Open mike 21/08/2024
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6:00 am, August 21st, 2024 - 90 comments
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- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #37 2024
Open access notables Early knowledge but delays in climate actions: An ecocide case against both transnational oil corporations and national governments, Hauser et al., Environmental Science & Policy: Cast within the wide context of investigating the collusion at play between powerful political-economic actors and decision-makers as monopolists and debates about ‘the modern ...10 hours ago - What it is
I liked what Kieran McAnulty had to say about the Treaty Principles bill this morning so much I've written it down and copied it out for you. He was saying that rather than let this piece of ordure spend six months in Select Committee, the Prime Minister could stop making such ...12 hours ago - A government-funded hate campaign
Cabinet discussed National's constitutionally and historically illiterate "Treaty Principles Bill" this week, and decided to push on with it. The bill will apparently receive a full six month select committee process - unlike practically every other policy this government has pushed, and despite the fact that if the government is ...14 hours ago - How Substack works to take (some) craziness out of America’s elections
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- David Seymour is such a loser
For paid subscribersNot content with siphoning off $230,000,000 of taxpayers money for his hobby projects - and telling everyone his passion is education and early childcare - an intersection painfully coincidental to the interests of wealthy private families like Sean Plunkett’s1 backers, the Wright Family, Seymour is back in the ...16 hours ago - Cross-party consensus: there’s no pipeline without good faith
There’s been a lot of talk recently about a cross-party agreement to develop a pipeline for infrastructure, including transport. Last month, outgoing CRL boss Sean Sweeney talked about the importance of securing an enduring infrastructure programme. He outlined the high costs of the relentless political flip-flopping of priorities, which drives ...21 hours ago - Voters love this climate policy they’ve never heard of
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The Inflation Reduction Act is the Biden administration’s signature climate law and the largest U.S. government investment in reducing climate pollution to date. Among climate advocates, the policy is well-known and celebrated, but beyond that, only a minority of Americans ...21 hours ago
- ACC wants to administer inflation at more than double the RBNZ’s target rate
ACC levies are set to rise at more than double the inflation rate targeted by the RBNZ. Photo: Lynn GrievesonKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, September 12:The state-owned monopoly for accident insurance wants ...21 hours ago - Harris vs Trump
22 hours ago - Treaty Bill “a political stunt”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon appears to have given ACT Leader David Seymour more than he has been admitting in the proposals to go forward with a Treaty Principles Bill.All along, Luxon has maintained that the Government is proceeding with the Bill to honour the coalition agreement.But that is quite specific.It ...24 hours ago
- An average 219 NZers migrated each day in July
Kia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, September 11:Annual migration of New Zealanders rose to a record-high 80,963 in the year to the end of July, which is more than double its pre-Covid levels.Two ...1 day ago - What you’re wanting to win more than anything is The Narrative
Hubris is sitting down on election day 2016 to watch that pig Trump get his ass handed to him, and watching the New York Times needle hover for a while over Hillary and then move across to Trump where it remains all night to your gathering horror and dismay. You're ...1 day ago - National’s automated lie machine
The government has a problem: lots of people want information from it all the time. Information about benefits, about superannuation, ACC coverage and healthcare, taxes, jury service, immigration - and that's just the routine stuff. Responding to all of those queries takes a lot of time and costs a lot ...2 days ago
- Christopher Luxon: A Man of “Faith” and “Compassion” Speaks on the Treaty Pr...
Synopsis: Today - we explore two different realities. One where National lost. And another - which is the one we are living with here. Note: the footnote on increased fees/taxes may be of interest to some readers.Article open.Subscribe nowIt’s an alternate timeline.Yesterday as news broke that the central North Island ...2 days ago - Member’s Day
Today is a Member's Day. First up is the third reading of Dan Bidois' Fair Trading (Gift Card Expiry) Amendment Bill, which will be followed by the committee stage of Deborah Russell's Family Proceedings (Dissolution for Family Violence) Amendment Bill. This will be followed by the second readings of Katie ...2 days ago
- Northern Expressway Boondoggle
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Kia ora.Last month I proposed restarting The Kākā Project work done before the 2023 election as The Kākā Project of 2026 for 2050 (TKP 26/50), aiming to be up and running before the 2025 Local Government elections, and then in a finalised form by the 2026 General Elections.A couple of ...2 days ago
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Hi,If you’ve read Webworm for a while, you’ll be aware that I’ve spent a lot of time writing about horrific, corrupt megachurches and the shitty men who lead them.And in all of this writing, I think some people have this idea that I hate Christians or Christianity. As I explain ...2 days ago - Inside the public service
In 2023, there were 63,117 full-time public servants earning, on average, $97,200 a year each. All up, that is a cost to the Government of $6.1 billion a year. It’s little wonder, then, that the public service has become a political whipping boy castigated by the Prime Minister and members ...2 days ago
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A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, is how Winston Churchill described the Soviet Union in 1939. How might the great man have described the 2024 government of New Zealand, do we think? I can't imagine he would have thought them all that mysterious or enigmatic. I think ...3 days ago - Motorway madness
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Ever since Wayne Brown became mayor (nearly two years ago now) he’s been wanting to progress an “integrated transport plan” with the government – which sounded a lot like the previous Auckland Transport Alignment Project (ATAP) with just a different name. It seems like a fair bit of work progressed ...3 days ago
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And they taught usWhoa-oh, black woman, thou shalt not stealI said, hey, yeah, black man, thou shalt not stealWe're gonna civilise your black barbaric livesAnd we teach you how to kneelBut your history couldn't hide the genocideThe hypocrisy to us was realFor your Jesus said you're supposed to giveThe oppressed ...3 days ago - How mismanagement, not wind and solar energy, causes blackouts
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Here's a bike on Manchester St, Feilding. I took this photo on Friday night after a very nice dinner at the very nice Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, on Manchester Street.I thought to myself, Manchester Street? Bicycle? This could be the very spot.To recap from an earlier edition: on a February night ...5 days ago - Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies, Excerpt Five.
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- Homage to Simeon Brown
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- The professionals actually think and act like our Government has no fiscal crisis at all
Treasury staff at work: The demand for a new 12-year Government bond was so strong, Treasury decided to double the amount of bonds it sold. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories short; here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, September ...7 days ago - Weekly Roundup 6-September-2024
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Internal versus external security. Regardless of who rules, large countries can afford to separate external and internal security functions (even if internal control functions predominate under authoritarian regimes). In fact, given the logic of power concentration and institutional centralization of … Continue reading ...7 days ago
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There's a hole in the river where her memory liesFrom the land of the living to the air and skyShe was coming to see him, but something changed her mindDrove her down to the riverThere is no returnSongwriters: Neil Finn/Eddie RaynerThe king is dead; long live the queen!Yesterday was a ...7 days ago - Bright Blue His Jacket Ain’t But I Love This Fellow: A Review and Analysis of The Rings of Power E...
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Open access notables Diurnal Temperature Range Trends Differ Below and Above the Melting Point, Pithan & Schatt, Geophysical Research Letters: The globally averaged diurnal temperature range (DTR) has shrunk since the mid-20th century, and climate models project further shrinking. Observations indicate a slowdown or reversal of this trend in recent decades. ...1 week ago
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Home, home again to a long warm embrace. Plenty of reasons to be glad to be back.But also, reasons for dejection.You, yes you, Simeon Brown, you odious little oik, you bible thumping petrol-pandering ratfucker weasel. You would be Reason Number One. Well, maybe first among equals with Seymour and Of-Seymour ...1 week ago - A missed opportunity
The government introduced a pretty big piece of constitutional legislation today: the Parliament Bill. But rather than the contentious constitutional change (four year terms) pushed by Labour, this merely consolidates the existing legislation covering Parliament - currently scattered across four different Acts - into one piece of legislation. While I ...1 week ago
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- Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Three.
The notion of geopolitical “periphery.” The concept of periphery used here refers strictly to what can be called the geopolitical periphery. Being on the geopolitical periphery is an analytic virtue because it makes for more visible policy reform in response … Continue reading ...1 week ago
- Venus Hum
Fill me up with soundThe world sings with me a million smiles an hourI can see me dancing on my radioI can hear you singing in the blades of grassYellow dandelions on my way to schoolBig Beautiful Sky!Song: Venus Hum.Good morning, all you lovely people, and welcome to the 700th ...1 week ago - I Went to a Creed Concert
Note: The audio attached to this Webworm compliments today’s newsletter. I collected it as I met people attending a Creed concert. Their opinions may differ to mine. Read more ...1 week ago - Government migration policy backfires; thousands of unemployed nurses
The country has imported literally thousands of nurses over the past few months yet whether they are being employed as nurses is another matter. Just what is going on with HealthNZ and it nurses is, at best, opaque, in that it will not release anything but broad general statistics and ...1 week ago
- A Time For Unity.
Emotional Response: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon addresses mourners at the tangi of King Tuheitia on Turangawaewae Marae on Saturday, 31 August 2024.THE DEATH OF KING TUHEITIA could hardly have come at a worse time for Maoridom. The power of the Kingitanga to unify te iwi Māori was demonstrated powerfully at January’s ...1 week ago - Climate Change: Failed again
National's tax cut policies relied on stealing revenue from the ETS (previously used to fund emissions reduction) to fund tax cuts to landlords. So how's that going? Badly. Today's auction failed again, with zero units (of a possible 7.6 million) sold. Which means they have a $456 million hole in ...1 week ago
- Security Politics in Peripheral Democracies: Excerpt Two.
A question of size. Small size generally means large vulnerability. The perception of threat is broader and often more immediate for small countries. The feeling of comparative weakness, of exposure to risk, and of potential intimidation by larger powers often … Continue reading ...1 week ago
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The Minister of Transport’s speed obsession has this week resulted in two new consultations for 110km/h speed limits, one in Auckland and one in Christchurch. There has also been final approval of the Kapiti Expressway to move to 110km/h following an earlier consultation. While the changes will almost certainly see ...1 week ago
- What if we freed up our streets, again?
This guest post is by Tommy de Silva, a local rangatahi and freelance writer who is passionate about making the urban fabric of Tāmaki Makaurau-Auckland more people-focused and sustainable. New Zealand’s March-April 2020 Level 4 Covid response (aka “lockdown”) was somehow both the best and worst six weeks of ...1 week ago
- Potential intelligence sharing with Israel must be investigated
Concerns have been raised that our spy arrangements may mean that intelligence is being shared between Aotearoa and Israel. An urgent inquiry must be launched in response to this. ...11 hours ago - Release: Charter schools undermine our education system
The Government is taking a wrecking ball to our public education system by reinstating charter schools. ...14 hours ago - Youngest MP to travel to Canada to accept Politician of the Year Award
Aotearoa’s Youngest Member of Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, will travel to Montreal to accept the One Young World Politician of the Year Award next week. The One Young World Politician of the Year Award was created in 2018 to recognise the most promising young politicians between ...16 hours ago
- Greens celebrate huge step forward for ADHD community
The Greens welcome today’s long-coming announcement by Pharmac of consultation to remove the special authority renewal criteria for methylphenidate, dexamfetamine and modafinil and to fund lisdexamfetamine. ...18 hours ago
- Release: Millions to be spent dividing NZ for no reason
The National Party is wasting millions of dollars allowing David Seymour’s Treaty Principals Bill to be drafted and go to Select Committee. ...20 hours ago
- Release: New Zealanders departing our shores at a record rate
The Migration figures released by Stats NZ today show National is continuing to drive Kiwis away from New Zealand in record numbers. ...20 hours ago
- Te Tai Tokerau MP Slams Govt Overreach in Scrapping Māori Wards
Mema Paremata for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, has reflected on the decisions made by the councils of the North amidst the government’s push to remove Māori Wards and weaken mana whenua representation. “Actions taken by the Kaipara District Council to remove Māori Wards are the embodiment of the eradication ...1 day ago
- Govt already seeking advice on Treaty referendum
On one hand, the Prime Minister has assured Aotearoa that his party will not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading, but on the other, his Government has already sought advice on holding a referendum on our founding document. ...2 days ago
- Release: Aged care will be worse off if redesign rushed
New Zealanders needing aged care support and the people who care for them will be worse off if the Government pushes through a flawed and rushed redesign of dementia and aged care. ...2 days ago
- Release: Govt fails hundreds of workers as mills close
Labour is devastated at news hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs following the closure of Winstone Pulp mills. ...2 days ago
- Job losses from mill closures consequence of Govt inaction
Hundreds of jobs lost as a result of pulp mill closures in the Ruapehu District are a consequence of government inaction in addressing the shortfalls of our electricity network. ...2 days ago
- Ngarewa-Packer devastated for Ruapehu following WPI closure
Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru is devastated for the Ruapehu community following today’s decision to close two Winstone Pulp mills. “My heart goes out to all the workers, their whānau, and the wider Ruapehu community affected by the closure of Winstone Pulp International,” said Ngarewa-Packer. ...3 days ago
- Release: Cabinet should stop the Treaty Principles Bill
National Party Ministers have a majority in Cabinet and can stop David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, which even the Prime Minister has described as “divisive and unhelpful.” ...4 days ago
- Release: Staff gagged to keep fast track list secret
The National Government is so determined to hide the list of potential projects that will avoid environmental scrutiny it has gagged Ministry for the Environment staff from talking about it. ...4 days ago
- Release: Labour challenges Te Whatu Ora gag orders
Labour has complained to the Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission about the high number of non-disclosure agreements that have effectively gagged staff at Te Whatu Ora Health NZ from talking about anything relating to their work. ...4 days ago
- Greens call on Treaty Principles Bill to be abandoned after letter from Christian leaders
The Green Party is once again urging the Prime Minister to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill as a letter from more than 400 Christian leaders calls for the proposed legislation to be dropped. ...4 days ago
- Sign the petition: Keep military-style firearms off our streets
Help us tell the Government that reintroducing military-style firearms should not be up for debate. ...6 days ago
- Vast majority of councils support Māori wards
Councils across the country have now decided where they stand regarding Māori wards, with a resounding majority in favour of keeping them in what is a significant setback for the Government. ...6 days ago
- Release: Government on the wrong side of Māori wards
The National-led government has been given a clear message from the local government sector, as almost all councils reject the Government’s bid to treat Māori wards different to other wards. ...7 days ago
- Release: Labour congratulates Kuīni Ngā Wai hono i te po Paki
The Labour Party congratulates Kuīni Ngā Wai hono i te po Paki on being crowned as the eighth Te Ariki Nui – head of Te Kiingitanga. ...1 week ago
- Green Party welcomes new Maaori Kuiini
The Green Party welcomes the coronation of the new Maaori Kuiini, Te Arikinui Nga Wai Hono i te Po, today in Turangawaewae. ...1 week ago
- ECE teachers deserve better than this Government
The Green Party is unsurprised but disappointed by today’s announcement from the Government that will see our Early Childhood Centre teachers undermined and pay parity pushed further out of reach. ...1 week ago
- Urgent intervention needed on supermarkets
The Green Party is calling on the Government to intervene in the supermarket duopoly dominating our supply of groceries following today’s report from the Commerce Commission. ...1 week ago
- Release: Rainbow youth neglected in mental health funding
Labour backs the call from The Rainbow Support Collective members for mental health funding specifically earmarked for grassroots and peer led community organisations to be set up in a way that they are able to access. ...1 week ago
- Release: Transport in NZ has to be more than just roads
As expected, the National Land Transport Programme lacks ambition for our cities and our country’s rail network and puts the majority of investment into roads. ...1 week ago
- Speech: Barbara Edmonds Building Nations 2024
Tēnā koutou katoa, Thank you for your warm welcome and for having my colleagues and I here today. Earlier you heard from the Labour Leader, Chris Hipkins, on our vision for the future of infrastructure. I want to build on his comments and provide further detail on some key elements ...1 week ago
- Govt transport plan deepens fossil fuel fix
The Green Party says the Government’s new National Land Transport Programme marks another missed opportunity to take meaningful action to fight the climate crisis. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens call for public to back Wrybill in BOTY and beyond
The Green Party is calling on the public to support the Ngutu Pare Wrybill not just in this year’s Bird of the Year competition but also in pushing back against policies that could lead to the destruction of its habitat and accelerate its extinction. ...2 weeks ago
- Building consents data bad news for construction
News that the annual number of building consents granted for new homes fell by more than 20 percent for the year ended July 2024, is bad news for the construction industry. ...2 weeks ago
- Te Pāti Māori Pay Tribute to Kiingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII
Papā te whatitiri, hikohiko te uira, i kanapu ki te rangi, i whētuki i raro rā, rū ana te whenua e. Uea te pou o tōku whare kia tū tangata he kapua whakairi nāku nā runga o Taupiri. Ko taku kiri ka tōkia ki te anu mātao. E te iwi ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Gaps still to be addressed in callouts response
The Government must guarantee New Zealanders will not be at risk after making changes to the way mental health callouts are handled. ...2 weeks ago
- Poroporoaki: Kiingi Tuheitia passing
Haere e te Kīngi o te kotahitangi Haere ki o nui, ki o rahi I te pō ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party pays respects to Kiingi Tuuheitia
The Green Party is paying tribute to the Māori King, Kiingi Tuuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero XVII, after he passed away earlier this morning. ...2 weeks ago
- Potaka Brings Whakaata Māori to its Knees
Today’s Whakaata Māori announcement is yet another colossal failure from Minister Potaka, who has turned his back on te reo Māori, forcing a channel offline, putting whānau out of jobs, and cutting Māori content, says Te Pāti Māori. “A Senior Māori Minister has turned his back on Te Reo Māori. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National restricts access to disability care homes
With disability communities still reeling from the diminishing of Whaikaha, a leaked document now reveals another blow with National restricting access to residential care homes. ...2 weeks ago
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- Government commits to ‘stamping out’ foot and mouth disease
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- More choice and competition in building products
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- International tourism continuing to bounce back
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The C of C response to KO buying land at the market peak in 2021 is to stall housing development because of the economics.
Holding land unused is making things worse, and development costs go up with the delay.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350379972/kainga-ora-owned-land-near-wellingtons-basin-reserve-still-empty-despite
One presumes they intend KO to sell at a loss and not build.
In that regard one should note their not so secret plan to change the rules the OIO operates by – to allow foreign property companies to provide residential housing.
KO will just invite development proposals.
Market will take time to respond because Wellington real estate market has collapsed for 2024.
With the standard ending as a site at the end of the month what happens to the millions of comments stored in the clouds some where?
I'd like b Waghorn to be erased please sir ,thankyou.
hey b 🙂 It's not ending. It's going to be hosted on a new server, and the history will be preserved. Things still being worked out.
That is good news Weka.
Oh OK, algood,
Great news, thanks Weka!
Good news Weka. A bit sad that Mr Prentice is to be leading the way no longer though.
Yes. I shall miss his tirades. I was on the receiving end once but forgotten what for – no big deal. I love the way he always manages to get his well thought through opinions across. 😉
Hope he will continue to contribute as a commenter from time to time.
Ditto. I am new here, and value lprent and others, but would be sad to see him go in any capacity.
Excellent news….even a stripped-down version would be good provided the interchange of views and (especially) information is retained.
That's great news Weka – I thought I may have to go back to The Daily Blog and have had a look at it for the past couple of days. My reaction was simply 'yeah, nah'.
That is good news, weka. The Standard has been part of my daily life for fifteen years and I would miss it as I miss some of the contributors over the years (felix, pascal's bookie amongst many others). I suspect lprent is not one for fulsome praise but I would miss his incisive and always intelligent contributions so I hope like ianmac and Anne that he continues to contribute even more in these columns. My thanks to all who awhi this blog.
Banking …
https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/350384266/could-commerce-commissions-banking-sector-recommendations-lower-your
We need loan insurance to reduce the cost of business finance. We need equity for Kiwi Bank and money for infrastructure.
1. Windfall profits taxation (28-33cents) – about $300M
2. A 1% decline in the OCR and a 1% surcharge on mortgage loans.
The result would be a lower value to the dollar (higher exports – tradeable inflation is low atm) and revenue of $3.4B pa.
The big 4 banks make $6B a year. Ideally 5 banks make about a $B average profit.
Any tax on mortgage loans imposed on banks, would be immediately passed on to customers (with a firm explanation that the rise is entirely due to the government tax)
Adding an tax on mortgage loans in the current environment, is going to make any party unelectable.
Not sure what you count as a 'windfall profit' but if it's only going to get 300M in taxation it's almost certainly not worth collecting.
There is no increase in the amount paid by homeowners because a surcharge allows a lower OCR rate.
Apart from the increased revenue collected by government (see the budget forecasts for the coming decades) it also increases returns to exporters (and thus tax paid by them).
The Americans once had progressive tax on companies, so larger ones paid a higher rate. It's very easy to collect.
If the surcharge reduces bank profits, you can absolutely guarantee this will result in increased charges to borrowers.
Deliberately missing the point.
If the OCR goes down by 1%, banks reduce their mortgage rate accordingly.
So there is no change in the amount paid by the homeowner with a 1% surcharge if the two were applied at the same time.
But the government gets the revenue it needs.
Also deliberately missing the point. If the OCR goes down and the surcharge goes up, there is no change to mortgage rate – and borrowers both notice and complain (OCR has gone down, why is my mortgage still high?)
Banks will absolutely inform them this is because of a government tax.
If you think that people with mortgages aren't obsessively watching the Reserve Bank rate – you don't know many people with mortgages.
They watch the rate, because it impacts on their mortgage cost.
If a 1% mortgage surcharge allows a 1% OCR cut they pay no more but government gets the funds required to afford health funding and infrastructure. Its over $3B a year.
They watch the rate to make sure that their own mortgage rate goes down when the OCR goes down. If that's not happening, you bet your bottom dollar that they'll be asking questions of their bank.
It's just another tax.
As I said, an unelectable policy.
You are a piece of work. Are you really incapable of comprehending that a mortgage surcharge would enable a lower OCR?
Are you really incapable of comprehending that people with mortgages care about what they have to pay – not what % goes to the government in tax.
In your example, despite the OCR going down, the government takes all of that as tax, so their mortgage repayment remains the same.
Or do you have some other handwavium solution to propose?
So you think homeowners do not care about a well-funded government?
You conflate (lie) a win win scenario – where at no extra mortgage cost to homeowners there was $3Bpa more in government funding – with handwavium.
Tell it to those whose children are in rundown school buildings, those who need access to primary health care and those facing rate increases because of lack of government support for infrastructure.
Businesses facing a problem with high temporary prices and or a rising cost to renewing their longer term supply contracts.
One way to lower the cost of supply is investment in battery storage. Possibly taking spare solar power off business and homes for this purpose.
As a dry year reserve to supplement the arrangements with Comalco and Methanex.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/350385023/power-price-pinch-sees-indefinite-closure-two-mills-hundreds-jobs-could-go
I doubt that any industrial complex can operate off battery storage.
California runs fine on huge amounts of battery storage
That is just nonsense. They cannot operate if they have no power, or cannot make a profit because of the cost of it in a dry year.
The easiest way to reduce power cost is to reduce take off the grid by homes and business (their use of solar) and otherwise to take their solar power surplus onto the grid and store this such energy in a battery (for use in a dry year).
There is no difficulty placing power onto the grid from a battery.
I think you're misunderstanding the usage of battery farms – this is short term storage (e.g. from the heat of the day when solar is widely available, to the evening, when peak demand arises)
They are not intended to be substitutes for hydro-electricity generation in a dry year.
Why not? The role of battery storage is a developing one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_storage_power_station
Because battery duration is measured in hours – not months.
There are two aspects to this.
A business operating off hydro from the grid, then not able to afford the spot price in a dry year.
In the dry year we have Comalco using less power, and Methanex supplying gas to the Huntly power station (if the price is right for both parties or otherwise coal) – which has a higher and higher cost as per 2050.
There is the Onslow dam and battery storage to cope with the dry year otherwise. A battery can hold power for years. How many and how large to provide a useful level of storage for dry years is that issue.
More businesses should look at being less dependent on the hydro supply, perhaps taking power from local solar and wind into a local battery system for their daily use.
We know that in a continuity use system battery storage makes renewable power reliable and this lowers power cost.
This is one way for a community to protect a local businesses (solar panels on homes and business roofs and wind farms).
But the C of C has no plan to realise even this. It's lack of focus on solar generation and battery use is, given the South Australia success in this area is inexplicable.
All the current government has as an answer – import gas, and blame the power companies for using a market system (price to manage demand), one that has been used for years. These companies were set up to act for shareholders, not the national interest, by the government of John Key.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/525747/ridiculously-high-power-prices-threatening-manufacturers-shane-jones
“I am happy to say categorically that I have found no other country that aligns more with my view of the future than New Zealand,” Thiel wrote.
Not that we needed reminding who this coalition serves Peter.
What he likes a country with no GPs and Businesses shutting up shop because we can't keep the lights on!!!
He likes to whinge about paying too much tax as the article in granny had a dig at California's tax regime.
The sense of entitlement knows no boundaries.
Bolthole abandoned…(well, for the moment )
Also he is NOT, repeat NOT a vampire…(as far as we know..)
And Matt Nippert ( IMO a good Reporter) reveals some of Citizen Peter Thiel….
Also Toby and Toby…Insight and Cartoons : )
And..a Citizen Thiel quote ..(well, he'd fit right in with NACT1)
Don’t forget Mr freedom, individual responsibility and small Govt made a tidy sum via the NZ taxpayer from the NZVIF–Venture Investment Fund–launched by Steven Joyce in 2012. He exercised a buy back option to cream millions of dollars after the Govt. matched his initial investment and more. Even Joyce admitted the buy back plus deal did not look good “on the face of it”.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/billionaire-peter-thiel-makes-fortune-after-sweetheart-deal-with-government/B22JSOU3762DJCI53XCR4MLRHU/
Aye TM. Had forgotten that one. (and there are probably many more : (
Socialism for those creeps ..is also taking a good bite of the peoples taxpayer …profits.
We need Thiel ?….yet another self interested mega rich leech on our Society
(oh yea, and was another good Matt Nippert story)
The invidiousness of corporate welfare (a symptom of fully-matured capitalism) is very well explained in Vulture Capitalism by economist and political journalist Grace Blakeley. The link is Blakely's RNZ interview. The book is an excellent mash-up of socialsit and economic theory.
Yep..Corporate Welfare..just another tentacle of the Corporates in the Warfare they continuously wage..including, on us.
He's been talking to Rimmer?
https://www.news24.com/fin24/international/apartheid-works-billionaire-paypal-founder-and-trump-backer-peter-thiel-said-book-claims-20211115
Yep, Minds alike an all. Some Great, some..not so much.
Middle class folk meet W and I, wonder at the human cost to those less able to cope with the new C of C regime.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/525742/benefit-cut-after-one-missed-appointment-former-public-servant-says
Oh yea..just earlier read that . Its maybe a sad fact…that (many?) people have…either no, or little, idea of what goes on in the sad lives of the unlucky.
And as the ex Accountant alludes, there are other costs. The myopic/purblind shits of NACT1….never factor those in. Unfortunately some..will pay. Pain and suffering. It will cost..us dearly.
I'm (almost) enjoying that all these people are suddenly experiencing the joys of W & I. Especially if they voted for one of the CoC, then zero sympathy.
I saw it during covid, the poor things suddenly having to deal with the welfare system, whining to the media that they had 'no idea' benefits paid so little (even though they were getting a special increased rate and no relationship rules). I guess there was never any concern for the perilous conditions many of their fellow citizens have to endure beforehand. It's not as if a quick google would give them that info.
I naively thought now that the middle class have been affected, they might develop some empathy. Yeah, right.
This story is so full of holes I'm surprised they published it. It took two weeks to get appointment, but 8 weeks to reduce benefit to nil. If he had actually attended the appointment after first deduction to 80%, there would be no further deductions to nil. He will probably struggle to get another job with the attitude of ignoring two reminder texts to attend a meeting. Would he be able to turn up to a job interview? Now he's gone to the media he looks like an even bigger fool.
FFS Jimmy what jobs? This lot have tanked the economy.
In which case, he'll have no problem turning up the the WINZ appointments – since he'll have nothing else to do.
I also think that it's a poor example.
The original one (where someone claims that he never received the message about the appointment, and subsequently was notified his payments would be cut), is a much better one.
WINZ systems aren't perfect (no organization's ones are) and to have a benefit cut with no cross-checks seems to be a highly-risky strategy.
You are such a right wing troll.
Ah, yes, your usual standard of insightful commentary.
If you can't attack the comment – let's abuse the person.
And what great intellectual discussion is to be had when you troll people who are not working?
So if the ad hominem fits…
Doubling down on the dumb as a rock response.
If you're so busy 'working' that you can't engage your intellect, perhaps you should stop engaging your typing fingers.
…
Just sounds to me like you know fuck-all about the way that WINZ and the MSD operate. It rings true to me. WINZ is more chaotic as anything I have ever seen. I include a pile of poorly run entrepreneurial businesses, charities, NGOs and the military experience in there.
Anyone who has and is used to normal business operations would be unused to dealing with WINZ operations and the stupid limitations that various fuckwit Ministers, mostly National ones, have imposed on them over decades.
I have only dealt with WINZ twice.
Once back in the GFC in 2009 when I got dumped out of a contract job a month after starting because their pitch to the customer failed. I contacted them and applied for the dole after a couple of months of job hunting when the cash and food started to run low. They organised me to have to attend a session about how to write a CV two weeks later, and told me that I would be required to attend it before they'd look signing me up. FFS I have an MBA, my CV was spotless and I used to run courses on how to write CVs….
My most recent brief experience of WINZ was this year after my redundancy/holiday pay ran out and before I hit 65 after a unexpected redundancy when the company shuttered itself after poor US sales. WINZ has updated itself a little. Now they will 'organise' everything without telling you. Or telling you poorly. Or telling you late. Not telling you at all seems all too likely too – especially if it is posted.
I have had a phone call from WINZ, that I could see was from WINZ because I'd tagged it as WINZ from a previous call on my phone. Couldn't see anything on MyMSD, so went to the local WINZ/MSD office to get them to look it up. They didn't know anything about it. Whoever had called me hadn't logged it.
By then I'd developed a habit of watching MyMSD, just in case. That was after receiving a letter that turned up the day before the appointment dated 2 weeks earlier, and that had arrived on last possible delivery out of the 2 postal deliveries a week.
In my month of getting job seeker, before getting on to super, they'd also informed me by letter on MyMSD, that I would be getting nett $178 per fortnight out of a nett ~$300 entitlement. That was because I would be paying off of a debt to MSD.
First that I'd heard of any debt. MyMSD didn't show any debts. My guess it was the first payment that they'd made before I received that letter.
I (mostly) trust them on the delivery of superannuation because it is hard to screwup a computer program without human access requirements. Plus I now have my Kiwisaver accessible.
Because I don't trust the MSD or WINZ to do their processes properly or to communicate clearly, I have a large dollop of cash in the bank on a lower interest rate than I'd like. That is solely so that it can be accessed immediately. I also have a rather large untouched overdraft facility available that is backed by term deposits.
Almost certainly. Potential employers who are worth working for are always clear. They typically communicate digitally with ICS attachments to go into your calendar. Usually after talking to you on cellphones. They also text and email. I haven't had one for decades that used paper or the snail mail system.
Perhaps you shouldn't write about things you clearly don't know about. You sound like a National party minister attempting to sound competent. You come across as a ignorant pretentious twat.
I forgot the real job interview that I had to move because WINZ wanted me at an appointment on short notice. Turns out that you can't contact them to move it. I had to contact the company I was going to do a google meet with.
In the month that I dealt with WINZ on jobseeker, they were bloody irritation. I was doing 2-3 job interviews a week and pushing out about 8-10 application a week. Yet WINZ appeared to think that they had first call on my time for $178 per fortnight.
The irritating thing about it is that WINZ is as clearly understaffed and over micro-managed at the Ministry of Labour was back in 1992 when my then partner worked for them.
Actually I have had dealings with Winz a couple of times this year in helping someone get an accommodation allowance. They asked for information that we duly provided, and I thought they were pretty good in phoning when they said they would. I guess if we had ignored their phone calls and not provided the information (or ignored texts like the bloke in the above example even when his benefit had reduced to 80%!), the accommodation allowance would not have been received. We wouldn't have run to the media complaining though as then you look like a fool.
Regarding your situation:
"I have a large dollop of cash in the bank on a lower interest rate than I'd like. That is solely so that it can be accessed immediately. I also have a rather large untouched overdraft facility available that is backed by term deposits."
You may want to speak to someone regarding budgeting advice and the best way to structure your funds for your situation.
Idiot. Lets assume that you are aware of the current inflation rate is.
It is structured exactly for my short-term requirements. Those are to make sure that there is money readily available around when it is required. Not only for MSD (or employers) not paying on time. But also for emergencies or things that need immediate resources. I had a heart attack 13 years ago and have a stent. My father is 85. Acts of god like having my car being drowned last year in the floods.
Having a small % of my investment money sitting on 4.55% interest with immediate access rather than the 6.x% on term loans is just prudent. It can take a few days to untangle term loans and longer to pull money from investment accounts.
Having a rolling credit facility that I don't need to use allows me or my partner to draw down copious money immediately if something serious happens. There is a price associated with it, but only if I exercise it.
Having money that is on call means that we can cover the rolling credit within a short period.
I guess that you just like sounding like you know what you're doing. But as I said – you invariably sound like a ignorant pretentious twat.
Well that is very good to hear that you are not "a ignorant pretentious twat" as you put it, or an idiot, and you are good with financial planning and have obviously planned well for your future and retirement.
However having said that, why would you even need to contact WINZ for job seeker benefit earlier this year if your financial planning is so successful? Surely you had planned for a rainy day or unexpected expense (or redundancy), and hopefully now that you are 65 and receiving super, that is not your only income.
Umm worth replying to that, if only to point out what to watch for when heading to super.
It was very unexpected to wind up being made redundant at the end of Jan. Bit annoying as well as we'd just finished paying almost every single debt off, including the tail of the mortgage in 2023. Just had a small overdraft and a credit line for emergencies. Also had a large inaccessible kiwisaver. If I needed it I could tap into
Basically getting ready for super + kiwisaver and a probable change of pace in early June. Didn't want to mortgage the apartment again.
With what was on-hand, 2 months notice paid out, and 6 weeks of holiday pay I had roughly 4 months of cash available. Had already booked a holiday in Feb. Pre-paid the 6 months of body corporate and rates, my partners outstanding tax, and the remaining debt, and then started cutting costs
Which left about 3 months cash available which could be stretched. Some went on hotel bills and the holiday in Feb. Couldn't can that as it was organised with some US guests.
I figured that I could either get a job within 5 months or I'd get early kiwisaver which was where all of the investment money was or I would last until super + kiwisaver got accessed at the start of June.
I'm pretty picky about work usually. Especially now that I don't have a mortgage and an upcoming source of income from super and kiwisaver. I don't require much income, and super covers most of my running expenses.
WFH was something that employers were wanting to not have past the pandemic. But I'm uninterested in long daily commuting unless employers were willing pay for it. I'm uninterested in doing managerial or team lead work. So I am only willing to do straight programming in engineering applications preferably for export.
Turns out jobs I was interested in were mostly not available within my limits. I wasn't interested in working in Albany/Rosedale or East Tamaki because most of the interesting engineering work is there. But neither have effective public transport from where I live.
Got turned down for the local jobs that I was interested in, and that .
I usually get about 1 in 20 of the jobs I apply for simply because I have been old as a programmer for decades, and I make sure that HR and employers have many good reasons to reject me. It saves me from having to put up with jobs with lousy employers whilst getting a project finished. I wind up on projects that either have good employers or that they actually want completion on projects (typically after someone else has hit their limits).
Could have easily gotten a off-target job to pay bills and probably would have if I'd actually needed to. But doing a pointless short-term job that cost me time and money to get to wasn't worth doing. I didn't need to once I got super and the large pile of kiwisaver.
Plus I have a lot of re-education to do. It'd been nearly 15 years since I'd last had time to sit down and do some serious playing with code outside of work. That is a lot of time to coast on previous skill updating or what you pick up on in the projects you're working on.
Pretty well did stretch it out. But had a few extra bills on the way as usually happens. Mostly physio for fixing and bike finger and knee injuries that I'd had in November. ACC paid most of it. But the weekly bills for the rest mounted up. Had a nasty large bill from cloudflare for some attacks on this site in March. Went from $25 per month to a month with over $600. Which is why this site now uses bunny.net for the CDN.
Realised at the end of April that I could run short of money between my birthday on June 4th and the first full super payment on June 19th. It pays to look at when that fortnightly payment falls when looking forward to super. Also that it was really hard to extract kiwisaver early (don't count on that ever!), and it'd probably take a couple of weeks to get kiwisaver after my birthday.
So I had roughly two-three weeks to cover. So at the start of May, I prepaid some bills and did a few other things to get enough resources to cover eating and freezing.
Then applied for jobseeker as I was entitled to do, as much to see what would happen as anything else. While also organising a covering loan of a few thousand from family if I needed it.
Jobseeker and WINZ was just as bad as I expected. But it did garner about a thousand. Used about a thousand from family loan. Then first super payment and kiwisaver dropped into my account so I paid the latter.
So notice.. no additional debt after 5 months off work apart from about $1k. I didn't need any other money apart from the money paid out by my previous employer and didn't have to tap into any assets or resources apart from trying jobseeker. Had a holiday. Paid for additional medical treatment. Paid for an large unexpected bill.
The big advantage about doing the stretch is that we're now set up with expenditures slightly above revenue from super + my partners business after a lot of cost-trimming – which we would have wanted to do anyway.
The annual difference is roughly about $5000 per year – the body corporate + some rates. A large stash of ex-kiwisaver accessible and earning income so the excess is easily paid by revenues from investments if nothing else.
We have everything we need after I brought a 2 bike rack and towbar for the car after I got kiwisaver, and paid for a few computer updates for both out systems. Just need to keep an eye out from a (??!!) updated second hand macbook for my apple obsessed partner.
I now have complete freedom to idle if I feel like it, take a job if one shows up meeting my criteria, just start writing and selling things on net, just play with writing code that interests me fro open source, get involved in politics with time to do it, or (do something stupid) like try to boost my partners business. I can help out of other peoples projects if I choose to.
Since I hate having holidays or idling, working on what interests me is the most likely.
It is really kind of nice to have the choices. Which is what was intended fro this stage in my life.
Apart from the unexpected redundancy, everything was pre-planned. Even that was a contingency. I just like doing things with the minimal use of resources. Like this site does.
I'm one of those people who always has a lot of contingency planning going on in my head and always has pathways to what I want to do via multiple routes or multiple potential objectives that can be reached from my current path.
Well done for having the cash available for the 3/4 months cover (contingency fund for the unexpected). It always good to plan for if you can.
As I've said on here before, Kiwi Saver is one of the best things IMO, any government has done.
Agreed. It was essentially what Rowling and Douglas were after in 1973
Muldoon destroyed it for both political and fiscal reasons. It helped him win the 1975 election and in effect it allowed him to raid the funds of the existing pensions schemes when he introduced National Superannuation.
I don't know how you do it, LP.
As the mainstay, curator, funder, and lead on this valuable site for so many years, spending that much time on an arrogant, blow-in troll without binning them.
I'm semi-retired these days. I have more of my own time because I'm not getting my contractor level hourly rates on a salary and the obligations of progress that go with it.
Besides I'm stuck on a problem in a new language working on a new editor right now and having to think up a whole new way to approach fixing the problem. Doing something mindless like replying to Jimmy about something I already thought about and solved helps.
It frees up the intuitive part of my brain to nibble at the edges of the problem looking for a innovative solution while my fingers are occupied with typing.
I usually only bin trolls if they can’t write coherently or get repetitive and I don’t have time to educate them. Jimmy does pretty well on the first two counts
Copy that. I'm still working and distracted. I would like to make more detailed and reasoned comments and even write some pieces but am unable because of work and family duties.
I've mentioned to moderators here this disadvantage ordinary, socially conscious, working people have when commenting on forums. Lefties should be better understood here but are sometimes moderatered against because of the brevity of their comments.
Did the appointment notification go to his spam folder? Happens all the time.
My spam folder received a few of them there. I had to firmly tell gmail and thunderbird that WINZ, MSD, and the IRD were not spam.
Gee wouldn't it be great if New Zealand had an energy strategy, and the sovereignty to make it happen?
From the : Of course they would say that file…..
As Its obvious, stupid…
It all sounds so reasonable. Hmm, right.
Have to say I am also not falling for Nicola icecream and movies Willis, and her blather about Kiwibank and Mum and Dad Investors
FFS, I do NOT believe you Nicola Willis ! And didnt we have that BS with the Electricity
giveawayselldown? And what happened to those Mum and Dad shares?What she means is listing a minority share of Kiwibank on the sharemarket.
Does anyone remember what happened to our power companies?
What she means..and what she means are very possibly..different things. And shown many times. And didnt I say Electricity Mum and Dad shares ?
From the past.
And from The Standard….History aye ?
Yes that was my point
Ah yes, allgood : )
Once Kiwibank is infected by the pernicious* doctrine of maximising private** shareholder value, it will behave odiously, just like the other banks that we loathe so much. Presumably Willis (or her ventriloquist) knows this.
*pernicious when applied to natural monopolies or to the essentials of daily life. Possibly pernicious under all circumstances, though this latter is contentious.
** note however that even with the government as the 100% shareholder, Kiwibank can be forced into similarly bad behaviour under the governance of odious regimes like the CoC
What happened to our power companies.
.
Craig Renney
@CLRenney
MBIE electricity generation shows this best. In 2023 NZ generated 43,000 GWH of electricity – the same as in 2010. Our population increased by 888,000 during this time and Nominal GDP doubled. Yet no new electricity. The market has failed year after year.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GVYF7wZaMAQLQVx?format=png&name=large
https://x.com/CLRenney/status/1825659043064717473
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/what-new-zealand-can-tell-america-about-their-election-richard-prebble/HNNABLIFGRGHHIDDVJGTN66KZU/
Even Republicans are standing up against Trump and his lunacy yet NZ's so-called respectable right are quite openly wanting a Trump presidency. Shows just how close we are to normalising Trumpesque ideas, the Treaty principles debacle and the associated attacks on all things Maori being the most obvious example.
Some thoughts for Nicola Willis to ignore
And that's the attitude that fuels inflation.
I doubt your economist can give a single real-life example of a country who printed excess money without triggering inflation.
For NZ this was debunked in 1986 when the RBNZ stopped targeting the quantity of money. It was thoroughly discredited in the UK at the time when the Thatcher administration found their whole scale destruction of their economy attempting to quantity target the pound was wildly unpopular. The Fed in the US denied ever practicing quantity targeting.
So your example of a nation that routinely prints excess money without triggering inflation is?
The short answer is all of them. This is because your model for how money works doesnt apply to any real world economy.
First up money as measured comes in several forms. These include reserve money (what the government and banks transact) and bank deposits (what the public transacts). Which of these are you proposing to be in excess?
We can assume that is the reserve money your discussing here maybe, at least thats the quantity governments influence directly. Problem with that however is there is no fixed relationship between reserve money quantities and broad money quantities. In fact the RBNZ is ready to lend (create) as much reserve money as demanded for commercial banks to clear payments (those loans being made at the OCR of the day). This was the RBNZ 1986 change to give up targeting quantities (because targeting those quantities didn't constrain the quantity of money the public transacts in anyway).
So its going to be difficult to find the example you seek as A) the quantity which is excessive is not determined anywhere.
B) this quantity your asking about doesn't even constrain the broad money supply anyway (let alone inflation).
USA
USA quantitative easing in 2020 (and early 21)- followed by inflation rates of 7% in 2021 and 6.5% in 2022.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/q/quantitative-easing.asp
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
QE *can* be a tool for reinvigorating an economy, but it's one with inherent risks.
Countries which routinely print money to get themselves out of a fiscal hole – end up like Venezuela.
USA (and many other countries + the Eurozone) began QE closer to 2010. What you have identified there is a coincidence, not a cause.
and if the USA lifted sanctions of Venezuela a large part of its inflation issues would abate. Most times really serious inflation spells occur they were proceeded by USA enforced economic sanctions.
Nothing to do with the USA deliberately "squeezing Venezuala's economy until it bleeds" of course!
All of them. "Routinely prints excess money". That is how a National currency comes into being.
Well knock me over with a feather! Entitlement much..
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/525769/new-ministry-paying-staff-average-salary-of-150k-despite-public-sector-job-cuts
Just wondering – how many of the 90 high paying jobs are members of the Act party?
It would be interesting to find out!
Jailed for 9 years and 9 months. This almost needs a disclaimer before reading it's so bad.
(actually Stuff did put one)
Child abuser who left toddler victim with ‘injuries worse than some fatalities we see’ jailed | Waikato Times (stuff.co.nz)