This is a ‘congratulatory’ post: in an incredibly short period of time, humans have managed to ‘develop’ to the point where scientists are talking of the 6th mass extinction. Well done us!
About 50,000 years ago, plus or minus 20,000 years, there occurred among homo sapiens what is known as the cognitive revolution.
Among other developments in the brain, humans of the time stopped seeing themselves as a part of Nature, and began believing they were above Nature, a chosen species. That Nature was ‘created’ by ‘a God or Gods’ to serve them, and them alone.
50,000 or so years later, we’re on the point of exterminating ourselves.
The dinosaurs had much smaller brains, but they lasted for millions of years; homo sapiens for the blink of an eyelid in geological age.
Whether you accept we have a very few years left, or that human life will go on in some form forever, all need to realise we’ve made a colossal f*ck-up of it all in an incredibly short period of time, as evidenced by this graph.
“Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2021, it fell on July 29.”
(Can't place the graph in post – but check the link)
The obvious trend is towards complete depletion of the Earth’s resources at some time in the not too distant future. Infinite growth on a finite planet anyone?
There has been much scientific talk about ‘tipping points,’ events which trigger an exponential change leading to probable extinction of our species.
One such crucial tipping point is ice loss in the Arctic (and the Antarctic for that matter).
If/when we lose all ice in the Arctic, (possibly about September next year) all hell will break loose in the world’s climate.
It’s patently obvious that NZ, being such a small player in world terms, can do little to persuade the major polluters to mend their ways, (Cop-out 26 proved that) except by radical example, which this government has been largely reluctant to provide.
What we can and should do is recognise the crisis, and prepare to at least weather (pun intended) the worst that climate change can inflict on us.
Yes, I’m talking about ‘a hermit kingdom,’ or perhaps, to rile up the right wing misogynists, that should be ‘a hermit queendom.’
So, here’s the problem: do we bury our heads in the sand by maintaining either a) that climate change is a myth, or is beneficial because we might be able to grow bananas in Invercargill, or b) initiate immediate steps to mitigate its worst effects on New Zealand?
initiate immediate steps to mitigate its worst effects on New Zealand?
What would such steps look like, how much would it cost and what would be the anticipated outcome?
Sometimes doing nothing, or at least doing something whose benefits outweigh the costs, is the best option. That’s because doing something might produce few if any benefits and take away resources from areas where they could be used more productively.
Bjorn Lomborg has made a similar point. If we can prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths by providing poor countries with clean drinking water, we should seriously think about doing so. (If we can prevent children from being run over and killed in their own driveway, we should consider doing so, especially if there is an easy fix, which there is.)
I’d be interested in your response to how much it’s going to cost to take these steps, what steps exactly are you referring to, and the likely benefits of taking such action.
I blame the Archon and Demiurge for giving us a subconscious mind and the ability to self reflect.. otherwise it would just be another day in paradise before the inevitable happens.
Tony, take a deep breath and relax. No amount of angst will stop the planet doing what the planet has always done.
I'm more worried about a pole shift. The Schumann Resonance 7.83 Hz ( the earths heartbeat, and according to some, what all living things rely on ) has apparently become weaker of the years.
I studied that stuff long ago, have Hapgood's book on it that Einstein wrote the foreword for. The magnetic poles seem to have a random walk sometimes:
the North Pole did wander across North America, right out towards New York, actually, and then back again across to Oregon," says Alan Cooper, an evolutionary biologist with Blue Sky Genetics and the South Australian Museum.
He explains that it "then zoomed down through the Pacific really fast to Antarctica and hung out there for about 400 years and then shot back up through the Indian Ocean to the North Pole again."
He and colleague Chris Turney, an earth scientist at the University of New South Wales, found a new way to study the exact timing of all this, using unusual trees in New Zealand.
It isn't easy for mainstreamers to admit that democracy is anti-democratic, but we're getting a few signs that they're starting to wake up to it:
The modest alterations Democrats proposed to the United States’ ailing democracy finally died in the Senate late Wednesday night, when one of the nation’s most anti-democratic institutions failed to alter an anti-democratic rule… Hours later, Democrats tried to reform Senate filibuster rules in a way that would allow them to pass the bill with a simple majority. But that vote failed too, when Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) joined all 50 Republicans against the rule change.
But the real problem is existential. The uniquely anti-democratic structures of the American political system have historically thwarted any effort to make the United States a more representative nation, especially for its Black, Latino, Native American and other marginalized populations… The chief culprit, however, is not the filibuster but the Senate, a legislative body that is biased in favor of rural, whiter, low-population states at the expense of more populated, Blacker and browner areas of the country.
The filibuster, an arcane Senate rule that places an arbitrary 60-vote threshold on nearly all forms of legislation, further intensifies the Senate’s minoritarian structure: The 52 senators who voted to maintain the rule Wednesday night, in fact, represent 34 million fewer Americans than the 48 who voted to change it. And a total lack of representation for the District of Columbia, whose 700,000 mostly Black and brown residents do not enjoy the benefits of statehood, skews the body even more.
America's left remains split down the middle. Liberals seeking to defend the status quo vs progressive changemakers:
In calls with civil and voting rights groups, White House aides reportedly expressed that the groups could simply “out-organize” the new GOP voter suppression laws without passing new voting rights legislation.
Those groups went public with their complaint about the White House’s inaction on July 13, when 150 civil and voting rights groups published a letter to the White House excoriating Biden for failing to use his position to help pass the legislation despite stating that the new voter suppression laws constituted “the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War.”
From that link, I find it interesting that filibusters have become enormously more common in the time since 2009 than the nearly 2 decades before that (1991-2008).
I heard a Kmart merchandise manager on talkback yesterday. What a bleak picture he painted. The main points of his korero:
1- Kmart(NZ) has 30 containers sitting on the wharf in Australia that are yet to be loaded. They were due in NZ during December. Estimated time of arrival 3-6 months. I reckon longer, if at all, given Kmart Australia has its own sourcing issues. The reason for the delay is lack of crane and forklift operators.
2-Kmarts NZ warehouse is at present only 25% full.
3- He claims shelves are empty, and customers are turning on staff. Customers want product; they expect product…and when they can't buy what they want, staff cop it. I wonder if the government will, too? I can vouch for the empty shelves. My local KM has next to no sporting goods left.
The supposed caller then said something I thought was suss. He claimed ScoMo wants to lower the age ( under18) for gaining crane and forklift licences so vacancies can be filled. Having driven forklifts, I know they are dangerous machines under certain circumstances. But it would seem I was wrong – desperate times call for desperate measures. I believe ScoMo has since reconsidered that option.
It is my thinking that firstly, freight and shipping companies see NZ as an annex of Australia and we are completely dependent on AUS to get any goods, and I mean any. Secondly, by squeezing supply, pricing is thus artificially gauged and I honestly believe that we will see inflation close to double digits in the next 2 years . Our wages will not be able to keep pace and the young ones will jump the ditch. Now, planning and trade negotiations go only so far, what about delivery Management?
American politics throws up gems on a daily basis. Some of them encapsulate some of the realities of the country so well, like this from Mitch McConnell.
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."
"I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking," Biden said.
. Yep, they have no idea. I find it incredible. They need to differentiate between what black comedian Chris Rock calls black people and n&^%. Chris gets hot under the collar about this. See his YT clip Black people v *******.(Bring the Pain 1996)
Wow look at the way this lady is driving. Lowering the speed limits on some roads is not going to make any difference to the road toll while people drive like this. Peoples driving attitudes need to change.
While stupid driving is always dangerous, don't dismiss the effect of mandated speed reduction.
The road toll on SH6 has been greatly reduced since speeds were reduced from 100 to 80/90 km/h.
There was quite some opposition at the time from the Kaikoura MP down, citing time lost and the time cost to road freighters.
To contradict this view, the time difference is about 15 minutes for a 110 km journey, and an industry spokesman said that trucks save considerably (50 litres less on a 500 km journey) on fuel usage for every 10 km/h slower.
There have been no fatalities since introduction of these measures on SH6 designed to reduce the road toll.
That is a good result SH6 Mac. What concerns me is too many drivers like this lady that simply ignore all speed limits whether they be 80km/hr or 100km/hr and drive erratically.
How about getting a proper driver licence. It is truly frightening if you think about it. There are more than 40 000 people on the road without ever having learned to use a vehicle safely, road user codes, signs, restrictions etc. Any one of them can risk your life. You don't need lower limits, you need properly trained drivers.
The fatalities cannot be blamed on foreigners now as there are basically no tourists. You will look at bit closer to get to the truth. Lost control, too fast and alcohol would eliminate 95.7% of accidents. That is a lot. None has to do with speed limits but all with lack of skill and alcohol. It would be interesting to know the age group causing these crashes. But alas it is a data jungle and you find US data easier than any in NZ.
No, overestimating skill levels and alcohol is and 40 000 plus unqualified drivers. Driver error would indicate that someone reading texts whilst driving, overtaking to impress mates, showing off what the car "can do" whilst they are incapable of controlling the vehicle, completely unaware that they endanger the rest of the road users. I am not in favor of political correctness cop out excuses. If a driver is to immature to handle a car than they should have to use public transport and go and get more training. End of story.
K-Mart ( and the Warehouse et al ) not being filled up with plastic shit with a limited lifespan and even more hardly-to-be-worn badly made clothes to add to the 115 BILLION garments produced each year would be a win in my book.
For the record, my Chinese socks sourced from Mitre10, used to last two weeks before disintegrating. Now I can get six weeks wear before they get holes. That's progress and proof capitalism is the way to go!
WA has gone its own way by keeping its hard border with the rest of Australia shut to all except a few who apply for exemptions. McGowan reckons its better to wait for the booster rate to be up at about the 80-90% level (currently at about 25%) and millions of RAT tests to be available for use plus other planning for the inevitable Omicron sweep. Not sure if the state can keep Omicron out, as like NZ it's knocking hard at the border, but no doubt casting an eye on all other parts of the country from within WA, the scene hardly looks enticing.
I do think that, like McGowan in WA, Jacinda should be retaining the option of keeping the borders closed after the end of February (the current proposed end to MIQ border opening date) until NZ is 90% boosted, assuming Omicron doesn't get in by accident of course.
At present Labour seems fixated on sticking to this date. Are they in thrall to the business lobby?
How much more evidence of this do we need? We have decades-worth already. Where’s action on climate change, the housing crisis, inequality and infrastructure investment? They can sound tough in opposition but once they had complete control over cabinet very little has happened. Labour need to change their name, they abdicated actually fighting for workers a long time ago.
The problem with blanket assertions like "very little has happened" is that a moment's research can find a different set of facts which rather spoils the strength of other assertions.
The NZLP claims this-
"BOOSTING WAGES
We believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. That’s why since 2017, we’ve boosted the minimum wage by $4.25 – bringing it to $20 per hour. We’ve passed the Equal Pay Amendment Bill to ensure people who perform work of the same value are paid the same and started addressing pay inequities in our education and health systems. We’re also implementing Fair Pay Agreements, to improve wages and conditions and support our economic recovery.
RESTORING RIGHTS
We’re making sure workers get a fair deal by strengthening employment law. We’ve brought back meal and rest breaks, strengthened collective bargaining, restored protections for vulnerable workers, and limited 90-day trials to businesses with fewer than 20 employees. We’re committed to improving the Holidays Act to provide more certainty for employers and employees, and we’ve made changes to better protect migrants from exploitation.
LOOKING OUT FOR WELLBEING
We’re keeping workers safe and supporting them to balance their work with other demands. We’ve extended paid parental leave from 18 to 26 weeks, and we’ve doubled the minimum sick leave entitlement to 10 days to make sure no one feels pressured to go to work when they’re unwell. We increased funding to modernise WorkSafe, and launched a new Navigation Service offering free, independent advice and advocacy for people making ACC claims. We’ve also committed to keeping the retirement age at 65.
PROTECTING JOBS
Our strong COVID response has kept Kiwis safe while protecting jobs, allowing us to look ahead. Our wage subsidies have supported around 1.8 million jobs through alert level changes, and we created specific programmes to protect jobs in vulnerable sectors like sports, tourism, and the arts. To help protect those who do experience job loss through no fault of their own, we’re working on the design of a Social Unemployment Insurance scheme that would support workers to retain about 80 percent of their income for a period after they lose their jobs." https://www.labour.org.nz/policy
At New Zealand’s October general election, the Labour Party won a majority of Parliament’s seats and is likely to govern alone. Some of the workplace policies Labour campaigned on included:
Increasing minimum sick leave entitlement to 10 days per year. Labour will seek to increase this entitlement within the first 100 days of the new Government;
Reforming the Holidays Act 2003 to simplify leave calculations and allow annual and sick leave to accrue over time (rather than leave entitlements arising in blocks);
Increasing the minimum wage to $20 per hour in 2021. Labour has promised to take a ‘balanced approach’ to increases beyond 2021.
I was addressing your issue with "fighting for workers". Climate crisis, the housing crisis, increasing inequality and infrastructure investment are issues wider than workers' rights solely, save the inequality issue addressed in part by a $4.50 increase in the hourly minimum wage, doubled sick leave entitlement, workplace conditions improvements, fair pay agreements, pay equality, 90 day contracts etc.
You just can't say that very little has happened. You can argue for more, but argument based on scant regard for reality is not convincing. National do it with their current 'shambles' buzz word. It means less than nothing and is a sign of lack of proper argument.
Have you considered that workers are those most affected by all of those issues? I wasn't talking about 'rights', I'm talking material conditions.
A minimum wage increase is good for those on minimum wage however the majority of workers aren't on minimum wage and haven't seen their wages increase at the same rate.
“Seventy-three per cent of Kiwis received a pay increase of less than inflation last year according to the Labour Cost Index. Annual hourly earnings growth is the same as it was in 2019 pre-Covid and is less than it was in December 2021 according to the Quarterly Economic Survey.
“Increases in wages seems to be coming from New Zealanders working longer hours, with overtime hours up 22.8 per cent.
“We are seeing more activity but we are not yet seeing that translate into what you might expect right now in terms of wage inflation.”
A good article and one which spells out with facts and figures where we're at from the TU perspective. It does acknowledge some improvements and also that more is needed.
It does not however address the issue of "Labour need to change their name, they abdicated actually fighting for workers a long time ago."
Nothing in that article about what the Labour government needs to do. Most employers are private, not public. What do we need to see done, to address these issues, as a government?
What do I as a member tell my LEC and my nearest Labour MP 110 km away to get on with?
I do btw acknowledge that wider issues also impact on workers. But your statement was about "abdication of fighting for workers" and the discussion needs to go beyond that to the actuals of where we'r at, who can do what, and also what is beyond the power of government.
What do I as a member tell my LEC and my nearest Labour MP 110 km away to get on with?
That’s up to you, but I do remember our PM talking about the failure of neo-liberalism, so something that undermines that status quo rather than just hoping for change would be what I expected them to get on with.
I don’t accept that action on any of these issues is beyond the power of government, actually fighting for workers involves a redefining what is possible.
The evidence from Australia seems to be that business hasn't done well as the Omicron outbreak has meant staff shortages, hesitancy on the part of ordinary people to go out and risk being infected. The same businesses that were hard hit during lockdowns have been almost as badly hit with the high infection rate. Think the pressure on McGowan is from separated families more than WA business which is doing just fine. Queensland and other states and territories that had kept Delta out made a mistake in mid December opening up just as Omicron turned up. Once the borders were opened up, it was impossible to go into reverse. Guess it was hard at that point to know how bad things were going to get, but there is no excuse for NZ (like WA) to not learn the mistakes others have made and plan as fast as possible while doing whatever can be done to slow down Omicron's eventual arrival. Can't see businesses in NZ being happy once Omicron arrives tbh, whatever NZ Labour thinks.
Is it going to be broadcast on all the TV networks simultaneously? Which woman's magazine has arranged rights to publish the photos. What dress will Lorde wear and what will she sing?
Who cares? The Herald has been unable to find out anything so is reduced to a publishing a pointless lifestyle puff piece with pics of some wedding dress styles that Ardern might (or might not) wear.
It's being kept a closely-guarded secret. I'm happy to not know any details until the deed is done, the show is over, and the answers to your questions are revealed.
If any more was being announced about it, every detail would constantly be front page news when there are more important things to most of us that are real news.
Chris Luxon claiming the traffic light system is confusing and offering utterly simplistic solutions to complex problems two years into a pandemic is really just a neolib prosperity Christian desperately wanting to retreat into magical thinking that pretending COVID doesn't exist – that somehow by refusing to engage with understanding the tools to manage COVID and pleading for magical silver bullets will make COVID go away.
The recurring meta in National's covid response is the way it's strategy has been shaped by the clash between the Evangelical determinism and neoliberal ideology that is it's caucus's foundation beliefs and empirical requirements of a pandemic response. The party exhibits all the psychological stress one would expect of a political movement exposed to extreme and prolonged cognitive dissonance.
Luxon is merely yet another intellectual featherweight on the right, retreating into irrelevant and plaintive complaining rather than grasping and confronting the truth that the the ideas – and the actions that would flow from those ideas – that underpin his world view are not psychologically consistent with current reality.
Well said Sanc. Luxon blathered and complained endlessly today on RNZ's Morning Report, but when asked a simple question-"should RAT tests be free"-he had no answer saying that could be decided later.
With Luxon's becoming the leader, one assumed that the level of IQ of the opposition had improved. No such luck. Luxon's ranting about the lack of RAT's was so pathetic when those of the meanest of intellect know there is an international shortage. Did he expect the appropriate Ministers or the PM could magic them from their backsides? He has been raving about the government not rapidly producing sufficient ICU beds to handle a massive increase in demand – presumably in support of pandering to the demands of the hospitality industry. It seems he forgot that each bed requires 4-5 advance trained nursing staff. No magic wand would solve that problem, especially when a pandemic, once unleashed, would cause the NZ health system to immediately lose existing staff to infection, burn-out and resignations for self-preservation. He has also demonstrated that he should pull his head out of his rear end so that he can put an ear to the ground. If he did, he would discover what most people are aware of. There has been a great deal of planning, some of it of necessity being tentative. This has been going on at all levels of the health system since before omicron was a thing. How long would it take to get a chauffeur driven limo to take him perhaps 200m or more to the nearest medical practice to ask what preparations have been made?
Those were my thoughts Sanctuary. Luxon's undermining the forward planning with negativity is just a continuation of Bridges without the belligerence.
So according to Nationals play book. "We have done nothing to prepare" "We are late with these non existent actions" and "We have had a month on holiday", and the pearl, "We are confused by the confusing traffic light system"
As for "Pre orders of RAT tests, we have 5000 000 odd, with orders coming in batches through to June. He couldn’t say if they should be free.
Competing with a billion ordered by the USA puts us way down the list, as currently we don't need them.
When asked what he would do Luxon talked all round the question and had no concrete suggestions. He is allowing Bishop to bark at every situation. Situation familiar imo.
I loved it when they took Trump off…I love this even better. I needed that laugh after receiving another credit card charge back from a business that cannot now supply what I purchased.
"More than a third of Covid-19 cases caught at New Zealand’s border over the space of one week were unvaccinated or ineligible due to their age, a snapshot of data shows."
"While non-New Zealand citizens are required to be vaccinated to enter the country, there is no requirement for citizens to be vaccinated."
I would think you would run afoul of the New Zealand Immigration Act 2009, and in particular section 13.
Basically it says that if you are only a New Zealand citizen you can't be kept out and you can't be deported. I don't see how you could change this without making people stateless.
Besides it isn't a crime for New Zealand citizens not to be vaccinated. Why should it be for a New Zealand citizen wanting to enter the country?
Interesting development. The police & prison management seem to have treated this protest with kid gloves. One wonders whether that will embolden Tamaki's supporters to do more of this kind of thing when their leader isn't happy inside and complains to them.
I think most sensible people are wary of going too far in supporting Apostle Tamaki because they know a cult when they see one.
They generally don't go up in bad weather and we're not allowed to use fire hoses (not even just to make them wet)
Well sure, it holds up everything especially at lock up, once lock up happens you have less people on so while theres an idiot on the roof no ones going home, theres plenty of damage that can be done up there (windows etc, can get other places they shouldn't etc)
You have to look after your voter base, FB. Asians kind of get what National stands for. But, apart from a few outliers, Asians don't have a clue what Labour and the Greens are about. It's too wishy washy for them. They just want to make money, look after their families and get on with life. That's a great attitude.
If you're just pointing out the apparently contradictory messaging from National's leader and their mental health spokesperson…
Luxon says:
The first thing I'd say is that we believe we are bigger than our individual identities. We are first and foremost New Zealanders and we believe we are one country. But we fundamentally believe that we should target on the basis of need, not on the basis of ethnicity.
And so, we have real challenges. We've got a responsibility to help people in need. There is an overlap between ethnicity and need. But that should very much be the focus and starting point for that.
Luxon is saying in the first article that National believe in targeting by need, not ethnicity, but Doocey is saying:
We need to increase the access for the Asian population to access mental health services.
Without a specific mental health workforce strategy there is no way we are going to increase that level of service.
I don't think there's a contradiction in real terms because Luxon acknowledges there's often an overlap of ethnicity with need.
It seems like typical politician double-talk. Some people will hear the "need, not ethnicity" message & others will realise that he gives himself wriggle room in the event he ever finds himself in the position of, for example, having to decide whether to disband the Maori Health Authority. (He probably wouldn't dare do that.)
Luxon's trying to find points of policy difference with Labour but I get the impression he's still floundering.
Luxon's announcements/promises add up to one thing: spend more money.
It's not usually expressed like that, but that's what "invest" really means. He did this on day one of his leadership: invest more in education, climate change, etc. Sounds good!
In Hawke's Bay he called for more spending on health and as an aside, more aid for Tonga. I agree with both, but then I also agree with Grant Robertson borrowing the money to make this possible … while Luxon and Bridges say he should borrow less.
They are for all kinds of spending, and against saying where it comes from. It’s a cruel trick to play on (e.g.) nurses, who will be expecting National to demand higher pay for them, based on Luxon’s comments here:
Yep. It will be interesting to see when the new round of Q+A & Newshub Nation shows begin whether the interviewers will press him on where the money’s going to come from for his policy promises.
From what we’ve seen & heard from him so far he’ll probably just continue to be vague & maybe talk about reprioritising…. Others have already pointed out the practical problems with his suggestions that the government should be getting in tons more RATs & boosting the numbers of ICU beds. Such criticisms are easy to make but much harder to implement without the necessary resources being immediately available.
He’s a practiced smooth talker & therefore he may not put his foot in it as often as his predecessors Bridges & Collins. But otherwise he seems to basically be following the same non-plan. He’s far too vague & all over the place for me to consider him potential Prime Ministerial material yet.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has said there's enough money in the Covid Response and Recovery Fund (CRRF) for the costs of the Omicron outbreak – including the purchasing of rapid antigen tests – but warned more money might be needed if the country required a fourth round of vaccinations.
……
"Vaccine purchasing – obviously that's in a reasonable shape in terms of the allocated money for that – if we were to look at a fourth dose and so forth then we would need to find more money for that," Robertson said.
He added that the Government would find the money for an additional round of vaccinations, if they were required.
oh well, surely they would find the money, as the other option would be to bury the 'vaccine mandate' in a dust pile of history, unless they are happy to keep the mandate up and require people to pay for hte vaccines in the future. Which i don't think would go down well.
It's the code I started using a couple of weeks ago for Labour's big bold bright & shiny new Maori policy – apparent evidence of the collective heft now being exercised by their Maori MPs.
Abbreviation of the name of the report. Okay, it's true they haven't formalised it as policy yet – I'm anticipating most of it will be. They won't want to incentivise their Maori MPs to jump ship to the MP.
So I expect that – because it was a design produced by a high-level consensus of Maori leaders, and pan-tribal consensus is usually a rarity – there's a strong likelihood of implementation.
Less so if there had been disagreement about it in the media but the discussion I saw merely featured a few complaints about the concept of co-governance. As if the principles of Te Tiriti ought not to be read as a racial partnership. No sign Asian kiwis are seeking to become the third part of any such partnership!
If that polling is anywhere accurate there isn't a chance in hell that any of the Labour Party Maori MPs would defect. It's very cold out there if you lose your place at the taxpayer supplied trough and they aren't going to risk it. They aren't like Tariana Turia who quit on a question of principle.
There was discussion onsite here a few weeks ago about it. Anyway the govt description linked provides enough indication of provisional agreement on scheme & principles. A sound basis.
So I agree there's no reason for Willie & the others to feel discouraged at this point. Jumping ship only looms if Labour gets cold feet and the PM decides to abandon the thing.
Apparently I subconsciously conflated the two. That would be because they emanate from the same agenda: co-governance based on Treaty rights. I agree that Labour is doing the right thing in principle. In practice, we ought to watch this space…
Well I wouldn't get too excited. Often the holiday break gets folk re-centered & a shift of mood can become evident in the crowd. This time, they're feeling the same as before the break – which will reassure Labour.
Angst around Three Waters? Not enough to shift anything. Losing faith in pandemic strategy? No sign of that either. Best gloss possible – shit can happen fast with omicron, and there's an outside chance it could end up on Labour faces.
Without saying anything interesting or noteworthy. Honeymoon over already. Folks with a question-mark in their heads now shaking them sadly.
As if the guy never heard of the saying hit the ground running. I'm wondering if he's wondering what he ought to say. Preaching to the converted has a snowball's chance in hell of working. Centrists go huh?
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So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
“We urge the Health Select Committee to extend the date for submissions,” concluded Rev Bush. “There is too much at stake to leave the outcome of this review only in the hands of politicians or those with vested interests.” ...
A separate passport, citizenship and membership of the United Nations are only available to fully independent nations, Winston Peters' office says. ...
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This is a ‘congratulatory’ post: in an incredibly short period of time, humans have managed to ‘develop’ to the point where scientists are talking of the 6th mass extinction. Well done us!
About 50,000 years ago, plus or minus 20,000 years, there occurred among homo sapiens what is known as the cognitive revolution.
Among other developments in the brain, humans of the time stopped seeing themselves as a part of Nature, and began believing they were above Nature, a chosen species. That Nature was ‘created’ by ‘a God or Gods’ to serve them, and them alone.
50,000 or so years later, we’re on the point of exterminating ourselves.
The dinosaurs had much smaller brains, but they lasted for millions of years; homo sapiens for the blink of an eyelid in geological age.
Whether you accept we have a very few years left, or that human life will go on in some form forever, all need to realise we’ve made a colossal f*ck-up of it all in an incredibly short period of time, as evidenced by this graph.
“Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. In 2021, it fell on July 29.”
https://www.overshootday.org/
(Can't place the graph in post – but check the link)
The obvious trend is towards complete depletion of the Earth’s resources at some time in the not too distant future. Infinite growth on a finite planet anyone?
There has been much scientific talk about ‘tipping points,’ events which trigger an exponential change leading to probable extinction of our species.
One such crucial tipping point is ice loss in the Arctic (and the Antarctic for that matter).
https://kevinhester.live/2021/12/10/if-we-lose-the-arctic-we-lose-the-globe-weve-lost-the-arctic/
If/when we lose all ice in the Arctic, (possibly about September next year) all hell will break loose in the world’s climate.
It’s patently obvious that NZ, being such a small player in world terms, can do little to persuade the major polluters to mend their ways, (Cop-out 26 proved that) except by radical example, which this government has been largely reluctant to provide.
What we can and should do is recognise the crisis, and prepare to at least weather (pun intended) the worst that climate change can inflict on us.
Yes, I’m talking about ‘a hermit kingdom,’ or perhaps, to rile up the right wing misogynists, that should be ‘a hermit queendom.’
So, here’s the problem: do we bury our heads in the sand by maintaining either a) that climate change is a myth, or is beneficial because we might be able to grow bananas in Invercargill, or b) initiate immediate steps to mitigate its worst effects on New Zealand?
initiate immediate steps to mitigate its worst effects on New Zealand?
What would such steps look like, how much would it cost and what would be the anticipated outcome?
Sometimes doing nothing, or at least doing something whose benefits outweigh the costs, is the best option. That’s because doing something might produce few if any benefits and take away resources from areas where they could be used more productively.
Bjorn Lomborg has made a similar point. If we can prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths by providing poor countries with clean drinking water, we should seriously think about doing so. (If we can prevent children from being run over and killed in their own driveway, we should consider doing so, especially if there is an easy fix, which there is.)
I’d be interested in your response to how much it’s going to cost to take these steps, what steps exactly are you referring to, and the likely benefits of taking such action.
https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
https://www.kidsandcars.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfupload/2002-08-23-driveway-related-paediatric-study.pdf
Ross. What would it cost? !!!!!! It would cost everything. Nothing more. Nothing less. How much were YOU thinking?
I blame the Archon and Demiurge for giving us a subconscious mind and the ability to self reflect.. otherwise it would just be another day in paradise before the inevitable happens.
Tony, take a deep breath and relax. No amount of angst will stop the planet doing what the planet has always done.
I'm more worried about a pole shift. The Schumann Resonance 7.83 Hz ( the earths heartbeat, and according to some, what all living things rely on ) has apparently become weaker of the years.
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/earth-north-south-poles-flip-magnetic-field-2018-4
Dylan Thomas
Sage advice… if the light is dying?
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Everything is governed by time, we just think ours is of more importance than anyone's or anything else.
I studied that stuff long ago, have Hapgood's book on it that Einstein wrote the foreword for. The magnetic poles seem to have a random walk sometimes:
This always gives me hope for the planet.
https://youtu.be/EWXdTwFHETA
Yes Stephen, the planet will continue.
And maybe in a million or so years, another intelligent species will evolve to fuck it all up again!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/127553909/covid19-labour-sets-scene-for-omicron-but-what-happens-next
From Luke Malpass
This looks like a handy guide for what to do if you get covid including traffic light details. I've saved this link for future reference.
It isn't easy for mainstreamers to admit that democracy is anti-democratic, but we're getting a few signs that they're starting to wake up to it:
America's left remains split down the middle. Liberals seeking to defend the status quo vs progressive changemakers:
The Democrats want filibuster reform when it suits them but when it doesn't:
https://repustar.com/fact-briefs/do-both-political-parties-have-a-history-of-using-filibusters
From that link, I find it interesting that filibusters have become enormously more common in the time since 2009 than the nearly 2 decades before that (1991-2008).
Interesting isn't it
Can confirm this works well:
Glad to hear that, PR.
I heard a Kmart merchandise manager on talkback yesterday. What a bleak picture he painted. The main points of his korero:
1- Kmart(NZ) has 30 containers sitting on the wharf in Australia that are yet to be loaded. They were due in NZ during December. Estimated time of arrival 3-6 months. I reckon longer, if at all, given Kmart Australia has its own sourcing issues. The reason for the delay is lack of crane and forklift operators.
2-Kmarts NZ warehouse is at present only 25% full.
3- He claims shelves are empty, and customers are turning on staff. Customers want product; they expect product…and when they can't buy what they want, staff cop it. I wonder if the government will, too? I can vouch for the empty shelves. My local KM has next to no sporting goods left.
The supposed caller then said something I thought was suss. He claimed ScoMo wants to lower the age ( under18) for gaining crane and forklift licences so vacancies can be filled. Having driven forklifts, I know they are dangerous machines under certain circumstances. But it would seem I was wrong – desperate times call for desperate measures. I believe ScoMo has since reconsidered that option.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jan/20/unpalletable-scott-morrison-hits-reverse-on-plan-to-allow-under-18s-to-drive-forklifts
It is my thinking that firstly, freight and shipping companies see NZ as an annex of Australia and we are completely dependent on AUS to get any goods, and I mean any. Secondly, by squeezing supply, pricing is thus artificially gauged and I honestly believe that we will see inflation close to double digits in the next 2 years . Our wages will not be able to keep pace and the young ones will jump the ditch. Now, planning and trade negotiations go only so far, what about delivery Management?
American politics throws up gems on a daily basis. Some of them encapsulate some of the realities of the country so well, like this from Mitch McConnell.
https://twitter.com/polialertcom/status/1484028301895249922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1484028301895249922%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnzissues.com%2FCommunity%2Fthreads%2Fdeathsantis-ruperts-next-candidate-for-potus.18909%2Fpage-7
Yeah crazy isn't it
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/biden-tells-interviewer-that-unlike-the-african-american-community-latino-community-is-diverse/
https://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/31/biden.obama/
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bidens-comments-ruffle-feathers/
"I've had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking," Biden said.
My favourite all time white liberal clip on voting.
It would be funny to see their reaction when they're told how racist they're being, heads would explode
. Yep, they have no idea. I find it incredible. They need to differentiate between what black comedian Chris Rock calls black people and n&^%. Chris gets hot under the collar about this. See his YT clip Black people v *******.(Bring the Pain 1996)
Wow look at the way this lady is driving. Lowering the speed limits on some roads is not going to make any difference to the road toll while people drive like this. Peoples driving attitudes need to change.
Watch: Speeding Auckland driver's frightening crash caught on camera – NZ Herald
While stupid driving is always dangerous, don't dismiss the effect of mandated speed reduction.
The road toll on SH6 has been greatly reduced since speeds were reduced from 100 to 80/90 km/h.
There was quite some opposition at the time from the Kaikoura MP down, citing time lost and the time cost to road freighters.
To contradict this view, the time difference is about 15 minutes for a 110 km journey, and an industry spokesman said that trucks save considerably (50 litres less on a 500 km journey) on fuel usage for every 10 km/h slower.
There have been no fatalities since introduction of these measures on SH6 designed to reduce the road toll.
That is a good result SH6 Mac. What concerns me is too many drivers like this lady that simply ignore all speed limits whether they be 80km/hr or 100km/hr and drive erratically.
How about getting a proper driver licence. It is truly frightening if you think about it. There are more than 40 000 people on the road without ever having learned to use a vehicle safely, road user codes, signs, restrictions etc. Any one of them can risk your life. You don't need lower limits, you need properly trained drivers.
The fatalities cannot be blamed on foreigners now as there are basically no tourists. You will look at bit closer to get to the truth. Lost control, too fast and alcohol would eliminate 95.7% of accidents. That is a lot. None has to do with speed limits but all with lack of skill and alcohol. It would be interesting to know the age group causing these crashes. But alas it is a data jungle and you find US data easier than any in NZ.
Causes of road accidents in New Zealand
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/07/revealed-over-40-000-drivers-remain-on-restricted-and-learner-licences-for-a-decade.html
So, driver error then.
No, overestimating skill levels and alcohol is and 40 000 plus unqualified drivers. Driver error would indicate that someone reading texts whilst driving, overtaking to impress mates, showing off what the car "can do" whilst they are incapable of controlling the vehicle, completely unaware that they endanger the rest of the road users. I am not in favor of political correctness cop out excuses. If a driver is to immature to handle a car than they should have to use public transport and go and get more training. End of story.
K-Mart ( and the Warehouse et al ) not being filled up with plastic shit with a limited lifespan and even more hardly-to-be-worn badly made clothes to add to the 115 BILLION garments produced each year would be a win in my book.
For the record, my Chinese socks sourced from Mitre10, used to last two weeks before disintegrating. Now I can get six weeks wear before they get holes. That's progress and proof capitalism is the way to go!
WA has gone its own way by keeping its hard border with the rest of Australia shut to all except a few who apply for exemptions. McGowan reckons its better to wait for the booster rate to be up at about the 80-90% level (currently at about 25%) and millions of RAT tests to be available for use plus other planning for the inevitable Omicron sweep. Not sure if the state can keep Omicron out, as like NZ it's knocking hard at the border, but no doubt casting an eye on all other parts of the country from within WA, the scene hardly looks enticing.
Koff:
I do think that, like McGowan in WA, Jacinda should be retaining the option of keeping the borders closed after the end of February (the current proposed end to MIQ border opening date) until NZ is 90% boosted, assuming Omicron doesn't get in by accident of course.
At present Labour seems fixated on sticking to this date. Are they in thrall to the business lobby?
How much more evidence of this do we need? We have decades-worth already. Where’s action on climate change, the housing crisis, inequality and infrastructure investment? They can sound tough in opposition but once they had complete control over cabinet very little has happened. Labour need to change their name, they abdicated actually fighting for workers a long time ago.
The problem with blanket assertions like "very little has happened" is that a moment's research can find a different set of facts which rather spoils the strength of other assertions.
The NZLP claims this-
"BOOSTING WAGES
We believe that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. That’s why since 2017, we’ve boosted the minimum wage by $4.25 – bringing it to $20 per hour. We’ve passed the Equal Pay Amendment Bill to ensure people who perform work of the same value are paid the same and started addressing pay inequities in our education and health systems. We’re also implementing Fair Pay Agreements, to improve wages and conditions and support our economic recovery.
RESTORING RIGHTS
We’re making sure workers get a fair deal by strengthening employment law. We’ve brought back meal and rest breaks, strengthened collective bargaining, restored protections for vulnerable workers, and limited 90-day trials to businesses with fewer than 20 employees. We’re committed to improving the Holidays Act to provide more certainty for employers and employees, and we’ve made changes to better protect migrants from exploitation.
LOOKING OUT FOR WELLBEING
We’re keeping workers safe and supporting them to balance their work with other demands. We’ve extended paid parental leave from 18 to 26 weeks, and we’ve doubled the minimum sick leave entitlement to 10 days to make sure no one feels pressured to go to work when they’re unwell. We increased funding to modernise WorkSafe, and launched a new Navigation Service offering free, independent advice and advocacy for people making ACC claims. We’ve also committed to keeping the retirement age at 65.
PROTECTING JOBS
Our strong COVID response has kept Kiwis safe while protecting jobs, allowing us to look ahead. Our wage subsidies have supported around 1.8 million jobs through alert level changes, and we created specific programmes to protect jobs in vulnerable sectors like sports, tourism, and the arts. To help protect those who do experience job loss through no fault of their own, we’re working on the design of a Social Unemployment Insurance scheme that would support workers to retain about 80 percent of their income for a period after they lose their jobs." https://www.labour.org.nz/policy
If you don't like that as a source try this one from an employer, the Clubs of NZ. https://www.clubsnz.org.nz/members-area/news/new-labour-government-whats-on-the-workplace-reform-agenda/
"5 November 2020
At New Zealand’s October general election, the Labour Party won a majority of Parliament’s seats and is likely to govern alone. Some of the workplace policies Labour campaigned on included:
New protections for contractors"
Yes, like I said, very little has happened in regard to the climate crisis, the housing crisis, increasing inequality and infrastructure investment.
I was addressing your issue with "fighting for workers". Climate crisis, the housing crisis, increasing inequality and infrastructure investment are issues wider than workers' rights solely, save the inequality issue addressed in part by a $4.50 increase in the hourly minimum wage, doubled sick leave entitlement, workplace conditions improvements, fair pay agreements, pay equality, 90 day contracts etc.
You just can't say that very little has happened. You can argue for more, but argument based on scant regard for reality is not convincing. National do it with their current 'shambles' buzz word. It means less than nothing and is a sign of lack of proper argument.
Have you considered that workers are those most affected by all of those issues? I wasn't talking about 'rights', I'm talking material conditions.
A minimum wage increase is good for those on minimum wage however the majority of workers aren't on minimum wage and haven't seen their wages increase at the same rate.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300374351/threequarters-of-workers-get-pay-rises-that-dont-keep-up-with-inflation
A good article and one which spells out with facts and figures where we're at from the TU perspective. It does acknowledge some improvements and also that more is needed.
It does not however address the issue of "Labour need to change their name, they abdicated actually fighting for workers a long time ago."
Nothing in that article about what the Labour government needs to do. Most employers are private, not public. What do we need to see done, to address these issues, as a government?
What do I as a member tell my LEC and my nearest Labour MP 110 km away to get on with?
I do btw acknowledge that wider issues also impact on workers. But your statement was about "abdication of fighting for workers" and the discussion needs to go beyond that to the actuals of where we'r at, who can do what, and also what is beyond the power of government.
That’s up to you, but I do remember our PM talking about the failure of neo-liberalism, so something that undermines that status quo rather than just hoping for change would be what I expected them to get on with.
I don’t accept that action on any of these issues is beyond the power of government, actually fighting for workers involves a redefining what is possible.
That's up to me. Thanks.
That is unless you can get them to undo all the policy and philosophy changes of the 4th Labour Government, then do that. Thanks.
The evidence from Australia seems to be that business hasn't done well as the Omicron outbreak has meant staff shortages, hesitancy on the part of ordinary people to go out and risk being infected. The same businesses that were hard hit during lockdowns have been almost as badly hit with the high infection rate. Think the pressure on McGowan is from separated families more than WA business which is doing just fine. Queensland and other states and territories that had kept Delta out made a mistake in mid December opening up just as Omicron turned up. Once the borders were opened up, it was impossible to go into reverse. Guess it was hard at that point to know how bad things were going to get, but there is no excuse for NZ (like WA) to not learn the mistakes others have made and plan as fast as possible while doing whatever can be done to slow down Omicron's eventual arrival. Can't see businesses in NZ being happy once Omicron arrives tbh, whatever NZ Labour thinks.
No they aren't. They just have much more important things to worry about and they don't have any time to pay any attention to Covid 19.
Covid 19 is yesterday's story. This is 2022.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/which-wedding-dress-will-jacinda-ardern-say-yes-to-for-her-big-day/MBANKU6HJUJNZQHYR36R4HPSUQ/
Is it going to be broadcast on all the TV networks simultaneously? Which woman's magazine has arranged rights to publish the photos. What dress will Lorde wear and what will she sing?
Who cares? The Herald has been unable to find out anything so is reduced to a publishing a pointless lifestyle puff piece with pics of some wedding dress styles that Ardern might (or might not) wear.
It's being kept a closely-guarded secret. I'm happy to not know any details until the deed is done, the show is over, and the answers to your questions are revealed.
If any more was being announced about it, every detail would constantly be front page news when there are more important things to most of us that are real news.
Chris Luxon claiming the traffic light system is confusing and offering utterly simplistic solutions to complex problems two years into a pandemic is really just a neolib prosperity Christian desperately wanting to retreat into magical thinking that pretending COVID doesn't exist – that somehow by refusing to engage with understanding the tools to manage COVID and pleading for magical silver bullets will make COVID go away.
The recurring meta in National's covid response is the way it's strategy has been shaped by the clash between the Evangelical determinism and neoliberal ideology that is it's caucus's foundation beliefs and empirical requirements of a pandemic response. The party exhibits all the psychological stress one would expect of a political movement exposed to extreme and prolonged cognitive dissonance.
Luxon is merely yet another intellectual featherweight on the right, retreating into irrelevant and plaintive complaining rather than grasping and confronting the truth that the the ideas – and the actions that would flow from those ideas – that underpin his world view are not psychologically consistent with current reality.
Well said Sanc. Luxon blathered and complained endlessly today on RNZ's Morning Report, but when asked a simple question-"should RAT tests be free"-he had no answer saying that could be decided later.
So, is the garden gnome thick. Or just being devious??
With Luxon's becoming the leader, one assumed that the level of IQ of the opposition had improved. No such luck. Luxon's ranting about the lack of RAT's was so pathetic when those of the meanest of intellect know there is an international shortage. Did he expect the appropriate Ministers or the PM could magic them from their backsides? He has been raving about the government not rapidly producing sufficient ICU beds to handle a massive increase in demand – presumably in support of pandering to the demands of the hospitality industry. It seems he forgot that each bed requires 4-5 advance trained nursing staff. No magic wand would solve that problem, especially when a pandemic, once unleashed, would cause the NZ health system to immediately lose existing staff to infection, burn-out and resignations for self-preservation. He has also demonstrated that he should pull his head out of his rear end so that he can put an ear to the ground. If he did, he would discover what most people are aware of. There has been a great deal of planning, some of it of necessity being tentative. This has been going on at all levels of the health system since before omicron was a thing. How long would it take to get a chauffeur driven limo to take him perhaps 200m or more to the nearest medical practice to ask what preparations have been made?
Those were my thoughts Sanctuary. Luxon's undermining the forward planning with negativity is just a continuation of Bridges without the belligerence.
So according to Nationals play book. "We have done nothing to prepare" "We are late with these non existent actions" and "We have had a month on holiday", and the pearl, "We are confused by the confusing traffic light system"
As for "Pre orders of RAT tests, we have 5000 000 odd, with orders coming in batches through to June. He couldn’t say if they should be free.
Competing with a billion ordered by the USA puts us way down the list, as currently we don't need them.
When asked what he would do Luxon talked all round the question and had no concrete suggestions. He is allowing Bishop to bark at every situation. Situation familiar imo.
Was funny to hear him remind everyone that he'd "run an airline"!
Yes, that makes all the difference. Confidence should rein, he ran an airline!!!
John Keys' latest apprentice is a drip.
I noticed that too fender. His logic is that he can run an airline (in a semi monopolistic situation) so I can run a country.
He is not coming over well so far.
For anyone interested in the new Fresh Prince remake:
I loved it when they took Trump off…I love this even better. I needed that laugh after receiving another credit card charge back from a business that cannot now supply what I purchased.
I like that he skewers everyone, the Star Trek take off is pretty good as well
From Stuff.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300500687/covid19-one-third-of-border-cases-over-one-week-were-unvaccinated
"More than a third of Covid-19 cases caught at New Zealand’s border over the space of one week were unvaccinated or ineligible due to their age, a snapshot of data shows."
"While non-New Zealand citizens are required to be vaccinated to enter the country, there is no requirement for citizens to be vaccinated."
Shouldn't they be??
I would think you would run afoul of the New Zealand Immigration Act 2009, and in particular section 13.
Basically it says that if you are only a New Zealand citizen you can't be kept out and you can't be deported. I don't see how you could change this without making people stateless.
Besides it isn't a crime for New Zealand citizens not to be vaccinated. Why should it be for a New Zealand citizen wanting to enter the country?
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2009/0051/latest/DLM1440595.html
Interesting. Obviously one of those moments where the stars align and I agree with Alwyn.
Don't get me wrong, almost all of them should be vaccinated. But making that a requirement for returning citizens gets dicey.
Now, whether airlines should require it for everyone who sets foot on their plane, that's another issue.
The good bishop’s supporters make a bid for relevance and support. Will they succeed? Stay tuned, possums.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/destiny-church-protest-brian-tamaki-supporters-barricade-mt-eden-prison-entrance/VXLCCY7ECWXY6PLGJM5VWBGK3A/
Interesting development. The police & prison management seem to have treated this protest with kid gloves. One wonders whether that will embolden Tamaki's supporters to do more of this kind of thing when their leader isn't happy inside and complains to them.
I think most sensible people are wary of going too far in supporting Apostle Tamaki because they know a cult when they see one.
Yes, looking forward to the news tonight so we can get some moving pictures.
' The police & prison management seem to have treated this protest with kid gloves'
Should see what we do when a prisoner gets on a roof…basically nothing, negotiate untill they get bored and climb down
Do you hope for a really bad spell of weather with sleet and gale force winds?
Would it make any difference to how long they stayed there?
They generally don't go up in bad weather and we're not allowed to use fire hoses (not even just to make them wet)
Well sure, it holds up everything especially at lock up, once lock up happens you have less people on so while theres an idiot on the roof no ones going home, theres plenty of damage that can be done up there (windows etc, can get other places they shouldn't etc)
Christopher Luxon says "we should target on the basis of need, not on the basis of ethnicity"
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/01/national-leader-christopher-luxon-responds-to-man-at-public-meeting-who-got-round-of-applause-for-denouncing-use-of-te-reo-m-ori.html
But…
National calls for better mental health services for Asians.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/01/national-calls-for-better-mental-health-services-for-asians.html
You have to look after your voter base, FB. Asians kind of get what National stands for. But, apart from a few outliers, Asians don't have a clue what Labour and the Greens are about. It's too wishy washy for them. They just want to make money, look after their families and get on with life. That's a great attitude.
If you're just pointing out the apparently contradictory messaging from National's leader and their mental health spokesperson…
Luxon says:
Luxon is saying in the first article that National believe in targeting by need, not ethnicity, but Doocey is saying:
I don't think there's a contradiction in real terms because Luxon acknowledges there's often an overlap of ethnicity with need.
It seems like typical politician double-talk. Some people will hear the "need, not ethnicity" message & others will realise that he gives himself wriggle room in the event he ever finds himself in the position of, for example, having to decide whether to disband the Maori Health Authority. (He probably wouldn't dare do that.)
Luxon's trying to find points of policy difference with Labour but I get the impression he's still floundering.
Luxon's announcements/promises add up to one thing: spend more money.
It's not usually expressed like that, but that's what "invest" really means. He did this on day one of his leadership: invest more in education, climate change, etc. Sounds good!
In Hawke's Bay he called for more spending on health and as an aside, more aid for Tonga. I agree with both, but then I also agree with Grant Robertson borrowing the money to make this possible … while Luxon and Bridges say he should borrow less.
They are for all kinds of spending, and against saying where it comes from. It’s a cruel trick to play on (e.g.) nurses, who will be expecting National to demand higher pay for them, based on Luxon’s comments here:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/127552519/nz-needs-to-invest-in-small-hospitals–luxon
Yep. It will be interesting to see when the new round of Q+A & Newshub Nation shows begin whether the interviewers will press him on where the money’s going to come from for his policy promises.
From what we’ve seen & heard from him so far he’ll probably just continue to be vague & maybe talk about reprioritising…. Others have already pointed out the practical problems with his suggestions that the government should be getting in tons more RATs & boosting the numbers of ICU beds. Such criticisms are easy to make but much harder to implement without the necessary resources being immediately available.
He’s a practiced smooth talker & therefore he may not put his foot in it as often as his predecessors Bridges & Collins. But otherwise he seems to basically be following the same non-plan. He’s far too vague & all over the place for me to consider him potential Prime Ministerial material yet.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-fund-could-not-fund-fourth-vaccine-dose-if-necessary-says-grant-robertson/KWWCIICJZMQPXLZJDDW3YBMSCY/
……
oh well, surely they would find the money, as the other option would be to bury the 'vaccine mandate' in a dust pile of history, unless they are happy to keep the mandate up and require people to pay for hte vaccines in the future. Which i don't think would go down well.
he's clearly saying two things:
1+ 2. where will he find the money? – or better from which fund will he take the money.
What the…? Must be some printing error. This shouldn't be happening in my reality.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/labour-regaining-momentum-in-latest-poll-as-nationals-luxon-surge-stalls/BSFRG6IHQ4Q33NZX5XXKHS4XMI/
Don't live in a bubble then. Actually it's margin of error stuff apart from this bit:
I wonder if the pollsters couldn't find many Maori to ask?? Everyone at the marae that day perhaps…
Actually, it's possible that mM worked a miracle for Labour – 1.7% shift from MP. Sorta like a vote of confidence in the scheme, eh?
mM?
It's the code I started using a couple of weeks ago for Labour's big bold bright & shiny new Maori policy – apparent evidence of the collective heft now being exercised by their Maori MPs.
what new Māori policy? Why mM?
Abbreviation of the name of the report. Okay, it's true they haven't formalised it as policy yet – I'm anticipating most of it will be. They won't want to incentivise their Maori MPs to jump ship to the MP.
So I expect that – because it was a design produced by a high-level consensus of Maori leaders, and pan-tribal consensus is usually a rarity – there's a strong likelihood of implementation.
Less so if there had been disagreement about it in the media but the discussion I saw merely featured a few complaints about the concept of co-governance. As if the principles of Te Tiriti ought not to be read as a racial partnership. No sign Asian kiwis are seeking to become the third part of any such partnership!
I just checked online & suspect I may have inadvertently conflated two reports – sorry, if so… https://www.newsroom.co.nz/maori-co-governance-talks-another-covid-19-victim
If that polling is anywhere accurate there isn't a chance in hell that any of the Labour Party Maori MPs would defect. It's very cold out there if you lose your place at the taxpayer supplied trough and they aren't going to risk it. They aren't like Tariana Turia who quit on a question of principle.
I think the thing I used the mM code for may have been related to this:
https://www.dia.govt.nz/three-waters-reform-programme-iwi-maori-interests
There was discussion onsite here a few weeks ago about it. Anyway the govt description linked provides enough indication of provisional agreement on scheme & principles. A sound basis.
So I agree there's no reason for Willie & the others to feel discouraged at this point. Jumping ship only looms if Labour gets cold feet and the PM decides to abandon the thing.
I wondered what on earth māturanga Māori had to do with it.
Maybe you were thinking of the He Puapua report, Dennis?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/explained/125740914/the-contentious-he-puapua-plan-explained
Apparently I subconsciously conflated the two. That would be because they emanate from the same agenda: co-governance based on Treaty rights. I agree that Labour is doing the right thing in principle. In practice, we ought to watch this space…
''Actually it's margin of error stuff apart from this bit:''
Oh, crikey, that's made me feel better, Dennis. And the ''bit'' part makes me feel even better still.
Well I wouldn't get too excited. Often the holiday break gets folk re-centered & a shift of mood can become evident in the crowd. This time, they're feeling the same as before the break – which will reassure Labour.
Angst around Three Waters? Not enough to shift anything. Losing faith in pandemic strategy? No sign of that either. Best gloss possible – shit can happen fast with omicron, and there's an outside chance it could end up on Labour faces.
''Angst around Three Waters''
Still plenty of of gold for the Tories to mine there.
Luxon surge? lol
There was a Not-Collins surge. That was always going to happen, and would have happened if they'd picked Mark Richardson or a funny-shaped potato.
Then Luxon started talking …
lol The ECG started beeping faintly when Dr Collins left, that doesn't mean the patient is spritely
The EEG is still a flat line
Luxon started talking …
Without saying anything interesting or noteworthy. Honeymoon over already. Folks with a question-mark in their heads now shaking them sadly.
As if the guy never heard of the saying hit the ground running. I'm wondering if he's wondering what he ought to say. Preaching to the converted has a snowball's chance in hell of working. Centrists go huh?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/destiny-church-protest-brian-tamaki-supporters-barricade-mt-eden-prison-entrance/VXLCCY7ECWXY6PLGJM5VWBGK3A
You’re late. Covered already by Blade at 12.47pm:
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-01-2022/#comment-1853431
Being completely nosey I now want to know what the hygiene items are:
tweezers to keep his eyebrows looking freshly tweezed
special face cream or shaving cream
extra soft toilet paper
any exotic items of self care – special oils and unguents
or
would it be more banal such as haemorrhoid cream, snake oil ……..
No matter what it is it is clearly worthy of having a fuss made.
He wants holy water and deodorant as the other inmates are treating him like someone who stinks.
He'd also like his botox as the eyebrows are wilting, and he nearly swollowed one.
Someone suggested yesterday it'd be condoms. Someone else, tampons.
Hair dye and grease.
Oh Shangreagh,… Best laugh of the day. "Snake oil"
Soap, razors, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrush and toilet paper is the usual stuff we give out and women get extra sanitary items
All very boring sorry
Soap, razors, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrush and toilet paper is the usual stuff we give out and women get extra sanitary items
All very boring sorry
Fender and Peter and McFlock you are all very 'naughty boys'…….almost as bad as this very naughty girl.
well written keep it up