It's obvious why ratbag employers and other profit-takers are anti-union.
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", such as attaining better wages and benefits (such as vacation, health care, and retirement), improving working conditions, improving safety standards, establishing complaint procedures, developing rules governing status of employees (rules governing promotions, just-cause-conditions for termination) and protecting the integrity of their trade through the increased bargaining power wielded by solidarity among workers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas, but you still won’t have doggy breath.
Based on the returns received by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, total union membership as of 1 March 2020 was 380,659. This represents 16.42 percent of employees in the labour force. Total union membership increased by 2.0 percent compared to the previous year.
So 83% choose not to be in a union. Even more so when you take out the around 65% of those 16% who work in education or health etc, ie for the government.
And how does that 16.42% compare with the 1970's by the way?
So, it is clear that union membership in NZ has been very steady since 1996, which is a quarter of a century. Doesn’t quite fit your narrative, does it now?
I guess you don't understand my 'narrative then, because it fits it perfectly.
You see I didn't ask you about 1996, did I. I asked about the 1970's, when people were compelled to join unions.
What your very interesting graph shows, is that when compulsory union membership ended, workers voted with their feet, and membership dropped from a shade under 50% to, well bugger all.
And here's the point you have so beautifully made for me. In the 30+ years since union membership was made voluntary, unions have had plenty of time to prove their worth, and yet an even smaller % of workers (16.42% by your own data) choose to join a union in 2002 than the 20% in 1996. That's some kind of failure.
BTW I was indeed in the 1981 March on Queen Street. Same year I attended campaign rallies for Bill Rowling, including one at the Auckland Town Hall. Workers groups across the centuries have done amazing work for workers, often at great personal cost. The NZ edition by the 1980's had become a corrupt rabble.
Nope, you narrative was “They became corrupt and incompetent. It’s why workers left them in droves.”
Which is not accurate by a long shot and simply a reflection of your one-eyed view of unions, which you’ve so beautifully confirmed for us here, so thank you for that.
Over the last quarter of a century unions have proven their worth and even grown their membership over the last few years to just under 400,000 members. Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking.
I’d say that it doesn’t confirm either your narrative of “Unions outlived their place decades ago.”
"Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking."</em
When a movements membership drops from close to 50% to 20% and then 30 years later to 16%, that’s a failure by any measure.
EDIT – Apparently 60% of all union members are in the public sector. And 62% of public sector workers are in unions. No wonder you’re showing an increase in gross numbers in the past year or so.
All three inaccurate parts of your silly narrative were in my previous comment, i.e., your full narrative. I split it into two parts, clearly labelling as “your narrative” both times, because they were so disjointed and unhinged from reality anyway. If you say them backwards they almost start to make some sense.
Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. You sound desperate when you have to dig for stats from the 1970s and before the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991 to find something that may possibly suit your twisted narrative.
"Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. "
When you're desperately clinging on to gross numbers when the % of the workforce has declined from around 50% to 16%, it's not me the truth is hurting.
The workers have spoken and they've said 'piss off'.
Unions had no special status in the process because the ECA [Employment Contracts Act 1991] promoted direct bargaining between employer and employee. If they could not agree, the dispute went to an Employment Tribunal and, if necessary, to an Employment Court. By 1999 the Tribunal had a backlog of over 3,000 cases, so it took up to a year to deliver a ruling.
Nearly 400,000 workers in NZ still decide each year that (their) union membership is worth having and apparently oblivious of incompetence and corruption as alleged by you without a shred of evidence to support this.
Ouch, that must hurt you. Now, who’s the desperate one here?
Of course you are, because you cannot stand (for) incompetence and corruption and you wave your fist and hiss at the nearly 400,000 New Zealanders who voluntarily join a union each year, just as you did in the March march in 1981. I don’t expect you to give up on your long grudge against unions; that would take more than an epiphany of miraculous proportions.
I have a feeling you’re not even in the labour force.
You've really got this bad, haven't you. You're so desperate you've gone from referencing the gross number of union members to now the number of unions! The number of unions is about as relevant as fish in a pond. what % of the workforce are in a union? 16%. How many choose not to be? 84%.
I don’t need to do anything next, as I’m just showing and showing again the holes in your short & shaky narrative that are as big as Steven Joyce’s imaginary budget holes and you haven’t provided one single decent counter-argument or support for your allegation of incompetence and corruption. Couldn’t find it in Te Ara, could you? Hint: the key (time) point is the year 1991.
Anyway, “84%” doesn’t sound quite as impressive as “nearly 400,000”, does it? How is that possible if they’ve outlived their place decades ago, as you allege? Unless you’re wrong, of course.
Now let's see. In the 10 years between 2008 and 2018 , union membership 'changed little', so still around 21%. Yet by your own figures, by 2020 union membership was down to 16%. So between 2018 and 2020, union membership dropped from 'around 21%' to 16% of the workforce.
Now even you have to agree, that's not a good look.
Gypsy, I feel your antipathy towards unions, but it's not for me. Couldn't wait to join my first workplace union in the 80s – was a member for over thirty years and found them helpful (on one occasion very helpful), to the extent that I did a little voluntary committee work for them.
Unions aren't everyone's cup of tea, of course, what with all the corruption and incompetence, but you have to wonder if employee rights today would be better or worse but for union advocacy.
The most common types of domestic corruption cited by respondents included undisclosed conflicts of interest, supplier kickbacks and personal favours. More than a quarter (26%) of the reported incidents were from organisations with more than 5000 employees. And 68% of incidents involved only private/business individuals. No industry was immune with all sectors experiencing at least some reported incidents in the last five years.
Unions are organisations that represent groups of workers with employers. You have total freedom over whether or not you’ll join a union in your workplace. It is illegal for your employer to influence that decision.
If you choose to join a union, you will pay a membership fee, which can be paid directly or taken out of your wages.
More information about unions and which ones cover your occupation is available on the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) website.
My views don't reflect my personal experience with unions (which has been almost entirely positive). They reflect more on my views on the history of the union movement, here and in Australia and the UK. Unions shifted from being genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment to something entirely different.
Unions shifted from being genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment to something entirely different.
Don't know about "something entirely different", but imho the union I belonged to was "genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment" for the duration of my membership.
Individual results may vary
Congratulations about condensing all the right wing BS about Unions into a few paragraphs.
Unions became too competent at looking after their members. Which is why they had to go. Can't have employees keeping over 40% of the money their work earns.
It was not corruption, except for the people who may have accepted money to stop Unions opposing the Employments contract Act.
Some Unions in Oz and the USA were run by criminal elements. Not in NZ.
A few Unions, out of hundreds, got drunk with power and demanded a lot more for their members. Which is actually their job! Incidentally still taking much less from the community than the Union of landlords do now. At least, unlike now, their pay stayed in the community, instead of going to offshore profits.
There was a lot of anti Union bullshit around at the time, which many people bought into, just like now, from a right wing biased media. Like the media ignoring the Seamans Union, while on strike, offering to take passengers and cars, unpaid across Cook Strait. Or the Marsden point Refinery contractor Managers intentionally causing a strike to cover up lack of material deliveries.
Those same shopkeepers who booed the Union marches in Wellington, went out of business in the 1990's when their Union member customers pay disappeared.
Private sector Unions were losing members for the same but apposite reason State sector Unions kept theirs. Private sector Unions power to do anything for workers was deliberately removed, in all but the largest workplaces. People then decided it wasn't worth joining a Union that could do nothing. The RWNJ' s who claim people don't want to join Union's are being dis_ingenious.
Similar to removing buses from a route at the time it is most used, then claiming it is uneconomic and should be closed.
Not to mention the dairy workers, hospitality and others being given the nudge wink that if they even mention a Union, forget about being employed.
In fact in the State sector, and some large industries, where Unions still had some power and influence. The majority of members remained.
Other Unions membership dropped over a long period, not immediately. Giving the lie to your bullshit.
Union membership dropped immediately. The decline is shown in the data.
“When the government passed the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA) it ended nearly a century in which New Zealand’s labour law had strongly supported unions. Compulsory unionism and national wage agreements ended. Union membership dropped by about 50% in the first year after the act was passed. Many unions either collapsed or amalgamated.” https://teara.govt.nz/en/womens-labour-organisations/page-6
The number of registered unions peaked at 499 in 1937, after the first Labour government made union membership compulsory. The number then dropped to around 200. After 1991, when membership became voluntary under the Employment Contracts Act, it fell even further, to the lowest total in more than a century. When a new Labour government repealed the act, the number of unions rebounded to around 180.
Gypsy, Unions were damaged by The Contracts Act. They have strong Unions in Australia leading to better pay and conditions, as they did not join the spiral to the bottom we did. Some Unions were too dogmatic, but many Employers have been stung in Court for poor behaviour corrupt practice and failure to pay their employees properly. So neither group is covered in glory.
Thanks. Yes there are ratbag employers all right. The real damage done to unions by the Employment Contracts Act was removing compulsion. By the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them
I wonder why Amazon sweatshop workers have just celebrated their first Union and the company went to such efforts to bust their organisation. Must be because Jeff Bezos is such a great guy and paying workers a living wage is a sin against Capitalism.
No, it isn't. In NZ people are free to join unions or not, and that should have made unions do what any business would have had to do – become relevant again. I look at this logically and say if a declining % of workers (now only 16%) choose to join a union, (and the vast majority of those are not private sector workers), then they're really struggling.
The real damage; Was the removal of the larger industries and employers that had Unionised workforces. The 80’s and 90’s destruction. Shop assistants and others were never effectively Unionised. The employment contracts Act removal of most Unions ability to do much for their members, by the removal of rights, such as the rights to strike. Concerted efforts by employers to threaten and divide Union membership. And some decided they were getting the wages and conditions the Union members fought for, without paying Union dues. So they decided to bludge. No doubt to the later regret of many, as they saw their pay and conditions eroded.
I was there. I saw all this happening.
As I said. The same thing as changing a bus route so they can't run at times and to the stops people use. Then saying it "is a waste of time due to lack of patronage”.
In contrast to private sector Unions, in the State sector, where Unions in larger workplaces still retained power, the majority stayed in Unions.
"by the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them". Many of all three of your mates?
The decrease in wages and employees share of earnings since then, and indeed the current problems with safety, show that Unions are needed more than ever. ETU's success in Unionising and fighting against zero hour contracts and low wages, for fast food workers, is just one example.
If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?
"If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?"
Here's where you're confused. The rights and conditions secured by unions are decades old. I'll give up any benefits unions have achieved in, say, the past 30 years, if you give up any benefit the evil market economy you so dislike has delieverd to you.
Over 30 years since Unions had any power. Funny that.
You have just confirmed what I'm saying.
The need for Unions is greater than ever.
That people were taken in by the pervasive right wing media is not surprising. It is still fooling people like you, even long after the ill effects are obvious.
I bet you many of those, including Tania Harris, regretted that moment, of "Turkeys voting for Christmas" when the effects of the employment contracts act impoverished communities and put many if them out of work.
As for a recent success of Unions. I already mentioned ETU success with zero hours and fast food workers.
"If the need for unions is greater than ever, more than a small minority of workers would join".
It should be obvious. If you thought about it instead of endlessly repeating the same BS.
The power of Unions to do much for workers in the isolated and fragmented workplaces, that is most of the private sector, was deliberately removed. Striking to support workers in other workplaces, in the same Union, is nowadays, illegal. As is striking at all, except in very limited circumstances.
Union successes have been restricted to large national employers, Government departments or nationwide franchises. Funnily enough the same workplaces that still have the majority of employees Unionised. And where Unions such as ETU are gaining new members.
Employers actively restricting the employment of anyone who may join a Union. Part of the enthusiusism for compliant and ignorant immigrant labour. Many youngsters are terrified of challenging their employers in any way. Because they know that they will be dismissed and blacklisted for even mentioning a Union.
Access to Union won conditions without paying dues.
The rise of pretend contractor arrangements over a large number of workers, like the ones in the film industry, forestry, couriers and telecoms. Contractors are legally barred from "price fixing type behaviours". Conveniently barred from clubbing together to set conditions.
Propaganda, like yours, mis informing about what Unions do.
As is obvious, although the need for effective Unions is greater than ever, the laws in place are designed to make them as ineffective as possible, and discourage membership.
Part of a market economy is the right to withdraw your labour, or products, if the price you are getting is too low. The right to withdraw your products still exists. The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!
Ok, essentially what you're arguing is that the ECA disempowered unions. I agree, as far as the introduction of freedom of association, but are you seriously arguing that right should be taken from employees?
Your arguments around the disempowerment of unions in other ways are without citation, and in at least one case highly questionable. You claim "The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!" Not according to Employment NZ:
"Strikes and lockouts are legitimate actions used by parties to advance their bargaining aims."
"To be a strike the action must be part of a combination, agreement, common understanding, or joint action made or done by the employees. Employees can do this action to try to make their employer give in to their demands. Employers can’t discriminate against employees for taking part in a lawful strike."
The article then goes on to describe "When employees can legally strike or be locked out". What the ECA (and it's subsequent amendments) seems to have done is to codify the requirements for striking, which is a good thing, surely. And something that remains in place through the past 30+ years, approximately half of which have been under Labour Governments.
Thanks for confirming what I said. The right to strike now only exists in limited circumstances. You gave the references yourself.
So limited, that it is impossible to use it to support workers in the same industry but other workplaces. Effectively the right to strike for better conditions, only exists in large workplaces. And the right for employees to Unionise, strike and support each other over a whole industry, preventing employers racing for the bottom is gone.
Destroying the ability of all but large single employer Unions to act for their members. Which was the intention of the ECA all along.
Labour Governments are not guiltless. The rot continued with the destructive 1984 Government that destroyed entire industries. After Muldoon destroyed boat and caravan building, amoungst others, so he could afford social welfare for sheep.
Still carrying on with your bolloocks I see. How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. Driven by bull, just like the one by the Weta workshops, fools.
I've seen the effects of very limited rights to strike, from both sides of the table I may add.
And seen employers frequently, unilatarily and in bad faith, change conditions many times, knowing full well that employees can do buggerrall about it until the contract expires.
And don't bother telling me employees can sue for breach of contract.. Few employees or Unions have bottomless pockets.
It would be a very brave Union leader today, who would suggest striking outside the very limited occasions a strike is legal.
Even for safety reasons. Having to pay to justify the strike in court while being personally sued for an “illegal strike” has totally disempowered Unions on safety. Which is my point.
The abuse of power by employers since the ECA, makes the Cooks and Stewards look like pussies.
The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law.
"How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. "
The march was driven by sheer frustration and anger at the exploitative nature of union activity. People had come to see unions as petty and vindictive, and will skilled at abusing the power they held only because people were compelled to join them.
"The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law."
Freedom of association is a human right, that shouldn't be removed by law. Since that freedom was restored, the vast majority of workers have chosen to not join a union. Exercising that right has done more to reduce the power of striking than any reasonable limits imposed by the government.
Maritime NZ is the prosecuting agency in this case but yes it might help do what the 2015 lawchange was intended to – show inescapable accountability from the top.
In Herne Bay, Seddon Fields, there's a group of toy dog owners who turn up early Saturdays and let their dogs shit and piss all over the sports fields. They've done it for so long they're all known to each other.
Within minutes of them leaving the dogs toilet aka sports fields everyone else begins to turn up as their kids play various contact sports there.
As there are clearly 'No Dogs on the Sports Fields' signs on the actual sports fields, one must conclude these are the people for whom the rules do not apply. If some bottom feeders kids get their face smeared in the residue of Pookies shit – such is life.
I posit these folk are also the people who loudly and proudly vote for law and order, and that arresting them would go a long way toward restoring everybody's faith in our fair system.
I'm involved with coaching at that football club (Western Springs) and I agree with you it sounds disgusting. The problem will be worse at the moment too because our artificial 'turf' fields are being replaced, and so all the games on being played on the grass fields.
Can you jut clarify for me, are you referring to Seddon Fields (which is in Western Springs) or our other ground Cox Bay (in Westmere)? I'll talk to the powers that be and see if something can be done.
All good. I’ll talk to the club about it, but it’s also a Council issue. At my favourite dog walking locale (Taipari Strand) if you don’t pick up after your dog you get ‘reminded’ by one of the regulars!
They'll pick up after themselves, but the area they're using is clearly earmarked for sports. And if doggie wees or has wee runs… aww pookies!
Generalising here but: Actual walkers of dogs have dogs that have normally 'worked it out' before their owners hit the park. The ones turning up in cars to sling balls across the sports grounds with a plastic arm extension have the dogs that race out to relieve themselves, through no fault of the dog.
Again, the ‘No dogs on sports fields’ signage is clear.
There are a lot of those about. We walk around Western Springs Park about 4 times a week and we regularly see people with dogs that are not on a leash. If you point out that it is not an off leash area you get abused or told that "I walk this dog here every day and we have no problems" as their little darling chases a nesting Pukeko into the lake.
Whangarei. " Owners are legally responsible for cleaning up after their dogs on any property that’s not their own. This means carrying a plastic bag whenever you’re in public with your dog. Dog waste bags are available at Council offices or the Pound in Kioreroa Road. Failure to clean up after your dog could result in a $300 fine".
Under the Dog Management Bylaw 2019, you must immediately remove your dog's faeces from a public place and dispose of it adequately.
If you do not pick up after your dog, you may get a $300 fine.
Penalty included under Problems with dogs and not mentioned under Dog owners' obligations. Feel it'd be useful to have there as well. Very few people consider their dog a problem.
"The public’s attitude to death, taxes and Climate Change is remarkably consistent. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die, pay more, or give up their SUV.
The trick of successful democratic government in times of global warming, pestilence, war – and rampant inflation – is to convey the impression of doing something while actually doing very little at all. The job of the politician, when you boil it right down, is to keep the lights on and the ATMs working. If not forever, then until well past the next election."
Politicians don’t make promises and they don’t promise anything.
At best, they’re Party spokespeople or figureheads speaking on behalf (or out of tune) of the Party from the Party Manifest or Policy, but never ever in a personal capacity from their own list. They are not representatives of the people or voters but carefully controlled speaking tubes for their Parties. Which is why so many 'promises' are empty & hollow and get so easily broken (and forgotten, except as troll fodder and as gotcha bait).
I had no desire to read BR, but I did. I couldn’t see any mention of political parties
There sure is high demand today for mindreading by online osmosis and talking in riddles – clarity is not just a state of mind but also a skill and virtue.
In Oz rampant poverty, or fear of other voters (sometimes causation is difficult to identify) is causing millions to vote early, or by mail, rather than admit they cannot afford a sausage.
Once upon a time, there were brothers called Arvirigas (of the green spear) and Caratacus (of the orange spear).
Today they are called Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party.
In the Easter Agreement back in 1998 it was decided that the number 1 and number 2 parties would determine a government in Ulster – if not there would be direct rule from London. Normally DUP have been No 1 and someone more moderate than Sinn Fein has been No 2. Now Sinn Fein is No 1 and DUP is No 2.
Sinn Fein are Irish nationalists and want things like a referendum – which is why their deputy has gone to Edinburgh to talk to the SN leader in Scotland.
And they highlighted the "close bonds" between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The DUP would rather have direct rule from London than have such a referendum (and not wanting to legitimise Sinn Fein with a role in Ulster administration is just a bonus.
However both the EU and the USA have a few concerns about what is going on.
Irish PM says DUP cannot be allowed to block NI Assembly
Some American Bishops have made their intentions clear – those who publicly support abortion rights will be denied communion.
The Rev. Salvatore J. Cordileone, the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, said Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be denied the sacrament of Holy Communion because of her vocal support for abortion rights.
Cordileone last year called for Communion to be withheld from public figures who support abortion rights but did not mention Pelosi by name at the time.
“After numerous attempts to speak with her to help her understand the grave evil she is perpetrating, the scandal she is causing, and the danger to her own soul she is risking, I have determined that the point has come in which I must make a public declaration that she is not to be admitted to Holy Communion unless and until she publicly repudiate her support for abortion ‘rights’ and confess and receive absolution for her cooperation in this evil in the sacrament of Penance,” Cordileone said Friday in a letter to members of his archdiocese.
Catholic archbishops have vast power within their diocese, and a reversal of Cordileone’s decision would require the intervention of the Vatican, which is unlikely.The order to deny Communion to Pelosi applies only to Catholic churches within the San Francisco archdiocese under Cordileone’s purview, including the speaker’s home church.
Last September, Pope Francis said the decision about granting Communion to politicians who support abortion rights should be made from a pastoral point of view, not a political one. He told reporters: “I have never refused the Eucharist to anyone,” while adding that he has never knowingly encountered during Communion a politician who backs abortion rights.
The SCOTUS leak has led states to reveal their post Roe v Wade plans.
Oklahoma
From fertilisation – thus allows the so called post sex MAP/contraception that prevents fertilisation.
Oklahoma lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that would ban abortions from the moment of “fertilization,” effectively prohibitingalmost all abortions in the state.
Under the bill, those who could be sued include anyone who “performs or induces” an abortion; anyone who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” including paying for one; and anyone who even “intends to engage” in either of the two actions above.
The pregnant woman is not the legal target of the law. Those who help facilitate one for her, as well as those performing the action are liable.
The bill states a lawsuit cannot be brought against a woman who had or seeks to have an abortion.
The bill defines “fertilization” as the moment a sperm meets the egg. It explicitly allows for the use of the Plan B pill, a widely used form of emergency contraception, but would prohibit medical abortions using pills.
Medical intervention on health grounds is allowed
The bill exempts from its definition of abortion any procedure to “save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child,” to “remove a dead unborn child caused by spontaneous abortion” or to remove an ectopic pregnancy, in which the fetus grows outside the uterus.
The bill makes exceptions for abortion if it is “necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman in a medical emergency”
It allows abortion in the case of pregnancy resulting from reported sexual crime
or if the pregnancy is the result of rape, sexual assault or incest that has been reported to law enforcement.
It does not determine, or otherwise, a position on in vitro
“Looking at the language, it’s hard to see how it wouldn’t affect in vitro fertilization because it talks about as soon as the ovum and the sperm meet, and the egg is fertilized, that means that’s a person,” Rep. Emily Virgin (D) said, according to KOKH News. “That’s what happens with in vitro fertilization, you create embryos.”
The bill's sponsor said IVF was not included in the bill, as it “would be tough” to prove that an abortion had occurred in that situation.
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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says the deal with China “complements, not replaces” the relationship with New Zealand after signing it yesterday. Brown said “The Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030” provides a structured framework for engagement between the Cook Islands ...
The government should not set military style academies into youth justice law, the children's commissioner says, despite its first bootcamp getting a glowing report. ...
The infamous over-the-suit T-shirt worn by the PM at a Parliament barbecue has gone on sale to raise funds for children living in poverty, in a TradeMe auction. ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
“We’re not here to interfere in people’s property rights,” Ngāi Tahu’s Te Maire Tau has told the High Court.Tau, a historian, Upoko (traditional leader) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and a university professor of history, is the lead witness in a case designed to force the Crown to recognise the tribe’s rangatiratanga ...
Pacific Media Watch Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda. The AP is being punished for using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
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Scoobydoo or his elbow?
https://twitter.com/albomp/status/1279278436675018753?lang=en
Well elbowed.
Excellent signal by WorkSafe to prosecute exCEO of Auckland Port Tony Gibson for the deaths under his watch.
Will send a shiver through any CEO with a high risk workplace.
Virtue signalling by Work Safe, which will make the current top down cover your arse with paper after the fact, approach to safety, worse.
. Ports of Auckland was much more than one manager
Like Work Safe, prosecuting every but themselves, who are equally guilty, over White Island.
At least when we actually had Trade Unions, employees felt they could act on safety concerns
Yeah well that really helped the Pike River miners. Not.
"But despite the overwhelming evidence that there was something seriously and dangerously wrong at the Pike Rive mine, the officials of the EPMU did nothing.
The mine opened in November 2008 and on not one occasion did the EPMU initiate industrial action or even criticise PRC'S safety standards, even after a group of workers walked off the job to protest the lack of basic emergency equipment. The walk out by miners was revealed by miner Brent Forrester. He told TVNZ’s Sunday on December 5 2010 that he once helped organise a walkout of about 10 miners to protest the lack of basic emergency equipment, including stretchers and an emergency transport vehicle. They received no support from the EPMU. Andrew Little even insisted that PRC "had a good health and safety committee that’s been very active."
You missed the bit where Unions have buggerrall power to do anything, these days.
What, not even speak out their members concerns?
"EPMU National secretary Andrew Little (now a Labour MP) told the New Zealand Herald on November 22 2010 that there was "nothing unusual about Pike River or this mine that we’ve been particularly concerned about". He then appeared on TVNZ's Close Up to again defend PRC management."
It's obvious why ratbag employers and other profit-takers are anti-union.
Unions outlived their place decades ago. They became corrupt and incompetent. It's why workers left them in droves.
If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas, but you still won’t have doggy breath.
https://www.companiesoffice.govt.nz/all-registers/registered-unions/annual-return-membership-reports/
So 83% choose not to be in a union. Even more so when you take out the around 65% of those 16% who work in education or health etc, ie for the government.
And how does that 16.42% compare with the 1970's by the way?
"But in March 1981 about 50,000 people joined an anti-union march down Auckland’s Queen St. The ‘Kiwis Care’ march was organised by Tania Harris, a 22-year-old sales representative. Ticker tape flew from shop windows and a stereo shop blasted the national anthem. Some people openly wept. Harris had tapped into public anger over a series of strikes that had stopped international flights, sailings of Cook Strait ferries, and beer deliveries. Many people believed unions wielded too much power and were wrecking the country. Anger had been on display the day before, when up to 4,000 striking unionists marched the same route. Fist-waving shoppers and businessmen had booed, hissed and abused the strikers, calling them ‘traitors to New Zealand’ and demanding they ‘get back to work’."
I’m sure you were in that March march 1981 to show your anti-solidarity with unions.
Here are some answers for you, since you show such a keen interest in NZ unions:
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/clew/news/union-membership-in-new-zealand-shows-further-growth
Since you obviously have been searching and reading Te Ara, here’s the answer to your other very important and relevant question: https://teara.govt.nz/en/graph/22264/percentage-of-union-members
How on Earth did you miss that????
So, it is clear that union membership in NZ has been very steady since 1996, which is a quarter of a century. Doesn’t quite fit your narrative, does it now?
"Doesn’t quite fit your narrative, does it now?"
I guess you don't understand my 'narrative then, because it fits it perfectly.
You see I didn't ask you about 1996, did I. I asked about the 1970's, when people were compelled to join unions.
What your very interesting graph shows, is that when compulsory union membership ended, workers voted with their feet, and membership dropped from a shade under 50% to, well bugger all.
And here's the point you have so beautifully made for me. In the 30+ years since union membership was made voluntary, unions have had plenty of time to prove their worth, and yet an even smaller % of workers (16.42% by your own data) choose to join a union in 2002 than the 20% in 1996. That's some kind of failure.
BTW I was indeed in the 1981 March on Queen Street. Same year I attended campaign rallies for Bill Rowling, including one at the Auckland Town Hall. Workers groups across the centuries have done amazing work for workers, often at great personal cost. The NZ edition by the 1980's had become a corrupt rabble.
Nope, you narrative was “They became corrupt and incompetent. It’s why workers left them in droves.”
Which is not accurate by a long shot and simply a reflection of your one-eyed view of unions, which you’ve so beautifully confirmed for us here, so thank you for that.
Over the last quarter of a century unions have proven their worth and even grown their membership over the last few years to just under 400,000 members. Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking.
I’d say that it doesn’t confirm either your narrative of “Unions outlived their place decades ago.”
BTW, it was 2020, not 2002.
" you narrative was “They became corrupt and incompetent. It’s why workers left them in droves.”
Nope. My full narrative was
Unions outlived their place decades ago. They became corrupt and incompetent. It's why workers left them in droves."
"Not bad for an incompetent and “corrupt rabble”, IMHO, and nowhere “some kind of failure”, which is just your wishful thinking and biased view again clouding your thinking."</em
When a movements membership drops from close to 50% to 20% and then 30 years later to 16%, that’s a failure by any measure.
EDIT – Apparently 60% of all union members are in the public sector. And 62% of public sector workers are in unions. No wonder you’re showing an increase in gross numbers in the past year or so.
All three inaccurate parts of your silly narrative were in my previous comment, i.e., your full narrative. I split it into two parts, clearly labelling as “your narrative” both times, because they were so disjointed and unhinged from reality anyway. If you say them backwards they almost start to make some sense.
Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. You sound desperate when you have to dig for stats from the 1970s and before the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991 to find something that may possibly suit your twisted narrative.
"Truth hurts sometimes, doesn’t it? Nearly 400,000 union members in NZ and consistent membership over a quarter of a century is just too hard for you to accept. "
When you're desperately clinging on to gross numbers when the % of the workforce has declined from around 50% to 16%, it's not me the truth is hurting.
The workers have spoken and they've said 'piss off'.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/strikes-and-labour-disputes/page-10
Nearly 400,000 workers in NZ still decide each year that (their) union membership is worth having and apparently oblivious of incompetence and corruption as alleged by you without a shred of evidence to support this.
Ouch, that must hurt you. Now, who’s the desperate one here?
"Now, who’s the desperate one here?"
Not me. I'm on the side of the 84% who say no.
Of course you are, because you cannot stand (for) incompetence and corruption and you wave your fist and hiss at the nearly 400,000 New Zealanders who voluntarily join a union each year, just as you did in the March march in 1981. I don’t expect you to give up on your long grudge against unions; that would take more than an epiphany of miraculous proportions.
I have a feeling you’re not even in the labour force.
"you wave your fist and hiss at the nearly 400,000 New Zealanders who voluntarily join a union each year, "
Not at all. It's their choice entirely. The 16%.
"I have a feeling you’re not even in the labour force."
I work for a living, as a paid employee.
I hope they pay you well enough and don’t take advantage of your good nature.
"I have a new favourite year for you: 1937."
You've really got this bad, haven't you. You're so desperate you've gone from referencing the gross number of union members to now the number of unions! The number of unions is about as relevant as fish in a pond. what % of the workforce are in a union? 16%. How many choose not to be? 84%.
Now what will you try next?
I don’t need to do anything next, as I’m just showing and showing again the holes in your short & shaky narrative that are as big as Steven Joyce’s imaginary budget holes and you haven’t provided one single decent counter-argument or support for your allegation of incompetence and corruption. Couldn’t find it in Te Ara, could you? Hint: the key (time) point is the year 1991.
Anyway, “84%” doesn’t sound quite as impressive as “nearly 400,000”, does it? How is that possible if they’ve outlived their place decades ago, as you allege? Unless you’re wrong, of course.
Now look what I've just found, in an article trumpeting "Union Membership in New Zealand shows further growth":
"Union membership density in New Zealand has changed little since December 2008 when 21 percent of those in jobs were union members. "
Now that was for the year ended 31 December 2018.
Now let's see. In the 10 years between 2008 and 2018 , union membership 'changed little', so still around 21%. Yet by your own figures, by 2020 union membership was down to 16%. So between 2018 and 2020, union membership dropped from 'around 21%' to 16% of the workforce.
Now even you have to agree, that's not a good look.
"84%” doesn’t sound quite as impressive as “nearly 400,000”, does it?"
Your argument is like comparing NZ covid deaths with Monserrat and arguing they managed covid better than we did.
"or support for your allegation of incompetence and corruption."
Well there's a whole episode here.
Gypsy, I feel your antipathy towards unions, but it's not for me. Couldn't wait to join my first workplace union in the 80s – was a member for over thirty years and found them helpful (on one occasion very helpful), to the extent that I did a little voluntary committee work for them.
Unions aren't everyone's cup of tea, of course, what with all the corruption and incompetence, but you have to wonder if employee rights today would be better or worse but for union advocacy.
My views don't reflect my personal experience with unions (which has been almost entirely positive). They reflect more on my views on the history of the union movement, here and in Australia and the UK. Unions shifted from being genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment to something entirely different.
There were Unions…and then there were Unions, some animals were more equal than others….an observation as an ex shop steward.
Don't know about "something entirely different", but imho the union I belonged to was "genuinely interested in worker safety and conditions of employment" for the duration of my membership.
Individual results may vary
Excellent sarcasm. Gypsy.
Hey gypo, do you think the tax payers union are corrupt and incompetent.?
You'd need to ask me first whether I thought they were a 'union' in the context of this discussion.
My answer would be no. I suspect they were taking the michael when they named themselves.
Bollocks.
Congratulations about condensing all the right wing BS about Unions into a few paragraphs.
Unions became too competent at looking after their members. Which is why they had to go. Can't have employees keeping over 40% of the money their work earns.
It was not corruption, except for the people who may have accepted money to stop Unions opposing the Employments contract Act.
Some Unions in Oz and the USA were run by criminal elements. Not in NZ.
A few Unions, out of hundreds, got drunk with power and demanded a lot more for their members. Which is actually their job! Incidentally still taking much less from the community than the Union of landlords do now. At least, unlike now, their pay stayed in the community, instead of going to offshore profits.
There was a lot of anti Union bullshit around at the time, which many people bought into, just like now, from a right wing biased media. Like the media ignoring the Seamans Union, while on strike, offering to take passengers and cars, unpaid across Cook Strait. Or the Marsden point Refinery contractor Managers intentionally causing a strike to cover up lack of material deliveries.
Those same shopkeepers who booed the Union marches in Wellington, went out of business in the 1990's when their Union member customers pay disappeared.
Private sector Unions were losing members for the same but apposite reason State sector Unions kept theirs. Private sector Unions power to do anything for workers was deliberately removed, in all but the largest workplaces. People then decided it wasn't worth joining a Union that could do nothing. The RWNJ' s who claim people don't want to join Union's are being dis_ingenious.
Similar to removing buses from a route at the time it is most used, then claiming it is uneconomic and should be closed.
Not to mention the dairy workers, hospitality and others being given the nudge wink that if they even mention a Union, forget about being employed.
"Unions became too competent at looking after their members. Which is why they had to go. "
Now if that was even remotely true, when it actually became a CHOICE to join, why did the majority leave?
"People then decided it wasn't worth joining a Union that could do nothing."
No, people decided almost immediately they were going to leave, well before any of your conspiracy theory could have taken effect.
Where do you get your talking points from?
Reality, Mate!
In fact in the State sector, and some large industries, where Unions still had some power and influence. The majority of members remained.
Other Unions membership dropped over a long period, not immediately. Giving the lie to your bullshit.
Union membership dropped immediately. The decline is shown in the data.
“When the government passed the Employment Contracts Act 1991 (ECA) it ended nearly a century in which New Zealand’s labour law had strongly supported unions. Compulsory unionism and national wage agreements ended. Union membership dropped by about 50% in the first year after the act was passed. Many unions either collapsed or amalgamated.”
https://teara.govt.nz/en/womens-labour-organisations/page-6
I have a new favourite year for you: 1937.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/graph/22263/registered-unions-1860-2007
Oh no, the incompetent and corrupt ones came back and yet membership stayed … steady. Bugger! Your narrative is blown to pieces, again.
Gypsy, Unions were damaged by The Contracts Act. They have strong Unions in Australia leading to better pay and conditions, as they did not join the spiral to the bottom we did. Some Unions were too dogmatic, but many Employers have been stung in Court for poor behaviour corrupt practice and failure to pay their employees properly. So neither group is covered in glory.
Just for balance.
Thanks. Yes there are ratbag employers all right. The real damage done to unions by the Employment Contracts Act was removing compulsion. By the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them
I wonder why Amazon sweatshop workers have just celebrated their first Union and the company went to such efforts to bust their organisation. Must be because Jeff Bezos is such a great guy and paying workers a living wage is a sin against Capitalism.
This isn't the 1970s any more gypsy.
No, it isn't. In NZ people are free to join unions or not, and that should have made unions do what any business would have had to do – become relevant again. I look at this logically and say if a declining % of workers (now only 16%) choose to join a union, (and the vast majority of those are not private sector workers), then they're really struggling.
The real damage; Was the removal of the larger industries and employers that had Unionised workforces. The 80’s and 90’s destruction. Shop assistants and others were never effectively Unionised. The employment contracts Act removal of most Unions ability to do much for their members, by the removal of rights, such as the rights to strike. Concerted efforts by employers to threaten and divide Union membership. And some decided they were getting the wages and conditions the Union members fought for, without paying Union dues. So they decided to bludge. No doubt to the later regret of many, as they saw their pay and conditions eroded.
I was there. I saw all this happening.
As I said. The same thing as changing a bus route so they can't run at times and to the stops people use. Then saying it "is a waste of time due to lack of patronage”.
In contrast to private sector Unions, in the State sector, where Unions in larger workplaces still retained power, the majority stayed in Unions.
"by the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them". Many of all three of your mates?
The decrease in wages and employees share of earnings since then, and indeed the current problems with safety, show that Unions are needed more than ever. ETU's success in Unionising and fighting against zero hour contracts and low wages, for fast food workers, is just one example.
If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?
"by the '80's many kiwi's were sick of them". Many of all three of your mates?""
But in March 1981 about 50,000 people joined an anti-union march down Auckland’s Queen St. The ‘Kiwis Care’ march was organised by Tania Harris, a 22-year-old sales representative. Ticker tape flew from shop windows and a stereo shop blasted the national anthem. Some people openly wept.
Harris had tapped into public anger over a series of strikes that had stopped international flights, sailings of Cook Strait ferries, and beer deliveries. Many people believed unions wielded too much power and were wrecking the country. "
"If you are an employee, you have rights and working conditions won by Union militancy in the past. I'm sure you are not going to stick to your anti-Union "principles" and refuse them?"
Here's where you're confused. The rights and conditions secured by unions are decades old. I'll give up any benefits unions have achieved in, say, the past 30 years, if you give up any benefit the evil market economy you so dislike has delieverd to you.
Over 30 years since Unions had any power. Funny that.
You have just confirmed what I'm saying.
The need for Unions is greater than ever.
That people were taken in by the pervasive right wing media is not surprising. It is still fooling people like you, even long after the ill effects are obvious.
I bet you many of those, including Tania Harris, regretted that moment, of "Turkeys voting for Christmas" when the effects of the employment contracts act impoverished communities and put many if them out of work.
As for a recent success of Unions. I already mentioned ETU success with zero hours and fast food workers.
If the need for unions is greater than ever, more than a small minority of workers would join.
[Please check and correct your user name in the next comment, thanks]
Mod note
The State sector Unions are just getting long overdue pay rises in health.
Due to Unions.
Who said anything about disliking the Market economy?
RWNJ’s love their strawman arguments.
"If the need for unions is greater than ever, more than a small minority of workers would join".
It should be obvious. If you thought about it instead of endlessly repeating the same BS.
Union successes have been restricted to large national employers, Government departments or nationwide franchises. Funnily enough the same workplaces that still have the majority of employees Unionised. And where Unions such as ETU are gaining new members.
As is obvious, although the need for effective Unions is greater than ever, the laws in place are designed to make them as ineffective as possible, and discourage membership.
Part of a market economy is the right to withdraw your labour, or products, if the price you are getting is too low. The right to withdraw your products still exists. The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!
"It shou"ld be obvious."
Ok, essentially what you're arguing is that the ECA disempowered unions. I agree, as far as the introduction of freedom of association, but are you seriously arguing that right should be taken from employees?
Your arguments around the disempowerment of unions in other ways are without citation, and in at least one case highly questionable. You claim "The right to withdraw labour (strike) is, in most circumstances since the ECA was enacted, illegal!" Not according to Employment NZ:
"Strikes and lockouts are legitimate actions used by parties to advance their bargaining aims."
"To be a strike the action must be part of a combination, agreement, common understanding, or joint action made or done by the employees. Employees can do this action to try to make their employer give in to their demands. Employers can’t discriminate against employees for taking part in a lawful strike."
The article then goes on to describe "When employees can legally strike or be locked out". What the ECA (and it's subsequent amendments) seems to have done is to codify the requirements for striking, which is a good thing, surely. And something that remains in place through the past 30+ years, approximately half of which have been under Labour Governments.
Thanks for confirming what I said. The right to strike now only exists in limited circumstances. You gave the references yourself.
So limited, that it is impossible to use it to support workers in the same industry but other workplaces. Effectively the right to strike for better conditions, only exists in large workplaces. And the right for employees to Unionise, strike and support each other over a whole industry, preventing employers racing for the bottom is gone.
Destroying the ability of all but large single employer Unions to act for their members. Which was the intention of the ECA all along.
Labour Governments are not guiltless. The rot continued with the destructive 1984 Government that destroyed entire industries. After Muldoon destroyed boat and caravan building, amoungst others, so he could afford social welfare for sheep.
"The right to strike now only exists in limited circumstances."
I didn't confirm what you said. You didn't say 'limited circumstances'. You said 'very limited circumstances'. The circumstances under which workers can strike are not 'very limited', they are limited, and for very good reason. The reason 50,000 people marched down Queen Street in 1981 was becasue of "public anger over a series of strikes that had stopped international flights, sailings of Cook Strait ferries, and beer deliveries. Many people believed unions wielded too much power and were wrecking the country."
What good the unions had achieved in decades past was well and truly unravelled during those years.
Still carrying on with your bolloocks I see. How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. Driven by bull, just like the one by the Weta workshops, fools.
I've seen the effects of very limited rights to strike, from both sides of the table I may add.
And seen employers frequently, unilatarily and in bad faith, change conditions many times, knowing full well that employees can do buggerrall about it until the contract expires.
And don't bother telling me employees can sue for breach of contract.. Few employees or Unions have bottomless pockets.
It would be a very brave Union leader today, who would suggest striking outside the very limited occasions a strike is legal.
Even for safety reasons. Having to pay to justify the strike in court while being personally sued for an “illegal strike” has totally disempowered Unions on safety. Which is my point.
The abuse of power by employers since the ECA, makes the Cooks and Stewards look like pussies.
The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law.
"How many in Unions then, compared with that ill advised and propaganda driven March. "
The march was driven by sheer frustration and anger at the exploitative nature of union activity. People had come to see unions as petty and vindictive, and will skilled at abusing the power they held only because people were compelled to join them.
"The right to strike is a human right, which like the right to protest shouldn't be removed by law."
Freedom of association is a human right, that shouldn't be removed by law. Since that freedom was restored, the vast majority of workers have chosen to not join a union. Exercising that right has done more to reduce the power of striking than any reasonable limits imposed by the government.
Wondered when the other RW bullshit artist would pop up.
Maritime NZ is the prosecuting agency in this case but yes it might help do what the 2015 lawchange was intended to – show inescapable accountability from the top.
There are these miraculous things called links, Ad. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300593989/former-auckland-port-boss-denies-charges-in-relation-to-death-of-worker-crushed-by-container
Hang in there Albanese. Surely it's time.
Bake for Ukraine
If you are in South Auckland today make sure to visit the fundraising cake sale for Ukraine
Onehunga Market 10.am to 2.pm
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?
In Herne Bay, Seddon Fields, there's a group of toy dog owners who turn up early Saturdays and let their dogs shit and piss all over the sports fields. They've done it for so long they're all known to each other.
Within minutes of them leaving the dogs toilet aka sports fields everyone else begins to turn up as their kids play various contact sports there.
As there are clearly 'No Dogs on the Sports Fields' signs on the actual sports fields, one must conclude these are the people for whom the rules do not apply. If some bottom feeders kids get their face smeared in the residue of Pookies shit – such is life.
I posit these folk are also the people who loudly and proudly vote for law and order, and that arresting them would go a long way toward restoring everybody's faith in our fair system.
I'm involved with coaching at that football club (Western Springs) and I agree with you it sounds disgusting. The problem will be worse at the moment too because our artificial 'turf' fields are being replaced, and so all the games on being played on the grass fields.
Can you jut clarify for me, are you referring to Seddon Fields (which is in Western Springs) or our other ground Cox Bay (in Westmere)? I'll talk to the powers that be and see if something can be done.
Good call, it is in fact Coxs Bay. I should know the difference.
All good. I’ll talk to the club about it, but it’s also a Council issue. At my favourite dog walking locale (Taipari Strand) if you don’t pick up after your dog you get ‘reminded’ by one of the regulars!
They'll pick up after themselves, but the area they're using is clearly earmarked for sports. And if doggie wees or has wee runs… aww pookies!
Generalising here but: Actual walkers of dogs have dogs that have normally 'worked it out' before their owners hit the park. The ones turning up in cars to sling balls across the sports grounds with a plastic arm extension have the dogs that race out to relieve themselves, through no fault of the dog.
Again, the ‘No dogs on sports fields’ signage is clear.
It is, very clear. And there's ample walking space for dogs off the fields.
There are a lot of those about. We walk around Western Springs Park about 4 times a week and we regularly see people with dogs that are not on a leash. If you point out that it is not an off leash area you get abused or told that "I walk this dog here every day and we have no problems" as their little darling chases a nesting Pukeko into the lake.
It's a basic courtesy and public hygiene to pick up after your dog defecates anywhere outside your home.
Be useful to know if that is part of any council's responsible dog owner licence guidelines.
Whangarei. " Owners are legally responsible for cleaning up after their dogs on any property that’s not their own. This means carrying a plastic bag whenever you’re in public with your dog. Dog waste bags are available at Council offices or the Pound in Kioreroa Road. Failure to clean up after your dog could result in a $300 fine".
Thanks, that's pretty straightforward.
I can find a reference to it on Auckland Council's by searching your quote:
Penalty included under Problems with dogs and not mentioned under Dog owners' obligations. Feel it'd be useful to have there as well. Very few people consider their dog a problem.
May be a new daily game for the geo politicos here:
https://oec.world/en/tradle/
The role of Party politics has been questioned (https://thestandard.org.nz/the-time-that-roger-douglas-was-right/)
The answer appears in the sidebar
"The public’s attitude to death, taxes and Climate Change is remarkably consistent. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die, pay more, or give up their SUV.
The trick of successful democratic government in times of global warming, pestilence, war – and rampant inflation – is to convey the impression of doing something while actually doing very little at all. The job of the politician, when you boil it right down, is to keep the lights on and the ATMs working. If not forever, then until well past the next election."
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/05/blah-blah-blah-is-that-all-there-is.html
Thank you, but not quite seeing it.
Politicians don’t make promises and they don’t promise anything.
At best, they’re Party spokespeople or figureheads speaking on behalf (or out of tune) of the Party from the Party Manifest or Policy, but never ever in a personal capacity from their own list. They are not representatives of the people or voters but carefully controlled speaking tubes for their Parties. Which is why so many 'promises' are empty & hollow and get so easily broken (and forgotten, except as troll fodder and as gotcha bait).
We never see that which we dont desire to see.
Political parties are means to an end….those that succeed in such an environment are those who succeed in such an environment.
I had no desire to read BR, but I did. I couldn’t see any mention of political parties
There sure is high demand today for mindreading by online osmosis and talking in riddles – clarity is not just a state of mind but also a skill and virtue.
it must be contagious…you appear to be infected.
Yup, my test result was off the scale and I’ve given up on elimination and instead try contain the risk of transmission to unwitting hapless souls.
too late…its an epidemic
I’m learning to live with it, but I don’t want to …
lifes like that
Sometimes, I don’t like life as we know it.
snap
Whilst globally we have a rerun of the 70's,it does not mean we should have 1984 to look forward to.
https://twitter.com/loffredojeremy/status/1527521228688445442
It's a brave new world.
I found it obvious.
Comprehension is a volatile..beast.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
In Oz rampant poverty, or fear of other voters (sometimes causation is difficult to identify) is causing millions to vote early, or by mail, rather than admit they cannot afford a sausage.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/democracy-sausage-under-threat-as-millions-vote-early-20220516-p5almq.html
'everything in moderation…even..moderation'!
Please inform the almighty…this IS open ..mike!
Once upon a time, there were brothers called Arvirigas (of the green spear) and Caratacus (of the orange spear).
Today they are called Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party.
In the Easter Agreement back in 1998 it was decided that the number 1 and number 2 parties would determine a government in Ulster – if not there would be direct rule from London. Normally DUP have been No 1 and someone more moderate than Sinn Fein has been No 2. Now Sinn Fein is No 1 and DUP is No 2.
Sinn Fein are Irish nationalists and want things like a referendum – which is why their deputy has gone to Edinburgh to talk to the SN leader in Scotland.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-61528442
The DUP would rather have direct rule from London than have such a referendum (and not wanting to legitimise Sinn Fein with a role in Ulster administration is just a bonus.
However both the EU and the USA have a few concerns about what is going on.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61515205
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-61521540
Some American Bishops have made their intentions clear – those who publicly support abortion rights will be denied communion.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/20/pelosi-abortion-archbishop-communion/
The SCOTUS leak has led states to reveal their post Roe v Wade plans.
Oklahoma
From fertilisation – thus allows the so called post sex MAP/contraception that prevents fertilisation.
The pregnant woman is not the legal target of the law. Those who help facilitate one for her, as well as those performing the action are liable.
Medical intervention on health grounds is allowed
It allows abortion in the case of pregnancy resulting from reported sexual crime
It does not determine, or otherwise, a position on in vitro
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/19/oklahoma-abortion-ban-fertilization/
Poots' global Holodomor.
https://twitter.com/TelegraphWorld/status/1527658413634768897