you’re ok.
I thought it was the Kiwiblog crew who would be ending up in hospital, the apoplexy levels there last night were through the roof.
Take it easy & best wishes.
Holy shit marty! Thanks for letting us know you are ok and as always focussing on the things that matter. All the best with recovering, be good to yourself too e hoa. Kia tino ora ki a koe.
Hoping you have a speedy and comfortable recovery and all the best to yourself and whānau , Marty.
+100
I know a few people with stents. They live long and active lives. Get well soon Marty.
Yes marty. Get well to enjoy lots of days.
Wish you a good recovery and speedy return home
Wishing you a full recovery and looking forward to your contributions continuing.
Arohanui to you and yours.
get well soon and get home quickly.
Hope you recover well Marty
Thanks everyone above – much appreciated x
And a very best wishes from me also. Hopefully the stent, plus the change in govt, will be the start of a whole, new good period of life. Kia kaha.
Glad you got speedy and good attention and care. These days, with the right attention, life can be good after a heart attack.
Best for the future.
Get well, marty. I always enjoy your contributions to discussions!
You got too excited marty mars. xx
My husband had the same thing 10 years ago here while we were visiting Australia.
Luckily it is reciprocal for NZ visitors, and two stents and a few days later he was fine.
Keep taking your meds, do all food and drink in moderation, and you will have many more years. Norm plays golf with the vets twice a week.
Keep happy and well our blogging friend. A warning helps you plan. Kia kaha.
shit dude, that sucks.
But these days it’s spectacular how well they can deal with these things – I had a mate who literally died in ED, and two days later they had a consistent blood pressure, new meds for him, a stent in, and he was good to go home.
And, being Otago, they gave him 4 cheese rolls for lunch lol
Take care marty.
All the best Marty. Kia kaha
Was it before or after Winston’s news Marty? You’ll be able to take the political news more calmly now, thank goodness. Relax and enjoy, you have put your time in keeping the discussion alive making points to be considered. When you are back on the beat again you can give us a report on the Nelson? Hospital standards. Mauri ora!
Only just reading this marty. Like all the others, wishing you a speedy recovery.
Ouch. Just catching up on that news. It is a bit of shock. But if you’re operating afterward enough to write comments on a blog and get annoyed with the colour beige you’re probably OK.
I effectively died at home in 2011 with a severe myocardial infarction after a pile of goop dropped out of a artery wall and caused a blood clot that stopped a large part of the flow of blood to the heart. Fortunately I live only a few minutes from the ambulance base and I have a deeply suspicious partner who was wondering why I was making funny noises, knew CPR and kept hitting me while juggling the phone. A case of spousal abuse that I can live with.
The stents work and drugs are effective once you get the right dosages and if you haven’t taken too much heart muscle damage. I was back at work a week later because it was so frigging boring being at home.
The worst of it for me was giving up smoking and then putting on weight. Still trying to get that off.
The whole world will take not of this date in time for the cataclysmic shift in our political system to a society that does not worship money over people”s
Welfare or over our future mother earth and our grandchildren future .P.S. I was matching Tv 1 and 3 news on 2 lap tops this morning please be fair
Kia Kaha
I’m looking forward to hearing from more real estate agency bosses like Geoff Barnett:
“Winston will almost drive us back to the Holyoake years, I remember 66c in the dollar, price freezes, wage freezes.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11934643
Far be it from me to fault the educational background of a house-broker, but Auckland real estate agents are our true comprador bourgeoisie:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comprador_bourgeoisie
Instead of hanging out Taika Waititi as a traitor, the first useful thing this government could do is make every single real estate agent unemployed. They can go milk cows for a while.
Nice reference to Holyoake who of course had his own real estate interests at Kinloch.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2012/04/public-office-private-gain/
“When Kiwi Keith, Barry Gustafson’s biography of Holyoake was published in 2007, Michael Bassett criticised the lack of explanation about ‘the accusations leveled at Holyoake over his influence to get essential services into Kinloch that appears to have turned him and his partners into wealthy men’. [2] Bassett was referring to the fortuitous building of a government road to the edge of the partners’ property. But in truth there is much more to scrutinize than Holyoake’s influence in having the road built. There are the circumstances, for instance, of his acquisition of Māori land there in 1956.”
Oh the irony!
Next time you’re out on the roads, ponder this: Your risk of dying in a crash is 40% higher now than it was in 2013.
This astounding fact was put out by a researcher, reported on RNZ on monday
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018617953/road-toll-lives-could-have-been-saved-nz-initiative
While road use is up 15% from 2013, deaths are up 60%.
According to the report, more lives could have been saved for half the cost of one of the National Government’s roads of national significance.
The entire state highway network could have had median barriers put in place for half the cost of one of the National’s roads of national significance.
Let’s hope our new Government will pick up on this.
Take care on the roads this long weekend.
Good comment, Chair.
Your thoughts on the new Government?
A little disappointed the Greens failed to achieve their preference (a full coalition deal with Labour). And from what I can gather, secured no core benefit increase.
I’ll have more comment once the dust settles and policy is announced.
While road use is up 15% from 2013, deaths are up 60%.
According to the Ministry of Transport’s information, the road toll in 2013 was 253 and in 2016 it was 328. That’s a 30% increase, not 60%.
Next time you’re out on the roads, ponder this: Your risk of dying in a crash is 40% higher now than it was in 2013.
Relative risk increases are great for scare stories in the media, but not much use otherwise. When the level of risk is very low, significant percentage increases still leave the risk very low, eg if your risk of getting a particular cancer in the next five years is 0.0001 and there’s something that increases it to 0.00014, that’s a 40% increase but nobody in the media is going to make headlines out of a risk increasing by a fraction of a tenth of a percent, so you give them the 40% relative increase instead and they run with that, horribly misleading though it is.
In other words, your risk of being killed in a crash this year is not significantly greater than it was in 2013.
Aye using %ages without providing the underlying numbers is always dishonest. It gives no sense of context especially if the increase is off a low base.
”According to the Ministry of Transport’s information, the road toll in 2013 was 253 and in 2016 it was 328. That’s a 30% increase, not 60%”
You only went as far as 2016, this research goes to 2017.
Total road fatalities in New Zealand in the past 12 months alone was 373.
Whether or not it is coming off a low risk base, the chance of having a crash is still 40% higher now than in 2013.
And regardless if it is a low risk rate overall, there is far too many people being killed and harmed on or roads. Median barriers would go a long way in reducing those numbers.
Sure they would. But “Your risk of X is 40% higher” is a completely worthless piece of information. If your risk X was 0.5 and now it’s 0.7, that’s pretty scary. But it was 0.0001 and now it’s 0.00014, so what? Without the context, the percentage is worth nothing.
“So what?”
Seriously?
Had we kept the fatality rate at the 2013 level, there would be over 100 fewer deaths on our roads, that’s what .
no, that’s if we’d kept the fatality number at the same level, not the rate.
If fewer people were killed on the roads, that would be great, yes. Funnily enough, I’m not taking issue with that sentiment (might be a bit of a contrarian, but few are that contrarian).
I’m taking issue with your view that next time I drive I should think about my alleged 40% increased risk of dying. Given that my risk of dying has gone from extremely low in 2013 to, er, still extremely low in 2017, no I’m not going to think about that. Trying to achieve safer driving through misuse of statistics isn’t a good plan.
It was the researcher’s view, not mine.
I wasn’t trying to achieve safer driving through the misuse of statistics (not that the statistics were misused). I was highlighting the reported increase in risk and the need for median barriers.
No more privatisations.
NIMT electrification intact
No more rail line closures.
No more new charter schools or private prisons (though existing contracts will need to be honoured).
A new day has dawned with a fresh new government. Won’t be easy with the multiple issues to be sorted, but they will give their best and everything seems more optimistic after the stale, tired regime that will now thankfully be the opposition.
Mike Hosking’s childish, petulant display last night was totally unprofessional. Only watched to see what was happening and he should be ashamed and embarrassed (unlikely, since he is so full of his own self-importance).
This is a positive response amongst some pretty negative ones:
“Federated Farmers said it was ready to engage with the new coalition government and that it was time to “cast aside” the divisions that arose during the election campaign, said president Katie Milne.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11935046
Duchessing??
Great news, the Greens will have two ministers, it was hoped that the Greens would be full coalition partners, but it still is a Historic moment to finally have members inside Government, things can only get better for them, we all look forward to a long and enduring presence.
A word of warning for Jacinda. She needs to get her coalition together in a private room and tell them to get all their dirty laundry sorted out (if they have any) because the opposition are known for dirt digging and they will be digging to Africa trying to find any dirt which could destabilise her new administration.
Also she needs to tell them in no uncertain terms that they will be required to live a scandal free life from now on in for the duration, no leaving emails, texts around on their phones which could be hacked etc . The opposition will do everything in their power to play their dirty tricks as they have skin on the game big time in this area. I will tell her to keep a tight ship like her mentor and friend Helen.
i hope she keeps Andrew Little close by. He has proven his worth and what he can do.
More shit dribbling out of Tracy Watkins ears, nose and throat:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/98072292/winston-peters-decision-on-a-coalition-with-jacinda-ardern-as-pm-puts-us-in-new-territory
It wasn’t a matter of one party being prepared to pay more. It was about whose policies were more in line with each others. If Peters asked for repeal of the Employment Relations Act and a 30% cut to all benefits it wouldn’t have been a price at all for English to pay. But it would’ve been a price way too high for Ardern.
Tracy Watkins really is completely fucking thick.
@chris +1. I swore into my cornflakes reading that piece this morning.
Christ, there is a lot of sour grapes out there at the moment, things I have seen written and said to me since Peters said he would go with Labour and it is only 11.00 am Friday morning.
The sky is falling
We are heading back to a communist controlled country like it was under Clark
only allowed to used shower heads and light bulbs they approve off.
Interest rate will go through the ceiling
Banks will stop lending
The dollar will fall
It is a coalition of losers
Food prices will go through the roof
Farmers will walk off their land(haven’t heard that one for a few years) as Labour and the Greens have a hidden agenda introducing a fart tax and tax the water
Our personal taxes will rise
Massive unemployment as NO ONE will be able to afford to employ people.
Crime will skyrocket
It is the end of NZ as we know it (yeah that is right like the last nine years)
You name it and that’s what is going to happen so I added a couple myself.
Birds will now shit on Hoskins car.
The Labour lead coalition will cancel any fine weather this summer and we will have to put up with bad weather for the next three years
Ha ha fucking ha I have not laughed so much for ages, like the last nine years.
It takes time to recognise and live with loss of power.
i recall that in the Nats’ first term under John Key, NZ Labour seemed to present the attitude that they were better political managers – Nats threw everything at gaining power, and few hard plans of what to do with it; John key was a novice leader, kept away from many hard interviews – and I got the impression that the majority of the Labour caucus believed they would most likely regain power after one John key term.
That list sounds like what happened in 2010 and 2011, when the highest number of Kiwis migrated out of NZ, a lot those may return now.
I remember when a lower dollar was good… especially for exporters… not good for overseas holiday makers and importers.
“We are heading back to a communist controlled country like it was under Clark
only allowed to used shower heads and light bulbs they approve off.”
Because Clark, Cullen et al ordered the cumplosolry collectivization of agriculture and forcibly siezed farms around the country with armed Party members.
‘Interest rate will go through the ceiling’
Interest rates are set by the RBNZ, and will be adjusted in December. It will be likely that the OCR will be unchanged, or move only a quarter to half of a percentage point. There will be some bluff and bluster though from the Gov. A hard left governor will probably be appointed. but we shall what happens there
‘Banks will stop lending’
Not loading people up with unsustainable debt is probably a good thing
‘The dollar will fall’
Good for exporters, and FDI?
‘t is a coalition of losers’
English could have given Winston what he wanted.,.but didnt.
‘Food prices will go through the roof’
They already are — thanks to the shit weather over the past year or two.
‘Farmers will walk off their land(haven’t heard that one for a few years) is Labour and the Greens have a hidden agenda introducing a fart tax and tax the water’
Jacinda has chopped the water tax from the sounds of it, and Winston will never allow for a fart tax.
‘Our personal taxes will rise’
But you will get better public services.
‘Massive unemployment as NO ONE will be able to afford to employ people.’
There is a lot of unemployment already, with immigrants taking all the farm and hospo jobs
‘Crime will skyrocket’
It will be no worse or better than it has always been. Doesnt help that a bag of P is probably cheaper than a pack of smokes.
One of the things I’ve found interesting in the last twelve months is the discussions I’ve had with skilled qualified Chinese immigrants.
All have a strong sense of community and of government looking after all it’s citizens.
They are highly supportive of state health care and welfare – and also understand the value of a strong work ethic.
I don’t know any wealthy Chinese overseas investors, and as always anecdote is an example not a trend but I’ve dialogued with enough now to know that those people at least share many of the socialist values that the left do.
I’m not surprised at that – it’s always been interesting see the right sell their souls to the communist enemy (that includes the labour party right-wing neo-libs as well). Course they haven’t really sold their souls – the whole point of capitalism is to make money any way you can.
There’s something there though in congruity that I hope Labour/NZF/Greens can tap in to.
I’m not afeared of more socialist policies vs free market laissez-faire rubbish we’ve endured. While the right argue for individual poor choices being the problem it’s much more evident it’s the higher macro economic settings that are the problem. Less and less and less tax, more and more and more productivity, less and less support for those in lower socio economic circumstance, more and more surveillance of citizens, less and less rights for workers, more and more and more state assets sold, less and less and less public service has not delivered improvement for our country as a whole.
Many of these things need to be wound back.
I just hope that many of those public servants who whole heartedly embraced, and in some cases instigated the selling off of such assets, who wholeheartedly demonised beneficiaries, who privatised and outsourced, who bean counted everything to the bare minimum (health I’m looking at you) and so on – instead of ensuring the public service did their job vanish (in some cases back to the countries from whence they came) quietly.
I hope an environment is re-created of true public service as a priority. One in which authoritarians don’t wish to be in.
Good op ed from Stephanie Rodgers on RNZ website.
How often can we expect to see National side with Labour to help them get their more right leaning policy through?
The TPP is one area that quickly comes to mind.
While NZ First and the Greens may oppose it, National and Labour will be able to get it through.
Anything else come to mind?
.
With NZ First inside the government, it will require NZF and Labour to agree on the TPP – so there will be trade offs. Nats may then add to the numbers rather than the GP – but it won’t be the TPP the Nats want. And Peters mentioned being against ISDS in his speech last night – so that’s probably not going to be accepted in new trade agreements.
So I take it you’re saying they (NZ First) will have independence inside Caucus, but not when it comes to voting within the house?
Will they still be able to speak-out against certain policy?
Matthew Whitehead, in his post on TS about the GP last night, included this link about cabinet collective responsibilities in governments using the Westminster system:
Here’s an Asian site, reporting this morning on the likely NZF-NZLP policy on TPP:
“New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who played the role of kingmaker in forming the new government, declared that his party will support Labour’s stance on the TPP.”
Seeing as Labour’s stance is soft, that’s going to disappoint a few. The two concessions don’t cover the vast concerns, but if secured, will help soften the blow. But still, some will feel let down.
wasn’t isds one of the things Labour had an issue with, too? I forget.
My take is that Lab wants an improved TPP without the yanks, whereas nat wants to sign it as-is with all the concessions to the yanks still in, even though the yanks aren’t in it.
And even if the grand coalition for tpp was anything more than tc’s wet dream, it would immediately imperil the coalition arrangements with both the greens and nz1, and I don’t see that as being high on the list of Labour’s priorities at the moment.
As for other right-wing policies, the “even if” criteria still stand. Sure, they might get some stuff though, but the main influences on Labour are economically centrist/left, with a couple of social conservative things from nz1 but overall I reckon benefits, regional development, housing, employment, cheaper tertiary education, and integrated transport (more than roads) are all on the table.
With the eagerness National has expressed for the TPP, I’m sure they’d accept it either way (concessions or not).
A grand coalition is not my wet dream.
There should be some good from this (change of Government) as you rightly highlighted. But there are still some potential downsides, such as the use of a flat regional tax to pay for transport improvements.
holy shit, a coalition government where adults make compromises isn’t going to be completely perfect according to your personal political manifesto? Better emigrate, then…
No. I’ll be here raising the bar.
You speak as if I’m the only one opposed to the use of a regional flat tax (akin to GST) being used.
Surely you don’t support its use?
Dude, I’m not immediately familiar with that policy, which party favours it, or what it will be taxed on. It seems to me that the only person who’s raised it here is you, which means it’s probably not earth-shattering in its impact.
Although regional transport development needs a look at anyway, so anyone who came up with that policy is probably asking the right questions, even if their answers aren’t perfect.
tl/dr: tell me what you’re talking about, and maybe even suggest why I should give a shit.
As for the TPP, what makes you believe National no longer want it?
Well now some of the corporate drugs have been cut off – welfare money & unlimited immigration – lets see if those corporations can step up to the challenge.
Corporations could stop keeping the bulk of their jobs in Auckland -outsorce to the provinces.
Stick some call centre’s and other business units in Palmerston North,Napier, New Plymouth, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin and other places. Shift jobs that can be done easily by older populations to those areas.
Take the pressure off housing & transport in Auckland , cut welfare bills , use under utilised provincial resources, spread prosperity, in a wired world everyone doesn’t need to be parked up in a multi story building in Auckland.
Stuff ripping shit out of hosking’s despair. Nice to see the fair and impartial mc of the leaders’ debates taking the result with grace, equanimity , and style lol.
I know a two-year-old who makes the same face when he sees chocolate but isn’t allowed any.
Loved every minute of it!
Watching nationals sock puppet dying on the inside was almost worth 9 years of morally bankrupt government. Almost.
Let me guess, some libertarian tech dude who believes his billions are endangered by governments and their regulations.
In September 2013, the man who bought Brexit – Arron Banks – was in trouble.
For the past two years, financial regulators in Gibraltar had been scrutinising his insurance under-writer, Southern Rock. They had discovered it was keeping reserves far below what was needed.
[…]
One question remains though. If Banks was in such a tight spot in September 2013, how did he manage to be so generous the following year?
https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/brexitinc/adam-ramsay/how-did-arron-banks-afford-brexit
And Green will get the cannabis Referendum. Good eh!
Reeferendum 😉
(yes, great! Please dear god let Genter be in charge of that)
Labours first caucus meeting today
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/video-lets-do-jacinda-issues-war-cry-and-mps-rise-in-standing-ovation-first-caucus-meeting-begins?auto=5618570542001
So many people have been given hope with our new government, so many.
Every time the news comes on, am smiling ear to ear as I’m reminded of our talented, clued up new government, and it makes me feel so freaking proud to be a NZer.
And then to make things even better, am reminded of the outstanding policies that are going to happen. Loving listening to the news today.
Miss Twelve is walking around wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, she says it’s like Christmas come early.
The kids at school all cheered when I reminded them that with the change of government they will have some incredible opportunities such as going to university, due to the steps that will be taken towards free tertiary education. For kids at the local low decile school, this is MASSIVE
What a wonderful day for so many many New Zealanders
THANK YOU Labour, NZ1st and Greens, thank you for giving us hope 🙂
Will Trevor tell Paula Bennett on the occasions of her interjecting with nonsense from the Opposition benches, “Zip it sweetie?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm8_-0FcKrw
Paula couldn’t in her wildest nightmares have considered that we would have such a sweetie as Prime Minister!
Karma
Free counselling for under 25’s…… FOR REALS 🙂
Am beyond ecstatic, this will help save lives.
How much more good news can a girl digest and it’s not even 6pm.
Epic goodness all day long 🙂
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98075490/Live-Labour-led-government-to-make-climate-change-a-priority
Richard Prebble: Jacinda Ardern will regret this coalition of losers
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11935125
FPP thinking from Mr. Prebble. None of the parties won or lost the election. Each party received a different amount of votes. The government is made up of the parties able to offer more than 50% of the electoral seats available. The coalition won fair and square.
Oh the irony from Prebble. Remind me why anyone gives a shit what sell to the lowest bidder Prebble thinks?
A discussion on the situation for NZ in coming years as China and USA front of with each other to see who is going to be top dog put NZ as a bone of contention, the meat in the sandwich and other gristley fillings.
The analyst assumes that between the two we must arm ourselves against China.
I think we need to debate this.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/2018618735/the-new-china
Defence strategy analyst Dr Malcolm Davis weighs in on China’s new plan to become the world’s biggest superpower, following president Xi Jinping’s latest speech.
https://www.aspi.org.au/bio/malcolm-davis
Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Well this is my third vaping pipe I brought one thought it got lifted moko’s . Brought another found the old one was to stressed to use it gave one to my m8 and sent one to my brother . Less stress now I have it worked out now .Its just $50 for a joyetech stainless one and the vanilla tabbco vap juice is ok it only cost $5 a week for this big saving and one just has to remember what it was like when you first started smoking and persist and you will get use to it and no more spending heaps on smokes an your health will improve real quick. P.S if your congested and need to by that stuff on tv just take a panadol it does the same clears the chest and clears the cough Ka pai
You’re a mine of information ecoMaori. Hope you can have an enjoyable Labour weekend.