Yes, and "Aunty" is humbly helping with the food. I thought "Go Jacinda" showing where your heart is. It makes a mockery of some statements about her and her future.
Changed (in the internal cacher) the site html/xml Cache-control to public and an max-age of 0.
Javascript and CSS to caching with an max-age of 600 seconds. That is simply to allow dynamic style updates to cause only short amount of confusion at the expense of a slightly slower page display.
The rest of the media and images to public with long max-age.
That seems to be working in my test cases where I could see the problem previously.
I'll check on the different desktop / mobile settings later. However I think I have added a setting to make sure that the cache is stored by device type (it was rather late/early when I did it).
Christopher Luxon, quite likely to be Prime Minister later this year, does not accept the word of the Police Commissioner.
The Commissioner provided specific factual information but the Leader of the Opposition is more prepared to accept anecdotal information off the street.
It is to his advantage to have as many upset and fearful and he'll use concern and fear about crime to paint as scary a picture about the community as possible.
Scarier than any crime in cyclone stricken regions is that anyone would so wilfully use misinformation for political ends in the circumstances. Scarier still is then expect to be seen as a leader. And scariest, that dumb arses won't have the nous to see his crap for what it is.
Sorta wonder if there's not a bit of cover / denial of some other problems going on here. Blaming 'gangs' to cover an inflated insurance claim or omissions that led to a greater loss.
The Greens have floated a windfall profit tax to help support the cleanup.
"The Green Party has said a number of times that in this inflationary environment, there are a number of companies that are making massive, unearned windfall gains simply because of constrained supply.
…
Shaw wants to table the Climate Adaptation Bill before the election but said it was unlikely to pass before the end of the year.
The bulk of the bill addresses the issue of managed retreat, relocating settlements away from vulnerable areas.
"We are going to be looking and seeing what we can do to accelerate it."
…
Asked whether an amnesty for RSE workers who have overstayed was a good thing, Shaw said climate change was displacing more and more people both here and in the Pacific.
"I think having an immigration system that treats people with dignity and takes account of those circumstances would be no bad thing at all."
Shaw said there were thousands of people who lost everything in Cyclone Gabrielle and the top priority now has to be to make sure they have everything they need.
Well tell them to get on with it, as we now have pictures full of damage and harm done by not regulating the forestry industry when burning slash was verboten.
wE could have saved some bridges and maybe prevented some of that real bad flooding. But then we are only ever living in the moment and forecasting is not something we do.
Btw, Slash has been a problem for years now. But surely after the windfall tax on rich people such as them will take away all problems.
2017 we had the same problem with Cyclone/Storm Debbie and the huge floods in Edgecumbe. The Bridge at Tane Atua was almost taken out by slash, the surrounding farmlands and houses were all several meters under water. I know that cause i was there.
So yes, if you remove a way of rubbish removal but don't come up with an alternative that is legislated/regulated into law then some of the issue that arise could be called man made.
I don't fully blame the Greens for that. The Greens are the party they are. But since 2017 i do blame the Labour Party and the Green Party for the lack of regulations created to make the forestry industry safer and to provide a frame work / guidelines on how to dispose of the rubbish they leave behind after clear logging.
So i don't give a shit about their 'tax the rich' – btw, all of them are rich, crappola, but i do care about the fact that neither Labour nor the Greens are doing anything about slash.
What this proposal is for is the funding of restoration of vital services for those affected by the latest storm. The Greens have decried the lack of planning for the future for their entire existence. The Labour party has been in complete control of the legislative process since 2017, the Greens can only make proposals. But those who want to blame the Greens will continue to do so it seems.
Bruh, i don't really fucking care that you are upset that i am not happy with the Greens and the Labour Party. I really don't. No more then i care about some N or A supporter being upset that i am not happy with these two parties either.
this upsets me, the disposal of slash needs to be regulated and it should have been done when burning of slash was phased out on the grounds of the environment.
I mean how many more time do we need to see the same thing happening before Green supporters demand that they do better.
Oh a tax on rich people – that people like James Shaw will be able to aptly avoid cause they are a tax lawyer and they know how to avoid taxes. Seriously this shit has gotten old.
This is all a derail from my original post. It is what-about-ism.
The government needs to fund infrastructure restoration now, and getting that additional funding by a windfall tax on excess corporate profits is the proposal.
It is the logical extention. You remove something, and another thing will fill the voild.
so preventing forestry businesses from burning slash is good for the environment – that might very well be that way, but if no alternative is proposed for the removal of said slash what happens is that it accumulates, and eventually will become a danger.
And we have seen how destructive it is – there are enough clips about bridges being taken out and land covered in old rotting logs to make that clear.
This should have been regulated a long time ago. The last time to regulate that was in 2017. The next best time is now. I am waiting with baited breath.
This tax the rich shit is just feel good band aids. Non of the rich people will pay these taxes as they already have structured their income streams so as to avoid paying any meaningful taxes.
Have a chat with James Shaw about that. They are an accountant and thus are knowlegable about such things. Also if you google rich paying taxes on only the first 70 grand you will find articles going back years stating that rich don't pay taxes. So that is just a feel good, look we are doing stuff window dressing.
Never mind that Labour had a chance of doing so a few years back and all we got was a wee feel good extra tax bracket that literally brings pennies in. Timid, fake, band aid solution that makes people think stuff is being done. Not.
ditto for the freeze the rent cries. Unless you properly regulate the rental market you will always have rents increasing. Why? cost increase, renting is a business and businesses must bring profit. Unless the government starts building to rent in large numbers we will always have a housing crisis.
So you regulate the rental market. Freezing the rent will achieve nothing more then at the very best a bit of relieve on the treasury as the accomodation benefits will not be needed to be increased. And the accomodation benefit is a direct benefit tot he landlord. Might that have something to do with the ever increasing rents? Oh, lets not think that. ey?
We need a government that has the guts to regulate industries. And sadly we don't have that.
So slash will take out communities/bridges/roads every other year, and house prices will go up when housing stock goes down, and rents will go up as housing stock goes down.
Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat. Until we finally elects some people with guts.
The slash problem – and foreseeable increase in damage it causes in foreseeable increases in violent and sudden weather events, is something that can be focused on that will produce immense benefits going forward.
Members of the public only need to view some of the images and videos to understand how we all bear the cost of the slash issue not being prioritised:
It's irrelevant because the proposal is for a company windfall tax, it's right there in the quote of my original post. It's not a proposed tax on individuals.
I don't suggest that James Shaw will use his skills, i suggest that his tax accountant will, and if his tax accountant does not so James Shaw should fire him for not doing his job.
I suggest that some people might ask James Shaw on his opinion on that as an Accountant. If anyone knows the system he does. James Shaw will know how to structure financial affairs in a manner that will result in paying the least amount of tax possible, and i would go so far as saying that everyone currently, and past, in parliament will do exactly the same.
Fwiw, every person in that income class will have an accountant that will do their darnest to avoid his client to pay taxes.
Afaik, all the Green MPs tithe part of their salary to the party. I’m pointing this out because not all people on high salaries are greedy in the say you are saying.
Hey Sabine, how are things in your neck of the woods?
re the politics, three things.
1. the Greens don't have a magic wand. The idea that they are responsible for legislation since 2017 is just wrong. Labour/NZF were the govt in 2017, Labour in 2020. In order for the Greens to have more influence to pass legislation they need more MPs, which means more party votes.
2. the Greens have limited resources because they have 10 MPs. I agree how they prioritise those resources is a matter of public interest, but it's also up to the party and membership.
3. please explain why legislation around slash should take precedent over regen forestry or taxing to help with post-flood recovery/
thankfully we have a new mayor who is not going to build low income housing in flood prone zones, aka, reserves in low income housing as proposed. Other then that, crime, drug use, domestic violence, etc are all up, and my shopfringe now has a full row of metalblocks to prevent further ramraids. As one would say, just a nice day in Aotearoa.
2. I dont' actually care about the resources and such. I just expect them to put forward sensible bills.
They can be tooth and nails on Self Id, they can be tooth and nails on regulating the removal of slash.
3. We are planting trees for harvesting. For some farfetched carbon schemes that do nothing to make anything better.
In regards of the slash, maybe burning it is an option again, if all the good minds of this country can not come up with anything else.
Or else, mulch the shit, give it away for people to heat their homes, sell it overseas, or simply stop the growing of pines for profit.
But above all, i would like to people to admit that slash is an environmental man made disaster that seemingly is harder fix then just killing cows/sheep or other animals for their farts.
4. Friends have finally been able to contact us. Thankfully.
Have you got alink about this burning of slash being forbidden.
The only time I have seen/heard of any restrictions was after the forests had been clear felled and the remaining left overs piled and burnt. But that was not a forbidden act more of a waiting for proper condtions requirement.
Slash usually comes from pruning. From very early times in the growth cycle the trees are pruned and instead of removing the prunings, as home gardeners/orchardists do, the prunings are left around the tree on the ground. Then next pruning the same. And so it goes on.
I cannot remember any time when pruners removed the slash from around the growing trees to an area and then burned these.
So when you get to harvest, not only do you have the leftovers from the actual felling but 30 or so years of prunings that may or may not have decomposed.
What I do remember is that recently foresters have resisted any moves from home firewood gatherers to remove material suitable for burning. I know there are H & S fears, but these could be worked through.
In the 'olden days' prior to neo lib selling off of Forests, in some communities Service Clubs removed at harvest waste, cut it and distributed it for free or $$$$. Or SC hosted days and supervised those private people wanting to gather firewood.
Some of the slash is in areas away from areas of greatest need for firewood.
You can burn – controlled fires that is, with the correct permits. But forestry slash is a different beast. And what ever tinkering happened the last time was just that tinkering.
…i am not happy with the Greens and the Labour Party…
Seriously this shit has gotten old.
No-one is getting any younger, but the idea of an effective tax on wealth will never get old, at least for me.
Petition request (petition opened yesterday, closes 17 March)
That the House of Representatives pass legislation requiring forestry companies to pay for damage from slash.
Has 8 (make that 10) signatures so far – I’ve just signed.
who cares. Dude. I am not happy with any of the Parties atm. Non of them are doing the work that needs to be done. Some tinkering on the fringes were the fraying is obvious.
I would like to see free public transport. I would like to see trains. I would like to see houses build for rent. I would like to see communities be created preferably not in flood plains. I would like to see GST removed from food. I would like to see the first 25 grand to be tax free – this would also benefit anyone who is on a fixed income / benefit. I would like to see smaller community clinics being build, student loans removed from healthcare / well fare jobs.
And here we are 2023 and we know that house prices are going to go up again, food prices will go up – shortages are mostly assured given the distruction in our food growing areas, people will lose their houses but the mortgage will still need to be serviced.
Well tell them to get on with it, as we now have pictures full of damage and harm done by not regulating the forestry industry when burning slash was verboten.
I am intrigued. Perhaps you'd care to point out where and when the central government stopped the forestry industry burning slash?
I had thought that this was a council issue and fire service issue.
That the reason that forestry had been prevented from burning was because their neighbours thought it was a really bad idea. Both because of the smoke and that the forestry companies causing wildfires. It made it hard to get permits to burn from councils and fire service.
Yet somehow you seem to be in the grip of absolute knowledge that the Greens and Labour legislated against it.
But I'd have expected that would show up in this forest practice guide on slash. On burning it says (and I have pointed out the relevant requirement in bold). All pretty sensible limits about doing slash burns.
Burning
6. Burning can be an effective option to reduce the amount of slash in a birds nest. The processing slash can sometimes burn for weeks which can pose a severe fire risk in dry or windy conditions. Burning debris can also roll downslope creating a risk of starting fires. High levels of fire supervision and resourcing are required when burning processing slash.
7. Seek specialist advice if you wish to use burning as a slash management technique.
8. Have a fire permit if required, a Burn Plan and Fire Control Plan, and follow all local fire authority requirements. Check the relevant council’s air plan and forest insurance requirements and consider any ecological implications.
9. Ensure designated areas of protected vegetation are protected from burning. Consider over-sowing burnt areas to reduce the risk of surface erosion.
The fire service says in the section about "Farms, rural properties and rural businesses"…
Regional councils may require resource consents for open burning on commercial and industrial sites. Please check your regional council requirements.
Not a word about central government or legislation beyond the duty of councils. In fact the most interesting thing was the issues about getting insurance when lighting fires on forestry or farming land to indemnify against burning their neighbours. Also an issue for councils.
In these forestry regions councils aren’t exactly stuffed with Greens or Labour councillers.
Perhaps you're merely delusional and determined to blame the wrong people? Or just full of self-righteous bullshit.
Green Party spokeswoman Eugenie Sage said forestry was an important industry to the East Coast but could not continue the way it had.
“They are externalising the impacts of the industry onto the local environment and local people.”
The industry has said that it has changed practices since 2018 when heavy rain and flooding in Tolaga Bay left tonnes of forestry debris strewn across farms, resulting in multiple prosecutions.
But Sage said it was clear more needed to be done.
Along with a community-initiated review, Sage said the Government needed to tighten the current national environmental standards for plantation forestry.
She said a levy should be explored along with an end to clearing entire forests during harvest. Given the economic impacts of any changes, Sage said a “just transition” needed to be supported and smaller councils such as Gisborne District Council also needed more support to monitor the industry.
“They are a small council with a small rates base. They only have two compliance officers but thousands of hectares of forestry to monitor.
then hire some more compliance offers to monitor the thousands of unmonitored hectares of foresty areas. It will save houses, lifes and bridges.
What is cheaper?
Yes, that's what the Greens are advocating in that quote. Did you read it? Those hiring decisions are the responsibility of the underfunded Gisborne District Council, not the Greens, funny that.
The industry has said that it has changed practices since 2018 when heavy rain and flooding in Tolaga Bay left tonnes of forestry debris strewn across farms, resulting in multiple prosecutions.
The problem is that slash usually takes many decades to decompose. We had wood piles on the farm that we chopped out in the 70s that were still not decomposed by the early 2000s. That wasn't even fullgrown trees. It was just scrub bush – mostly wilding pines. The piles just got overgrown and decomposed only at the bottom.
Forestry would need to bury it, chip it, or move it offsite. All of which are expenses. For decades they mostly just left it onsite in piles, often on steep hillsides or probably in gullies.
Still accumulated there decades later unless it got a good solid storm.
regenerative forestry would treat it as a resource. One potential is to use hugelkultur. Scaling this up would be dependent on the location and a matter of design.
Mounding is fine on flat country, most of the forestry on East Coast isn't, and a lot is very steep. This makes it very difficult and expensive to harvest to start with, let alone deal with the slash.
Coming up with a mechanism to restrict harvesting to flatter sites will be tricky, forest owners would have had an expectation of a return, so will want compensation. Best alternative would be to make forest owners responsible for their waste.
Surely there must be some grounds under the RMA to prosecute, or even a civil case by insurers.
definitely needs to be regulated, and the power and will to enforce the regulations.
What won't work is a national solution applied locally, there is no one size fits all. As you've said, those particular hills shouldn't be in pine anyway. But if we leave it to the forest owners, it will just be more extractive/polluting BAU, they will just pass the pollution on somewhere else in the cheapest way possible. There will be a regenerative solution that suits that place.
Don't know if they still do this, but Dunedin City Council used to give permits to locals to go in and take the useful firewood from their forests after they'd felled or pruned. Solutions like this aren't hard to design once we place other values alongside or ahead of profit. Again, this is not going to work everywhere, but these are the kinds of things we should be thinking about. Burning slash in the age of climate change should be a crime, both because of the pollution and the wasted materials/embodied energy.
Probably the easiest solution would be for the Government to buy the trees on the problem slopes to remain as a permanent forest. It wouldn't be that much, the net return on them would be marginal because they are so hard to harvest. Recovering the higher value trunks is hard enough, getting the next grade isn't economic, so there's 'slash' that would be on the trucks in easier country. Some of what's in the mess would be saleable logs elsewhere.
The other side of the coin is that harvesting the trees is jobs for local people. So will cleaning up the mess, once there's a way of paying for it.
Thus completing the cycle at NZ taxpayers expense from
1 owned by NZ taxpayer through NZFS. Forests built up by funded provided by NZ Govt/taxpayer
2 neo lib experiments especially 'selling the family silver'
3 cutting rights sold at bargain basement prices to mainly overseas firms at a cost to NZ taxpayer
Now – suggestion is cutting rights are purchased back.
4 Cutting rights purchased back at a cost to NZ taxpayer/NZ Govt
5 land is restabilised/retired/replanted etc at a cost to MZ taxpayer/NZ Govt
When will the madness that was neo lib and small Government ever end?
Then there are the costs both inside and ouside the Forestry industry that have happened while we participated in the neo lib experiement.
a whole communities that supplied the labour to these forests wiped out, in more ways than one, as owners flew in pruning crews from around NZ thus severing the local connection with these forests.
b costs met by the community/taxpayer in damage to roads by logging trucks
c mud and localised floods
d still selling commodities (logs) overseas and very little processing into more valuable products in NZ and thus no employment opportunities.
and so it goes on.
There is a lot of myth making and ‘woe is us’ from forestry owners. I have covered some of this further down thread.
before buying anything we need to sharpen up the people’s side of the ledger as a means to derive a realistic cost.
I may be wrong, though I doubt it, but my view is that the extraction methods used up the coast and Northern HB may not have met the commonly applied best practice extractions for sensitive land. These extractors I feel use the iron fist.
And lets read Arkie’s link also below from Dame Anne Salmond on the makeup of slash.
Forestry cadets in tune with Graeme's local suggestion is another winning idea.
As an aside, for fireworks, the soft woods- pinus radiata and willow for example, make fast, hot black powder, while hard woods make slower longer burning black powder.
THE #CHARCOAL | Hilario Artigas, a resident of #Agüero (#Huesca), was a great rural wise man, knowledgeable about many of the techniques necessary to take advantage of the resources of the #mountain. One of the many trades that we were able to recover with him in our documentaries was that of charcoal burner. In 1999 we were with him to see what this job of transforming #holm oak #firewood into #charcoal was like.
btw, Eugenio Monesma's Lost Trades is an absolute gold mine.
Rents continue to climb to record highs while the supply continues to increase:
Rent in Aotearoa is at an all-time high, with the national median weekly rent reaching $595 in January, according to the latest Trade Me Property data.
Following three stagnant months when the national median weekly rent remained at $580, rent jumped 4% or $25 a week in January when compared to the same month last year.
Trade Me Property sales director Gavin Lloyd said the jump would be “unpleasant news” for renters.
…
The number of rental listings nationwide increased by 1% year-on-year in January and marked 10 consecutive months of supply jumps.
Nearly every region had an increase in listings when compared with January 2022, but the biggest were seen in the lower North Island, where rental listings were up 52% in Manawatū/Whanganui and 40% in Wellington.
Gonna get worse. the country lost a huge amount of houses, and has neither the skill nor the material so rebuild fast and efficient. Never mind the closure of Marsden Point and the washed away roads.
Our issue in NZ is really that no one does risk assessment and forecasts. The what if road is taken by no one it seems.
But on the bright side, house prices will go up again, after all we just lost a huge amount of them. s/
Or in this case the issue is landlords profit-seeking to the detriment of those trapped in the rental market, those who are feeling the effects of the increasing inequality in our society most keenly. It is long past time for rent controls.
And when during those last 20 years were the Greens the government? Lets assign blame as it is appropriate, those that led the government during that time; the big two.
"Or in this case the issue is landlords profit-seeking to the detriment of those trapped in the rental market,"
Is it the issue? Or a politically expedient "issue" that directs focus away from successive and continuing government failings in addressing the housing crisis?
Or is it both? At the same time? I'm just asking questions?
My post was about the disconnect between housing supply and rental demand and rental costs. Continuous rental price increases is profit-seeking, and renters don’t have the luxury of waiting for prices to fall of their own volition. Controls are a way to protect those least able to weather the rising ‘inflation’ of prices, those on the lowest incomes.
@arkie, this movement assumes that ALL landlords make huge profits on their rentals, which may be true for some, but not for all. There are a myriad contributors to housing unaffordability in our country, but let's just look at one in regards to the increasing cost of rent: banks.
Since, October 2021, landlords (unlike any other business) are unable to include the mortgage interest on their rentals. It may be a surprise to some, that a foreseeable effect of that is that landlords would then raise rents. (In actual fact it was so foreseeable, that in 2020 rental rules were introduced that tried to limit that business response to increased costs/reduced income)
This approach protected the ones that have made the most profits from the housing crisis – the banks. The banks are also the ones that create rules that give them the least exposure while their profits soar. They do not have to concern themselves with the rising costs of maintenance, rates or insurance. They just have to demand that insurance is taken – to protect their profitability.
There has been no credible attempt to address bank profits as a driver of housing unaffordability.
As successive governments fail to deliver affordable housing, they do invariably consistently attempt to politically demonise the private providers of housing (simultaneously ignoring/rejoicing in the fact that private provision allows them to kick their responsibilities further down the road).
This is a landlord's self-assessment. Is it an investment or are you ‘providing’ housing? Can't be both. A charitable housing trust provides housing, private landlords hoard houses. If landlords want to 'provide housing' then they can register as non-profits, otherwise they are profit-seeking investments.
A landlord provides housing like a scalper provides tickets
Landlords have said they would raise rents because they would have costs meeting a higher housing standard. Not all landlords were in this position.
Some of those with mortgages on their property say they will raise rent because they are beginning to lose (phase out) mortgage deductibility. Not all landlords are in this position.
The changes will raise the quality of our housing stock and reduce the presence of those speculating in property with borrowed money.
The changes are designed to reduce property values and increase home ownership.
Windfall profit seeking during a shortage results in either taxation or price/rent control.
The tax changes are of a design to move investment into new building, where the extra money is useful, not bidding up the value of existing property and reducing the level of home ownership.
This is a fascinating read and a warning how Woke politics tends towards eating it's own.
" This might be just another lament about “woke” campus culture, and the loss of traditional educational virtues. But the seminar topic was “Race and the Limits of Law in America.” Four of the 6 weeks were focused on anti-black racism (the other two were on anti-immigrant and anti-indigenous racism). I am a black professor, I directed my university’s black-studies program, I lead anti-racism and transformative-justice workshops, and I have published books on anti-black racism and prison abolition. I live in a predominantly black neighborhood of Philadelphia, my daughter went to an Afrocentric school, and I am on the board of our local black cultural organization.
Like others on the left, I had been dismissive of criticisms of the current discourse on race in the United States. But now my thoughts turned to that moment in the 1970s when leftist organizations imploded, the need to match and raise the militancy of one’s comrades leading to a toxic culture filled with dogmatism and disillusion. How did this happen to a group of bright-eyed high school students?"
Good article. The Telluride Association had a deserved reputation for quality education.
I looked at Deep Springs College a few years back, (they have a list of well-known alumni).
Interesting collaborative approach to management and curriculum, which worked for decades.
Failure to value critical thinking in such processes has led to the equivalent of an authoritarian wolf in progressive clothing, taking control of the flock.
Apparently, this is based on US intelligence, which has proved to be fairly accurate. And calling the Chinese out is seen as a warning shot that severe sanctions will be imposed if China takes that step.
Zeihan argues that one of the first sanctions would likely be to lock the Chinese out of the US dollar. This would have severe implications for the Chinese, as, according to Zeihan, they are a voracious user of the US currency.
If that were to happen there could be major implications for us, given that exports to China are 21 billion, more than double our next largest trading partner, Australia.
Firstly, we may have pressure put on us to impose trade sanctions on China. But, more importantly, it may well affect the ability of our customers in China to pay for what they import from us.
Damn – got the word. Car written off from flooding in the cyclone 3 odd weeks ago. The carpets got wet.
It got water in the carpets and the underlay. Quoted $1500 to lift, dehumidify, and replace – but with a risk level for the insurers. Car is insured for under $10k.
Looking for another Honda Fit RS hybrid – mostly used for a fortnightly trip to Hamilton. But I may pay a bit more and get a more slightly more recent one.
Damn, even with the low ~5000 km over the last 18 months, I really enjoyed that car. Far more so than the similarly underutilised 2005 Caldina because I didn't have to squeeze into the door and headroom.
take the money from insurance co, buy yr car back cheap, dry yr carpets , change yr insurance to third party($130 approx), and drive on..if you like the car and use it sparingly, its the sensible option.
The carpet on my car got wet on one side – dodgy door seal – parked on a slope and driving rain. I just left the windows open when driving, and when parked outside my house in the sunshine. It has all dried out OK. The car is 16 years old and I am not planning on keeping it for more than another year so I have not bothered claiming on it.
use lemons to reduce the smell of damp carpets. sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, let it dry, then vacuum. fun fact, cars are waterproof .dont buy into the myth that you have to throw them away so quickly. if yr car is worth less than 5-6 grand , full insurance is a rort. with (rising)premiums and (rising) excesses, you have to have a claim over 2 grand to break even.go 3rd party.
It seems as though this has become the default position for insurers – with water damage. Since they can't be sure that there isn't associated electrical damage as well.
Coincidentally, I had this brought to my attention by a friend in the UK – whose Tesla was involved in a relatively minor nose-to-tail accident (they were the meat in the sandwich). And, despite what looked like relatively minor damage to bumpers and crumple zone on the boot – the car was completely written off by the insurer.
It seems to be a combination of the Tesla supply chain for parts – and the heavily plastic/light-weight construction of EV – which results in 'replace' rather than 'repair' being the default option.
Did a quick look around, and it seems to be worldwide (so not just a thing in the UK)
Probably they'd auction it and get say half of the insured value. Someone will pick it up as -is-where-is as a flood damaged car. So say $5k.
The nett loss to insurance is $10k -$5k – 0.5k = $4.5k.
The alternate is that they have a nett loss of $2k to fix (1.5k – 0.5k excess + $1k of admin and legal expenses). The overhead of running a claim is pretty high. You're organising everything dealing with repairer, the client, the auditors, and god only knows who else.
However you can't know what other damage there is.
Say that there is a 50% chance that an extra $1k of damages show up to fix some electrics or the aircond. So that is another $2k costs ($1k for repair, $1k for admin). You're now looking at a nett loss of $4k to insurer.
Now it only requires one more little thing and it is a nett loss.
And that is just the direct costs. Having expensive people and systems dealing with your claim for a second hand 10yo car might mean that the insurer screws up on a much larger claim – say a 60k new car with wet carpets.
It is cheaper for them with the risks to write the car off.
Unfortunately for me, that means I now have to spend time organising finance for another car – and I hate dealing with banks. But who knows when the insurer will cough up, and running without a car is fraught with problems.
I'm working in Hamilton today – have taken my partners usual car. If she has a working need for a car, then she is going to be using a uber or a scooter. Sure 95% of the time we only need one vehicle. I ride a bike, my partner often just walks.
But when we do overlap on time dependent stuff – well this is Auckland. For instance it gets really hard to get to PBTech for that bit of hardware that is only available at Glenfield – to get The Standard back up. Which has happened – I once had motherboard network ship failure. Which is why TS now has 3 separate network chips and 6 ethernet ports (and why I have a spare server level box that I use as a workstation for a swap).
Takes about 40 minutes round trip in a car. Takes 2-2.5 hours in a bus. And that includes me walking about 2km on my crippling arthritic big toe.
And then I have to deal with used car sales people. Pleasant folk who like expending my time .
For those interested in a solution to our forestry slash problem, one of our leading forestry experts, David Norton has an article in the conversation:
These ultimate causes are complex but primarily revolve around historic poor land management decision-making and human-induced climate change.
Among the key drivers of the current problems in Tairāwhiti are the large areas of exotic tree plantations that were established with government support after the devastation of Cyclone Bola.
But this devastation also reflects earlier poor land management decisions to clear native forest off steep, erodible hill country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which was also encouraged by the government of the day.
I just wanted to take issue with a small part of the attachment. The author seems to think that the forestry only really started after Cyclone Bola. There was forestry planted for Soil conservation (Soilcon) works near Ruatoria, Mangatu (huge plantings from the late 1950s/early 1960s to counter the massive flooding of the flats out of Gisborne by the Mangatu River), then moving south the Wharerata forests and Patunamu, south to Mohaka, around Tangoio and the Devil's Elbow.
All planted before 1987-1990 the time of the asset sales.
It was these forests that were parcelled off and sold to (mainly) overseas interests for cutting rights. Undoubtedly companies have added to the land that they acquired in late 1980s/early 1990s. They may be onto a second rotation cutting on some areas.
It was of concern to some that land that was growing good trees because of stewardship from NZFS (govt) was only in NZFS ownership because the trees were a first line attempt to stop the land from slipping away to the sea. NZFS were good at managing forestry regimes.
At the time they were planted it was not really envisaged what future felling regimes would look like. Later before the asset sale NZFS had developed expertise in selective and careful logging on soilcon areas. There was a recognition that these were not to be treated like regular commercial forests.
Such nuances were lost in the division into land that was conservation only, or commercial only. No land could be mixed use these were Treasury and SOE driven divisions.
So there are, to my view, some areas planted in trees that should have been treated for their highest and best use and that was being managed as a soilcon resource. It should not have been subject to the rigours of a logging regime over huge blocks.
I am not sure what, if any knowledge the new owners of the wood or the crews they flew from forest to forest to tend to the silviculture requirements, had of the history or of how to manage on 'tender' land such as this.
As an observer it has seems to have got much worse, in extraction work even allowing for climate change. The just seems to be an air of we'll carry on regardless, we'll not learn, we'll chase whatever $$$$$ we can. Some of the skidder sites further down into HB were visible from the main roads and were a real mess.
Now that we have our Census papers it is time to tell Statistics what we think of their assertion that we all have a "gendered soul".
“This new Gender category will be used as the default category for sorting all the other data – so despite also collecting data on Sex, they are absolutely desperate to know your Gender. So desperate in fact that if you don’t answer or don’t know, they will answer the question for you”.
Now that we have our Census papers it is time to tell Statistics what we think of their assertion that we all have a “gendered soul“.
Talking of souls, I'm contemplating refusing to complete the portion of the census form that deals with religious affiliation.
I am contemplating refusing to complete that portion of the Census on the grounds that I am being forced to have a political opinion.
Fortunately (for me), my sex at birth and gender are congruent (such a conformist!), and I'll be completing my census form accordingly.
Fwiw, no-one will be forced to disclose their gender in order to complete their 2023 census form. One can choose to answer the 'sex at birth' question only, and avoid the 'gender' question if unsure or uncomfortable about gender-related matters.
Gender [in 'Design of forms for the 2023 Census' – StatsNZ PDF]
Respondents must answer either this [gender] question, the sex at birth question, or both questions. They will not be able to proceed further on the online form if they have not provided a response to either the gender question or the sex at birth question.
Findings from testing
Generally, our testing found that respondents were able to work through this question accurately and without any known error. Some respondents, especially those who were older, had difficulty with the concept of gender. The most common misinterpretations were confusing gender with sex or sexual identity, or not understanding why both sex at birth and gender were being asked.
Some respondents presumed this might be because others might feel uncomfortable or sensitive when answering this question. While it was perceived as being a sensitive subject, many respondents noted the value of collecting data about gender.
their assertion that we all have a "gendered soul".
While that lines up with your opinion that having a gender different to birth sex is not real/is a belief/is like a religious faith – the concept is related to their sense of identity/a matter of their psychology/psyche/sense of self/conscious being.
The idea of a female psyche in a male body (male psyche in a female body) was mooted back in the 19th C.
I see however, no evangelism about a gendered "soul" (that survives mortal life death) as a requirement to identify as transgender (or agender, non binary, gender fluid, gender queer, etc).
And it belongs in the 19th C. You no more have a "female brain" in a male body than you have a "female kidney" in a male body. What you may have is a psychological issue where for various reasons you identify more with one set of sexist stereotypes than another. And you can identify as a cocker spaniel if you like – it does not make you one. The rest of that ideological claptrap is as made up as any other religion.
Minister Nash does little to encourage us that this Labour government is prepared to do what is necessary to deal with the slash issues:
Dame Anne Salmond has seen some actual research on what is in the forestry 'slash' bedevilling Tairāwhiti, and it doesn't bear out the forestry minister's claim
Over the past month or so, the Minister of Forestry Stuart Nash has repeatedly tried to fend off an independent inquiry into forestry slash. In the process, he has made statements that don't bear close scrutiny.
When questioned by RNZ about the devastation caused by the clear felling of pine plantations on the East Coast, for instance, he said, "My understanding is its 40 percent from harvesting operations and the rest is indigenous.” The media should be fact-checking these claims.
…
Under these tragic circumstances, it seems inexplicable that the Minister of Forestry should try to defend the indefensible, and be able to make misleading statements to that end.
What is going on with the Inter Island Ferries? Apparently only two out of six running at the moment. This is starting to make us look a bit 3rd World.
It is becoming a major issue, not only for passengers. But also freight in both directions. This could become a major hinderance to the recovery up north if goods and equipment need freighting from the South Island to the North.
And, it is a major nuisance for business. We have been told to add at least an extra week to freighting times.
Equipment failures (this has never happened before) can be inconvenient, and not a good look, but are often temporary. Maybe StraitNZ needs govt help (could cost taxpayers) – or flog off KiwiRail's Interislander?
Time to develop 'resilience strategies' to cope better with these "major nuisances"?
With small island developing states, such as those in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, depending on marine transport for their livelihood and on climate action for their resilience, the second session of the meeting will add their voice to the debate and focus on the sustainability and resilience strategies they and their international partners might adopt. https://cubic.co.nz/experts-seek-sustainability-solutions-freight-transport/
Imho it's never too late to develop Aotearoa NZ – we just need to be leery of growth.
As to the ferries not sailing, I would imagine safety would be a major influence.
Plus, it's as if truck, ferry, truck is the only way to move stuff around the shaky isles. Coastal shipping is an option. An option, that if we are serious about mitigating CO2, needs to become mainstream (boom boom).
"…I [Paul Douglas] was disconcerted to find that the economic and political conservatives had acquired almost complete dominance over my department and taught that market decisions were always right and profit values the supreme ones…"
Has anybody else noticed the media obsession with the flood issues for the elites or the upper middle class in their urban fringe lifetsyle blocks ?
'The musician’s four-bedroom $3.3 million dollar property saw water rushing through it before draining down the hill towards the ocean.
Despite being listed by homes.co.nz as being on a steep rise, the 1882m2 property still saw waters rise right up to its front door and a minor slip on the front lawn.'
The author Matthew Scott then goes on to give incorrect/misleading information about council data/maps on flood prone areas
The map shows that homeowners atop the ridge shouldn’t have to worry. Last week told those homeowners a different story.
The same council data shows that an overland flow path from the ponding area on Garden road runs right through the Finn estate. Which is exactly what occurred
An clue would be this property sits on a sand ridge behind the beach road, but the Finn home is a saddle between higher ground each side. Must have made a flatter building site and the real estate web site mentioned does show flattish lawns.
Hint , always check the overland flow paths
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
The same council data shows that an overland flow path from the ponding area on Garden road runs right through the Finn estate.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why don’t you illustrate your point with an actual image or link or something with the property in question highlighted and the overland flows shown as well?
I am amazed GWWnz that you got as much as you did from this really poorly written article from Matthew Scott.
Talk about once over lightly on the maps/geography aspect from the author, as you say.
The subject of geography often gets bad press from the purists. However any geographer and any person who observes landforms will be able to tell you that hills are not hills and flats are not flats. There are a myriad of landforms where they are mixed so we get flattened tops of hills, we get lakes on mountains, we get ponding areas and swamps on land forms that look like hills. So we get saddles between ridges and on them water drains down from the ridges on either side. All these occur naturally ie without direct human intervention.
Only a person with no geographic or map reading experience would think that living on a hill you wouldn't have to worry.
My Dad used repeat the truism 'water finds its own level' and to that I want to add that in finding its own level water finds its way back to its old levels and old patterns. It finds its way back to drained swamps, and overland flow paths. This often occurs in times of climate stress as we have just had.
I have also seen it happen in times of yore (1980s) when culverted/diverted streams just blew out and re-emerged down valleys.
Yes. Theres an existing pond -wetland behind the top of the dunes and there is a overflow point from that pond towards the beach. It goes over the dunes via a saddle that is Neil Finns place and the council GIS shows that .
often with stories about flooding slips if it interests me I look it up on google earth or my online NZ Topo maps.
In another elite centered story theres was small slip in a gully in Parnell, which from my previous work I was familiar with that area. There the claim was the council reserve ( actually overgrown low value land) had caused the slip and the story had the owner saying 'what was council going to do about it'
Of course slips are natural occurences and the owner of the land below doesnt have to do anything unless they have deliberately excavated below without retaining. Modern building codes require a building site to be stabilised before building, usually in ground piles. However this cottage seems to pre date all this.
Like flooding areas , slope stability can be ignored by buyers who dont wonder why its so cheap in this area .
Most of our work was geotechnical and a portion was in the Waitakeres. I used to say to people privately back then that if you live there start thinking of moving on.
if a cyclone hits Auckland the area is so vulnerable ( especially those on town water and sewage) as the damage will be widespread to roads and infrastructure and will mean they will be unable to move back home for months ( for some not ever).
There was old evidence of previous slips everywhere…regrowth covers it up unless you know where to look
There were places also in Karekare close to the stream…I imagine they are gone now , but the road in is virtually unusable – it was barely usable in ordinary times.
Personally I feel that place is finished as nothing is really worth rebuilding or fixing the road enough . Watch for the outcry when thats decided
The future rainfall and cyclones can only be worse
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A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Onya Jacinda. Still giving. All the Best for you and Family : )
Yes, and "Aunty" is humbly helping with the food. I thought "Go Jacinda" showing where your heart is. It makes a mockery of some statements about her and her future.
I'm pretty sure that I've figured out where the recent caching problems were coming from.
https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/about/default-cache-behavior
Changed (in the internal cacher) the site html/xml Cache-control to public and an max-age of 0.
Javascript and CSS to caching with an max-age of 600 seconds. That is simply to allow dynamic style updates to cause only short amount of confusion at the expense of a slightly slower page display.
The rest of the media and images to public with long max-age.
That seems to be working in my test cases where I could see the problem previously.
I'll check on the different desktop / mobile settings later. However I think I have added a setting to make sure that the cache is stored by device type (it was rather late/early when I did it).
Christopher Luxon, quite likely to be Prime Minister later this year, does not accept the word of the Police Commissioner.
The Commissioner provided specific factual information but the Leader of the Opposition is more prepared to accept anecdotal information off the street.
It is to his advantage to have as many upset and fearful and he'll use concern and fear about crime to paint as scary a picture about the community as possible.
Scarier than any crime in cyclone stricken regions is that anyone would so wilfully use misinformation for political ends in the circumstances. Scarier still is then expect to be seen as a leader. And scariest, that dumb arses won't have the nous to see his crap for what it is.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018878893/christopher-luxon-wants-burglary-looting-sentences-doubled
OMG, does he ever give a straight answer to any question?
Sorta wonder if there's not a bit of cover / denial of some other problems going on here. Blaming 'gangs' to cover an inflated insurance claim or omissions that led to a greater loss.
Then there's the elephant up the hill…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/484641/green-party-floats-windfall-profit-tax-to-support-cyclone-gabrielle-cleanup
Sensible proposals from the Greens
Have the Greens come up with a solution to Slash that could be regulated into law? I hear they are good at that.
Here's their Forestry policy.
The Polluter Pays principle could be applied to forestry slash.
Well tell them to get on with it, as we now have pictures full of damage and harm done by not regulating the forestry industry when burning slash was verboten.
wE could have saved some bridges and maybe prevented some of that real bad flooding. But then we are only ever living in the moment and forecasting is not something we do.
Btw, Slash has been a problem for years now. But surely after the windfall tax on rich people such as them will take away all problems.
Obviously it's the Greens lack of specific slash policy that has caused the long-term issue that successive governments have failed to regulate. /s
The windfall tax proposal is to fund the work needed to restore the damaged regions infrastructure, it's not trying to solve the slash problem.
Nothing the Greens can do will satisfy those who would never vote for them.
2017 we had the same problem with Cyclone/Storm Debbie and the huge floods in Edgecumbe. The Bridge at Tane Atua was almost taken out by slash, the surrounding farmlands and houses were all several meters under water. I know that cause i was there.
So yes, if you remove a way of rubbish removal but don't come up with an alternative that is legislated/regulated into law then some of the issue that arise could be called man made.
I don't fully blame the Greens for that. The Greens are the party they are. But since 2017 i do blame the Labour Party and the Green Party for the lack of regulations created to make the forestry industry safer and to provide a frame work / guidelines on how to dispose of the rubbish they leave behind after clear logging.
So i don't give a shit about their 'tax the rich' – btw, all of them are rich, crappola, but i do care about the fact that neither Labour nor the Greens are doing anything about slash.
But hey, maybe that is for the next storm.
What this proposal is for is the funding of restoration of vital services for those affected by the latest storm. The Greens have decried the lack of planning for the future for their entire existence. The Labour party has been in complete control of the legislative process since 2017, the Greens can only make proposals. But those who want to blame the Greens will continue to do so it seems.
Bruh, i don't really fucking care that you are upset that i am not happy with the Greens and the Labour Party. I really don't. No more then i care about some N or A supporter being upset that i am not happy with these two parties either.
this upsets me, the disposal of slash needs to be regulated and it should have been done when burning of slash was phased out on the grounds of the environment.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FpdjI0KaQAAC7dU?format=png&name=900×900
I mean how many more time do we need to see the same thing happening before Green supporters demand that they do better.
Oh a tax on rich people – that people like James Shaw will be able to aptly avoid cause they are a tax lawyer and they know how to avoid taxes. Seriously this shit has gotten old.
This is all a derail from my original post. It is what-about-ism.
The government needs to fund infrastructure restoration now, and getting that additional funding by a windfall tax on excess corporate profits is the proposal.
no it is not.
It is the logical extention. You remove something, and another thing will fill the voild.
so preventing forestry businesses from burning slash is good for the environment – that might very well be that way, but if no alternative is proposed for the removal of said slash what happens is that it accumulates, and eventually will become a danger.
And we have seen how destructive it is – there are enough clips about bridges being taken out and land covered in old rotting logs to make that clear.
This should have been regulated a long time ago. The last time to regulate that was in 2017. The next best time is now. I am waiting with baited breath.
This tax the rich shit is just feel good band aids. Non of the rich people will pay these taxes as they already have structured their income streams so as to avoid paying any meaningful taxes.
Have a chat with James Shaw about that. They are an accountant and thus are knowlegable about such things. Also if you google rich paying taxes on only the first 70 grand you will find articles going back years stating that rich don't pay taxes. So that is just a feel good, look we are doing stuff window dressing.
Never mind that Labour had a chance of doing so a few years back and all we got was a wee feel good extra tax bracket that literally brings pennies in. Timid, fake, band aid solution that makes people think stuff is being done. Not.
ditto for the freeze the rent cries. Unless you properly regulate the rental market you will always have rents increasing. Why? cost increase, renting is a business and businesses must bring profit. Unless the government starts building to rent in large numbers we will always have a housing crisis.
So you regulate the rental market. Freezing the rent will achieve nothing more then at the very best a bit of relieve on the treasury as the accomodation benefits will not be needed to be increased. And the accomodation benefit is a direct benefit tot he landlord. Might that have something to do with the ever increasing rents? Oh, lets not think that. ey?
We need a government that has the guts to regulate industries. And sadly we don't have that.
So slash will take out communities/bridges/roads every other year, and house prices will go up when housing stock goes down, and rents will go up as housing stock goes down.
Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat. Rinse repeat. Until we finally elects some people with guts.
More a specifics issue.
The slash problem – and foreseeable increase in damage it causes in foreseeable increases in violent and sudden weather events, is something that can be focused on that will produce immense benefits going forward.
Members of the public only need to view some of the images and videos to understand how we all bear the cost of the slash issue not being prioritised:
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/02/14/watch-bridges-around-north-island-destroyed-by-raging-floodwaters/
And that is because we keep electing Labour governments and then blame the Greens for Labours timidity.
You do you though.
sorry James Shaw is an Accountant, that too makes them qualified enough to not pay the taxes that they are advocating for.
are you suggesting that James Shaw will use his skills to avoid paying tax? What evidence do you have for that?
It's irrelevant because the proposal is for a company windfall tax, it's right there in the quote of my original post. It's not a proposed tax on individuals.
I don't suggest that James Shaw will use his skills, i suggest that his tax accountant will, and if his tax accountant does not so James Shaw should fire him for not doing his job.
I suggest that some people might ask James Shaw on his opinion on that as an Accountant. If anyone knows the system he does. James Shaw will know how to structure financial affairs in a manner that will result in paying the least amount of tax possible, and i would go so far as saying that everyone currently, and past, in parliament will do exactly the same.
Fwiw, every person in that income class will have an accountant that will do their darnest to avoid his client to pay taxes.
I think this says more about your world view than anything.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/131005019/wealthy-donors-set-national-and-act-up-for-election-year
Afaik, all the Green MPs tithe part of their salary to the party. I’m pointing this out because not all people on high salaries are greedy in the say you are saying.
Hey Sabine, how are things in your neck of the woods?
re the politics, three things.
1. the Greens don't have a magic wand. The idea that they are responsible for legislation since 2017 is just wrong. Labour/NZF were the govt in 2017, Labour in 2020. In order for the Greens to have more influence to pass legislation they need more MPs, which means more party votes.
2. the Greens have limited resources because they have 10 MPs. I agree how they prioritise those resources is a matter of public interest, but it's also up to the party and membership.
3. please explain why legislation around slash should take precedent over regen forestry or taxing to help with post-flood recovery/
2. I dont' actually care about the resources and such. I just expect them to put forward sensible bills.
They can be tooth and nails on Self Id, they can be tooth and nails on regulating the removal of slash.
3. We are planting trees for harvesting. For some farfetched carbon schemes that do nothing to make anything better.
In regards of the slash, maybe burning it is an option again, if all the good minds of this country can not come up with anything else.
Or else, mulch the shit, give it away for people to heat their homes, sell it overseas, or simply stop the growing of pines for profit.
But above all, i would like to people to admit that slash is an environmental man made disaster that seemingly is harder fix then just killing cows/sheep or other animals for their farts.
4. Friends have finally been able to contact us. Thankfully.
Have you got alink about this burning of slash being forbidden.
The only time I have seen/heard of any restrictions was after the forests had been clear felled and the remaining left overs piled and burnt. But that was not a forbidden act more of a waiting for proper condtions requirement.
Slash usually comes from pruning. From very early times in the growth cycle the trees are pruned and instead of removing the prunings, as home gardeners/orchardists do, the prunings are left around the tree on the ground. Then next pruning the same. And so it goes on.
I cannot remember any time when pruners removed the slash from around the growing trees to an area and then burned these.
So when you get to harvest, not only do you have the leftovers from the actual felling but 30 or so years of prunings that may or may not have decomposed.
What I do remember is that recently foresters have resisted any moves from home firewood gatherers to remove material suitable for burning. I know there are H & S fears, but these could be worked through.
In the 'olden days' prior to neo lib selling off of Forests, in some communities Service Clubs removed at harvest waste, cut it and distributed it for free or $$$$. Or SC hosted days and supervised those private people wanting to gather firewood.
Some of the slash is in areas away from areas of greatest need for firewood.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/131236979/wall-of-wood-the-trouble-with-forestry-slash
this is quite a decent article on that.
You can burn – controlled fires that is, with the correct permits. But forestry slash is a different beast. And what ever tinkering happened the last time was just that tinkering.
this is what the fire services say.
https://docs.nzfoa.org.nz/site/assets/files/1509/6-1_harvest-slash_managing-processing-slash-on-landings-2-0.pdf
It is a mess. And btw, dangerous to fire fighters too.
No-one is getting any younger, but the idea of an effective tax on wealth will never get old, at least for me.
Has 8 (make that 10) signatures so far – I’ve just signed.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2301/S00010/eds-calls-for-formal-inquiry-into-forestry-practices-following-east-coast-disaster.htm
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2212/S00173/ernslaw-to-pay-225000-fifth-forestry-company-fined.htm
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130759618/the-resource-management-act-rewrite-is-heading-for-an-iceberg
who cares. Dude. I am not happy with any of the Parties atm. Non of them are doing the work that needs to be done. Some tinkering on the fringes were the fraying is obvious.
I would like to see free public transport. I would like to see trains. I would like to see houses build for rent. I would like to see communities be created preferably not in flood plains. I would like to see GST removed from food. I would like to see the first 25 grand to be tax free – this would also benefit anyone who is on a fixed income / benefit. I would like to see smaller community clinics being build, student loans removed from healthcare / well fare jobs.
And here we are 2023 and we know that house prices are going to go up again, food prices will go up – shortages are mostly assured given the distruction in our food growing areas, people will lose their houses but the mortgage will still need to be serviced.
And so on and so forth.
You are correct. I am so over this.
We both care enough to comment here, and I would like to see what you would "like to see" @11:21 am.
Civilisation is fundamentally buggered, a victim of its own 'success', and yet my irrational hopes and dreams are a comfort.
I am intrigued. Perhaps you'd care to point out where and when the central government stopped the forestry industry burning slash?
I had thought that this was a council issue and fire service issue.
That the reason that forestry had been prevented from burning was because their neighbours thought it was a really bad idea. Both because of the smoke and that the forestry companies causing wildfires. It made it hard to get permits to burn from councils and fire service.
Yet somehow you seem to be in the grip of absolute knowledge that the Greens and Labour legislated against it.
But I'd have expected that would show up in this forest practice guide on slash. On burning it says (and I have pointed out the relevant requirement in bold). All pretty sensible limits about doing slash burns.
The fire service says in the section about "Farms, rural properties and rural businesses"…
Not a word about central government or legislation beyond the duty of councils. In fact the most interesting thing was the issues about getting insurance when lighting fires on forestry or farming land to indemnify against burning their neighbours. Also an issue for councils.
In these forestry regions councils aren’t exactly stuffed with Greens or Labour councillers.
Perhaps you're merely delusional and determined to blame the wrong people? Or just full of self-righteous bullshit.
yes, yr last two sentences nails it lprent. fun fact, bitter, bile filled people give off far more heat when burnt.
Why won't the Greens do something about slash! /s
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/cyclone-gabrielle-political-consensus-builds-for-review-into-forestry-slash/CHFOETNYFJDBNIGG7TSFQ5F3QU/
then hire some more compliance offers to monitor the thousands of unmonitored hectares of foresty areas. It will save houses, lifes and bridges.
What is cheaper?
Yes, that's what the Greens are advocating in that quote. Did you read it? Those hiring decisions are the responsibility of the underfunded Gisborne District Council, not the Greens, funny that.
The problem is that slash usually takes many decades to decompose. We had wood piles on the farm that we chopped out in the 70s that were still not decomposed by the early 2000s. That wasn't even fullgrown trees. It was just scrub bush – mostly wilding pines. The piles just got overgrown and decomposed only at the bottom.
Forestry would need to bury it, chip it, or move it offsite. All of which are expenses. For decades they mostly just left it onsite in piles, often on steep hillsides or probably in gullies.
Still accumulated there decades later unless it got a good solid storm.
regenerative forestry would treat it as a resource. One potential is to use hugelkultur. Scaling this up would be dependent on the location and a matter of design.
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1628169992712904704
Mounding is fine on flat country, most of the forestry on East Coast isn't, and a lot is very steep. This makes it very difficult and expensive to harvest to start with, let alone deal with the slash.
Coming up with a mechanism to restrict harvesting to flatter sites will be tricky, forest owners would have had an expectation of a return, so will want compensation. Best alternative would be to make forest owners responsible for their waste.
Surely there must be some grounds under the RMA to prosecute, or even a civil case by insurers.
definitely needs to be regulated, and the power and will to enforce the regulations.
What won't work is a national solution applied locally, there is no one size fits all. As you've said, those particular hills shouldn't be in pine anyway. But if we leave it to the forest owners, it will just be more extractive/polluting BAU, they will just pass the pollution on somewhere else in the cheapest way possible. There will be a regenerative solution that suits that place.
Don't know if they still do this, but Dunedin City Council used to give permits to locals to go in and take the useful firewood from their forests after they'd felled or pruned. Solutions like this aren't hard to design once we place other values alongside or ahead of profit. Again, this is not going to work everywhere, but these are the kinds of things we should be thinking about. Burning slash in the age of climate change should be a crime, both because of the pollution and the wasted materials/embodied energy.
Probably the easiest solution would be for the Government to buy the trees on the problem slopes to remain as a permanent forest. It wouldn't be that much, the net return on them would be marginal because they are so hard to harvest. Recovering the higher value trunks is hard enough, getting the next grade isn't economic, so there's 'slash' that would be on the trucks in easier country. Some of what's in the mess would be saleable logs elsewhere.
The other side of the coin is that harvesting the trees is jobs for local people. So will cleaning up the mess, once there's a way of paying for it.
that's a really good solution. Transition them to permanent mixed species forests to increase biodiversity and stability. That's the jobs.
Thus completing the cycle at NZ taxpayers expense from
1 owned by NZ taxpayer through NZFS. Forests built up by funded provided by NZ Govt/taxpayer
2 neo lib experiments especially 'selling the family silver'
3 cutting rights sold at bargain basement prices to mainly overseas firms at a cost to NZ taxpayer
Now – suggestion is cutting rights are purchased back.
4 Cutting rights purchased back at a cost to NZ taxpayer/NZ Govt
5 land is restabilised/retired/replanted etc at a cost to MZ taxpayer/NZ Govt
When will the madness that was neo lib and small Government ever end?
Then there are the costs both inside and ouside the Forestry industry that have happened while we participated in the neo lib experiement.
a whole communities that supplied the labour to these forests wiped out, in more ways than one, as owners flew in pruning crews from around NZ thus severing the local connection with these forests.
b costs met by the community/taxpayer in damage to roads by logging trucks
c mud and localised floods
d still selling commodities (logs) overseas and very little processing into more valuable products in NZ and thus no employment opportunities.
and so it goes on.
There is a lot of myth making and ‘woe is us’ from forestry owners. I have covered some of this further down thread.
before buying anything we need to sharpen up the people’s side of the ledger as a means to derive a realistic cost.
I may be wrong, though I doubt it, but my view is that the extraction methods used up the coast and Northern HB may not have met the commonly applied best practice extractions for sensitive land. These extractors I feel use the iron fist.
And lets read Arkie’s link also below from Dame Anne Salmond on the makeup of slash.
Another solution to work alongside of the hugelkultur is (reaches over and puts on a scratched record) biochar.
Mobile retorts moved to where the waste is. Charcoal, pyroligneous acid, (wood vinegar) creosote and wood gas are the by-products.
Here is an example:
We can make a scaled up one here either a tweaked version or manufacture under licence.
FWIW this is the one I want to build here, at home.
nice one! What would we do with those (by)products at the amount being produced?
Does pine make decent biochar?
Pine, yes. It's carbon.
Forestry cadets in tune with Graeme's local suggestion is another winning idea.
As an aside, for fireworks, the soft woods- pinus radiata and willow for example, make fast, hot black powder, while hard woods make slower longer burning black powder.
I forgot to mention wood vinegar's many uses.
A feriliser, insecticide, aids seed germination, repels birds…
This is a sales pitch but still informative.
Who needs a barbecue/smoker.
THE #CHARCOAL | Hilario Artigas, a resident of #Agüero (#Huesca), was a great rural wise man, knowledgeable about many of the techniques necessary to take advantage of the resources of the #mountain. One of the many trades that we were able to recover with him in our documentaries was that of charcoal burner. In 1999 we were with him to see what this job of transforming #holm oak #firewood into #charcoal was like.
btw, Eugenio Monesma's Lost Trades is an absolute gold mine.
https://www.youtube.com/c/eugeniomonesma
NZ example, with involvement from Professor Huhana Smith – was covered on RNZ a week-or-so ago.
Using biochar for art and also as land restoration – and especially filtering contaminants out of streams.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018877322/prof-huhana-smith-using-biochar-to-restore-whenua
Not on a commercial scale (or at least not yet) – but a fascinating take on the topic.
I loved the kiln – suitable for small scale – and a beautiful thing in itself.
https://www.drawingopen.com/blog/2021/5/10/kuku-biochar-project
https://twitter.com/NZGreens/status/1628173924398956549
Seemingly too wild for some.
Rents continue to climb to record highs while the supply continues to increase:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/131286094/rents-start-the-year-at-a-record-high-trade-me-says
Rent freeze now
Gonna get worse. the country lost a huge amount of houses, and has neither the skill nor the material so rebuild fast and efficient. Never mind the closure of Marsden Point and the washed away roads.
Our issue in NZ is really that no one does risk assessment and forecasts. The what if road is taken by no one it seems.
But on the bright side, house prices will go up again, after all we just lost a huge amount of them. s/
Or in this case the issue is landlords profit-seeking to the detriment of those trapped in the rental market, those who are feeling the effects of the increasing inequality in our society most keenly. It is long past time for rent controls.
like we need controls on how to remove slash. lol.
Multiple things need to happen, it's almost as if it's not dichotomy, lol.
been needing to happen for the last 20 years, yet here we are and we are learning that we got fuck all done.
And when during those last 20 years were the Greens the government? Lets assign blame as it is appropriate, those that led the government during that time; the big two.
Easy solution – vote Natz or Act.
A sure way to make all the problems get much worse! Heigh ho!
or don't vote at all! best of neither worlds.
"Or in this case the issue is landlords profit-seeking to the detriment of those trapped in the rental market,"
Is it the issue? Or a politically expedient "issue" that directs focus away from successive and continuing government failings in addressing the housing crisis?
Or is it both? At the same time? I'm just asking questions?
My post was about the disconnect between housing supply and rental demand and rental costs. Continuous rental price increases is profit-seeking, and renters don’t have the luxury of waiting for prices to fall of their own volition. Controls are a way to protect those least able to weather the rising ‘inflation’ of prices, those on the lowest incomes.
Rent controls now!
https://rentersunited.org.nz/rentcontrolsnow/
@arkie, this movement assumes that ALL landlords make huge profits on their rentals, which may be true for some, but not for all. There are a myriad contributors to housing unaffordability in our country, but let's just look at one in regards to the increasing cost of rent: banks.
Since, October 2021, landlords (unlike any other business) are unable to include the mortgage interest on their rentals. It may be a surprise to some, that a foreseeable effect of that is that landlords would then raise rents. (In actual fact it was so foreseeable, that in 2020 rental rules were introduced that tried to limit that business response to increased costs/reduced income)
This approach protected the ones that have made the most profits from the housing crisis – the banks. The banks are also the ones that create rules that give them the least exposure while their profits soar. They do not have to concern themselves with the rising costs of maintenance, rates or insurance. They just have to demand that insurance is taken – to protect their profitability.
There has been no credible attempt to address bank profits as a driver of housing unaffordability.
As successive governments fail to deliver affordable housing, they do invariably consistently attempt to politically demonise the private providers of housing (simultaneously ignoring/rejoicing in the fact that private provision allows them to kick their responsibilities further down the road).
This is a landlord's self-assessment. Is it an investment or are you ‘providing’ housing? Can't be both. A charitable housing trust provides housing, private landlords hoard houses. If landlords want to 'provide housing' then they can register as non-profits, otherwise they are profit-seeking investments.
A landlord provides housing like a scalper provides tickets
Lest we forget that a few landLords are mega 'providers'.
Rents are a function of a market.
Landlords have said they would raise rents because they would have costs meeting a higher housing standard. Not all landlords were in this position.
Some of those with mortgages on their property say they will raise rent because they are beginning to lose (phase out) mortgage deductibility. Not all landlords are in this position.
The changes will raise the quality of our housing stock and reduce the presence of those speculating in property with borrowed money.
The changes are designed to reduce property values and increase home ownership.
Windfall profit seeking during a shortage results in either taxation or price/rent control.
The tax changes are of a design to move investment into new building, where the extra money is useful, not bidding up the value of existing property and reducing the level of home ownership.
This is a fascinating read and a warning how Woke politics tends towards eating it's own.
" This might be just another lament about “woke” campus culture, and the loss of traditional educational virtues. But the seminar topic was “Race and the Limits of Law in America.” Four of the 6 weeks were focused on anti-black racism (the other two were on anti-immigrant and anti-indigenous racism). I am a black professor, I directed my university’s black-studies program, I lead anti-racism and transformative-justice workshops, and I have published books on anti-black racism and prison abolition. I live in a predominantly black neighborhood of Philadelphia, my daughter went to an Afrocentric school, and I am on the board of our local black cultural organization.
Like others on the left, I had been dismissive of criticisms of the current discourse on race in the United States. But now my thoughts turned to that moment in the 1970s when leftist organizations imploded, the need to match and raise the militancy of one’s comrades leading to a toxic culture filled with dogmatism and disillusion. How did this happen to a group of bright-eyed high school students?"
https://www.compactmag.com/article/a-black-professor-trapped-in-anti-racist-hell
Good article. The Telluride Association had a deserved reputation for quality education.
I looked at Deep Springs College a few years back, (they have a list of well-known alumni).
Interesting collaborative approach to management and curriculum, which worked for decades.
Failure to value critical thinking in such processes has led to the equivalent of an authoritarian wolf in progressive clothing, taking control of the flock.
Here is an interesting short video from Peter Zeihan on the implications of the threat growing of US sanctions on China.
As Zeihan points out, there are implications following Blinken's recent statement alleging that the Chinese are preparing to send weapons and ammo to Russia.
Apparently, this is based on US intelligence, which has proved to be fairly accurate. And calling the Chinese out is seen as a warning shot that severe sanctions will be imposed if China takes that step.
Zeihan argues that one of the first sanctions would likely be to lock the Chinese out of the US dollar. This would have severe implications for the Chinese, as, according to Zeihan, they are a voracious user of the US currency.
If that were to happen there could be major implications for us, given that exports to China are 21 billion, more than double our next largest trading partner, Australia.
Firstly, we may have pressure put on us to impose trade sanctions on China. But, more importantly, it may well affect the ability of our customers in China to pay for what they import from us.
Interesting times.
Damn – got the word. Car written off from flooding in the cyclone 3 odd weeks ago. The carpets got wet.
It got water in the carpets and the underlay. Quoted $1500 to lift, dehumidify, and replace – but with a risk level for the insurers. Car is insured for under $10k.
Looking for another Honda Fit RS hybrid – mostly used for a fortnightly trip to Hamilton. But I may pay a bit more and get a more slightly more recent one.
Damn, even with the low ~5000 km over the last 18 months, I really enjoyed that car. Far more so than the similarly underutilised 2005 Caldina because I didn't have to squeeze into the door and headroom.
take the money from insurance co, buy yr car back cheap, dry yr carpets , change yr insurance to third party($130 approx), and drive on..if you like the car and use it sparingly, its the sensible option.
Sorry to hear that – best of luck with a replacement.
Possible the car is worth more as parts to the insurers. Also your mention of risk to the insurer flagged in the quote, they'll be wary for a reason.
I'd be taking the payout and getting as far from the flooded car as I could, urban flood water can do nasty things to cars.
The carpet on my car got wet on one side – dodgy door seal – parked on a slope and driving rain. I just left the windows open when driving, and when parked outside my house in the sunshine. It has all dried out OK. The car is 16 years old and I am not planning on keeping it for more than another year so I have not bothered claiming on it.
use lemons to reduce the smell of damp carpets. sprinkle baking soda on the carpet, let it dry, then vacuum. fun fact, cars are waterproof .dont buy into the myth that you have to throw them away so quickly. if yr car is worth less than 5-6 grand , full insurance is a rort. with (rising)premiums and (rising) excesses, you have to have a claim over 2 grand to break even.go 3rd party.
It seems as though this has become the default position for insurers – with water damage. Since they can't be sure that there isn't associated electrical damage as well.
Coincidentally, I had this brought to my attention by a friend in the UK – whose Tesla was involved in a relatively minor nose-to-tail accident (they were the meat in the sandwich). And, despite what looked like relatively minor damage to bumpers and crumple zone on the boot – the car was completely written off by the insurer.
It seems to be a combination of the Tesla supply chain for parts – and the heavily plastic/light-weight construction of EV – which results in 'replace' rather than 'repair' being the default option.
Did a quick look around, and it seems to be worldwide (so not just a thing in the UK)
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42709679/tesla-insurance-fixes-expense/
Probably they'd auction it and get say half of the insured value. Someone will pick it up as -is-where-is as a flood damaged car. So say $5k.
The nett loss to insurance is $10k -$5k – 0.5k = $4.5k.
The alternate is that they have a nett loss of $2k to fix (1.5k – 0.5k excess + $1k of admin and legal expenses). The overhead of running a claim is pretty high. You're organising everything dealing with repairer, the client, the auditors, and god only knows who else.
However you can't know what other damage there is.
Say that there is a 50% chance that an extra $1k of damages show up to fix some electrics or the aircond. So that is another $2k costs ($1k for repair, $1k for admin). You're now looking at a nett loss of $4k to insurer.
Now it only requires one more little thing and it is a nett loss.
And that is just the direct costs. Having expensive people and systems dealing with your claim for a second hand 10yo car might mean that the insurer screws up on a much larger claim – say a 60k new car with wet carpets.
It is cheaper for them with the risks to write the car off.
Unfortunately for me, that means I now have to spend time organising finance for another car – and I hate dealing with banks. But who knows when the insurer will cough up, and running without a car is fraught with problems.
I'm working in Hamilton today – have taken my partners usual car. If she has a working need for a car, then she is going to be using a uber or a scooter. Sure 95% of the time we only need one vehicle. I ride a bike, my partner often just walks.
But when we do overlap on time dependent stuff – well this is Auckland. For instance it gets really hard to get to PBTech for that bit of hardware that is only available at Glenfield – to get The Standard back up. Which has happened – I once had motherboard network ship failure. Which is why TS now has 3 separate network chips and 6 ethernet ports (and why I have a spare server level box that I use as a workstation for a swap).
Takes about 40 minutes round trip in a car. Takes 2-2.5 hours in a bus. And that includes me walking about 2km on my crippling arthritic big toe.
And then I have to deal with used car sales people. Pleasant folk who like expending my time .
For those interested in a solution to our forestry slash problem, one of our leading forestry experts, David Norton has an article in the conversation:
https://theconversation.com/we-planted-pine-in-response-to-cyclone-bola-with-devastating-consequences-it-is-now-time-to-invest-in-natives-200060
I just wanted to take issue with a small part of the attachment. The author seems to think that the forestry only really started after Cyclone Bola. There was forestry planted for Soil conservation (Soilcon) works near Ruatoria, Mangatu (huge plantings from the late 1950s/early 1960s to counter the massive flooding of the flats out of Gisborne by the Mangatu River), then moving south the Wharerata forests and Patunamu, south to Mohaka, around Tangoio and the Devil's Elbow.
All planted before 1987-1990 the time of the asset sales.
It was these forests that were parcelled off and sold to (mainly) overseas interests for cutting rights. Undoubtedly companies have added to the land that they acquired in late 1980s/early 1990s. They may be onto a second rotation cutting on some areas.
It was of concern to some that land that was growing good trees because of stewardship from NZFS (govt) was only in NZFS ownership because the trees were a first line attempt to stop the land from slipping away to the sea. NZFS were good at managing forestry regimes.
At the time they were planted it was not really envisaged what future felling regimes would look like. Later before the asset sale NZFS had developed expertise in selective and careful logging on soilcon areas. There was a recognition that these were not to be treated like regular commercial forests.
Such nuances were lost in the division into land that was conservation only, or commercial only. No land could be mixed use these were Treasury and SOE driven divisions.
So there are, to my view, some areas planted in trees that should have been treated for their highest and best use and that was being managed as a soilcon resource. It should not have been subject to the rigours of a logging regime over huge blocks.
I am not sure what, if any knowledge the new owners of the wood or the crews they flew from forest to forest to tend to the silviculture requirements, had of the history or of how to manage on 'tender' land such as this.
As an observer it has seems to have got much worse, in extraction work even allowing for climate change. The just seems to be an air of we'll carry on regardless, we'll not learn, we'll chase whatever $$$$$ we can. Some of the skidder sites further down into HB were visible from the main roads and were a real mess.
Now that we have our Census papers it is time to tell Statistics what we think of their assertion that we all have a "gendered soul".
“This new Gender category will be used as the default category for sorting all the other data – so despite also collecting data on Sex, they are absolutely desperate to know your Gender. So desperate in fact that if you don’t answer or don’t know, they will answer the question for you”.
https://www.speakupforwomen.nz/post/do-we-really-count?fbclid=IwAR0DOZM0bo3aW7bdnnog3IYPz0wkPEijrcbJ8h9SfrstJ71gB7pPq_5Cydg
I am contemplating refusing to complete that portion of the Census on the grounds that I am being forced to have a political opinion.
Talking of souls, I'm contemplating refusing to complete the portion of the census form that deals with religious affiliation.
Fortunately (for me), my sex at birth and gender are congruent (such a conformist!), and I'll be completing my census form accordingly.
Fwiw, no-one will be forced to disclose their gender in order to complete their 2023 census form. One can choose to answer the 'sex at birth' question only, and avoid the 'gender' question if unsure or uncomfortable about gender-related matters.
While that lines up with your opinion that having a gender different to birth sex is not real/is a belief/is like a religious faith – the concept is related to their sense of identity/a matter of their psychology/psyche/sense of self/conscious being.
The idea of a female psyche in a male body (male psyche in a female body) was mooted back in the 19th C.
I see however, no evangelism about a gendered "soul" (that survives mortal life death) as a requirement to identify as transgender (or agender, non binary, gender fluid, gender queer, etc).
And it belongs in the 19th C. You no more have a "female brain" in a male body than you have a "female kidney" in a male body. What you may have is a psychological issue where for various reasons you identify more with one set of sexist stereotypes than another. And you can identify as a cocker spaniel if you like – it does not make you one. The rest of that ideological claptrap is as made up as any other religion.
You and anyone else can strawman that psyche is to be equated with the physical brain, but that does not make it so.
And you and anyone can claim that they do this
but offer no evidence for it whatsoever.
And you will get called on it every time that you do.
Is anything you claimed in 10 true?
Minister Nash does little to encourage us that this Labour government is prepared to do what is necessary to deal with the slash issues:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/anne-salmond-on-slash-research
New 3 Waters meme 😀
https://twitter.com/rawiritaonui/status/1628190584203784192?s=46&t=KT133s1UWaUIazF2V5RhAQ
What is going on with the Inter Island Ferries? Apparently only two out of six running at the moment. This is starting to make us look a bit 3rd World.
It is becoming a major issue, not only for passengers. But also freight in both directions. This could become a major hinderance to the recovery up north if goods and equipment need freighting from the South Island to the North.
And, it is a major nuisance for business. We have been told to add at least an extra week to freighting times.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/484650/people-left-sleeping-on-couches-stuck-on-wrong-island-after-interislander-problems
Equipment failures (this has never happened before) can be inconvenient, and not a good look, but are often temporary. Maybe StraitNZ needs govt help (could cost taxpayers) – or flog off KiwiRail's Interislander?
Time to develop 'resilience strategies' to cope better with these "major nuisances"?
Imho it's never too late to develop Aotearoa NZ – we just need to be leery of growth.
As to the ferries not sailing, I would imagine safety would be a major influence.
Plus, it's as if truck, ferry, truck is the only way to move stuff around the shaky isles. Coastal shipping is an option. An option, that if we are serious about mitigating CO2, needs to become mainstream (boom boom).
And cargo cult economic ideas parachuted in on unsuspecting natives such as from the Chicago School per NZ Treasury.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_school_of_economics
https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23092848
Yes I read that about the Douglas at Chicago and his dismay to find that a form of macro economics he did not like much had taken over……
Of course the NZ Douglas had his form go hand in hand with our Actoid and Natoids keenness on small Government. A perfect match for textbook ideology.
Has anybody else noticed the media obsession with the flood issues for the elites or the upper middle class in their urban fringe lifetsyle blocks ?
'The musician’s four-bedroom $3.3 million dollar property saw water rushing through it before draining down the hill towards the ocean.
Despite being listed by homes.co.nz as being on a steep rise, the 1882m2 property still saw waters rise right up to its front door and a minor slip on the front lawn.'
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pihas-gravity-defying-waters-take-on-formerly-crowded-house
The author Matthew Scott then goes on to give incorrect/misleading information about council data/maps on flood prone areas
The same council data shows that an overland flow path from the ponding area on Garden road runs right through the Finn estate. Which is exactly what occurred
An clue would be this property sits on a sand ridge behind the beach road, but the Finn home is a saddle between higher ground each side. Must have made a flatter building site and the real estate web site mentioned does show flattish lawns.
Hint , always check the overland flow paths
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why don’t you illustrate your point with an actual image or link or something with the property in question highlighted and the overland flows shown as well?
I am amazed GWWnz that you got as much as you did from this really poorly written article from Matthew Scott.
Talk about once over lightly on the maps/geography aspect from the author, as you say.
The subject of geography often gets bad press from the purists. However any geographer and any person who observes landforms will be able to tell you that hills are not hills and flats are not flats. There are a myriad of landforms where they are mixed so we get flattened tops of hills, we get lakes on mountains, we get ponding areas and swamps on land forms that look like hills. So we get saddles between ridges and on them water drains down from the ridges on either side. All these occur naturally ie without direct human intervention.
Only a person with no geographic or map reading experience would think that living on a hill you wouldn't have to worry.
My Dad used repeat the truism 'water finds its own level' and to that I want to add that in finding its own level water finds its way back to its old levels and old patterns. It finds its way back to drained swamps, and overland flow paths. This often occurs in times of climate stress as we have just had.
I have also seen it happen in times of yore (1980s) when culverted/diverted streams just blew out and re-emerged down valleys.
Yes. Theres an existing pond -wetland behind the top of the dunes and there is a overflow point from that pond towards the beach. It goes over the dunes via a saddle that is Neil Finns place and the council GIS shows that .
often with stories about flooding slips if it interests me I look it up on google earth or my online NZ Topo maps.
In another elite centered story theres was small slip in a gully in Parnell, which from my previous work I was familiar with that area. There the claim was the council reserve ( actually overgrown low value land) had caused the slip and the story had the owner saying 'what was council going to do about it'
Of course slips are natural occurences and the owner of the land below doesnt have to do anything unless they have deliberately excavated below without retaining. Modern building codes require a building site to be stabilised before building, usually in ground piles. However this cottage seems to pre date all this.
Like flooding areas , slope stability can be ignored by buyers who dont wonder why its so cheap in this area .
Good idea.
Though I guess you would have a good sense of 'tosh' talking even without doing this.
It all seems to tie into this constant expansion/growth at all/any cost.
We have had a pandemic and now floods and losses.
Buzz words/phrases like BAU, build back better
What seems to be missing is the phrase 'build back better or not at all.' For some land doing nothing and retreating is the best option.
Most of our work was geotechnical and a portion was in the Waitakeres. I used to say to people privately back then that if you live there start thinking of moving on.
if a cyclone hits Auckland the area is so vulnerable ( especially those on town water and sewage) as the damage will be widespread to roads and infrastructure and will mean they will be unable to move back home for months ( for some not ever).
There was old evidence of previous slips everywhere…regrowth covers it up unless you know where to look
There were places also in Karekare close to the stream…I imagine they are gone now , but the road in is virtually unusable – it was barely usable in ordinary times.
Personally I feel that place is finished as nothing is really worth rebuilding or fixing the road enough . Watch for the outcry when thats decided
The future rainfall and cyclones can only be worse