I think it is fair to speculate on the fate of recreational boat trips or recreational plane trips, both of whom have closed windows in general and air conditioning. And yes, i can see people forgoing both in the future as an option for holiday making if they fear contamination.
that of course leaves out those that travel for other then pleasure.
Worst case scenario for air travel (short of elimination) is they spend more fuel drawing in fresh air and putting in better filters on the recirculated air, rather than recirculating contaminated air.
Worst case for cruise ships short of elimination is they have to completely redesign the ventilation, onshore activities, food service, onboard facilities, and passenger monitoring in order to become marginally less infectious.
Best case for aircraft is they can get away with returning to BAU as soon as regions get vaccinated.
Best case for cruise ships is they take a few years to recover their PR from their latest infectious disease problems.
They'll probably have to do something about the airports as well, you know, queues, baggage handling, seating, all the stuff ppl touch, travel to and from..
I agree absolutely.
Air travel and cruise industry are not equivalant.
One polluting, loss making industry, is being bailed out with hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars, and one is not.
No, you didn’t; it was (partly) my mistake and I was the one who was rushing it 🙁
FYI, on 15 March, you started using a different user name here, i.e. TheNZJerster instead of NZJester, and another Moderator approved it. That continued for a little while until you changed it to TheNZJester, without the “r”. Moderators are wasting much time running around checking/correcting/approving people who use slightly changed user names, accidentally or willingly; sometimes it is caused by a wayward cursor 🙁
MSD is continually tell people they won't be providing emergency housing when the rules say the person's eligible. Again, it took embarrassing media coverage to get MSD to back down, and it's always a "mistake". How many other people are being told the same thing but nothing gets done about it? We all know there's a housing shortage, and that this must put pressure on MSD, but they shouldn’t be trying to hide the demand by refusing people wrongly. They should be welcoming the information about how need isn’t being met so that government and policy makers get to how things aren’t working.
Difficult to say why this is. Maybe personal bias? Maybe a directive? Maybe that lady still had some shoes so she must be ok (sarc)? Who knows and I think we never will. Political correctness will make sure of that. Suffice to say that I hope I never will depend on people or organizations like that.
[please remove “WTB” from the user name field before you next submit a comment, thanks]
The link from No Right Turn to The Standard has been broken for a while now. It's probably just a glitch in an address link with a site update or something, but does mean that I (& probably others) are less likely to drop by the site. Just thought I'd mention it, while onsite today in case there's an easy fix.
Works for me, in two different browsers on two different computers. However, I noticed it is not secure, but it does open for me. I had a similar problem recently with this site (i.e. TS) and my bookmark didn’t open any longer. I had to put “https:// ” in front of the URL and it was fine again. Lprent was stumped too 🙂 I felt ‘pretty special’ because it seemed that I was the only experiencing that problem with TS …
If the government can spend 400 $ a night on unsafe emergency housing in a slum motel then it should be able to simply pay for a week of rental in a proper house and call it 'government housing'.
I am so sick of this. It is everywhere in Rotorua. Young kids on unlisenced, unplated dirt bikes hooning and ripping up parks, non of them wearing helmets of course, beggars and babys in gang colors. My shopping fringe is 'blue' where i have my business, and every now and then i just close the door to be safe. Go figure.
Fights in the open street. Drug handling in the open street. You simply do not want to go to certain parts on main street Fenton or 'downtown' Rotorua for fear of a mugging or worse after 6 pm.
This is as bad as it was under National with overcrowding and run down camp ground housing of homeless in West Auckland. And sadly Rotorua ain't as big as Auckland, so they can hide is less. God only knows where the Labour doodas are that ran and lost the last election despite their nice Billboards with dear Jacinda ' Lets keep moving'? Moving to where dear Lady? She may hope for a nice 6 figure job at a thinktank somewhere like her Labour Predecessor when she is done Prime Ministering, but the rest of us has to continue to live here. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/emergency-housing-woman-beaten-unconscious-children-being-put-at-risk/E7BFU4ULMAV2TORDWMC7LRX5BA/
Distressing revelations about life in emergency housing continue to emerge, including a woman being punched unconscious by another motel resident, putting her in hospital.
The 49-year-old was left so terrified she refused to go back into any form of shared living.
Those at the coal face say there's not enough oversight, with families mixed in with gang members, and many places rife with crime and intimidation.
And there are further warnings about the significant potential for abuse and sexual violence, with one Auckland charity saying women escaping from an abusive home can end up going back after staying in emergency housing, because at least "they know that violence".
Severe concern too about the plight of children; in some cases taken out of school, cut off from their communities and confined to their motel room by their parents because it's too dangerous to venture outside.
While short term and quickly accessible motel rooms are required to get people in urgent need somewhere to stay, officials laid out the case last year against continuing their use in such high numbers: emergency housing costs more, it only provides the accommodation and none of the extra services needed to help residents with the likes of budgeting or addiction, and the government is less able to monitor exactly what's going.
A Rotorua motelier, speaking anonymously for fear of backlash, refuses MSD clients to focus instead on business and tourism clientele.
"As sad and rude as it may sound," she says, "they're often return guests and we can't allow them to come to accommodation that has drugs, fighting, abuse, and the police there all the time".
However, other moteliers are "showing signs of greed now because the payments are phenomenally high", she says, with motels initially being being offered $119 per night, per unit but now up to $400 a night.
Let them find the houses to rent and then pay the fucking rent that would only be about 150 more the week then what these useless eaters in governmetn pay right now for one night.
Give these people houses rather then what is on offer now. As for those moteliers that don't want to house homeless – like some that i know – almost all couples in their 60s – i don't blame them for not doing it, they are as vulnerable to assault and mayhem as their 'unfortunate' homeless customers. And the police usually shows up when the damage is done.
Last but least this was not OK under Paula Benefit and John Fucking Key, it is not OK under Carmel "See no evil, hear no evil, pretend its not happening" Sepuloni and the current Dear Leader.
These are OUR people, OUR children, OUR women, OUR men that get thrown into the meatgrinder to come out more broken then they were when they got thrown in by governments that don’t give a flying fuck. Kinder, gentler, my lovely backside.
IT is not a Labour or National thing, this is really where we can state simply that 'both sides indeed do it'.
the point that i am trying to make is simply 'pay rents rather then motel rates'.
My post right now is identical to some that i posted 6 odd years ago under J. K and P.B.
It is the lazyness in envisaging a different solution to the same problem. ITs not even that we don't have enough houses, it is that people can't pay for them, and the government rather then pay rents outright, spends 400 NZD a night for someone to sleep in a hovel with no access to anything other then a bed, a kettle and a teabag.
The public outrage at the cost of motels forced the government and MSD to intoduce "transistional housing" which is even worse. Slum properties, often run down or former motel units, policed by incompetent and officious community groups who evict people at the drop of a hat, the government making sure rights under the RTA were removed, MSD washes its hands so the person is then forced to reapply for emergency housing and the whole cycle starts again, MSD often wrongly refusing to assist because of how the previous arrangement ended. The whole mess is completely out of control.
Let them – the people in need of housing – find an appropriate property and have Winz pay for it. That would prevent abuse by landlords of Winz, and Winz / Government would save a tidy a penny for a rainy day by not paying 400 NZD per day.
The government could stipulate how that could work, i.e. in Germany when i was a student the government would pay up to 450 per month (yes per month) for one person. It did absolutly not matter what property you found, so as long as it was not more expensive as that.
What we are doing now is going to be so bad for the future, and it is already so bad for Rotorua.
Given the cost of the complete fiasco that is emergency and transitional housing the idea is attractive. How do you see the legal relationships and responsibilities operating, ensuring security of tenure etc? Does Kāinga Ora lease the property, which then becomes a state house, which is then rented by the tenant? If so, doesn't that just bring us back to the chronic supply shortage?
We don't have a supply shortage, we have an affordability problem.
Rent is too high. Rent could be measured by square meterage, or by rooms i.e. 150 per room per week for a rental. That would be somewhere around 300 – 45 for the common two bedder/ three bedder and then you could add in say 150 for close schools, public transport, shops etc.
The government could actually regulate rent. Currently rent is based on mortgage mainly, plus the maintenance of that mortgage, rates, insurance etc, and then maybe the boat, the holiday and the braces for the kids. But rent should only cover the use of the property, not the owner ship. Which is what a mortgage covers.
Also if the government for example would pay rents for beneficiaries, the market would follow in maybe building for these tenants. Smaller flats, one bed to three/four bedrooms, high density building. Currently we don't do that. We build shitty apartment blocks that fall apart after 6 years with huge co-op costs. Did you know that in Germany people wash down their own stair case 😉 or have a live in Janitor couple (usually rent free plus pay).
The chronic shortage is because we never regulated the market, and now people – even well to do people – can't afford to either rent or buy, or sell for that matter. Cause no matter how much money you have it won't be enough in the long term. And the last announcement of the governments housing policies reflect that by increasing the amount a first home buyer can spend in order to still get the government subsidy.
Gosh Chris that is pure purgatory for those beneficiaries. The disgust is building against Labour, and well founded. They actually have to pull some rabbits out of the hat and not just wave it around with promises. This latest health thing is expensive and time-consuming and could fit in with the polly-watchers theories that Labour was basking in the Covid19 management magic, but that has worn off, and need something else to fill the gap.
So Health instead of Housing which they don't want to touch from a distance closer than a barge pole, and are leaving it to the professionals who know how to build the modern chook-house painted grey with black roof that is regarded as all modern NZs could wish for. And what about the others? They must be feeling like fringe-dwellers lost in one of those desperately sordid dystopian dark stories that get on to tv.
Handing out pamphlets pretending to be the health department. At the very least I'd have thought issuing a trespass notice immediately might help. Plus who paid for this ??
This is an example of looking at one side of a policy's effect. It isn't the most efficient or effective way of handling seasonal work to have people come into the country from Pacific Islands or employ young tourists. But it is really good way to interact with the Pacific Islands people, our neighbours who are small like us and go better when there is a co-operative relationship amongst the Pacific small islands.
As for visitors and tourists, young people being able to visit and learn about other countries is very important for understanding between nations and about being a citizen in this world. And it keeps us on the map, and we don't get forgotten down here at the bottom of the world. So there are more benefits to NZ than a narrow economic survey can demonstrate.
Perhaps we allow them into the country under time limitation, and giving preference to the *Woofers scheme (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). This means they are available to work for food and accommodation mainly, and probably have to have a return ticket booked when they come here,
* Wwoofing – Willing Workers On Organic Farms – is a host system where you exchange hours of work for accommodation and food. … Wwoofing is a well established global host system and New Zealand is one of many participating countries. https://www.backpackingmatt.com/wwoofing-in-new-zealand-tips-and-experiences/
Young people have always wanted to travel and work around the world on the OE. It doesn't mean they should be paid exploitation wages. But, neither does it mean they should be able to do dodgy courses and get dodgy residents visas – then expect to bring family into the country. NZ has had a 20% population explosion in the last 10 years – 1 million extra people. We are being used and it's not sustainable.
I suppose it's personal for Ms Toynbee, who stands to be one of those worst affected by an over-proportion of elderly to young. But if not her (also my) generation, then which? It's got to happen some time; might as well be now.
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Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
Flight hesitancy, is it a thing?
The cruise industry has been effectively ruined as a perceived incubator for covid-19
Could the same happen to air travel?
it might, if there are any more reports like this.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/covid-19-coronavirus-47-passengers-test-positive-after-overseas-flight/7EGAVKASPTX2XCPBJA5APHOT5I/
Another one of your false equivalences; air travel =//= cruise industry.
why that comment?
I think it is fair to speculate on the fate of recreational boat trips or recreational plane trips, both of whom have closed windows in general and air conditioning. And yes, i can see people forgoing both in the future as an option for holiday making if they fear contamination.
that of course leaves out those that travel for other then pleasure.
Worst case scenario for air travel (short of elimination) is they spend more fuel drawing in fresh air and putting in better filters on the recirculated air, rather than recirculating contaminated air.
Worst case for cruise ships short of elimination is they have to completely redesign the ventilation, onshore activities, food service, onboard facilities, and passenger monitoring in order to become marginally less infectious.
Best case for aircraft is they can get away with returning to BAU as soon as regions get vaccinated.
Best case for cruise ships is they take a few years to recover their PR from their latest infectious disease problems.
They'll probably have to do something about the airports as well, you know, queues, baggage handling, seating, all the stuff ppl touch, travel to and from..
Maybe, but then that's not a problem directly facing the airlines. Whereas the cruise lines handle everything to get their cut.
Worst case for climate change is for aircraft returning to BAU as soon as regions get vaccinated.
Worst case for climate change is cruise ships take a few years to recover their PR from their latest infectious disease problems.
Let's hear it for BAU
'
"….that of course leaves out those that travel for other than pleasure."
Sabine
Wherein lies another tale;
“This polling shows that after a year of quick and easy virtual meetings, travellers aren’t planning to go back to business as usual.”
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2021/04/business-flyers-could-stick-to-video-calls-even-after-covid-19-pandemic-survey-suggests/
Stranded asset anyone?
Shssh
I agree absolutely.
Air travel and cruise industry are not equivalant.
One polluting, loss making industry, is being bailed out with hundreds of millions of tax payer dollars, and one is not.
You’re already halfway answering your own question @ 1. Amazing what one can achieve when using one’s brain.
Air travel and cruise industry are not equivalent.
One burns fossil fuels the other burns pixie dust.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/countering-dominant-narratives-of-nzs-far-right/ar-BB1fRAWO
Read this article this morning. Interesting.
Where do you guys think the Counter narative is going right and where is it going wrong?
[One letter was missing from user name; guess which one]
k?
The Easter bunny is missing you; are you missing them too?
Que'?
The Easter Bunny is a bit of a bully.
Nah, they’re just lonely and missing you and I feel really sorry for them. If you don’t want to go, you know what to do and what not.
Sure. I have to watch the moving goalposts like a hawk.
I seem to have put an extra letter in my name.
I guess that is what happens when you are rushing in the morning
No, you didn’t; it was (partly) my mistake and I was the one who was rushing it 🙁
FYI, on 15 March, you started using a different user name here, i.e. TheNZJerster instead of NZJester, and another Moderator approved it. That continued for a little while until you changed it to TheNZJester, without the “r”. Moderators are wasting much time running around checking/correcting/approving people who use slightly changed user names, accidentally or willingly; sometimes it is caused by a wayward cursor 🙁
Chauvin verdict reached .
Wont be announced till 8:30 am our time ( 3:30PM US ET time)
Guilty of all 3 counts : Murder 2, Murder 3, manslaughter 2
It may be appealed – but offers hope for a change in US police culture.
Really? What about the other cops who let him kill that helpless man? Have they faced any consequences?
Their trials are to come separately due to Covid restrictions.
Thanks for that Sabine.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124861129/car-stolen-emergency-housing-denied-a-woman-faces-sleeping-rough
MSD is continually tell people they won't be providing emergency housing when the rules say the person's eligible. Again, it took embarrassing media coverage to get MSD to back down, and it's always a "mistake". How many other people are being told the same thing but nothing gets done about it? We all know there's a housing shortage, and that this must put pressure on MSD, but they shouldn’t be trying to hide the demand by refusing people wrongly. They should be welcoming the information about how need isn’t being met so that government and policy makers get to how things aren’t working.
Difficult to say why this is. Maybe personal bias? Maybe a directive? Maybe that lady still had some shoes so she must be ok (sarc)? Who knows and I think we never will. Political correctness will make sure of that. Suffice to say that I hope I never will depend on people or organizations like that.
[please remove “WTB” from the user name field before you next submit a comment, thanks]
Whoever is writing in bold.. why at this site does the curser go back to a filled in field….?
It’s a known problem, but solvable, apparently. I will leave a comment in the back-end for Lprent.
Cheers,It must be driving some on Mod duty mad.
The link from No Right Turn to The Standard has been broken for a while now. It's probably just a glitch in an address link with a site update or something, but does mean that I (& probably others) are less likely to drop by the site. Just thought I'd mention it, while onsite today in case there's an easy fix.
Works for me, in two different browsers on two different computers. However, I noticed it is not secure, but it does open for me. I had a similar problem recently with this site (i.e. TS) and my bookmark didn’t open any longer. I had to put “https:// ” in front of the URL and it was fine again. Lprent was stumped too 🙂 I felt ‘pretty special’ because it seemed that I was the only experiencing that problem with TS …
If the government can spend 400 $ a night on unsafe emergency housing in a slum motel then it should be able to simply pay for a week of rental in a proper house and call it 'government housing'.
I am so sick of this. It is everywhere in Rotorua. Young kids on unlisenced, unplated dirt bikes hooning and ripping up parks, non of them wearing helmets of course, beggars and babys in gang colors. My shopping fringe is 'blue' where i have my business, and every now and then i just close the door to be safe. Go figure.
Fights in the open street. Drug handling in the open street. You simply do not want to go to certain parts on main street Fenton or 'downtown' Rotorua for fear of a mugging or worse after 6 pm.
This is as bad as it was under National with overcrowding and run down camp ground housing of homeless in West Auckland. And sadly Rotorua ain't as big as Auckland, so they can hide is less. God only knows where the Labour doodas are that ran and lost the last election despite their nice Billboards with dear Jacinda ' Lets keep moving'? Moving to where dear Lady? She may hope for a nice 6 figure job at a thinktank somewhere like her Labour Predecessor when she is done Prime Ministering, but the rest of us has to continue to live here.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/emergency-housing-woman-beaten-unconscious-children-being-put-at-risk/E7BFU4ULMAV2TORDWMC7LRX5BA/
Let them find the houses to rent and then pay the fucking rent that would only be about 150 more the week then what these useless eaters in governmetn pay right now for one night.
Give these people houses rather then what is on offer now. As for those moteliers that don't want to house homeless – like some that i know – almost all couples in their 60s – i don't blame them for not doing it, they are as vulnerable to assault and mayhem as their 'unfortunate' homeless customers. And the police usually shows up when the damage is done.
Last but least this was not OK under Paula Benefit and John Fucking Key, it is not OK under Carmel "See no evil, hear no evil, pretend its not happening" Sepuloni and the current Dear Leader.
These are OUR people, OUR children, OUR women, OUR men that get thrown into the meatgrinder to come out more broken then they were when they got thrown in by governments that don’t give a flying fuck. Kinder, gentler, my lovely backside.
Wow, from the same article 4000 children in these slums hotel's 1000 of them for more than a year…
Wtf is going on, I'll bet in 20 years there'll be a royal commission into abuse in emergency accomodation…
Lets do this?
Keep at it Sabine to many Labour fans are turning a blind eye…
IT is not a Labour or National thing, this is really where we can state simply that 'both sides indeed do it'.
the point that i am trying to make is simply 'pay rents rather then motel rates'.
My post right now is identical to some that i posted 6 odd years ago under J. K and P.B.
It is the lazyness in envisaging a different solution to the same problem. ITs not even that we don't have enough houses, it is that people can't pay for them, and the government rather then pay rents outright, spends 400 NZD a night for someone to sleep in a hovel with no access to anything other then a bed, a kettle and a teabag.
Agree completely, I just feel that there are more than a few that like to pretend the problem has magically disappeared now their 'team' is in govt…
When the reality is the situation is worsening dramatically…
The public outrage at the cost of motels forced the government and MSD to intoduce "transistional housing" which is even worse. Slum properties, often run down or former motel units, policed by incompetent and officious community groups who evict people at the drop of a hat, the government making sure rights under the RTA were removed, MSD washes its hands so the person is then forced to reapply for emergency housing and the whole cycle starts again, MSD often wrongly refusing to assist because of how the previous arrangement ended. The whole mess is completely out of control.
as i said above
Let them – the people in need of housing – find an appropriate property and have Winz pay for it. That would prevent abuse by landlords of Winz, and Winz / Government would save a tidy a penny for a rainy day by not paying 400 NZD per day.
The government could stipulate how that could work, i.e. in Germany when i was a student the government would pay up to 450 per month (yes per month) for one person. It did absolutly not matter what property you found, so as long as it was not more expensive as that.
What we are doing now is going to be so bad for the future, and it is already so bad for Rotorua.
Given the cost of the complete fiasco that is emergency and transitional housing the idea is attractive. How do you see the legal relationships and responsibilities operating, ensuring security of tenure etc? Does Kāinga Ora lease the property, which then becomes a state house, which is then rented by the tenant? If so, doesn't that just bring us back to the chronic supply shortage?
We don't have a supply shortage, we have an affordability problem.
Rent is too high. Rent could be measured by square meterage, or by rooms i.e. 150 per room per week for a rental. That would be somewhere around 300 – 45 for the common two bedder/ three bedder and then you could add in say 150 for close schools, public transport, shops etc.
The government could actually regulate rent. Currently rent is based on mortgage mainly, plus the maintenance of that mortgage, rates, insurance etc, and then maybe the boat, the holiday and the braces for the kids. But rent should only cover the use of the property, not the owner ship. Which is what a mortgage covers.
Also if the government for example would pay rents for beneficiaries, the market would follow in maybe building for these tenants. Smaller flats, one bed to three/four bedrooms, high density building. Currently we don't do that. We build shitty apartment blocks that fall apart after 6 years with huge co-op costs. Did you know that in Germany people wash down their own stair case 😉 or have a live in Janitor couple (usually rent free plus pay).
The chronic shortage is because we never regulated the market, and now people – even well to do people – can't afford to either rent or buy, or sell for that matter. Cause no matter how much money you have it won't be enough in the long term. And the last announcement of the governments housing policies reflect that by increasing the amount a first home buyer can spend in order to still get the government subsidy.
Gosh Chris that is pure purgatory for those beneficiaries. The disgust is building against Labour, and well founded. They actually have to pull some rabbits out of the hat and not just wave it around with promises. This latest health thing is expensive and time-consuming and could fit in with the polly-watchers theories that Labour was basking in the Covid19 management magic, but that has worn off, and need something else to fill the gap.
So Health instead of Housing which they don't want to touch from a distance closer than a barge pole, and are leaving it to the professionals who know how to build the modern chook-house painted grey with black roof that is regarded as all modern NZs could wish for. And what about the others? They must be feeling like fringe-dwellers lost in one of those desperately sordid dystopian dark stories that get on to tv.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124861129/car-stolen-emergency-housing-denied-a-woman-faces-sleeping-rough
Handing out pamphlets pretending to be the health department. At the very least I'd have thought issuing a trespass notice immediately might help. Plus who paid for this ??
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440904/covid-19-wellington-commuters-face-anti-mask-propaganda-on-train
The sooner Billy Te Kahika and his lunatic supporters disappear off the face of the planet the better.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440858/rse-seasonal-migrant-worker-scheme-does-not-benefit-economy-report
This is an example of looking at one side of a policy's effect. It isn't the most efficient or effective way of handling seasonal work to have people come into the country from Pacific Islands or employ young tourists. But it is really good way to interact with the Pacific Islands people, our neighbours who are small like us and go better when there is a co-operative relationship amongst the Pacific small islands.
As for visitors and tourists, young people being able to visit and learn about other countries is very important for understanding between nations and about being a citizen in this world. And it keeps us on the map, and we don't get forgotten down here at the bottom of the world. So there are more benefits to NZ than a narrow economic survey can demonstrate.
Perhaps we allow them into the country under time limitation, and giving preference to the *Woofers scheme (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). This means they are available to work for food and accommodation mainly, and probably have to have a return ticket booked when they come here,
* Wwoofing – Willing Workers On Organic Farms – is a host system where you exchange hours of work for accommodation and food. … Wwoofing is a well established global host system and New Zealand is one of many participating countries. https://www.backpackingmatt.com/wwoofing-in-new-zealand-tips-and-experiences/
WOOF ing. Yet another cheap labour scam, like the education for residency, temporary visa workers and "skilled immigration".
Slavery.
Young people have always wanted to travel and work around the world on the OE. It doesn't mean they should be paid exploitation wages. But, neither does it mean they should be able to do dodgy courses and get dodgy residents visas – then expect to bring family into the country. NZ has had a 20% population explosion in the last 10 years – 1 million extra people. We are being used and it's not sustainable.
But of course if we criticise it and speak against it, we are guilty of racism and hate speech.
https://www.google.com/search?q=nz+population+2011&sxsrf=ALeKk030RK9dbOL0LIC5GL25SZRR9zW-Fw%3A1618989478601&source=hp&ei=ptF_YN-oIuKM4-EPiZaLoAg&iflsig=AINFCbYAAAAAYH_ftgCoPEoD8l-nva5dxXOMSIw4pDXC&oq=nz+population+2011&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyAggAOgQIIxAnOggIABCxAxCDAToICC4QsQMQgwE6BQgAELEDOg4ILhCxAxCDARDHARCjAjoFCAAQyQM6BQgAEJIDOgsILhCxAxDHARCjAjoLCAAQsQMQgwEQyQM6BggAEBYQHlCkAVjYU2DXV2gAcAB4AIABwAKIAeIckgEIMC4xMC43LjGYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwjfk4_m5Y7wAhVixjgGHQnLAoQQ4dUDCAo&uact=5
errr- what? Seems broadly consistent with RosieLee's penultimate sentence. Not sure about the contribution of migration though.
Those monsters, enticing teachers with great pay and cheap accommodation
https://twitter.com/china_takes/status/1384228640083177476
Another lament about declining birth-rates in the UK:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/20/britain-falling-birthrate-covid-pandemic-conservatives-removed-support-for-parents
I suppose it's personal for Ms Toynbee, who stands to be one of those worst affected by an over-proportion of elderly to young. But if not her (also my) generation, then which? It's got to happen some time; might as well be now.
What? Parents not being regarded as worthy for consideration and assistance from the government?
"Not enough new workers being born".
"May have to pay decent wages and look after them".
Tragedy.