So while Omicron variants 4 and 5 spread the jabbed up (neither being jabbed nor with "natural immunity" prevents infection) there is the risk while going to vote.
The election comes in time to prevent Netanyahu going to court. There is about another year in the USA to go – presumably the GOP primary race would result in a stay of court proceedings for Trump.
I agree with the sentiment of this comment more than the facts as, the NAIRU theory (which Summers is likely applying) fundamentally rejects there being any useable Phillips curve trade off between unemployment and inflation.
This is a shocker interview with Julie Chapman, head Honcho of Kids Can. They are launching an appeal for funds because student poverty has never been worse.
''The principal of Henderson Intermediate, Wendy Esera, has been in education for 44 years and says student poverty is the worst she's seen.''
I know some of this because my aunty was a primary school junior syndicate team leader. She was often buying shoes and clothes for about eight students in her class.
We have all read the headlines you may say!
Yeah, but I'm talking circa 2009. So I'd guess Chapman isn't exaggerating to gain extra funding given the present situation. The interview also talks of teachers ringing Kids Can in tears. Again I can believe that because my aunt burnt out and became ill. She retired before her time.
The problem for me is with a question Kerre asked. Kerre said the government has pumped millions into this problem…where has the money gone? Good question. We know the school lunch scheme can be wasteful. And we know some parents… well, aren't good parents. The common retort is to say most parents are good parents and are honestly struggling and are doing the best they can. I don't doubt that, but I believe the numbers of sub standard parents is being underestimated. That area needs to be tightened up. But that means overhauling WINZ. If National attempt this once they become the government, their bull in a second hand store approach, will make things worse for everyone, including good parents.
Next time you are in the supermarket and you see someone using a turquoise/ blue looking credit card you will know that's a Winz emergency food grant card. I see them on a regular basis. And sometimes the food choices in those trollies are appalling. And worse, one off, very expensive items: eg naan bread or a tray of donuts. These aren't a good choice of food item for a struggling family.
What a worthless comment. Don't forget it's taxpayer's money. In other countries they would be at the dump scavenging for food. The short answer to be truthful from my perspective is no. Do the people of Ukraine deserve the luxury of peace now and again? Yes, they deserve peace all the time. But in their present situation that cannot happen. Same with our Winz clients. In case you haven't noticed they are in an emergency situation. And, no, I don't have all the answers. All I know is it's people like you who are part of the problem.
What a worthless comment.
… All I know is it's people like you who are part of the problem.
Poor people pay tax too, but good to know someone's keeping an eye on how 'the poors' pay at supermarkets – really shows your true worth, and true colours, imho.
Why poverty in New Zealand is everyone's concern
Liang describes poverty as a "heritable condition" that perpetuates and amplifies through generations: "It is also not hard to see how individual poverty flows into communities and society, with downstream effects on economics, crime and health, as well as many other systems. Loosen one strand and everything else unravels."
A Kete Half Empty Poverty is your problem, it is everyone's problem, not just those who are in poverty. – Rebecca, a child from Te Puru
Think about it. The benefit maybe $500 but they receive $400 in their hand as PAYE deducted. But the total $500 Gross benefit is just given to them funded from actual working tax payers tax paid.
Malcolm's 2017 analysis appealed to me. NZ is wealthy – redistributing a little more of that wealth would work wonders, imho. For example, I'd happily contribute to the tax on wealth proposed by the Green party – might not be required to contribute that much personally, but it's a decent thing to do.
Greens call for urgent action to fix tax system [26 April 2022]
“The most straightforward solution is to introduce a Capital Gains Tax or a Wealth Tax on individuals’ net wealth over $1 million – not including mortgages and other debt. This would only apply to the wealthiest six percent of New Zealanders."
Too much wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of Kiwis, and that's for real.
The Sad Slide of a Once Equal Nation [4 July 2017]
New Zealand, by most yardsticks, used to rival equal nations like Denmark. But New Zealand’s incomes have become much more unequal – and its problems much more pressing. Steeply progressive taxes could reverse that dynamic.
''NZ is wealthy – redistributing a little more of that wealth would work wonders, imho. For example, I'd happily contribute to the tax on wealth proposed by the Green party.''
The way I see it, taxing wealth runs into problems sooner or later. It will stifle innovation and be open to further creeping tax takes in one form or another in the future. The rich will a find a way to continue avoiding a wealth tax meaning more government resources to catch them. Savings may suffer and then the wealthy start looking overseas to move assets and business.
But for me it boils down to an envy tax for wealthy people. Many who have built businesses and wealth up from scratch. I wouldn't have the cheek to tax the fruits of their labour.
That said you may have seen the headlines awhile back where some wealthy individuals said they should be paying more tax. I say good on them. That's what democracy should be about. Not all rich people are rich pricks.
Sooner or later the government always wants more. Even if only temporally.
''Under this proposal, the total tax on an income of $40,000 would drop from $6,020 to $4,000, and the total tax on a $400,000 income would rise from $122,920 to $206,000.''
The way I see it, taxing wealth runs into problems sooner or later. It will stifle innovation and be open to further creeping tax takes in one form or another in the future. The rich will a find a way to continue avoiding a wealth tax meaning more government resources to catch them. Savings may suffer and then the wealthy start looking overseas to move assets and business.
Yes, that certainly is one way to see it. But what's the evidence that supports the way you see it? Apart from some “rich pricks” avoiding paying their fair share of tax – that’s a given. [Btw, why do you call them “rich pricks“? Are you suggesting that being rich increases your chances of becoming a prick?]
For example, is envy relevant to Danish innovation? Are Danes queuing to leave home? According to this 31 March 2022 article, NZ is the 10th happiest country, but Denmark is stable in 2nd place.
And the happiest place on spaceship Earth, for the 5th year running? Finland, despite being next door to Russia – who would have thunk it!
These Are the Happiest Countries in the World
Once again, the Nordic countries reign supreme. For the fifth year in a row, Finland is number one when it comes to happiness. The country consistently ranks among the top education systems in the world, occasionally beaten out by countries like South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Much of that success comes from a widespread reverence for teachers, who are required to have a master’s degree (their education is state-funded), and a pedagogical system that focuses less on quantitative testing and more on experiential learning and equal opportunity.
Blade having a good supply of food for lunches so no one feels left out is more important than your bean counting solution which stigmatizes those who are hungry .Blade do you suggest that those poor parents all be trained to be better parents.That would require a massive investment of social workers fixing the housing crisis fixing the intergenerational neglect and abuse. Universal benefits require much less bearaucracy to implement. Malnurishment has longterm effects meaning society will pay more in the future from poor education poor health leading to multiple generations of poverty unrealised potentials. Blade you are Morally and emotionally aloof punish the poor for being poor for making poor decisions because of poor education coming from poor families. Logic type thinking is emotional aloofness a type of mental disorder where people don't care about their fellow human beings. Neo liberal economics plays one sector the money hoarders against those who don't have the luck to be born into a non dysfunctional well off lifstyle.Blaming the poor for being poor drag themselves up by their bootstraps when in reality less than 5% of people who are born into poverty break the cycle. Neo Liberal politicians use unemployment to control inflation then blame the unemployed for their predicament ,When the poor are being kept poor to make the economy run under this model!
Hey Blade next time you're at a supermarket judging what the poor can or can't have, do the world a solid favour and pull out your own card and pay for them.
And see if you can do it while keeping your mouth shut.
Hey, Ad. Who was judging? Just stating a fact from my perspective.
I am paying. No need to pull out my card. What have you ever given to charity? Probably like some socialists I know… when it's time for the the hat to go around, they are in the toilet having a dry one.
This is what a judgemental asshole sounds like when commenting on the poor:
And sometimes the food choices in those trollies are appalling. And worse, one off, very expensive items: eg naan bread or a tray of donuts. These aren't a good choice of food item for a struggling family.
Stick your facts up your ass and donate more instead.
If you think that's judgemental, that's how the poor feel with your eyes on them.
True dat. Maybe useful as an occasional reminder of just how deceitful and self-serving a 'player' can be (reminiscent of Dirty Politics) – but every day?!!
Ah, Robert. Of course you would turn up. But with what?
''Blade, while searching for something to inflame readers of The Standard, settled upon this.''
As a matter of fact this problem is about to explode. That's a whole new generation of malcontents in the making. Maybe coming to a street near you.
Now child poverty was a mainstay of Labour's agenda. And they delivered big bucks to try and fix the problem. It hasn't worked. So what the hell is National going to do? And will the problem become any better.
''Tomorrow, it'll be something else of a similar nature, with similar intent and effect.''
What type of wankery is that meant to mean? You are a Letie, yet I see little empathy. This should be your patch of concern. Maybe because it only effects mainly brown kids in some cases.?
Give us some ideas, Robert. I have some. I doubt you have any.
Boo hoo, "rich pricks" "can't criticise the poor" – 'priceless'. "Rich pricks" need hobbies, and some get off on kicking people while they're down, imho.
Ruthanasia was controversial as the National Party had fought the 1990 election on a manifesto promising "The Decent Society" and implicitly repudiating the radicalism of the Fourth Labour Government.
Yes. I can give you personal experiences if you want?
Quote:
''The Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme was first rolled out to primary schools with high levels of need in 2019. The funding was expanded to some high schools in 2020 and 2021, at a cost of $220.6 million over two years.''
Now, I need to ask myself a question: Am I being trolled, or is the ideological castle being challenged by barbarians at the gate. Probably the latter, leading to the former.
There's another evaluation coming out from the expanded programme as well.
Stuff's Act-led foolishness is the reddest of red herrings when the actual policy results are more young people are less hungry and are learning better.
It's not about the success or otherwise of the programme. And Julie Chapman has said it isn't working in many cases…. It's about the waste. Waste means a waste of taxpayers money and faults somewhere in the delivery of the programme.
Yeah , and if we cut the waste, a whole lot more poor folk can be helped. And once again, I remind you – ITS NOT THE GOVERNMENTS MONEY TO WASTE..IT'S OURS.
the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. The two main areas are logical semantics, concerned with matters such as sense and reference and presupposition and implication, and lexical semantics, concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them.
the meaning of a word, phrase, or text.
The fact is the people own the government…at least they should.
Utter BS again, we don’t “own the government” and neither “should” we. It’s clear why you must rely on TB talking points to form your ‘opinions’ because you have not the slightest clue of how things are in the real world, let alone how they should be. You live in a TB fantasy world in which the Wizard is called Mikey.
Nope, you’re wrong, I don’t diss the sites and TB, I diss the lazy unthinking army of braindead zombies who rely on them for their cognitive existence and I diss the maleficent malcontents who use the talking points and propaganda from those sites and TB for nefarious agendas and interests. Put it all on the table and let the sunshine in, is my motto.
You’re troll-like by refusing to point to an answer that reflects or represents the way you ‘see it’. So, you were just wasting my time with your link to Quora. Yup, definitely troll-like behaviour.
BTW, your concern about my peril is quite endearing but I can assure I’m fine.
Its a lot more fundamental than semantics. If the government is dependent on tax payers to provide the money then it would clearly be impossible to change currencies. Countries relatively recently have retired entire currencies and replaced them with new ones (for various reasons).
Consider the situation in France in 1999. At this time France has decided to adopt the Euro and replace the Franc. In your conception the government is a bit stuffed because nobody outside the government has any Euro in France. That's going to be a problem because you can't collect Euro from people who got none making adopting the Euro problematic.
Once we realize its government money however the way this works is simple to understand. The government will spend Euro, Tax in Euro and issue exchanges for Franc as the public wants. In fact this is what was implemented across multiple European countries at the same time.
In my opinion, the French approach demonstrates what can be done by communities when food–and teaching children to love eating healthy food–is a priority. Note: unlike the United States, there is no national school lunch program in France. All of the lunches you’ll read about here are funded by local municipalities. Three-course (or even four-course) freshly-prepared hot lunches are provided to over 6 million French children in the public school system every day. Even without national subsidies, these meals cost, on average, $3 per child (and prices for low-income families are subsidized),
I understand that, Ad. And have downloaded the report from the link you've posted to read on another device. I did have a look at the summary though, and the measurement criteria.
I was posting the links because the French school lunch intention, implementation and experience seems to have a wider perspective that may be valuable to consider (from the 2nd link):
Here’s a quote from the website of a school near Paris: “Mealtime is a particularly important moment in a child’s day. Our responsibility is to provide children with healthy, balanced meals; to develop their sense of taste; to help children, complementing what they learn at home, to make good food choices without being influenced by trends, media, and marketing; and to teach them the relationship between eating habits and health. But above all else, we aim to enable children to spend joyful, convivial moments together, to learn a ‘savoir-vivre’, to make time for communication, social exchange, and learning about society’s rules–so that they can socialize and cultivate friendships.”
And, actually, in practice, sometimes they both look unappealing and are poor nutrition.
A friend who is a teacher at one of the schools with the free lunch programme, has been posting photos.
They hit a new low last week: 1 stale white bread bun, with a slice of processed cheese and a smear of jam (yes in the same bun). That was it.
The kids didn't eat it (not surprisingly, I wouldn't have).
The teachers did an emergency trip to the supermarket, and came back with bread, and peanut butter. So the kids had something in their tummies for the rest of the day.
There was a very nice brochure sent out to parents, describing (with pictures) what will be provided. However, the quality has been on a significant downwards spiral. And the quality checks that the Ministry are supposed to carry out — have been completely absent.
Look, I know (believe me, I know), feeding kids is tricky. One week they're all over tomato and cheese sandwiches, the next they turn their noses up at exactly the same thing.
But, providing a basic wholemeal bread sandwich with a decent filling, isn't rocket science – and doesn't need to cost the earth. Mandarins are cheap at this time of year, as are kiwifruit. One in each lunchbox is a quick and easy way to get some vitamins (especially Vitamin C at this time of year) into the kids.
I get the feeling that some of the contractors are making a healthy profit, and the kids aren't getting a healthy meal.
Initially It was. That's the problem. And if you believe all schools give unwanted spare lunches away you are dreaming. We are talking double handling and poor focusing on individual school needs.
Your opinion is incorrect Blade. Another example from your link "Crawford and Walters send surplus lunches to community centres, where any member of the public can pick them up that afternoon"
Some supermarkets do self police what comes to the check out. I know a loved one always made sure she was buying essentials when she was given food grants. She made sure she bought items she couldn't normally cover in her benefit such as kitchen spray cleaning or vitamins anything too expensive to fit in her normal supermarket shop. Granted she thought the checkout tellers were "nazis" but accepted it.
Yes, I have noticed policing of food grants is different depending on the supermarket. My local supermarket caters to the low earner /beanie demographic. They can buy whatever they want. However, that may be because the people that frequent my local aren't the type you say no to. The bash is always a possibility. So maybe they just take the path of least resistance. I don't know. However, if all supermarkets are meant to be limiting what a food grant can purchase, I believe that needs to be enforced.
And maybe do away with benefit payments altogether, and have a central hub that pays for everything? A bureaucratic nightmare at present to implemented for sure. But if you consider we are close to becoming a cashless society, it would be an easy step in future.
BTW – was your loved one using the old paper food grant transaction, or did they have the much easier card system? The old system could hold a line of shoppers up for ages while everything was checked.
Then you appear to have no self awareness. Obviously you are hearing something from me Blade, or else you wouldn't be replying. One wonders if you spend your time skulking around supermarket checkouts. It's clear that what you want to do is police what beneficiaries receive and what they spend their money on, because you are under the delusion that beneficiaries are spending your money. Well, it's not your money and what people spend their money on is none of your business.
Yes, it's my money…taxpayers money. I have a right to stick my nose in. Stop playing your silly games. This WAS a socialist paradise. But not anymore.
''One wonders if you spend your time skulking around supermarket checkouts.''
''It's called situational awareness. And no, I don't skulk around supermarkets. I have better things to do. That you haven't noticed what I notice means you are half asleep…as your comments show.''
No, it is not your money Blade, as I have already explained to you in another post. Obviously you don't have better things to do and you have no right to stick your nose into someone else's business.
A garage mechanic is spilling 150mls of oil every time he does an oil change. That's a lot of oil depending on how many cars he services in a working week. That's money down the drain that could be used for other garage essentials or expenses.
Solution: sack the mechanic if he's at fault. However, if he's spilling oil because of the way the garage is configured, or because he has to follow guidelines on how the oil change must be done, then those hinderances must be removed or altered to streamline the operation, stop wastage and save money.
No it wouldn't. Household budgets and efficiencies apply in principle across the board. Sort it out…not by increasing bureaucrats. But by holding them responsible for the jobs they do.
Wag your finger at those spoiled little brats at school who won’t eat their provided lunches, courtesy of the Taxpayer. Perhaps they should learn how precious food is and the resources that go into producing and transporting it and perhaps they should learn to minimise and manage waste; don’t they teach them anything useful at school nowadays??
I agree with the your last paragraph. The little brats haven't time to be taught how precious food is because climate change, Maori culture and other environmental issues are being taught.
Therefore, let's check where the money is going from government, and the criteria to distribution of free food lunches in school. Then cut out or cut back on schools wasting kai ( maybe make kids a accountable). For example my nephew attends what would be a decile 8 school. He forgoes his substantial breakfast and lunch available from his home in favour of a three course meal at school. These schools should be cut from the free food programme for starters.
Since when does central government provide 3-course meals to decile 8 or any decile schools?
Sounds like you’re making up shit again.
Of course, kids are too busy during their lunch breaks with learning about CC, Māori culture, and other environmental issues to focus time on food. These kids have such limited attention span, can only focus on one thing at a time, that they use talkback as their main source of ‘information’ later in life.
You obviously haven’t raised any children yourself because you’d know that home-packed lunches (not so much the snacks, funnily enough) often come back home unfinished and sometimes even untouched. That’s what afternoon tea and fridges are for, brilliant inventions!
Let the waste minimisation and management start at home, continue at school, and last a lifetime. A bit like learning, really. You didn’t click on any of the links, clearly.
Um, no, they literally don't. A government budget is nothing at all like a household budget. That's a ridiculous assertion. Governments can create legal fiat currency backed by natural resources and labour, and it can license banks to create credit, which does the same thing. Countries have been doing this for centuries – households can't. And unlike a business a state can't just fire non-productive units – well, they can, but that would be a crime against humanity.
Furthermore bureaucrats perform actual functions and are too busy to also have to put up with the kind of performance assessments you are suggesting, because that would give them even less time to do their jobs, making them even less efficient.
But the spending goals of governments and households are simply not the same. The purpose of a government budget is to help the entire economy, whereas a household budget is mainly concerned with its own financial situation.''
You are quite correct with some of your assertions. However, both government and households have the following in common:
How is the government similar to households?
Much like households, governments have regular income and expenditures. They both take on outside debt and if their debts get too high, they can get into trouble. But unlike households, governments can, and do, print money. Governments also have the power to change their income levels by raising taxes.
I wrote:
'' Household budgets and efficiencies apply in principle across the board.''
For example, apart from the obvious similarities, households can act in a limited way like a government.
''Governments also have the power to change their income levels.''
So do households if you think about it. Take on boarders for example.
Of course there are differences like tax take and printing money.
Of late I have come to consider that government finances are indeed more like a households than not, despite the constant refrain that they are not (methinks they protest too much)….while governments may have the ability to theoretically 'print' money while households do not, the consequences of abusing this are the same as for a household that overindulges on credit….perhaps the real difference between households and governments is not so much in the field of finance but rather in the ability to enforce its will….. so long as it can.
''Perhaps the real difference between households and governments is not so much in the field of finance but rather in the ability to enforce its will….. so long as it can.''
You're diversion trolling. The healthy school lunches programme is nothing like running an SME, they're completely different in scope, intent, and implementation. Private households are a different thing yet again.
Blade: while you're here: you’ve sparked my interest with what you wrote earlier about your organic farm and your use of rock-dust, seawater, lawn-clippings and biochar for making your 10 acres fertile. It’s your biochar that I’d like to ask you about, if I may.
Where do you get it from? How much do you need for your 10 acres and how do you apply it? I’ve read about the value of biochar and some of the historical uses. You mentioned “activating” your biochar before applying it; how do you do that? It all sounds innovative and exciting!
'I'm sorry, Robert. I gave you my best before; wasted my precious time on you. And my reward was you shat on me. I like to think I learn from my mistakes. It’s a pity because I have a real passion for this stuff and I like helping those out who have a similar passion.
Sad that you can't bring yourself to share your intimate knowledge of those subtle organic practices you employ. Who knows what else you get up to on the farm that would be of interest to other gardeners and farmers here on The Standard. Your use of vortex technology for potentising water for your crops sounded fascinating! Oh, that we could hear more about that! And deploying rock dust as a long-term, slow-release fertiliser – how forward-thinking that sounds! Then topping-up your nutrient applications with sea-water! Wowsers!
Our loss, I suppose. No-one would have expressed their incredulity, had they know you'd take such offence to being tested that way.
Hei aha (I slipped that in because of your Maori heritage).
"Sort it out…not by increasing bureaucrats. But by holding them responsible for the jobs they do."
Please refrain from making sensible comments like this on here. Now go wash your mouth out………they must not be held to account. It is not the Labour way.
Kerre said very little and was clearly fishing. Fortunately, her guest, Julie Chapman of KidsCan was very professional and didn’t take the obvious bait and she made a few good points. It was actually not too bad an interview.
As for results, well, don’t let a few facts get in the way of Blade’s and your narrative:
In fact, she cites exactly that as the reason she came to politics:
Jacinda first acted on the instincts that led her to politics, after seeing rampant inequality in Murupara as a little girl.
“I always noticed when things felt unfair,” she says thoughtfully. “Of course, when you’re a kid, you don’t call it social justice. I just thought it was wrong that other kids didn’t have what I had. When we moved to Morrinsville, I was eight years old, and I started doing something about it – joining human rights groups at school and things like that.”
Press releases by Government, to be more precise. You know, that lot that has the big picture.
I also listened to the podcast and heard what Julie Chapman said. Funnily enough, she did acknowledge the Government report. You may have missed it, in your rush.
I agree with your comment that it was not a bad interview. But people like Wendy Esera are clearly seeing a different picture than is being presented by the governments spin.
Unlike some I don’t see it as “different” and as a binary; both views are valid and they’re complementary; they’re literally different PoVs. Julie Chapman also agreed with Esera’s comments. This is not just semantics and I genuinely believe that Esera, Chapman, the PM and many (?) in Government would agree on most things and could come to a very good understanding amongst themselves because they have very similar goals, i.e., common ground. Kerre was the odd one out or tried to play the Devil’s advocate, but she was not convincing.
Not true to suggest nothing has been done Gypsy, for example, "More than 380,000 primary mental wellbeing sessions have been delivered and more than 900 additional FTEs are working to support mental wellbeing in the community"
"A review has found no change in access to specialist mental health services in five years despite the Government's $1.9 billion cash injection in 2019. The review has also found that one-in-five people in New Zealand are not followed up after discharge from acute inpatient mental health units."
"… that just five new places for acute mental health patients had been added since 2019…"
"…it also highlighted a lack of accountability over the package, with different agencies focussing on their area, without a cohesive overarching plan to work together."
"More than 380,000 primary mental wellbeing sessions have been delivered and more than 900 additional FTEs" is significant and are facts Gypsy, the claim that nothing has been done is false, also the $1.9b allocation is for four years, and it’s only two years in.
"Matt Doocey and the National Party have a lot to answer for because of their nine years of neglect to the mental health system."
Little said the money is being spent and it is making a difference.
"Of the $1.9 billion, about $800 million of it went to a variety of other Government departments – Corrections, Education, and the Ministry of Social Development to do a range of mental health things for their area.
"For the Ministry of Health, the $1.1 billion they've got, over a four year period nearly half a billion dollars is going into what we call the Access and Choice program. Two years into that program we've added 850 full-time equivalent roles or people to the frontline of mental health.
"It is simply not correct for people like Matt Doocey and others to say the money is going nowhere. It is going all over the place and it is making a difference."
I'm not sure who claimed 'nothing has been done'. In mental health, as in other areas, this government seems quite adept at spending a lot of money but getting little in the way of results.
If you don't accept what I'm saying, perhaps you'll take the word of Andrew Little himself:
As usual, your comments are so misleading that they border on being disingenuous.
Allocating government funds ≠ spending government funds
In Budget 2019 the Government announced $1.9b for mental health, with $235 million set aside for building mental health and addiction facilities.
National's mental health spokesperson Matt Doocey revealed just $500,000 of $235m set aside for new mental health facilities in Budget 2019 had been spent, or 0.2 per cent.
"In mental health, as in other areas, this government seems quite adept at allocating and/or spending a lot of money but getting little in the way of results."
Why would I be? Because you stop your misleading comments and become an honest debater who acts in good faith and whose comments I can trust?
Your comment is just another pathetic attempt at painting the Government in a bad light; it’s essentially meaningless, but good for a negative vibe, which is the gist of almost all your comments here.
"Your comment is just another pathetic attempt at painting the Government in a bad light; it’s essentially meaningless, but good for a negative vibe, which is the gist of almost all your comments here."
I'm not sure why you find this surprising, the current government has been particularly woeful over the last 12 months.
I find it surprising that so many of the commenters continue to be so supportive of the current lot despite their poor performance.
Really? Where did I say that I find it surprising that Gypsy is doing his usual BS?
I find it surprising …
You find it surprising because you conflate anti-government propaganda and robust criticism of government. You also conflate commenters who don’t swallow the usual BS from RWs with devoted supporters of government who dare not speak poorly of said government.
No wonder that some deluded dimwits say that it is “tribal”, FFS; it is truly an idiotic argument.
Pointing out that the government spent 0.2% of an allocation in 2 years may be 'meaningless' to you, but it is a pattern of wasteful and/or ineffective spending by this government.
You didn’t point out any such thing in your comment @ 3:24 pm. It was another broad-brush pathetic swipe at Government without any substance or content matter. It was bumper sticker BS: cheap, lazy, sticky, and unseemly.
Allocating ≠ spending
You’re clutching at straws; the money will be spent, in due course, or it will be re-allocated, as and when required by the circumstances. That’s what prudent governments do.
I didn’t link to your comment because I replied to it, as you can see from the nesting and from the start of my reply, which was the end of your comment to which I replied, i.e., Happy now?
Too hard for you to connect the dots?
Yours was this one (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895979) @ 3:24 pm, and as you can see, it was so generalised that it would just about cover any accusation one could aim at Government, which was entirely your intention, of course.
And here you’ve taken the opportunity again, as usual, to list your litany of anti-government headlines and other dirt that you could throw at them. No commentary, no explanation, no argument, just scrolls of negativity, which you call “examples”. Your pointless point scoring is tedious and doesn’t add anything of value nor does it contribute to discussion.
You’d expect to see results from 0.2% spent since it had been allocated and then whinge & moan that it is “wasteful and/or ineffective spending by this government” because there are not as many results yet as you’d wish while there still is 99.8% to be spent, obviously. As Louis has already pointed out repeatedly, there are results and things are happening in this space. But as usual, you ignore, deny, and obfuscate, because it doesn’t suit your anti-government narrative.
So, now you move the goalposts from poor/wasteful spending to ‘why has it not been spent yet’. Clutching at straws to get your hit.
The real question is why you’re such a disingenuous commenter here who’s playing games all the fucking time.
Nice try, but no, I’m not trying to shut down discussion but rather the opposite, I’m trying to keep it honest and in good faith. You’re playing games here and not engaging in good faith, which is why you and I butt heads and why I’m trying you steer you back on track or I will (no try) shut down your playing games.
We all expect results and I believe most if not all of us are underwhelmed by and disappointed with the little progress so far, and that indeed includes the Minister although you worded that really poorly. More money will be spent (cf. mental health allocations in Budget-2022; I’ll spare you the Government press releases because you seem to have developed such an aversion to them) and more results are coming, with time.
What you did @ 5:29 pm (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1896020) is known as link-spamming, which is warned against in this site’s Policy. It’s often used by trolls and others who don’t want to engage or are too lazy to put their own arguments in writing. Here, it can be a reason for banning. But you already know this.
My swallow reflex has nothing to do with your inability to follow the flow of comments here. It’s a sad diversion attempt on your behalf.
It’s funny how your wrong assumption gave you the self-invitation to go off on another rant-list of headlines pretending this is the ‘discussion’ I’m trying to shut down.
And Blade quoted/paraphrased Kerre, so you indirectly quoted/paraphrased Kerre, or are you simply quoting Blade now for his opinions only, which he gets from TB, BTW? Stop playing games here.
Yeah, you quoted Blade who quoted Kerre, we agree on this, and you agreed with Blade and Kerre’s opinion. You happened to point to the part of Blade’s comment where he quoted Kerre. And you copied & pasted it too @ 3.6; the italics are irrelevant. So, stop playing games here.
Nope. The topic has been on government spending money and not getting results, or wasteful/ineffective spending. You've spent a hell of a lot of time engaging in a diversion if you think it is one.
"I don’t need to defend any of your strawmen."
Ha! You need to look up the definition of straw man. Or maybe try to engage in good faith by trying to explain how the government you're defending could spend $600k on office space, $51m on consultants and buy 5 houses for a project it canned!
That’s correct and you linked it to mental health spending and Louis responded to that @ 3.6.2. You went along nicely until you suddenly and out of the blue decided to divert away to KB in the middle of the tread on mental health spending. In fact, you made a whole song & dance musical over the 0.2% spent so far.
I don’t need to defend your strawmen nor engage with them. It is part of your diversion strategy, a gish gallop of gaslighting gripes.
"You went along nicely until you suddenly and out of the blue decided to divert away to KB in the middle of the tread on mental health spending."
The KB comment was entirely relevant. It went to the heart of the comment Louis made about the mental health plan being a 4 year spend. I likened that comment to KB being a 10 year plan to build 100,000 homes. It’s not an unreasonable comparison.
Nope, KB and mental health spending have nothing in common other than being Government initiatives. This doesn’t excuse your diversions whenever you choose to and/or whenever it suits you; it’s a whateboutery variant. One plan is in progress, the other is still in progress after a major reset. Both are delivering results.
"Nope, KB and mental health spending have nothing in common other than being Government initiatives. "
In the context of Louis' comment, the thing they have in common is government failure. The spending of only 0.2% of an allocation when we have a mental health crisis is very similar to only building 1362 out of 100,000 houses promised when we have a housing crisis.
That has already been countered too and you’re simply parroting your own headlines again: Government failure and crises – just negative narratives from you. The only ‘similarities’ are your enormous umbrella of negativity and antipathy towards the current Government. Things are in progress, things are happening, results are being and will be delivered. No failure but developments with adjustments and recalibration along the way – that’s life. Tough for you to swallow, I realise.
Kerre's opinion is not fact and so if you accept an acknowledgement by the minister at being frustrated at the pace, why cant you accept the following quote
"Matt Doocey and the National Party have a lot to answer for because of their nine years of neglect to the mental health system."
Little said the money is being spent and it is making a difference.
"Of the $1.9 billion, about $800 million of it went to a variety of other Government departments – Corrections, Education, and the Ministry of Social Development to do a range of mental health things for their area.
"For the Ministry of Health, the $1.1 billion they've got, over a four year period nearly half a billion dollars is going into what we call the Access and Choice program. Two years into that program we've added 850 full-time equivalent roles or people to the frontline of mental health.
"It is simply not correct for people like Matt Doocey and others to say the money is going nowhere. It is going all over the place and it is making a difference." (See 3.6.2.1.1 for the link).
An interesting note: 5700 medical workers, drs and nurses were brought into the country when the border was closed.
See Incognito's response to you and yes, KB was a 10 yr plan, there's been a reset and the govt have, so far, also built thousands of state and transitional housing as well, with more currently under construction.
"we have added over 9,000 warm, dry public homes to the stock – with over 7,400 of them being brand new builds. We have also supported the addition of more than 3,500 transitional homes (a mix of government and community housing provider-led builds)"
"KB was a 10 yr plan, there's been a reset and the govt have, so far, also built thousands of state and transitional housing as well, with more currently under construction."
The 'reset' was the result of the failure of the scheme. The state houses built are not kiwibuild.
Instead of acknowledging the modest but undeniable progress to date you post silly slants from three and half years ago again demonstrating that you’re not commenting here in good faith.
But why ignore the following Gypsy? it's part of this govt's massive building plan that includes Kiwibuild.
"we have added over 9,000 warm, dry public homes to the stock – with over 7,400 of them being brand new builds. We have also supported the addition of more than 3,500 transitional homes (a mix of government and community housing provider-led builds)"
Exactly, “was”, past tense and before the Great Reset.
How long are you going to keep your in head in the sand and ignore that the world has moved on and that things have changed? As long as it suits your narrative?
"Kiwibuild is PART of the govt's housing building program Gypsy."
The government promised to build 100,000 houses over 10 years for private ownership. By June 2022 they said they would have built 28,000 homes. They have built 1365. You can spin that anyway you choose, the government can 'reset' all it likes, but it's failure by any measure.
Like I said Gypsy, there has been a reset, which you can't dismiss because it doesn't suit you and any homes built after National left a housing crisis would be a success. Example, from your link, "Developments like Panmure in Auckland that include KiwiBuild are seen as a success: not just new homes, but a whole new way of living" "the success the Government has had in other areas of housing policy"
National promised more affordable homes, promised to build thousands of new state houses by selling off 8000 existing houses would you believe but delivered an unprecedented housing crisis instead. National also didn't deliver on it's later promise to build 34,000 homes in Auckland either.
"Fletcher Building chairman's praise for KiwiBuild
KiwiBuild may have failed to hit its targets, but it has brought about a culture change in the building industry, according to Fletcher Building's chairman. "It has focused the industry around affordable housing,"
"An interesting note: 5700 medical workers, drs and nurses were brought into the country when the border was closed."
Do you have a link to the data (apart from the whole Parliamentary session)?
It seems surprising, as only 300 MIQ spaces were set aside per month for health workers (from November 21), and there were several articles about those places not being full (as the workers couldn't get through the Immigration system). I don't see how they could have got to 5,700.
Just the link to the PM's Q/A, duration: 8 mins 35secs.
Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We currently have 20,000 nurses registered but not practising in New Zealand. One of the issues that has been raised with us when we went out and consulted is a concern that if we did not attach to the residency pathway the requirement to keep working in nursing, there may be a loss of that nursing workforce. The point is to take stress
Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm not going to name individual district health boards but the stats do demonstrate that we have a higher movement rate for those who have come in as migrants into the nursing workforce than the general nursing workforce. Can I also point out that this is on top of the work that we've already been doing to bring in critical purpose visas for health workers? We have had, even while our borders were closed, 5,700 critical purpose visas for health roles since COVID. We have been recruiting offshore. At the same time, we've had the Return to Nursing Workforce Support Fund to try to bring back some of those 20,000 who are trained as nurses but are currently not working as nurses. We've had the general nurses campaign; the New Entry to Practice Programme, which had $25 million put in in 2019; and we have increased our nursing workforce, as a Government, by 15 percent. We have focused on turning around an understaffed health workforce, and we continue to do so.
This lot were up to their eyeballs in debt to Waitaki District Council and Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd (Set up under Key to massively expand dairy irrigation).
Of course the shareholders might be able to finesse some kind of re-financing.
But what a great opportunity for the new Crown water entity to take over 5,500 hectares of irrigation and invite good farmers to farm for high profit and high sustainability.
It's great countryside round there – plenty of options beyond dairy if you've got a bit of water. Half the battle though, might be to aim for smaller multicrop farms, rather than unrelieved pastoral or vineyard or forestry.
Smaller farms in Korea often have rice fields, a couple of paddocks of table grapes, an enoki or shitake mushroom field, and a handful of hand raised cows – not so much a monoculture.
When Colombians elected their first leftist president ever on Sunday, they also elected the country’s first Black vice president: Francia Marquez, a single mother who worked as a maid before challenging international mining interests as a fiery environmentalist. Her victory marks a turning point in a country plagued by social inequalities and historically governed by conservative elites.
She is the real deal and could be the actual nail that fixes shut US military hijinx in arming drug cartels against poor Colombians. All that is left now is for Lula to take back Brazil. This will be a tough nut to crack with the US potentially focused on keeping Bolsonara in charge
Join our passionate panellists for this important webinar. The current Local Governance Review process provides an opportunity to think beyond current Council structures and mechanics, hear about the various perspectives, co-governance opportunities, bright spot examples and much more!
German PPI ( primary producers index) inflation goes through the roof,hitting 33.6% with electricity inflation over 90% as well as key agriculture inputs.
To alleviate the crisis,the German energy minister (green party) has asked for the decrease in electricity generation in Gas (to allow for reserves to be sustained for winter) and asked for the increased generation by coal thermal plants.
The UK and Austria have also reinstated coal fired generation.
The German payment of 15B euros to subsidise the thermals,is twice the forex reserves of Pakistan which cannot afford the high spot rates for LNG forced by European demand.Hence Pakistan goes to severe conservation.
Great that a Minister took the hint before the Fletchers Gib Board story went even more ballistic.
"The Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods has set up a Ministerial taskforce with key construction, building consent, and supply chain experts to look at what more can be done to ease plasterboard shortages, including the potential for legislative or regulatory change."
Pretty astounding that the Minister of Consumer Affairs Mr Clark hasn't stepped in since this is a near-total-monopoly screwing the entire house construction market.
David Seymour got in on the act in Parliament. I thought the private enterprise free market approach was the way to go. Is that's what's operating? The market knows best, someone will make financial killing. Isn't that how it's meant to operate?
Surely the Government getting involved should be anathema to him.
But at least Woods is REACTING on her new brief, due to embarrassment. Fixed that for you AD.
FFS what has she been doing ?? This shortage has been an issue mid last year, perhaps it is time that ministers in this government went out and interacted with people, instead of being out of touch !!!!
"The August/September 2021 lockdowns caused significant disruption across the building industry. The lockdown created a backlog of orders for Winstone Wallboards to pick and deliver and resulted in longer lead times"
Former Aus FM, Bob Carr lays out a path by which Julian Assange could be freed by the new PM Albanese.
He laments the lack of any kind of national pride that allowed Morrison to accept such extreme treatment of an Aus passport holder and points out the obvious track record of support by Aus to all things US. Time for the lapdog to show some mongrel
Carr outlines the obvious face-saving measure that could well bring this monumentally stupid episode to a close. If the US security establishment and the Clinton Dems are the bad guys in this debacle – the entire UK establishment, their media, their Courts and Parliament have been to made to look like craven fools.
Everyone knows the original charges were politicised bollocks and the entire thing was an exercise in sustained bullying that has backfired badly. End it.
Whoever is doing the PR for Andrew Little, needs to work on his messaging.
He may be correct, in his narrow interpretation, that there is no Hospital 'crisis' – but the rest of NZ is surely seeing and hearing about one in practice at their local Emergency Department.
Denying this is simply playing into the perception that he is badly out-of-touch with reality in his Health portfolio.
I had really high hopes for health when Little became minister. TBF they were raised when Dr Clark was appointed but dashed quick smart.
Little has raised the ire of the nurses in the past with his 'blurring the numbers' during the recent wage round, between wage increase and the pay parity. Which, incidentally still isn't settled. The DHBs trying to go back on the understanding of when the pay parity would be backdated to.
As you say, Little needs better advisors. He could instruct the DHBs to agree to the NZNO's figures and wrap it up in a press release that is heavy in the acknowledgement of the dedicated service the nurses have shown through Covid, Win-Win.
At which point we will magically have enough doctors, nurses and allied medical staff, the 'postcode lottery' of healthcare will cease, health outcomes for all Kiwis will improve, and the vast sums saved will be able to be used to expand the health services. /sarc/
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 29 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 28 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
Money is changing hands in Israel – those who bet on an election before their 5th vaccine jab have won. Israel is to have its 5th election since 2019.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/06/21/israeli-government-dissolves-parliament-calls-new-elections/
So while Omicron variants 4 and 5 spread the jabbed up (neither being jabbed nor with "natural immunity" prevents infection) there is the risk while going to vote.
The election comes in time to prevent Netanyahu going to court. There is about another year in the USA to go – presumably the GOP primary race would result in a stay of court proceedings for Trump.
Home of the brave..
https://twitter.com/lilyastrah/status/1538722392087744512
Their whole country is stuffed.
https://twitter.com/IrvingSwisher/status/1538976082849931267
Mind you, it is unsettled everywhere right now..
https://twitter.com/ryan__jg/status/1539020574910910465
Some discussion around what a "Phillips curve model of inflation (with some 'glorified moving average' fudge variables wedged in)" means,
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=49871
I agree with the sentiment of this comment more than the facts as, the NAIRU theory (which Summers is likely applying) fundamentally rejects there being any useable Phillips curve trade off between unemployment and inflation.
This is a shocker interview with Julie Chapman, head Honcho of Kids Can. They are launching an appeal for funds because student poverty has never been worse.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/kerre-woodham-mornings/audio/julie-chapman-kidscan-ceo-as-they-launch-urgent-appeal-to-help-families-with-school-costs/
Quote:
''The principal of Henderson Intermediate, Wendy Esera, has been in education for 44 years and says student poverty is the worst she's seen.''
I know some of this because my aunty was a primary school junior syndicate team leader. She was often buying shoes and clothes for about eight students in her class.
We have all read the headlines you may say!
Yeah, but I'm talking circa 2009. So I'd guess Chapman isn't exaggerating to gain extra funding given the present situation. The interview also talks of teachers ringing Kids Can in tears. Again I can believe that because my aunt burnt out and became ill. She retired before her time.
The problem for me is with a question Kerre asked. Kerre said the government has pumped millions into this problem…where has the money gone? Good question. We know the school lunch scheme can be wasteful. And we know some parents… well, aren't good parents. The common retort is to say most parents are good parents and are honestly struggling and are doing the best they can. I don't doubt that, but I believe the numbers of sub standard parents is being underestimated. That area needs to be tightened up. But that means overhauling WINZ. If National attempt this once they become the government, their bull in a second hand store approach, will make things worse for everyone, including good parents.
Next time you are in the supermarket and you see someone using a turquoise/ blue looking credit card you will know that's a Winz emergency food grant card. I see them on a regular basis. And sometimes the food choices in those trollies are appalling. And worse, one off, very expensive items: eg naan bread or a tray of donuts. These aren't a good choice of food item for a struggling family.
https://www.aaap.org.nz/fix_winz_food_grants. ( open letter to the government)
So the poor are not allowed to have a luxury item now and then after living on baked beans on toast and a bowl of rice for weeks on end?
What a worthless comment. Don't forget it's taxpayer's money. In other countries they would be at the dump scavenging for food. The short answer to be truthful from my perspective is no. Do the people of Ukraine deserve the luxury of peace now and again? Yes, they deserve peace all the time. But in their present situation that cannot happen. Same with our Winz clients. In case you haven't noticed they are in an emergency situation. And, no, I don't have all the answers. All I know is it's people like you who are part of the problem.
Poor people pay tax too, but good to know someone's keeping an eye on how 'the poors' pay at supermarkets – really shows your true worth, and true colours, imho.
If your kete is full, then there's really no decent reason to be 'sharing hesitant.'
Many poor people are not tax payers. If they are only receiving a benefit they are not net tax payers.
Many rich people don't pay Tax either, money hiding in Trusts etc, yet my taxes go to little Sebastion and Eugene's Private School Education.
Beneficiaries pay tax.
https://www.govt.nz/browse/tax-benefits-and-finance/tax/income-you-pay-tax-on/
Think about it. The benefit maybe $500 but they receive $400 in their hand as PAYE deducted. But the total $500 Gross benefit is just given to them funded from actual working tax payers tax paid.
It’s all make believe accounting to keep the bean counters happy.
The point is Jimmy, beneficiaries pay tax.
Nothing I haven't alluded too. Any ideas?
So you say.
Malcolm's 2017 analysis appealed to me. NZ is wealthy – redistributing a little more of that wealth would work wonders, imho. For example, I'd happily contribute to the tax on wealth proposed by the Green party – might not be required to contribute that much personally, but it's a decent thing to do.
Too much wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small number of Kiwis, and that's for real.
https://inequality.org/
More ideas on this in the 13 March 2022 comment I linked to @3.1.1.1.
''NZ is wealthy – redistributing a little more of that wealth would work wonders, imho. For example, I'd happily contribute to the tax on wealth proposed by the Green party.''
The way I see it, taxing wealth runs into problems sooner or later. It will stifle innovation and be open to further creeping tax takes in one form or another in the future. The rich will a find a way to continue avoiding a wealth tax meaning more government resources to catch them. Savings may suffer and then the wealthy start looking overseas to move assets and business.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300044327/the-crucial-feature-of-the-greens-wealth-tax-that-would-exempt-most-family-homes
But for me it boils down to an envy tax for wealthy people. Many who have built businesses and wealth up from scratch. I wouldn't have the cheek to tax the fruits of their labour.
That said you may have seen the headlines awhile back where some wealthy individuals said they should be paying more tax. I say good on them. That's what democracy should be about. Not all rich people are rich pricks.
Sooner or later the government always wants more. Even if only temporally.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-denmark-economy-idUSKBN23U1SE
https://inequality.org/research/sad-slide-equal-nation/
''Under this proposal, the total tax on an income of $40,000 would drop from $6,020 to $4,000, and the total tax on a $400,000 income would rise from $122,920 to $206,000.''
Yes, that certainly is one way to see it. But what's the evidence that supports the way you see it? Apart from some “rich pricks” avoiding paying their fair share of tax – that’s a given. [Btw, why do you call them “rich pricks“? Are you suggesting that being rich increases your chances of becoming a prick?]
For example, is envy relevant to Danish innovation? Are Danes queuing to leave home? According to this 31 March 2022 article, NZ is the 10th happiest country, but Denmark is stable in 2nd place.
And the happiest place on spaceship Earth, for the 5th year running? Finland, despite being next door to Russia – who would have thunk it!
Blade having a good supply of food for lunches so no one feels left out is more important than your bean counting solution which stigmatizes those who are hungry .Blade do you suggest that those poor parents all be trained to be better parents.That would require a massive investment of social workers fixing the housing crisis fixing the intergenerational neglect and abuse. Universal benefits require much less bearaucracy to implement. Malnurishment has longterm effects meaning society will pay more in the future from poor education poor health leading to multiple generations of poverty unrealised potentials. Blade you are Morally and emotionally aloof punish the poor for being poor for making poor decisions because of poor education coming from poor families. Logic type thinking is emotional aloofness a type of mental disorder where people don't care about their fellow human beings. Neo liberal economics plays one sector the money hoarders against those who don't have the luck to be born into a non dysfunctional well off lifstyle.Blaming the poor for being poor drag themselves up by their bootstraps when in reality less than 5% of people who are born into poverty break the cycle. Neo Liberal politicians use unemployment to control inflation then blame the unemployed for their predicament ,When the poor are being kept poor to make the economy run under this model!
Hey Blade next time you're at a supermarket judging what the poor can or can't have, do the world a solid favour and pull out your own card and pay for them.
And see if you can do it while keeping your mouth shut.
Hey, Ad. Who was judging? Just stating a fact from my perspective.
I am paying. No need to pull out my card. What have you ever given to charity? Probably like some socialists I know… when it's time for the the hat to go around, they are in the toilet having a dry one.
This is what a judgemental asshole sounds like when commenting on the poor:
And sometimes the food choices in those trollies are appalling. And worse, one off, very expensive items: eg naan bread or a tray of donuts. These aren't a good choice of food item for a struggling family.
Stick your facts up your ass and donate more instead.
If you think that's judgemental, that's how the poor feel with your eyes on them.
Blade, while searching for something to inflame readers of The Standard, settled upon this.
Tomorrow, it'll be something else of a similar nature, with similar intent and effect.
Bad faith player.
Well said, Robert.
True dat. Maybe useful as an occasional reminder of just how deceitful and self-serving a 'player' can be (reminiscent of Dirty Politics) – but every day?!!
Ah, Robert. Of course you would turn up. But with what?
''Blade, while searching for something to inflame readers of The Standard, settled upon this.''
As a matter of fact this problem is about to explode. That's a whole new generation of malcontents in the making. Maybe coming to a street near you.
Now child poverty was a mainstay of Labour's agenda. And they delivered big bucks to try and fix the problem. It hasn't worked. So what the hell is National going to do? And will the problem become any better.
''Tomorrow, it'll be something else of a similar nature, with similar intent and effect.''
What type of wankery is that meant to mean? You are a Letie, yet I see little empathy. This should be your patch of concern. Maybe because it only effects mainly brown kids in some cases.?
Give us some ideas, Robert. I have some. I doubt you have any.
''Tomorrow, it'll be something else of a similar nature, with similar intent and effect.''
"Just stating a fact from my perspective."
Ideas, Robert. Where are your ideas? I don't want deflections.
Well said Robert….I don't read his trash any more.
I'm surprised you read my trash in the first place.
Quite funny – a previously unseen aspect of your personality, Blade!
Geez, you are the biggest waste of space on this site. Yet people admire you. Now that's funny.
The defence will rest. Such anger and angst. Let's just keep the status quo..kapai. We can't criticise the poor…only rich pricks.
I thought this from you, Blade, was priceless!
"Hey, Ad. Who was judging? Just stating a fact from my perspective."
Well and weaselly done!
With regard your reply @ 11:59, I’ll quote you;
“What a worthless comment”
Well and weaselly done!
“What a worthless comment”
Boo hoo, "rich pricks" "can't criticise the poor" – 'priceless'. "Rich pricks" need hobbies, and some get off on kicking people while they're down, imho.
Really? Do link.
Yes. I can give you personal experiences if you want?
Quote:
''The Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme was first rolled out to primary schools with high levels of need in 2019. The funding was expanded to some high schools in 2020 and 2021, at a cost of $220.6 million over two years.''
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125079039/thousands-of-taxpayerfunded-school-lunches-left-uneaten-by-students
Now, I need to ask myself a question: Am I being trolled, or is the ideological castle being challenged by barbarians at the gate. Probably the latter, leading to the former.
Thank you. That's helpful.
Such profound intellectual laziness you have.
You can check out the actual results from the programme here.
Ka Ora Ka Ako | Healthy School Lunches: interim report – Education in New Zealand
There's another evaluation coming out from the expanded programme as well.
Stuff's Act-led foolishness is the reddest of red herrings when the actual policy results are more young people are less hungry and are learning better.
It's not about the success or otherwise of the programme. And Julie Chapman has said it isn't working in many cases…. It's about the waste. Waste means a waste of taxpayers money and faults somewhere in the delivery of the programme.
Yeah, it's about the waste!
A sheep farm in Arabia, anyone? Or a flag referendum?
….or many tens of billions on roads. That is the real scandal about National.
Talk about dinosaurs.
What about waste?
The same accusations at the time were hurled at the flag referendum.
''https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/272446/flag-referendum-'waste-of-money''
You shot yourself in the arse, Tony. Only a Lefty can do that.
Yes it really is about the success of the programme.
Everything else is just media hype that fools like you buy into.
Every policy to the poor has waste, what matters isn't the waste.
It's how you help people.
And this programme is helping people by the hundred thousand.
Yeah , and if we cut the waste, a whole lot more poor folk can be helped. And once again, I remind you – ITS NOT THE GOVERNMENTS MONEY TO WASTE..IT'S OURS.
No it's not.
"Taxpayers don't own their taxes"
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2021/01/analysis-government-funds-are-not-taxpayer-money-media-and-politicians-should-stop-confusing-the-two.html
semantics
noun
The fact is the people own the government…at least they should.
Utter BS again, we don’t “own the government” and neither “should” we. It’s clear why you must rely on TB talking points to form your ‘opinions’ because you have not the slightest clue of how things are in the real world, let alone how they should be. You live in a TB fantasy world in which the Wizard is called Mikey.
Incognito
Depends on how you see your government. I see it like these guys.
https://www.quora.com/Who-owns-the-government
Funny how a Leftie doesn't see it that way. But you guys do have some strange ideas.
Yup, doesn’t surprise me that a TB junkie uses Quora for ‘info’.
In your own words, if you can, which of the answers in Quora best describes the way you ‘see it’? I’m sure you have a favourite.
See my original statement then take your pick of comments.
You diss sites and information and talkback you don't like at your peril.
Nope, you’re wrong, I don’t diss the sites and TB, I diss the lazy unthinking army of braindead zombies who rely on them for their cognitive existence and I diss the maleficent malcontents who use the talking points and propaganda from those sites and TB for nefarious agendas and interests. Put it all on the table and let the sunshine in, is my motto.
You’re troll-like by refusing to point to an answer that reflects or represents the way you ‘see it’. So, you were just wasting my time with your link to Quora. Yup, definitely troll-like behaviour.
BTW, your concern about my peril is quite endearing but I can assure I’m fine.
Its a lot more fundamental than semantics. If the government is dependent on tax payers to provide the money then it would clearly be impossible to change currencies. Countries relatively recently have retired entire currencies and replaced them with new ones (for various reasons).
Consider the situation in France in 1999. At this time France has decided to adopt the Euro and replace the Franc. In your conception the government is a bit stuffed because nobody outside the government has any Euro in France. That's going to be a problem because you can't collect Euro from people who got none making adopting the Euro problematic.
Once we realize its government money however the way this works is simple to understand. The government will spend Euro, Tax in Euro and issue exchanges for Franc as the public wants. In fact this is what was implemented across multiple European countries at the same time.
Those lunches look unappealing, even if they have nutritional value.
It may be worth looking at successful lunch programmes to see what can be learnt. Universal lunch provision may also reduce social stigma.
French school dinners: https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/this-is-how-french-school-lunches-are-different/
Another article with some of the downsides:
https://karenlebillon.com/french-school-lunch-menus/
Great article, Molly. Something new has to be tried.
No, there are no signs of stigma just because not all schoolchildren don't get them.
No, the policy design isn't the same as for the French and neither is the menu.
Healthy school lunch programme pays off | PPTA
I understand that, Ad. And have downloaded the report from the link you've posted to read on another device. I did have a look at the summary though, and the measurement criteria.
I was posting the links because the French school lunch intention, implementation and experience seems to have a wider perspective that may be valuable to consider (from the 2nd link):
And, actually, in practice, sometimes they both look unappealing and are poor nutrition.
A friend who is a teacher at one of the schools with the free lunch programme, has been posting photos.
They hit a new low last week: 1 stale white bread bun, with a slice of processed cheese and a smear of jam (yes in the same bun). That was it.
The kids didn't eat it (not surprisingly, I wouldn't have).
The teachers did an emergency trip to the supermarket, and came back with bread, and peanut butter. So the kids had something in their tummies for the rest of the day.
There was a very nice brochure sent out to parents, describing (with pictures) what will be provided. However, the quality has been on a significant downwards spiral. And the quality checks that the Ministry are supposed to carry out — have been completely absent.
Look, I know (believe me, I know), feeding kids is tricky. One week they're all over tomato and cheese sandwiches, the next they turn their noses up at exactly the same thing.
But, providing a basic wholemeal bread sandwich with a decent filling, isn't rocket science – and doesn't need to cost the earth. Mandarins are cheap at this time of year, as are kiwifruit. One in each lunchbox is a quick and easy way to get some vitamins (especially Vitamin C at this time of year) into the kids.
I get the feeling that some of the contractors are making a healthy profit, and the kids aren't getting a healthy meal.
From your own link Blade
"Schools either gave spare lunches to kids to take home or sent them to local foodbanks, so the programme wasn’t wasteful"
Initially It was. That's the problem. And if you believe all schools give unwanted spare lunches away you are dreaming. We are talking double handling and poor focusing on individual school needs.
Your opinion is incorrect Blade. Another example from your link "Crawford and Walters send surplus lunches to community centres, where any member of the public can pick them up that afternoon"
Some supermarkets do self police what comes to the check out. I know a loved one always made sure she was buying essentials when she was given food grants. She made sure she bought items she couldn't normally cover in her benefit such as kitchen spray cleaning or vitamins anything too expensive to fit in her normal supermarket shop. Granted she thought the checkout tellers were "nazis" but accepted it.
Yes, I have noticed policing of food grants is different depending on the supermarket. My local supermarket caters to the low earner /beanie demographic. They can buy whatever they want. However, that may be because the people that frequent my local aren't the type you say no to. The bash is always a possibility. So maybe they just take the path of least resistance. I don't know. However, if all supermarkets are meant to be limiting what a food grant can purchase, I believe that needs to be enforced.
And maybe do away with benefit payments altogether, and have a central hub that pays for everything? A bureaucratic nightmare at present to implemented for sure. But if you consider we are close to becoming a cashless society, it would be an easy step in future.
BTW – was your loved one using the old paper food grant transaction, or did they have the much easier card system? The old system could hold a line of shoppers up for ages while everything was checked.
For pete's sakes, do you hear yourself Blade?
Yes, I'm hearing myself. But I'm hearing nothing from you.
Then you appear to have no self awareness. Obviously you are hearing something from me Blade, or else you wouldn't be replying. One wonders if you spend your time skulking around supermarket checkouts. It's clear that what you want to do is police what beneficiaries receive and what they spend their money on, because you are under the delusion that beneficiaries are spending your money. Well, it's not your money and what people spend their money on is none of your business.
Yes, it's my money…taxpayers money. I have a right to stick my nose in. Stop playing your silly games. This WAS a socialist paradise. But not anymore.
''One wonders if you spend your time skulking around supermarket checkouts.''
''It's called situational awareness. And no, I don't skulk around supermarkets. I have better things to do. That you haven't noticed what I notice means you are half asleep…as your comments show.''
No, it is not your money Blade, as I have already explained to you in another post. Obviously you don't have better things to do and you have no right to stick your nose into someone else's business.
So is an independent judiciary and juries. So is having a general election every three years. So is having a free press. Your point?
Well, let's use an example:
A garage mechanic is spilling 150mls of oil every time he does an oil change. That's a lot of oil depending on how many cars he services in a working week. That's money down the drain that could be used for other garage essentials or expenses.
Solution: sack the mechanic if he's at fault. However, if he's spilling oil because of the way the garage is configured, or because he has to follow guidelines on how the oil change must be done, then those hinderances must be removed or altered to streamline the operation, stop wastage and save money.
Except that public social services are nothing like small private businesses and it would be supremely ridiculous to compare the two.
No it wouldn't. Household budgets and efficiencies apply in principle across the board. Sort it out…not by increasing bureaucrats. But by holding them responsible for the jobs they do.
Since you seem so concerned with food waste:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_waste_in_New_Zealand
https://www.wasteminz.org.nz/about/sector-groups/behaviour-change/national-food-waste-prevention-project/
https://environment.govt.nz/what-government-is-doing/areas-of-work/waste/reducing-food-waste/
https://www.mpi.govt.nz/food-business/running-a-food-business/reducing-food-waste-tips-for-businesses/
Wag your finger at those spoiled little brats at school who won’t eat their provided lunches, courtesy of the Taxpayer. Perhaps they should learn how precious food is and the resources that go into producing and transporting it and perhaps they should learn to minimise and manage waste; don’t they teach them anything useful at school nowadays??
I agree with the your last paragraph. The little brats haven't time to be taught how precious food is because climate change, Maori culture and other environmental issues are being taught.
Therefore, let's check where the money is going from government, and the criteria to distribution of free food lunches in school. Then cut out or cut back on schools wasting kai ( maybe make kids a accountable). For example my nephew attends what would be a decile 8 school. He forgoes his substantial breakfast and lunch available from his home in favour of a three course meal at school. These schools should be cut from the free food programme for starters.
"The little brats haven't time to be taught how precious food is because…"
Shouldn't your "little brats" be taught "how precious food is" at home, by their parent/s/care-givers?
I imagined you to be the "personal responsibility" kind.
Aren't you a 3 "R"s Brash-o-phile?
What did your little brats learn.. slicing mung beans to make a meal go further.
Was that your second attempt at humour?
Please use the "humour" tag.
Makes it easier to tell.
Since when does central government provide 3-course meals to decile 8 or any decile schools?
Sounds like you’re making up shit again.
Of course, kids are too busy during their lunch breaks with learning about CC, Māori culture, and other environmental issues to focus time on food. These kids have such limited attention span, can only focus on one thing at a time, that they use talkback as their main source of ‘information’ later in life.
You obviously haven’t raised any children yourself because you’d know that home-packed lunches (not so much the snacks, funnily enough) often come back home unfinished and sometimes even untouched. That’s what afternoon tea and fridges are for, brilliant inventions!
Let the waste minimisation and management start at home, continue at school, and last a lifetime. A bit like learning, really. You didn’t click on any of the links, clearly.
Um, no, they literally don't. A government budget is nothing at all like a household budget. That's a ridiculous assertion. Governments can create legal fiat currency backed by natural resources and labour, and it can license banks to create credit, which does the same thing. Countries have been doing this for centuries – households can't. And unlike a business a state can't just fire non-productive units – well, they can, but that would be a crime against humanity.
Furthermore bureaucrats perform actual functions and are too busy to also have to put up with the kind of performance assessments you are suggesting, because that would give them even less time to do their jobs, making them even less efficient.
This from Google.
''Are government and household budgets the same?
But the spending goals of governments and households are simply not the same. The purpose of a government budget is to help the entire economy, whereas a household budget is mainly concerned with its own financial situation.''
You are quite correct with some of your assertions. However, both government and households have the following in common:
How is the government similar to households?
Much like households, governments have regular income and expenditures. They both take on outside debt and if their debts get too high, they can get into trouble. But unlike households, governments can, and do, print money. Governments also have the power to change their income levels by raising taxes.
I wrote:
'' Household budgets and efficiencies apply in principle across the board.''
For example, apart from the obvious similarities, households can act in a limited way like a government.
''Governments also have the power to change their income levels.''
So do households if you think about it. Take on boarders for example.
Of course there are differences like tax take and printing money.
Of late I have come to consider that government finances are indeed more like a households than not, despite the constant refrain that they are not (methinks they protest too much)….while governments may have the ability to theoretically 'print' money while households do not, the consequences of abusing this are the same as for a household that overindulges on credit….perhaps the real difference between households and governments is not so much in the field of finance but rather in the ability to enforce its will….. so long as it can.
Depends on how you see your government. I see it like these guys.
https://www.quora.com/Who-owns-the-government
Funny how a Leftie doesn't see it that way. But you guys do have some strange ideas.
Whoops,wrong reply pat. Try this one:
''Perhaps the real difference between households and governments is not so much in the field of finance but rather in the ability to enforce its will….. so long as it can.''
Very true.
You're diversion trolling. The healthy school lunches programme is nothing like running an SME, they're completely different in scope, intent, and implementation. Private households are a different thing yet again.
Blade: while you're here: you’ve sparked my interest with what you wrote earlier about your organic farm and your use of rock-dust, seawater, lawn-clippings and biochar for making your 10 acres fertile. It’s your biochar that I’d like to ask you about, if I may.
Where do you get it from? How much do you need for your 10 acres and how do you apply it? I’ve read about the value of biochar and some of the historical uses. You mentioned “activating” your biochar before applying it; how do you do that? It all sounds innovative and exciting!
'I'm sorry, Robert. I gave you my best before; wasted my precious time on you. And my reward was you shat on me. I like to think I learn from my mistakes. It’s a pity because I have a real passion for this stuff and I like helping those out who have a similar passion.
I see you're posting with a swollen "E", Blade.
Sad that you can't bring yourself to share your intimate knowledge of those subtle organic practices you employ. Who knows what else you get up to on the farm that would be of interest to other gardeners and farmers here on The Standard. Your use of vortex technology for potentising water for your crops sounded fascinating! Oh, that we could hear more about that! And deploying rock dust as a long-term, slow-release fertiliser – how forward-thinking that sounds! Then topping-up your nutrient applications with sea-water! Wowsers!
Our loss, I suppose. No-one would have expressed their incredulity, had they know you'd take such offence to being tested that way.
Hei aha (I slipped that in because of your Maori heritage).
Redlogix seems to be a man of knowledge around these things. He may be able to help you.
Cheers, Blad.
"Sort it out…not by increasing bureaucrats. But by holding them responsible for the jobs they do."
Please refrain from making sensible comments like this on here. Now go wash your mouth out………they must not be held to account. It is not the Labour way.
"Kerre said the government has pumped millions into this problem…where has the money gone?"
Clearly not into anything that actually achieves results. But then this government has form for 'pumping' money into problems and getting little in the way of results.
Kerre said very little and was clearly fishing. Fortunately, her guest, Julie Chapman of KidsCan was very professional and didn’t take the obvious bait and she made a few good points. It was actually not too bad an interview.
As for results, well, don’t let a few facts get in the way of Blade’s and your narrative:
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-delivering-improvements-children%E2%80%99s-lives
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-lifts-66500-children-out-poverty
Press releases from the PM?
"The principal of Henderson Intermediate, Wendy Esera, has been in education for 44 years and says student poverty is the worst she's seen."
I doubt the PM would know student poverty if it bit her on the arse.
In fact, she cites exactly that as the reason she came to politics:
https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/celebrity/celeb-news/jacinda-arderns-country-childhood-2894
True, maybe I was a bit harsh. Maybe she does care. That doesn't change what people on the ground (like Wendy Esera) are observing.
Press releases by Government, to be more precise. You know, that lot that has the big picture.
I also listened to the podcast and heard what Julie Chapman said. Funnily enough, she did acknowledge the Government report. You may have missed it, in your rush.
Sure, press releases from government.
I agree with your comment that it was not a bad interview. But people like Wendy Esera are clearly seeing a different picture than is being presented by the governments spin.
Unlike some I don’t see it as “different” and as a binary; both views are valid and they’re complementary; they’re literally different PoVs. Julie Chapman also agreed with Esera’s comments. This is not just semantics and I genuinely believe that Esera, Chapman, the PM and many (?) in Government would agree on most things and could come to a very good understanding amongst themselves because they have very similar goals, i.e., common ground. Kerre was the odd one out or tried to play the Devil’s advocate, but she was not convincing.
Edit: big picture, small picture.
Not true to suggest nothing has been done Gypsy, for example, "More than 380,000 primary mental wellbeing sessions have been delivered and more than 900 additional FTEs are working to support mental wellbeing in the community"
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/next-steps-specialist-mental-health-and-addiction-services
From the article:
"A review has found no change in access to specialist mental health services in five years despite the Government's $1.9 billion cash injection in 2019. The review has also found that one-in-five people in New Zealand are not followed up after discharge from acute inpatient mental health units."
"… that just five new places for acute mental health patients had been added since 2019…"
"…it also highlighted a lack of accountability over the package, with different agencies focussing on their area, without a cohesive overarching plan to work together."
"More than 380,000 primary mental wellbeing sessions have been delivered and more than 900 additional FTEs" is significant and are facts Gypsy, the claim that nothing has been done is false, also the $1.9b allocation is for four years, and it’s only two years in.
"Matt Doocey and the National Party have a lot to answer for because of their nine years of neglect to the mental health system."
Little said the money is being spent and it is making a difference.
"Of the $1.9 billion, about $800 million of it went to a variety of other Government departments – Corrections, Education, and the Ministry of Social Development to do a range of mental health things for their area.
"For the Ministry of Health, the $1.1 billion they've got, over a four year period nearly half a billion dollars is going into what we call the Access and Choice program. Two years into that program we've added 850 full-time equivalent roles or people to the frontline of mental health.
"It is simply not correct for people like Matt Doocey and others to say the money is going nowhere. It is going all over the place and it is making a difference."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/andrew-little-defends-government-after-report-finds-no-change-in-access-to-acute-mental-health-services-despite-1-9-billion-boost.html
I'm not sure who claimed 'nothing has been done'. In mental health, as in other areas, this government seems quite adept at spending a lot of money but getting little in the way of results.
If you don't accept what I'm saying, perhaps you'll take the word of Andrew Little himself:
"Health Minister Andrew Little has admitted the Ministry of Health "has struggled to achieve as much as we would have liked them to" on mental health after a review highlighted lack of accountability."
"Health Minister Andrew Little says he is "extraordinarily" frustrated at the slow pace of the Government's $1.9 billion mental health package announced in 2019."
As usual, your comments are so misleading that they border on being disingenuous.
Allocating government funds ≠ spending government funds
"In mental health, as in other areas, this government seems quite adept at allocating and/or spending a lot of money but getting little in the way of results."
Happy now?
Which is not true Gypsy.
Yep, it as. As demonstrated in this example by their own Minister's frustration.
No it's not, as I have shown in my responses to you.
Why did it take 2 years to spend 0.2% of the allocation?
Happy now??
Why would I be? Because you stop your misleading comments and become an honest debater who acts in good faith and whose comments I can trust?
Your comment is just another pathetic attempt at painting the Government in a bad light; it’s essentially meaningless, but good for a negative vibe, which is the gist of almost all your comments here.
"Your comment is just another pathetic attempt at painting the Government in a bad light; it’s essentially meaningless, but good for a negative vibe, which is the gist of almost all your comments here."
I'm not sure why you find this surprising, the current government has been particularly woeful over the last 12 months.
I find it surprising that so many of the commenters continue to be so supportive of the current lot despite their poor performance.
Really? Where did I say that I find it surprising that Gypsy is doing his usual BS?
You find it surprising because you conflate anti-government propaganda and robust criticism of government. You also conflate commenters who don’t swallow the usual BS from RWs with devoted supporters of government who dare not speak poorly of said government.
No wonder that some deluded dimwits say that it is “tribal”, FFS; it is truly an idiotic argument.
Pointing out that the government spent 0.2% of an allocation in 2 years may be 'meaningless' to you, but it is a pattern of wasteful and/or ineffective spending by this government.
You didn’t point out any such thing in your comment @ 3:24 pm. It was another broad-brush pathetic swipe at Government without any substance or content matter. It was bumper sticker BS: cheap, lazy, sticky, and unseemly.
Allocating ≠ spending
You’re clutching at straws; the money will be spent, in due course, or it will be re-allocated, as and when required by the circumstances. That’s what prudent governments do.
"the money will be spent, in due course"
The government has spent 0.2% of the total allocation in 2 years.
Andrew Little said he was ""extraordinarily" frustrated that despite making commitments and setting aside funding they seemed to be a "long way behind actually getting a shovel in the ground".
and
"I am still trying to understand why. I am not expecting facilities to be completed or fully staffed but we seem to be a long way behind actually getting a shovel in the ground."
And then:
"Newshub also reported on Monday the lack of spending had seen just five extra acute mental health beds been added, with patients forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor because there were no mental health beds left. Little said this situation was "not acceptable".
Despite your impressive copy & pasta and formatting skills your reply lacks substance or an argument that can be responded to.
Fail
" broad-brush pathetic swipe at Government without any substance or content matter. "
You didn't link to my comment, but I assume you mean my accusations of wasteful/ineffective spending. There are plenty of examples:
Government pays up to $600k for prime Auckland office space to lie empty | Stuff.co.nz
Billion-dollar Transmission Gully opening ceremony cost $337,000 | Stuff.co.nz
Revealed: Kāinga Ora spent over $24m of taxpayer money in four years on its own office renovations | Newshub
Ministry of Social Development Zoom job expos: Taxpayers fork out more than $800,000, only 126 people attend – NZ Herald
The 'ridiculous' amount Waka Kotahi spent on two big red prop 'zeros' – NZ Herald
Government blames COVID-19 for 46 percent increase in communications staff | Newshub
I didn’t link to your comment because I replied to it, as you can see from the nesting and from the start of my reply, which was the end of your comment to which I replied, i.e., Happy now?
Too hard for you to connect the dots?
Yours was this one (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895979) @ 3:24 pm, and as you can see, it was so generalised that it would just about cover any accusation one could aim at Government, which was entirely your intention, of course.
And here you’ve taken the opportunity again, as usual, to list your litany of anti-government headlines and other dirt that you could throw at them. No commentary, no explanation, no argument, just scrolls of negativity, which you call “examples”. Your pointless point scoring is tedious and doesn’t add anything of value nor does it contribute to discussion.
Fail
"So, stop playing games here."
You're the one playing games. Small minded games, that avoid answering the real question of why 0.2% of the allocation has been spent and no more.
Why the fuck should I have to answer your questions about that spending? It started with your misleading and disingenuous comment @ 3.6.2.1.1.1 (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895969), remember?
You’d expect to see results from 0.2% spent since it had been allocated and then whinge & moan that it is “wasteful and/or ineffective spending by this government” because there are not as many results yet as you’d wish while there still is 99.8% to be spent, obviously. As Louis has already pointed out repeatedly, there are results and things are happening in this space. But as usual, you ignore, deny, and obfuscate, because it doesn’t suit your anti-government narrative.
So, now you move the goalposts from poor/wasteful spending to ‘why has it not been spent yet’. Clutching at straws to get your hit.
The real question is why you’re such a disingenuous commenter here who’s playing games all the fucking time.
"Why the fuck should I have to answer your questions about that spending?"
Because that would show you have honest intent, rather than coming in and trying to shut down the discussion.
"It started with your misleading and disingenuous comment @ 3.6.2.1.1.1 (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895969), remember?"
That comment is neither misleading or disingenuous.
"You’d expect to see results from 0.2% spent since it had been allocated and then whinge & moan…"
I'd expect to see results, because I'd expect to see more than 0.2% spent in 2 years. And the Minister agrees with me.
Nice try, but no, I’m not trying to shut down discussion but rather the opposite, I’m trying to keep it honest and in good faith. You’re playing games here and not engaging in good faith, which is why you and I butt heads and why I’m trying you steer you back on track or I will (no try) shut down your playing games.
Yes, your comment @ 3.6.2.1.1.1 (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895969) was misleading and disingenuous, as we have already established, and you agreed with my assessment because you corrected your comment @ 3:24 pm (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895979) signing off with Happy now?
We all expect results and I believe most if not all of us are underwhelmed by and disappointed with the little progress so far, and that indeed includes the Minister although you worded that really poorly. More money will be spent (cf. mental health allocations in Budget-2022; I’ll spare you the Government press releases because you seem to have developed such an aversion to them) and more results are coming, with time.
"No commentary, no explanation, no argument"
I gave all the commentary that was needed.
"You didn't link to my comment, but I assume you mean my accusations of wasteful/ineffective spending. There are plenty of examples:"
No doubt it's hard for you to swallow.
What you did @ 5:29 pm (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1896020) is known as link-spamming, which is warned against in this site’s Policy. It’s often used by trolls and others who don’t want to engage or are too lazy to put their own arguments in writing. Here, it can be a reason for banning. But you already know this.
My swallow reflex has nothing to do with your inability to follow the flow of comments here. It’s a sad diversion attempt on your behalf.
It’s funny how your wrong assumption gave you the self-invitation to go off on another rant-list of headlines pretending this is the ‘discussion’ I’m trying to shut down.
Fail
There you go again. Why would Kerre say “Kerre said”? I didn't quote Kerre, I quoted Blade. Hence the italics.
And Blade quoted/paraphrased Kerre, so you indirectly quoted/paraphrased Kerre, or are you simply quoting Blade now for his opinions only, which he gets from TB, BTW? Stop playing games here.
I didn't quote Kerre, I quoted Blade, and only to point to the part of his comment I was responding to. So chill.
Yeah, you quoted Blade who quoted Kerre, we agree on this, and you agreed with Blade and Kerre’s opinion. You happened to point to the part of Blade’s comment where he quoted Kerre. And you copied & pasted it too @ 3.6; the italics are irrelevant. So, stop playing games here.
"you diverted the convo to KB,"
Yep. Because it was directly relevant to Louis 'let's hold our breath' argument.
"is known as link-spamming"
Really? Ok, I'll do one at a time.
Do you think it's a good idea to spend "up to $600,000 in rent for an empty high-end waterfront commercial office meant to house the project headquarters for the cancelled bike bridge over the Waitematā Harbour."? And that for a lease that began "three weeks before the Government scrapped the proposed $785 million Northern Pathway project in October.'?
Now what category would you put that into? Wasteful? Ineffective? Good grief it's probably both.
And then to top it off, Sam Stubbs gave the 2020 'Wastie' award to the $51m spent on 'consultants' for the same project.
He wrote this:
"But the ridiculousness (and ugliness) of a separate cycle bridge over Auckland Harbour was obvious the day it was announced. Even the most flattering illustration couldn’t make it look like anything more than a hurried afterthought. A Newshub poll showed over 80 per cent of the public opposed the idea. But the bureaucrats in charge thought they knew better, which is presumably why they bought five houses in Northcote Point in preparation for its construction."
They bought 5 houses FFS!
Defend that.
You created a diversion away from the topic of discussion to a different one that has undergone a reset.
All commenters are expected to have read, understood and abide by this site’s Policy; it’s at the top of each and every OM:
You’re creating another diversion here. Why don’t you stick to the topic and when you’ve run out of arguments you just go to bed.
I don’t need to defend any of your strawmen. You need to stay on course.
"You’re creating another diversion here."
Nope. The topic has been on government spending money and not getting results, or wasteful/ineffective spending. You've spent a hell of a lot of time engaging in a diversion if you think it is one.
"I don’t need to defend any of your strawmen."
Ha! You need to look up the definition of straw man. Or maybe try to engage in good faith by trying to explain how the government you're defending could spend $600k on office space, $51m on consultants and buy 5 houses for a project it canned!
That’s correct and you linked it to mental health spending and Louis responded to that @ 3.6.2. You went along nicely until you suddenly and out of the blue decided to divert away to KB in the middle of the tread on mental health spending. In fact, you made a whole song & dance musical over the 0.2% spent so far.
I don’t need to defend your strawmen nor engage with them. It is part of your diversion strategy, a gish gallop of gaslighting gripes.
"Exactly, “was”, past tense and before the Great Reset."
Are you suggesting Kiwibuild is no longer about Home Ownership?
See link from Louis to Megan Woods piece. We have been over this and you’re still not getting it? It begs the question why not?
"You went along nicely until you suddenly and out of the blue decided to divert away to KB in the middle of the tread on mental health spending."
The KB comment was entirely relevant. It went to the heart of the comment Louis made about the mental health plan being a 4 year spend. I likened that comment to KB being a 10 year plan to build 100,000 homes. It’s not an unreasonable comparison.
Nope, KB and mental health spending have nothing in common other than being Government initiatives. This doesn’t excuse your diversions whenever you choose to and/or whenever it suits you; it’s a whateboutery variant. One plan is in progress, the other is still in progress after a major reset. Both are delivering results.
"See link from Louis to Megan Woods piece. "
Are you suggesting Kiwibuild is no longer about home ownership. It's a simple question.
And you already know the answer.
"Nope, KB and mental health spending have nothing in common other than being Government initiatives. "
In the context of Louis' comment, the thing they have in common is government failure. The spending of only 0.2% of an allocation when we have a mental health crisis is very similar to only building 1362 out of 100,000 houses promised when we have a housing crisis.
That has already been countered too and you’re simply parroting your own headlines again: Government failure and crises – just negative narratives from you. The only ‘similarities’ are your enormous umbrella of negativity and antipathy towards the current Government. Things are in progress, things are happening, results are being and will be delivered. No failure but developments with adjustments and recalibration along the way – that’s life. Tough for you to swallow, I realise.
"And you already know the answer."
Yep.
"KiwiBuild is enabling more home ownership opportunities for New Zealanders."
KiwiBuild works in two key ways:
KiwiBuild is here to enable and complement the private residential housing sector, not compete with it.
Why did you have to ask then?? Still playing games?
"No failure but developments with adjustments and recalibration along the way – that’s life."
Good spin.
The 'adjustments and recalibrations' began years before Labour won the 2017 election, and just over a year after being elected Labour the great reset began. ("What soon becomes known as the KiwiBuild "reset" goes on and on through early 2019.")
Labour were given plenty of warnings about aspects of Kiwibuild but they pressed on out of a combination of hubris and political expediency.
And the result? By June 2022 they said they would have built 28,000 homes. They have built 1365.
And you don't think that's failure?
"I'm not sure why you find this surprising, the current government has been particularly woeful over the last 12 months.
I find it surprising that so many of the commenters continue to be so supportive of the current lot despite their poor performance."
It's tribal, and typical of the residual hard core in both major political parties.
Quoting Blade's like going to sea in a boat made from candy-floss.
Kerre's opinion is not fact and so if you accept an acknowledgement by the minister at being frustrated at the pace, why cant you accept the following quote
"Matt Doocey and the National Party have a lot to answer for because of their nine years of neglect to the mental health system."
Little said the money is being spent and it is making a difference.
"Of the $1.9 billion, about $800 million of it went to a variety of other Government departments – Corrections, Education, and the Ministry of Social Development to do a range of mental health things for their area.
"For the Ministry of Health, the $1.1 billion they've got, over a four year period nearly half a billion dollars is going into what we call the Access and Choice program. Two years into that program we've added 850 full-time equivalent roles or people to the frontline of mental health.
"It is simply not correct for people like Matt Doocey and others to say the money is going nowhere. It is going all over the place and it is making a difference." (See 3.6.2.1.1 for the link).
An interesting note: 5700 medical workers, drs and nurses were brought into the country when the border was closed.
https://ondemand.parliament.nz/parliament-tv-on-demand/?itemId=226213
"Kerre's opinion is not fact…"
Irrelevant. I haven't put forward Kerre's opinion as fact. I haven’t put Kerre’s opinion forward to justify anything I have said.
"Little said the money is being spent and it is making a difference."
Why was only 0.2% of the money spent in 2 years?
If you thought Kerre's opinion was "irrelevant" why then did you link to Kerre's opinion in another one of your posts?
It's a 4 yr plan Gypsy.
I didn't link to Kerre's opinion. I linked to, and quoted directly, a comment by Wendy Esera.
"It's a 4 yr plan Gypsy."
You mean like Kiwibuild was a 10 year plan?
There you go again, @ 3.6 (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895759) you quoted Kerre directly and you used it as your usual stepping stone to promote your anti-government agenda.
Incognito
See Incognito's response to you and yes, KB was a 10 yr plan, there's been a reset and the govt have, so far, also built thousands of state and transitional housing as well, with more currently under construction.
"we have added over 9,000 warm, dry public homes to the stock – with over 7,400 of them being brand new builds. We have also supported the addition of more than 3,500 transitional homes (a mix of government and community housing provider-led builds)"
https://thespinoff.co.nz/opinion/01-06-2022/megan-woods-kiwibuild-is-alive-and-well
"KB was a 10 yr plan, there's been a reset and the govt have, so far, also built thousands of state and transitional housing as well, with more currently under construction."
The 'reset' was the result of the failure of the scheme. The state houses built are not kiwibuild.
No, you're wrong Gypsy, any housing built after the National govt left an unprecedented housing crisis I would consider a success.
Did you miss this on purpose?
https://thespinoff.co.nz/opinion/01-06-2022/megan-woods-kiwibuild-is-alive-and-well
"No, you're wrong Gypsy,"
From your own source:
"So far 1,365 New Zealand families are in KiwiBuild homes, and another 856 are currently under construction."
That was June 2022. The original scheme was to build 100,000 in 10 years. The scheme might be alive, but it's on life support.
And then there's this:
"So, how many Government Ministers does it take to build 1000 KiwiBuild Houses?
3
1 to say it won’t be done
1 to say it will be done
1 to say ‘I’m not sure we ever said it would be done‘"
@ 4:16 pm (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2022/#comment-1895996) you diverted the convo to KB, an all-time favourite for RWs who are still stuck in the past before the Great Reset.
Instead of acknowledging the modest but undeniable progress to date you post silly slants from three and half years ago again demonstrating that you’re not commenting here in good faith.
Fail
That pathetic joke shows you're struggling Gypsy. It hasn't been 10 years yet and there has been a reset.
But why ignore the following Gypsy? it's part of this govt's massive building plan that includes Kiwibuild.
"we have added over 9,000 warm, dry public homes to the stock – with over 7,400 of them being brand new builds. We have also supported the addition of more than 3,500 transitional homes (a mix of government and community housing provider-led builds)"
Also
https://kaingaora.govt.nz/developments-and-programmes/what-were-building/large-scale-projects/
"it's part of this govt's massive building plan that includes Kiwibuild."
Kiwibuild was not about social/state housing. Kiwibuild was about home ownership. So far they've built 1365 out of 100,000.
Exactly, “was”, past tense and before the Great Reset.
How long are you going to keep your in head in the sand and ignore that the world has moved on and that things have changed? As long as it suits your narrative?
State + transitional + kiwibuild = Govt's massive building program, the largest in decades.
Remember National sold off state housing during a housing crisis and overall left a housing shortage of 71,000
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/mbie-figures-show-nationwide-housing-shortage-of-71000/55NUUYNFWZA3OJTTDCHF7W3T4I/
May of this year: "Stats NZ said never before had New Zealand exceeded 50,000 consents issued in a year – and most consents result in new buildings"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/new-housing-consents-issued-smash-records-as-we-go-over-50000-for-the-first-time/XCOZYPW3GLDFUAG6KLB3ZV224A/#:~:text=Four%20regions%20had%20record%20numbers,2506%2C%20up%2034%20per%20cent.
New Zealand’s housing supply shortage is finally being addressed with a huge residential building boom
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/127201554/could-we-be-building-too-many-houses
"State + transitional + kiwibuild = Govt's massive building program, the largest in decades."
Yes + kiwibuild. Which is about home ownership.
Too massive for you to fully comprehend or just unwilling to accept a different truth?
Kiwibuild is PART of the govt's housing building program Gypsy.
The massive building program is not just about state and transitional housing, it is also about home ownership.
"Kiwibuild is PART of the govt's housing building program Gypsy."
The government promised to build 100,000 houses over 10 years for private ownership. By June 2022 they said they would have built 28,000 homes. They have built 1365. You can spin that anyway you choose, the government can 'reset' all it likes, but it's failure by any measure.
Like I said Gypsy, there has been a reset, which you can't dismiss because it doesn't suit you and any homes built after National left a housing crisis would be a success. Example, from your link, "Developments like Panmure in Auckland that include KiwiBuild are seen as a success: not just new homes, but a whole new way of living" "the success the Government has had in other areas of housing policy"
National promised more affordable homes, promised to build thousands of new state houses by selling off 8000 existing houses would you believe but delivered an unprecedented housing crisis instead. National also didn't deliver on it's later promise to build 34,000 homes in Auckland either.
"Fletcher Building chairman's praise for KiwiBuild
KiwiBuild may have failed to hit its targets, but it has brought about a culture change in the building industry, according to Fletcher Building's chairman. "It has focused the industry around affordable housing,"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117846966/fletcher-building-chairmans-praise-for-kiwibuild
"Simon Wilson: In praise of Government's KiwiBuild housing scheme"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/simon-wilson-in-praise-of-governments-kiwibuild-housing-scheme/SP5U4XGB4OAAFXEA6MAZ56I2OM/
"An interesting note: 5700 medical workers, drs and nurses were brought into the country when the border was closed."
Do you have a link to the data (apart from the whole Parliamentary session)?
It seems surprising, as only 300 MIQ spaces were set aside per month for health workers (from November 21), and there were several articles about those places not being full (as the workers couldn't get through the Immigration system). I don't see how they could have got to 5,700.
Just the link to the PM's Q/A, duration: 8 mins 35secs.
Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: We currently have 20,000 nurses registered but not practising in New Zealand. One of the issues that has been raised with us when we went out and consulted is a concern that if we did not attach to the residency pathway the requirement to keep working in nursing, there may be a loss of that nursing workforce. The point is to take stress
Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm not going to name individual district health boards but the stats do demonstrate that we have a higher movement rate for those who have come in as migrants into the nursing workforce than the general nursing workforce. Can I also point out that this is on top of the work that we've already been doing to bring in critical purpose visas for health workers? We have had, even while our borders were closed, 5,700 critical purpose visas for health roles since COVID. We have been recruiting offshore. At the same time, we've had the Return to Nursing Workforce Support Fund to try to bring back some of those 20,000 who are trained as nurses but are currently not working as nurses. We've had the general nurses campaign; the New Entry to Practice Programme, which had $25 million put in in 2019; and we have increased our nursing workforce, as a Government, by 15 percent. We have focused on turning around an understaffed health workforce, and we continue to do so.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20220622_20220622_12
Here would be a fun job for the new South Island water entity: take over the assets of the Kurow-Duntroon Irrigation Company.
Irrigation firm owes more than $50 million | Otago Daily Times Online News (odt.co.nz)
This lot were up to their eyeballs in debt to Waitaki District Council and Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd (Set up under Key to massively expand dairy irrigation).
Of course the shareholders might be able to finesse some kind of re-financing.
But what a great opportunity for the new Crown water entity to take over 5,500 hectares of irrigation and invite good farmers to farm for high profit and high sustainability.
Intensive dairy farming in that part of the country is not sustainable. Hence irrigating and fertilising like mad.
Intensive dairy farming is not sustainable anywhere in the country.
It needs to be constantly propped up and mopped up wherever it is located.
https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/the-country/id1305527677
On those numbers it looks like the state will end up owning the irrigation scheme …not a bad outcome.
It's great countryside round there – plenty of options beyond dairy if you've got a bit of water. Half the battle though, might be to aim for smaller multicrop farms, rather than unrelieved pastoral or vineyard or forestry.
Smaller farms in Korea often have rice fields, a couple of paddocks of table grapes, an enoki or shitake mushroom field, and a handful of hand raised cows – not so much a monoculture.
Meet Vice President-elect of Colombia Francia Márquez.
When Colombians elected their first leftist president ever on Sunday, they also elected the country’s first Black vice president: Francia Marquez, a single mother who worked as a maid before challenging international mining interests as a fiery environmentalist. Her victory marks a turning point in a country plagued by social inequalities and historically governed by conservative elites.
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20220620-francia-marquez-from-maid-to-colombia-s-first-black-vice-president
Thanks, joe90 – this is interesting and encouraging news indeed!
Great news Joe. I travelled in Colombia for over 4 months 10 years ago and boy do they ever need a leftist president to spread the wealth.
Mind you we need a wealth tax here too.
She is the real deal and could be the actual nail that fixes shut US military hijinx in arming drug cartels against poor Colombians. All that is left now is for Lula to take back Brazil. This will be a tough nut to crack with the US potentially focused on keeping Bolsonara in charge
Nearly $500 million US aid last year says she'll make all the right noises but in reality, do the bare minimum.
For those interested in local government, and grass roots community organisations, Inspiring Communities is a good resource to sign up for:
https://inspiringcommunities.org.nz/
Tomorrow's webinar panellists: Penny Hulse, Jill Day, Sam Broughton
https://inspiringcommunities.org.nz/ic_webinar/locally-led-matters-harnessing-the-power-of-collaborative-local-leadership/
German PPI ( primary producers index) inflation goes through the roof,hitting 33.6% with electricity inflation over 90% as well as key agriculture inputs.
https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1538776502099136513?cxt=HHwWgsCyxe3E6toqAAAA
To alleviate the crisis,the German energy minister (green party) has asked for the decrease in electricity generation in Gas (to allow for reserves to be sustained for winter) and asked for the increased generation by coal thermal plants.
https://twitter.com/SStapczynski/status/1538486511502389249?cxt=HHwWgsCjnZfV5tkqAAAA
The UK and Austria have also reinstated coal fired generation.
The German payment of 15B euros to subsidise the thermals,is twice the forex reserves of Pakistan which cannot afford the high spot rates for LNG forced by European demand.Hence Pakistan goes to severe conservation.
https://twitter.com/SStapczynski/status/1538804147587522560?cxt=HHwWgIDRvYSO99oqAAAA
Great that a Minister took the hint before the Fletchers Gib Board story went even more ballistic.
"The Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods has set up a Ministerial taskforce with key construction, building consent, and supply chain experts to look at what more can be done to ease plasterboard shortages, including the potential for legislative or regulatory change."
Plasterboard Taskforce Set Up To Ease Shortages | Scoop News
Pretty astounding that the Minister of Consumer Affairs Mr Clark hasn't stepped in since this is a near-total-monopoly screwing the entire house construction market.
But at least Woods is acting on her new brief.
David Seymour got in on the act in Parliament. I thought the private enterprise free market approach was the way to go. Is that's what's operating? The market knows best, someone will make financial killing. Isn't that how it's meant to operate?
Surely the Government getting involved should be anathema to him.
But at least Woods is REACTING on her new brief, due to embarrassment. Fixed that for you AD.
FFS what has she been doing ?? This shortage has been an issue mid last year, perhaps it is time that ministers in this government went out and interacted with people, instead of being out of touch !!!!
https://www.gib.co.nz/gib-news/gib-update/gib-plasterboard-supply-update/
"The August/September 2021 lockdowns caused significant disruption across the building industry. The lockdown created a backlog of orders for Winstone Wallboards to pick and deliver and resulted in longer lead times"
Former Aus FM, Bob Carr lays out a path by which Julian Assange could be freed by the new PM Albanese.
He laments the lack of any kind of national pride that allowed Morrison to accept such extreme treatment of an Aus passport holder and points out the obvious track record of support by Aus to all things US. Time for the lapdog to show some mongrel
Great link Sublim. Good to see Bob Carr is still in fine form. Great article….I shared it to fb.
I keep buying the Wikileaks t-shirts, though someone did say to me the other day they thought it said "free lasagne"
Hasta la Pasta!
Carr outlines the obvious face-saving measure that could well bring this monumentally stupid episode to a close. If the US security establishment and the Clinton Dems are the bad guys in this debacle – the entire UK establishment, their media, their Courts and Parliament have been to made to look like craven fools.
Everyone knows the original charges were politicised bollocks and the entire thing was an exercise in sustained bullying that has backfired badly. End it.
Whoever is doing the PR for Andrew Little, needs to work on his messaging.
He may be correct, in his narrow interpretation, that there is no Hospital 'crisis' – but the rest of NZ is surely seeing and hearing about one in practice at their local Emergency Department.
Denying this is simply playing into the perception that he is badly out-of-touch with reality in his Health portfolio.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/469518/health-system-under-pressure-not-in-crisis-minister-andrew-little
It's pure jam for the opposition.
The smartest thing Little ever did was give up the leadership…the second smartest thing may have been to quit politics.
I had really high hopes for health when Little became minister. TBF they were raised when Dr Clark was appointed but dashed quick smart.
Little has raised the ire of the nurses in the past with his 'blurring the numbers' during the recent wage round, between wage increase and the pay parity. Which, incidentally still isn't settled. The DHBs trying to go back on the understanding of when the pay parity would be backdated to.
As you say, Little needs better advisors. He could instruct the DHBs to agree to the NZNO's figures and wrap it up in a press release that is heavy in the acknowledgement of the dedicated service the nurses have shown through Covid, Win-Win.
Too late for that now, the DHBs cease to exist in 9 days.
At which point we will magically have enough doctors, nurses and allied medical staff, the 'postcode lottery' of healthcare will cease, health outcomes for all Kiwis will improve, and the vast sums saved will be able to be used to expand the health services. /sarc/
Yeah, I don't believe it either.