Open mike 21/05/2024
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- What’s Been Happening? Political Roundup
For paid subscribersI’m currently writing an article in response to a promise to Bill about where everything is heading - and I included a ‘quick’ snapshot of political updates.However, as that list of updates got longer, I thought it made sense to send out as a separate article.So here it ...2 hours ago - Bitch
I'm a bitch, I'm a loverI'm a child, I'm a motherI'm a sinner, I'm a saintI do not feel ashamedI'm your Hell, I'm your dreamI'm nothing in betweenYou know you wouldn't want it any other wayWriters: Shelly Peiken, Meredith BrooksGood morning, all you lovely people. 🙂 A newsletter this morning ...10 hours ago - Property Rights and the Treaty Principles Bill
Property rights – which enable decisions over tangible and intangible assets – are critical to an economy as Why Nations Fail pointed out. Not just private property rights for, as we shall see, they are more complicated than that. Neoliberals argue that private property rights lead to the maximum economic ...1 day ago - The Hoon around the week to November 22
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Following the 2022 Brazilian general election, election loser Jair Bolsonaro tried to do a Trump, attempting a coup to overturn the election. It failed. But unlike his American friend, he hasn't been allowed to get away with it: The former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and some of his closest ...1 day ago - Treasury warns deeper recession worsening Budget deficit
The gift that keeps giving: David Seymour has now opened a split in the coalition over the future of National’s promise to build a new medical school. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / TheKakaKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and ...1 day ago
- Weekly Roundup 22-November-2024
It’s another Friday and we’re inching closer to the end of the year. Here’s some of the stories that have caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and ...1 day ago - Beyond Question?
Record Numbers: The Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, which began at the tip of the North, and the tail of the South, on 11 November, culminated outside Parliament on Tuesday, 19 November 2024, in one of the largest demonstrations in New Zealand’s political history.ACCORDING TO TE ARA, the Ministry of Culture ...1 day ago - The Rush To Blame “The Activists”
Activists are such easy scapegoats. The right and center have been conditioned for decades to roll their eyes at all protests. The left are easily aggravated over students leading movements they see as belonging to grownups, who have more important concerns like the economy and whether the trains come on ...1 day ago - Cutting Through An Inundation of Dipshit Racists
Hi,Watching New Zealand from afar offers a strange perspective. It can be a good thing — distance from Aotearoa helped keep me sane while I reported on abuse at New Zealand’s biggest megachurch over the course of a year. It helps fuel my silly podcast. But it can also be ...1 day ago - This is bad news
The speech yesterday by Treasury’s Chief Economic Advisor warning that the books are in worse shape than forecasted looks like it’s part of a softening-up process for either more cuts or a longer wait to get back into surplus. The speech was a highly unusual public preview of Treasury’s Half-Yearly ...2 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #47 2024
Open access notables Projected increase in the frequency of extremely active Atlantic hurricane seasons, Lopez et al., Science Advances: Future changes to the year-to-year swings between active and inactive North Atlantic tropical cyclone (TC) seasons have received little attention, yet may have great societal implications in areas prone to hurricane ...2 days ago - Chicken Kiev
Chatting in the supermarket this morning, I found I needed to lunge for the chicken drumsticks.Coping mechanisms: who hasn’t felt a greater need for them lately?When it all gets too much, I turn to demonstrating handy butchery hacks.It wasn’t that she’d said anything wrong, our friend, not at all. We ...2 days ago - The year is 2024 and it’s 1984
This is written in response to the highly significant open letter from a group of economists that was today addressed to Christopher Luxon. The year is 2024, and it’s 1984. The country is reeling from a record Olympic medal gold haul, while the globe grapples with the choice of the ...2 days ago - The IPCA has failed
Back in 2022, RNZ took an in-depth look at the "Independent" Police Conduct Authority and its handling of killings by police. These are the most serious test of oversight, and you would expect the police's use of lethal force to receive the most severe scrutiny. But despite the police regularly ...2 days ago
- Thursday 21 November 2024
The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti arrived at Parliament on Tuesday – the size is being debated but estimates range from 42,000 to 100,000. The Prime Minister is defending not attending due to some of the organisers being affiliated with Te Pāti Māori. The national gang patch ban came into force ...2 days ago - ‘These budget cuts are counter-productive and make no sense’
I spoke to former Productivity Chair Nana this morning about the letter he and a group of other economists sent to PM Christopher Luxon to urge the Government to urgently suspend cuts to spending and investment for the sake of the economy, struggling businesses and the wellbeing of vulnerable ...2 days ago
- ACT’s Astroturfing & A Co-ordinated Attack on Te Pati Māori
Unity on the Streets / Unity at the TableAfter the Hīkoi, all three right wing Coalition leaders came together to push the idea that the 42,000 - 50,000 + strong Hikoi was somehow less potent and brave, and more illegitimate than the energy and crowd displayed.Prime Minister Christopher Luxon 20-November: ...2 days ago - Durability of carbon dioxide removal is critical for stabilizing temperatures
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink The world is emitting over 40 gigatons of CO2 per year, contributing to an accelerating warming of the planet. The world needs to cut emissions rapidly to be remotely on track to meet our Paris Agreement goals of limiting warming to well-below 2C, and we ...2 days ago
- I Love My Leather Jacket
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With Auckland Transport’s future up in the air under Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposed CCO reform, we’ve dug way back into the archives, to unearth this post originally published in March 2010. As you’ll see, many of the debates that were being had when AT was first proposed continue to ...2 days ago
- Economists call on PM to suspend budget cuts for the sake of the economy
Nicola Willis’ budget cuts are under fire from economists for having no clear rationale and worsening the recession. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, November 21: The news at ...2 days ago
- The end of policing by consent
National has appointed a new police commissioner. And he explicitly rejects policing by consent: Asked if he subscribed to policing by consent, he said he did not. “I don’t talk about policing by consent. I talk about trust and confidence, and it is fundamentally important that the police have ...3 days ago
- The Treaty Principles Bill: A Who’s Who
David Horatio Waterbed SeymourFringe politician and dweeb transformed successfully by ThinkTank money into a well-oiled soundbite robot.Currently programmed to say: Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Equal rights for all New Zealanders Was previously programmed to say:I am a proud libertarian andI am a ...3 days ago - Kinleith mill closure shows need for industrial strategy
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is calling on the Government to deliver an economic and industrial strategy for regional manufacturing, rather than just expressing sympathy for job losses, following the announced closure of Kinleith mill in Tokoroa. “The closure Kinleith mill in Tokoroa is not just devastating for ...3 days ago
- 27% of kids going hungry, up from 21% in a year
One in four Kiwi children live in households where food runs out often or sometimes. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, November 20: The lead: The official annual Health Survey found sharp ...3 days ago - Transport modelling is an illusion
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- Young Maori take over
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- We need to talk about Kevin
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family has a Drunk Uncle Kevin in there somewhere. If your Kevin is anything like the ones I know, he was getting along happily enough without having to think too much about the Treaty Principles Bill apart from bloody good job, onya guys ...4 days ago - The hikoi
Like everyone else (everyone who wasn't there, anyway), I've spent the morning watching the hikoi march on Parliament. The pictures are astounding: parliament grounds and the surrounding streets are full, and there are still people backed up along Lambton Quay. The police are estimating 35,000 people, and that's a floor ...4 days ago
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4 days ago - Discount Code for Webworm Merch!
Hi,So there’s a bunch of new stuff on the Webworm store (www.webworm.store) — just in time for the Holidays. Read more ...4 days ago - Trying to defuse the tension
There were urgent moves yesterday at Parliament to try and defuse the tension building up over ACT’s Treaty Principles Bill. The Bill’s author, ACT leader David Seymour, told reporters that he understood the Justice Select Committee met yesterday to discuss how long it should take to consider submissions on the ...5 days ago
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5 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Hikoi Arrival, And Tyler Childers
Politicians like to bang on all about the need to heal society’s racial/economic divisions, but in their actions they’re more keen on stoking those divisions, with the Treaty Principles Bill being the classic example. The Bill seeks to dilute the Crown’s responsibilities to Māori at the same time as it ...5 days ago
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5 days ago - Kaamos: Accepted
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- Unstoppable.
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- Katherine Trebeck – An Alternative Economic Narrative
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In a manner of speakingI just want to sayThat I could never forget the wayYou told me everythingBy saying nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me nothingOh, give me the wordsGive me the wordsThat tell me everythingSongwriter: Winston TongNext Tuesday, the subscription price for Nick’s Kōrero will ...5 days ago - Monday 18 November 2024
The NZNO have announced a nationwide strike for December over its pay dispute with Health NZ, who have put a 1 per cent cap on pay rises. The Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti and Treaty Principles Bill remain front and centre in the media, with the impacts of the Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke-led ...5 days ago
- Shipley warns Seymour’s bill is ‘inviting civil war’
The divisive Treaty Principles Bill is not just a risk for the National Party, it’s a risk to civil order and unity, warns a National Party grandee. Photo: Getty ImagesKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on ...5 days ago - A clearer network for the City Rail Link?
This post was originally published on Linked In by Nicolas Reid. It is republished here with permission. Auckland is now just a year or so away from having the keystone of its urban rail network complete. As I wrote about here, the City Rail Link will be a literal game changer for ...5 days ago
- National’s support base is wobbling
If ACT leader David Seymour intended the Treaty Principles Bill to drive a wedge into National’s support base, he may well already be succeeding. By midnight on Thursday after the Maori Party haka in Parliament, National MPs were being deluged with emails and messages from their members calling them out ...6 days ago
- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #46
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- Grifter Eftpos Tamaki at it again
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Self-appointed “Bishop” and proto-fascist, Brian Tamaki was at it again on 16 November, blocking Auckland’s southern motorway, SH1.This time, the target of his ire wasn’t the Civil Unions Act; covid lock-downs; mask mandates; or ...6 days ago - Rip up a bill, lead a haka are words to live by
I cannot stop grabbing people by the lapels, or shoulders, or similar, and raving at them about the tiny miracles in my ears.I can hear again! There could not be a more satisfied customer in all the world.In a noisy cafe I am even catching words that Karren cannot, she ...6 days ago - Unintended Consequences
Take the baitYou pay the priceIt's much too lateFor good adviceYou know and I know that our good things' throughBecause there's consequences for what we doConsequences for me and youWriters: Kevin Robert Hayes, David Nagier, Bonnie Adele Hayes.Fallout from the first readingOne News began last night by saying that tens ...1 week ago - Thank you, driver!
Today, Saturday 16th of November, is Auckland Transport’s Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Saturday 16 November marks the third annual Auckland Transport (AT) ‘Bus Driver Appreciation Day’, and this year we are encouraging all of New Zealand to thank their driver or let the bus go first if you are in ...1 week ago
- Totally Normal: Holiday Edition
Hi,If I was to accurately sum up my mental state over the week, I’d just say that I got a huge fright from my own shadow.I’d nipped out for an 11pm neighborhood stroll, just to calm down after a day of stress and screens. The Cure and Fazerdaze’s new record ...1 week ago - We Are Not Listening
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
1 week ago - More lawlessness from National
On Tuesday, sick of government stonewalling, the Waitangi Tribunal issued a rare court order, ordering the Minister of Health to release unredacted documents within 48 hours showing its reasoning for disestablishing Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority. The government's response to the lawful order of a court? Yeah, ...1 week ago
- National’s tyrannical “foreign interference” law
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The Treaty Principles Bill continues to dominate political news, with it passing its first reading in the House. Parliament was briefly suspended and Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke suspended for 24 hours after leading a haka that was joined by opposition MPs and the public in the gallery. Willie ...1 week ago
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And screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingAnd screamingAre we we are, are we we are the waitingForget me nots, second thoughts live in isolationHeads or tails and fairy tales in my mindAre we we are, are we we are the waiting unknownThe rage and love, the ...1 week ago - The Hoon around the week to November 15
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- First Tea and Toast, now Milo — why do NZ’s best beverages need so much defending?
Only two months ago, Nicola Willis had to step in to stop Health New Zealand cutting tea and toast for post-birth parents, and now Lester Levy is riding to the rescue with a welcome message for all: our health workers can once again drink Milo, and will no longer need ...1 week ago - Gordon Campbell on the folly of making apologies in a social vacuum.
Day One of the Treaty Principles Bill…and everyone got what they wanted, and did what they liked. Heated words were exchanged. Culturally appropriate acts of outrage were performed. David Seymour got to play the victim card. Willie Jackson got kicked out of class. A comically red-faced Mr Speaker bellowed “Order, ...1 week ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #46 2024
Open access notables Microbial solutions must be deployed against climate catastrophe, Peixoto et al., Nature Communications [comment]: The climate crisis is escalating. A multitude of microbe-based solutions have been proposed, and these technologies hold great promise and could be deployed along with other climate mitigation strategies. However, these solutions have ...1 week ago
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The government's Treaty Principles Bill is up for its first reading today - bought forward in a rush in a desperate effort to avoid the hikoi which is currently marching on Wellington. But the Prime Minister won’t be there for it – he’s literally running away to Peru! But he ...1 week ago
- 97% of submissions did not want no-cause evictions, Trump chooses a Russian spy for US Intelligence ...
Good morning, and I’m sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days.I’ve been focusing on the Hikoi, and also testing out sentiment on the Treaty Principles Bill. It’s complicated, and the Treaty Principles Bill will be debated in the House today. The Government’s own lawyers have told them the ...1 week ago - Government must vote down ACT Members Bill that would undermine workers’ rights
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- Seymour causes thousands of unjustified absences by forcing kids to fight for their rights instead o...
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Targeted consultation on reinstating live cattle exports by sea won’t allow the New Zealand public to have their say. ...1 day ago - NZ’s global climate rankings plummet as Govt removes agriculture from ETS
The Government has passed legislation to remove agriculture from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) while Aotearoa’s reputation on climate action plummets. ...2 days ago - Failed boot camp experiment must end
As legislation to set up boot camps passed its first reading, the Green Party urged the Government to abandon this failed policy experiment for the good of our rangatahi. ...2 days ago
- Gender-affirming care must centre evidence and health needs, not political posturing
The Ministry of Health has today released an evidence brief regarding the use of puberty blockers in gender-affirming healthcare, amid moves by the government to limit access. ...2 days ago
- Release: National doesn’t care about manufacturing
The National Government is walking away from our manufacturing sector with constant reports of closures and job losses. ...2 days ago
- Release: David Parker speech – Piketty, Inequality and Climate Change
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- Release: Youth mental wellbeing no longer a priority for Child Poverty Minister
Louise Upston has revealed her diminished vision for vulnerable youth against a backdrop of snubbed advice, scrapped priorities, shifted goal posts and thousands more children projected to fall into poverty. ...2 days ago
- Release: National’s lack of climate action taking NZ backwards
National Government’s backward-looking climate policy has seen New Zealand fall seven places on the Climate Change Performance Index to 41 out of 63 countries measured. ...2 days ago
- Release: Simple reason for drop in emergency housing
When the Government says it has reduced the number of people in emergency housing, what it means is it is stopping people from accessing it in the first place. ...2 days ago
- Govt’s child wellbeing strategy ‘shallow and shameful’
The Government is turning its back on children by not only weakening child poverty reduction targets, but also removing child mental wellbeing as a priority focus in their Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy. ...2 days ago
- Release: A historic win for Samoan communities
Labour warmly welcomes the Restoring Samoan Citizenship Bill as it passes its third reading, before becoming law. ...2 days ago
- Government plan to reinstate live animal exports a “national disgrace”
The Government has taken a giant step backwards by reinstating live animal exports. ...3 days ago
- Pasifika justice as Member’s Bill passes final reading
Teanau Tuiono’s Member’s Bill, the Citizenship (Western Samoa Restoration) Amendment Bill, has passed its third reading and will become law. ...3 days ago
- Release: Minister of Education thinks New Zealand ends at the Bombay Hills
The Minister of Education has shown complete disregard for rural communities and their school bus routes in Question Time today. ...3 days ago
- Economists sound alarm on Government’s slash-and-burn approach
A group of prominent economists has released an open letter to the Government, raising grave concerns about the far-reaching consequences of its fiscal policy. ...3 days ago
- Release: Smoking numbers up under Costello’s watch
National’s repeal of Labour’s smokefree legislation has taken New Zealand further away from achieving a Smokefree 2025 and a smokefree generation. ...3 days ago
- Release: Call for Palestine recognition by NZ, Australian and Canadian MPs
Parliamentarians from Australia, Canada and New Zealand have written an open letter to their respective Prime Ministers calling on them to recognise Palestine. ...3 days ago
- Justice Select Committee opens floor for Treaty Principles submissions
Today, the Justice Select Committee has decided to officially open submissions for the controversial Treaty Principles Bill. ...4 days ago
- Power of the people on full display as hīkoi approaches Parliament
Today, Hīkoi mō te Tiriti arrived in Wellington, with thousands gathering to march in unity against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...4 days ago
- Hypocrisy as Te Whatu Ora contractor bill balloons
Te Whatu Ora’s bill for contracting and consulting staff has ballooned by nearly 20 percent under the National Government, breaking a promise they made during the election campaign to cut contractors. ...5 days ago
- Release: Growing pressure to scrap Section 7AA Repeal Bill
The newly released Section 7AA Repeal Bill's select committee report is further evidence that the Government should scrap it. ...6 days ago
- Government’s move to monetise access to nature a slippery slope
The Green Party is voicing serious concerns over the Government’s proposal to charge for access to public conservation land, released today. ...1 week ago
- Green Party condemns the passage of Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party condemns the passing of the Treaty Principles Bill at first reading, and is clear that the fight is not over. ...1 week ago
- Stand Up for Te Tiriti
Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our country’s founding document. It forms the basis of the relationship between Māori and the Crown – and the Aotearoa New Zealand we live in today. ...1 week ago
- Release: Over 15,000 sign Labour’s open letter to Luxon
As the hīkoi to Parliament continues, Labour has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in a last-ditch attempt to get him to kill the Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Fast Track Bill threatens environment, climate and reputation
The fast-track legislation passing its second reading in Parliament is another step towards environmental ruin. ...1 week ago
- Greens join King’s Counsel in calling for Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned
The Prime Minister must answer the call from a group of senior lawyers of the King’s Counsel to abandon the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...1 week ago
- Chris Hipkins’ apology statement to state and faith-based care survivors
...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour formally apologises to state and faith-based care survivors
Labour joins with the Government in unreservedly apologising for the abuse, neglect and trauma including torture in state and faith-based care and for ignoring the voices of survivors for too long. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party stands in support of survivors of abuse in care
Today, the Green Party stands alongside the survivors of abuse in state care and faith-based care as the Government issues an historic apology. ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party calls for conscience vote on Treaty Principles Bill
The Green Party has written to the Speaker of the House requesting he enable a personal vote on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt move to exclude journalist risks chilling effect
The Green Party is alarmed by the Government’s move to exclude a journalist from covering this week’s apology for the survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care. ...2 weeks ago
- Without action, an apology will be empty air
For tomorrow’s apology to survivors of abuse in state and faith-based care to hold any water, the Government must not pursue the same policies that drove the abuse in the first place. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Concerns remain over tobacco interference
Concerns about the tobacco industry’s ability to interfere in government policy making remain, despite the inability of the Office of the Auditor-General to investigate the Government’s decision to halve the excise tax on heated tobacco products. ...2 weeks ago
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The Climate Change Commission’s latest advice indicates Aotearoa needs to be stepping up on climate action. ...2 weeks ago
- Green MP’s Meme-ber’s Bill set to save the world
Break out the punchlines and dust off your meme folder: Green Party MP Kahurangi Carter’s Copyright (Parody and Satire) Amendment Bill was pulled from the Ballot yesterday. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Poroporoaki: Ta Robert (Bom) Gillies
Kua hinga te manawa kairākau o Te Rua Tekau Ma Waru Tiwhatiwha te po! Kakarauru i te po! Ka rapuhia kei hea koe kua riro! Haere e te Ika a Whiro ki o tini hoa kua ngaro atu ki te Pō ...2 weeks ago
- Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principles Bill
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour, Greens and Te Pāti Māori call on the Prime Minister to block the Treaty Principle...
The opposition parties stand united for an Aotearoa that honours Te Tiriti, rather than seeking to rewrite it. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori are working together against the Government’s divisive Treaty Principles Bill. ...2 weeks ago
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Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Ka mihi ki te mana whenua ko Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Kia ora and good morning everyone. Thank you Fran and Simon for inviting me here today, and importantly your leadership of this forum over several years now. I want to acknowledge David Gehrenbeck, Deputy ...1 day ago
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The first question out of any journalist mouth to Chris Bishop ought to be – "This damning report on Kianga Ora was written by Bill English, and in the words of Christine Keeler – "Well, he would say that wouldn't he?"
Yeah the emphasis most reports seem to be putting on "independent" as if it actually is.
And of course they are not mentioning how much the debt has increased the value of the land holdings and other assets.
This is the same National Party of course that took hundreds of millions of dollars per year out of poor people's rents to pay into the consolidated fund to make the government books look better last time meaning much of the housing maintenance was deferred. They are such dodgy bastards.
Pity they don't have the same criticism of debt when power companies are borrowing to give shareholders dividends.
Debt to build houses bad debt to pay shareholders good.
Under the "independent" English the Nats sold off and failed to build state houses in order to pay for tax cuts. McAnulty was good on Morning Report today explaining how the Nats have choked off funding for social housing since they got elected.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018939259/labour-criticises-government-s-plan-for-social-housing
McAnulty was good, while Ingrid showed how easily the public is confused once they hear the big scary word "debt".
McAnulty might have gratuitously added that the guy who did the report was "the worst finance minister in NZ's history". Because if Luxon can do a fact-free smear of Robertson using those words and not get any pushback, then everybody's reputation is up for trashing on a whim, so we may as well all get down to it.
+100 AB.
Totally AB. English's ‘fiscally neutral’ bs with the gst rise/top rate drop cost us over $1b annually in lost tax revenue.
Nothing to lose telling it like it is as double dipton takes more taxpayers cash to pop a cover sheet over their ongoing nobbling of public housing.
If gathered up the stats from 70,000 privately owned rentals ,do you think their debt level would match kianga ora's I reckon it'd be higher!!?
Kāinga Ora has a debt-to-equity ratio that home owners dream about.
.
Kāinga Ora is a large Crown entity with an annual expenditure of $2.5 billion and total assets of $45 billion.
A report by the Treasury and the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development found Kāinga Ora's level of debt had grown from $2.7 billion in 2018 to $12.3 billion in June 2023.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/bombshell-k-inga-ora-review-finds-agency-not-financially-viable-new-chair-board-refreshed.html
Thanks
Mandy Rice-Davies, actually.
I was about to comment to that effect – but had to go out. Pleased I am not the only one here who remembers the "Profumo Scandal"'
I think it was Mandy Rice Davies, not Christine Keeler.
Meanwhile in rich peoples land important things are not happening.
“A group of us haven’t had even one match since joining, and are questioning whether it’s because there are not enough men,” said one romantic hopeful, who Stuff agreed not to name.
There are two different membership options: Platinum ‘Match Me’ at $5,995 per annum, which Gattung told Stuff was “priority matchmaking”.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350283288/men-shortage-theresa-gattungs-6k-year-dating-biz
To much squid and not enough whales.
But anyway, it is a fact of life that a lot of blokes over 40 who can afford to pay 6k for a dating site are not going to be particularly interested in dating someone their own age.
If those rich blokes (and blokettes?) rather date younger people then they might find they’ll have an even harder job.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/517325/why-more-young-people-are-turning-to-celibacy
Anyway, money makes for comfort, but not for happiness, IMHO
Any bloke that can afford $6k for a dating sight probably doesn't need a dating sight,
Site gooddamn site pay attention waghorn ffs
Sorry to hear you're not having much luck. Try Tinder. LOL.
Seems like a continuation of the Telecom business model that Gattung inadvertently confessed to years ago. Namely, that confusing your clients/victims can be profitable.
Part of the plutonomy memo that Citibank tried to hide.
There is however a more refined way to play plutonomy, and this is to buy shares in the companies that make the toys that the Plutonomists enjoy. As the rich have been getting progressively richer over the last 30 years, saving less and spending more, the fortunes of companies that sell to the rich ought to have been good. Not only have the rich been earning and spending more, but they are less price elastic than typical consumers. In fact we believe they have a preference for Giffen goods, i.e., the more expensive they are, the more they are purchased.
https://delong.typepad.com/plutonomy-1.pdf
https://arktimes.com/street-jazz/2011/11/09/the-citibank-memo-and-the-gop-attacks-on-american-voting-rights
There are too many ugly sisters chasing Prince Charming
Radio NZ, 21 May 2024: "What will it take for NZ to be a 'rockstar' economy again?"
It's not a good analogy. Some rock stars snort all manner of drugs, then die early.
I'm not even certain we had a "rockstar" economy to begin with, but it sure makes good headlines for politicians.
It is part of a general right wing framing of the Key era in a warm glow of complacent nostalgia that has been swallowed hook, line and sinker by the MSM. The smug amnesia of 2008-17 apparently represents something of a pinnacle of capitalist achievement in NZ.
A "sugar rush" economic mis-management that we will regret for many years to come.
They should get Fonterra in and ask them that.
All the legislative breaks they've had, market dominance, getting their own way and what can they show for it in 2024 !
Hardly a rockstar peddling desirable value add milk products is it ?
Just read the most fulsome analysis of the Fast Track Bill by:
How can the present Coalition keep going on this disaster specially for our Environment.
Thanks again to Newsroom.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/20/a-fast-track-to-environmental-degradation/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
This collusion government won’t listen to critical experts but only to friendly ones, e.g., from the NZ Initiative, the NZ Centre for Political Research, and other RW shill-tanks.
Alexander Gillespie is a professor of Law at the University of Waikato and he wrote a damning analysis.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/517329/fast-track-laws-parliamentary-urgency-treaty-tension-media-retreat-warning-signs-for-nz-s-brittle-democracy
Assange has won; he will not be extradited. I didn't realise the import of today's London High Court ruling until I heard Kristinn Hrafnsson interviewed on RNZ today.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018939275/wikileaks-julian-assange-granted-permission-to-appeal
If the USA had any sense of fairness they would throw in the towel now and Assange could be released.
Hats off to the English legal system, even if it took a while.
Assange has been allowed to appeal his extradition. He'll likely remain in custody for now so he ain't out of the woods just yet.
https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/assange-v-government-of-the-united-states-of-america-3/
Joe-did you listen to the whole audio?
Yup. And Assange remains in solitary at Belmarsh.
I heard somewhere bail might now be available. Anyway, he will be released at some stage.
"Hats off to the English legal system, even if it took a while"…..are you doffing your hat to a legal system that has imprisoned the most important journalist in the modern age, in one of the most brutal prisons in the UK for over FIVE years, without chance of bail, has impaired and disrupted his legal defense team at every opportunity…the UK legal system has done exactly what it was supposed to do…send a message to every journalist working now or becoming one in the future, or any potenial whtleblower…and that message is simple, brutal and to the point ….'Don't Fuck with the Western Hegemony, because this is what we can do to you..right out in the open, in broad daylight, and there isn't anything anybody can do about it'
So I say, Fuck the UK legal system…it is corrupt and rotting to it's stinking core.
Totally agree Adrian. It's a blessing, I hope, but lets not forget what they have done to crush him.
Fair points both of you…Assange should have been free long ago….I've got the t- shirts.
But what I am saying is that a couple of HC judges finally got it right in London. He will be free soon…..this is a highly embarrassing legal defeat for the US and nobody could be happier than me.
If these 2 HC judges hadn’t made this decision Assange would have been on a plane to the US next week. Listen carefully to the audio.
If he remains in Belmarsh, he might well die there during the appeal.
Who hasn't accidentally neglected to declare 90% of their donations.
/
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/517356/politics-live-national-mp-david-macleod-stood-down-after-failing-to-declare-donations
We read that the Kainga Ora report was done by Bill English and we laughed and we laughed and we laughed. How many more leeches are going to attach themselves to the CoCs corpse trying to make them relevant? Look what just happened to their key man Key. Karma has snuck up on him and about time.
That's an interesting comment, considering the past Chair of KO was, by that definition, a leech.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop announces resignation of Kāinga Ora board chairman Vui Mark Gosche – NZ Herald
As was the head of the Labour established Tax Working Group in 2019 – Sir Michael Cullen. As was Heather Simpson, appointed by Labour to head the Health and Disability Commission Review in 2018.
Pot … Kettle
Sir Michael Cullen headed the tax working group so, rather than reflecting his personal views, his report would have reflected the (majority) views of the group. I imagine it would have been the same with Heather Simpson.
Disinformation is being created around the NZ Relationships and Sexuality guidelines for schools, both before the election, and more recently. The government included a review of the guidelines in its Coalition agreement.
The disinformation includes faked Education Ministry documents. Winston Peters campaigned against 'woke ideology' in schools.
You don't need to fake anything. Just read the Glossary of the Year 1 to Year 8 Relationships and Sexuality Curriculum and it tells you exactly what the mindset is for the Education Department.
Hipkins has just accused Luxon of mis-leading the House.
This was after Brown had to apologise for "mistake" in the false graph that he presented to the House last time.
And now for some much needed GOOD NEWS….
"World Court seeks arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Hamas leader for war crimes"
https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2024/05/21/world-court-seeks-arrest-warrants-against-netanyahu-hamas-leader-for-war-crimes/
And just look at the MSM headlines on this…nearly all voicing Netanyahu's outrage as their angle for this news…when will Western MSM stop running cover for this Genocide?
The head of state of Iran should also be cited.