But he was the minister back in 2018. The reverse Midas touch often has a delayed reaction. There is also a rumor that the 10,000 Kiwi Build houses he promised will not happen.
just saying. And for what its worth, houses got build. And that makes him pretty much the only Labour suit that actually tried to deliver on an idea he had, compare this to any other Labour suit and National for that matter.
And NZTA is a department of ‘do nothing, only do if people are likely to get killed, and only do it then if people were to complain about people getting killed.
And to build these houses, houses also got demolished which are never accounted for when we hear how many have been constructed.
interesting that you state that he is the ONLY labour suit to try to deliver. Your comment doesn’t give confidence to the others . Perhaps Sabine you should review that phrasing 😉
…has run into "significant and complex engineering issues". The Herald understands the current design will be scrapped.
Other options are being considered but these are likely to involve substantial delays.
The problem appears to relate to the capacity of the piers to take the extra load. A replacement plan may be announced at some time in the future.
Must be some very heavy cyclists in Auckland. Or they realised when they fixed the damage from the wind powered truck incident that the bridge has probably already reached/exceeded its maximum load.
Hardly a surprise, it seemed unlikely that bolting another structure to the bridge that we have been told for years is pretty much at load capacity would be a goer…
Im sure the various parties have been well paid for their 'work ' though…
I see that the current plan was up to $360 million.
What ever happened to the $33 million scheme that was consented in 2015 and was supposed to be possible to implement by 2016? On July 3, 2015 Stuff said.
"It means the $33m public-private partnership can go ahead, and could be built as early as 2016."
NZTA's roading luddites were never going to allow a cycle crossing of "their" bridge. The $360 million scheme was proposed in the hope such a grotesquely gold plated obvious jobs for the boys scheme would be cancelled. When that didn't work they seem to have just given up on that approach and they are just going to refuse to it because they don't want to… errr, I mean because they can't design for shit…. err I mean the private sector gave them the answers there ongoing access to consultancy fees depend on.
NZTA over-engineered their solution, and I think the costs included some of the connecting cyclepath.
However I'd say they are genuinely confronting the structural limitations of the bridge that the truck crash highlighted. It may have adjusted their appetite for risk.
A cynical person would say that its NZTA sabotaging a temporary job so their second harbour crossing (in development since at least 2015) has to get accelerated.
The bridge pathway was part of the $360 million Northern Pathway, an ambitious plan revealed in May 2019 by Waka Kotahi, the NZ Transport Agency.
Of the total cost, $240m is for the bridge and $120m is to extend the pathway to the Akoranga bus station near Northcote.
At the time, Waka Kotahi's general manager of system design and delivery, Brett Gliddon, said the plans were complete and he expected construction would begin the next year, 2020.
Waka Kotahi's own surveys suggest there is 78 per cent support for a pathway for cycling and walking over the bridge.
This is me (and many hundreds more) on the bridge on its 50th anniversary…12 years ago. Skypath was on the table then. Have we really gone nowhere on this issue in 12 years? Of course. Just for reference the Apollo program was conceived & completed within the same time frame. https://t.co/gJ5Ul0A9Tkpic.twitter.com/td63sOXWaZ
The other one that I had asked about was behind the paywall. This one is not. Perhaps they decided that anyone who rides a bike doesn't pay to read the Herald?
You have to wonder how the long the government is prepared to tolerate such a systemic campaign of insubordination as the one the NZTA wages against it.
One would suspect the NZTA's roading mafia would not be unhappy to see the PT friendlt parts of the governments transport policy credibility subverted with private sector industry players.
One also doesn't need a degree in Kremlinology to read between the lines of the article to see the role played by Brett Gliddon in all this either.
You need to drive over the bridge south morning and post 3:00 going either direction in the afternoon, the bridge currently is not coping with the current traffic volumes. And what would the utilisation of this cycle lane be and at what cost to the commute travel times ?
honestly no idea, but consider that every bike travelling is a car not used.
Bikes should have a place in daily commuting. But the best now is to integrate bike and walkways on any new road being build. And then as BWaghorn said upthread, build a new crossing, and integrate walking and bicyling into the design and then build them.
Every bike on the road is one less car – and it does not matter if it is kids cycling to games/school etc or people to the supermarket, a night out, or to work.
Cars are built to be multi person transport. Bikes can be built to take two lengthwise usually – inefficient road space. Cars should be charged for only transporting one, credited for three or more. Hit drivers in the pocket. Bikes cannot do what cars do. The caption under rows of bikes that parked cars don't shop (sic) is seen in Nelson and considered clever, but that's stretching a point. Public transport and taxi circles should be promoted more with season tickets, or weekly tickets even, being low priced.
Have you heard of Holland? Germany? Sweden? Norway? etc?
they all have something in common.
High bicycle use to transport anything from oneself, to crates of beer – 24 0.5 l bottles a crate, to several children and even to go all the way from Germany to Italy for a holiday.
The point is not to replace cars totally – unless one really don't see a reason for them, like me – but to complement the 'public' transport and the 'environmentally friendly' option currently available.
So for example i might take the train to Britomart with my bicycle, and then i commute on my bike to where ever in town i work, and in the evenings when i am less time conscious i might cycle home on a safe and secure bicycle lane. Oh, look it, i have reduced the commute by a car in the morning, in the evenings and any other time i used my bike.
And the more bikes are on the road the less space we as a country will waste
on wasted carparks (who are the most inefficient land use anywhere on this planet), less pollution, lesser accidents, etc etc etc.
And then if one needs to transport their whole family of two or four, they can still use a car, or use a bike each.
also you might really want to rethink bicycle.
Ridiculous. Outrageous. Hopeless. These are words used by housing advocates to describe a one-bedroom property in Wellington that was on the market seeking offers over $745,000.
The 42-square metre Miramar house was described as “perfect for busy singles, or couples” in the listing by real estate group Ray White. One housing advocate instead described the house as like a “more respectable version” of the converted shipping container recently listed for $390 per week in Johnsonville.
I would click the link just to have look at the 745.000$ single wide container home, well three of them, on a standard section, with no privacy, and the deck ain't private either.
Well maybe she will find some new words to describe how she don't want to see housprices increasing any further cause the old words used sound as hollow as they were.
How about a regulation here and there and maybe a stipulation as to what is a house and what is a single wide, removable trailer.
In February alone, the median house price across the county increased by $50,000 – in Auckland, it was $100,000, or $25,000 a week.
"I'm not going to ever say or concede that what's happening in the housing market is okay; It is not," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last week.
She went further: "We don't want to continue to see the exorbitant house price growth that we have seen across the country in the last few months."
She made similar comments in mid-November last year: "It [house prices] just cannot keep increasing at the rate that it is".
It has to be a government housing program – everything else has been tried and failed -and any pretending that the market will do anything other than exploit the crisis needs to be rejected for the neoliberal lie that it is.
Grief of gods – well I guess we have to see. But it's not her that would need to resign if meaningful housing policy is blocked, but the the senior civil service. They're much too comfortable with the status quo. In most jobs, if you don't do 'em, you lose 'em.
Resigning and running a snap re-election to get a mandate for substantial govt action seems possible. Could also help neutralise the grey mandarins of Thorndon.
Firstly, the PM has an unprecedented mandate for change – not need to look for another, which would likely fall short of her present support level.
And secondly, if she stood down, which must be tempting as a newish mum, who in Labour could be trusted to prioritize significant action, and enjoys comparable support? No-one springs to my mind.
I'm suggesting Colonel Trotter or his sources may have confused resignation with dissolving government. I'd say the whole thing is wishful rubbish from bored Thorndonites.
But it can easily be argued that Labour has a mandate for doing nothing to scare the horses, given that’s what they campaigned on.
the big she could do is the big she ruled out last year, 'no increases in benefits', and i can't see her walk this back.
What ever she does now, in the eyes of some like me it will be band aids. They had this awesome chance last year to re-think government and they spend it doing fuck all, and they are now spending the last of the capital pissing of various industries that are in the process of dying by telling them that government is not hear to help, and that if they expect help they better be humble. That is disaster capitalism nothing more and nothing less. For lack of better words, her governments 'not coming to help' bullshit is trickling down.
I don't see her or anyone else resign, i don't see anything exiting of this PR exercise today, and above all i don't see a thing changing in regards to poverty, homelessness and the housing obscenity that is currently playing out for all to see.
The big she ruled out last year is likely to return in disguise as part of the BIG big she and her political mates are rumoured to be planning in the near future.
Btw, last year was Covid, Covid, Covid. Everything else was pushed aside. I'm glad though. It means the country can galvanise again… so much sooner than most of the rest of the world.
Labour long ago drunk the cool aid of Free market neoliberalism, and once under the spell of that obscene ideology (along with National) have done nothing but adhere too, administer, and promote the principles of this ponzi scheme ideology in NZ…these people, Grant Robertson Ardern, Grant Robertson and NZ Labour are nothing more than free market fundamentalists…just look at what they have allowed to happen to our homes..,and all the while we have to listen to Robertson trying to use the tools of the 'market' to control the market that is only operating as it was designed by them to do…and remember it was Labour who unleashed this ideology that has turned our homes into the tradable commodities they are today, and Ardern has proved she is no different.
Have a relative working for one of the big Australian banks down in Wellington. Grant Robertson meets weekly with the head honcho to talk with them about how they think the housing market and economy is going. (I'm making a presumption here, that if he is meeting with one on a weekly basis, he is meeting with most – if not all).
I suspect this relationship has been built on continued ineffective policy and strategies. I believe that this Labour government has disdained any notion of building a trusting relationship with the public, particularly those who suffer from lack of affordable housing, otherwise they would do better. And they need to do better.
I know it is like RNZ, who only ever seem to talk to banking economists about our economy, you know banks whose sole purpose is to create debt FFS!
I regularly email RNZ and politely ask them why they don't interview economists who would have a more neutral and nuanced outlook…it is just bizarre.
" And they need to do better " sorry to be a bummer here, but they won't do better, well not the kind of better we really need at this moment, the best we can hope for from Labour is their usual 'fixing around the edges' they are not and never will be transformational while they are lead by their liberal free marker ideology…a sad fact.
Meanwhile, the Marlborough District Council is building 12 one bedroom flats for seniors on 800 sq.m. for $3.7m. The rent will be set at 80% of market rents and are projected to be about $220 to #230 p.w. The rent is expected to pay for the cost of construction over time- so is self-funding.
This is what should be build more, and even up to 4 – 5 stories high, but with mixed bedroom sizes. So that young/old and families live in mixed housing.
I can't even see how anyone would want to share a standard property with three others and no privacy as the one featured in the article i linked to. And yeah, the government could rule and regulate and promote the building of these apartments as per your article. The one is gonna be a slum, the other is going to be functional housing.
Well the elitists bike riders should be rich enough to afford it, its the poor cyclists – the one that ride a bike cause cheaper – that would be shit outta luck. As always.
neither one of them is the solution of what ails the world.
And anyone thinking that POutin did not his share of unsavory shit during the time he was stationed in East Germany as the headhoncho of the USSR is deluding himself.
He is unsavory, he is deadly, and he ain't give a shit about anything, no more then the dude on the other side does. However, at least in the US the head honcho changes every now and then, meanwhile while in Russia ………………………………..
Putin is, as you correctly point out, unsavoury and deadly. However, he is a model of stability and integrity versus any of the horror shows—Bush, Obomber, Trump, Biden—that have occupied the Oval Office this century.
oh boy, and good grief, and well finally they admit that covid really has not been that good to women, but that is not because they are women, it is because they work in jobs that 'dominated' by women, and these jobs that traditionally are womens jobs – such as cleaning hotel rooms – are now industries that have been impacted by Covid.
What a phrase.
Although women have been affected worse by this pandemic, and job-creation moves in infrastructure and building have largely benefited men, that's to do with workforce composition and over time there may end up being more women in those jobs – but that could be a long, slow structural shift away.
For now, women are hurting not because they are women but because they tend to be in the workforce affected by Covid.
"So much depends on the starting point and it so happens the service sector is heavily dominated by women," says Toplis. "By definition – and I think you have to be very careful with the debate – it's not an anti-women downturn but an anti-service downturn and women are disproportionately represented."
But at least an article that admits what has been admitted elsewhere already, that Covid was not good for women, for womens income, for womens employment options, and for womens mental health. (#notallwomensomemadegoodmoneyduringcovid)
So Ardern is currently making an announcement, announcing that there will be a further announcement on the 6th of April on the possible travel bubble with Australia.
Fixed window from a given situation seems to be the criteria for the bubble to happen, so given the most recent instance of that situation the bubble is not going to happen at least for a couple of weeks.
It's not like fingers can be snapped and suddenly it's safe to have a bubble. Quite the opposite – when it finally happens, at any time there could be a loud bang over the Tasman as the bubble suddenly pops and collapses into two smaller bubbles, one isolating each nation.
Well, we are as isolated atm as can be. Short of closing borders to returning kiwis, dancers, sports dudes/ettes, and the wiggles this is as isolated as isolation gets.
shall we wager what the government is gonna do on the 6th of April?
what both governments decide will be based on conditions on the ground in April.
If we have another outbreak, Aussies could decide to put it off.
If they have another outbreak, we might put it off.
If everything's fine, they might make an announcement of the bubble happening x days later, to give hotels and airlines time to get up and running to a higher level, including their online booking.
We won't be betting on a decision, we'll be betting on whether conditions are better then than they are now.
Australia managed to turn quarantine free travel on and off. which is essentially what this is, not a bubble. State by state too. that's 7 juridisctions able to put into place what Jacinda can only make an announcement about being able to confirm when it will be in place.
A: Because the conditions won't suit it until April 6 at the earliest.
It's just like L1-L4. There will be criteria, somehwere, that will be a compromise between whatever Michael Baker wants and whatever the business lobbyists and the nats want. I cbf'd looking for that criteria, because I think the entire complaint about people not knowing what's going on is BS.
We've had a year of this – if people haven't figured out by now that loosened restrictions depend on things like the extent of community transition in an area (rather than the whims of the PM), they'll need some extensive 1:1 contact time with professional educators to actually figure it out.
Why simply not announce that then? We don't want a bubble now, too dangerous. We want one under the these conditions and to get there we will do this that such. Announce a date for the vaccine rollout ( a very conservative, smallest amount of risk type announcement – say vaccine roll out happening for the larger public starting July – ish, finished by End of year / mid next year). Give it a time frame. Be done with it. Atm, no one can plan, no one knows anything, and lockdowns can happen any day. This is just painful, no purpose served stringing along a public because you can.
Today was another wasted PR opportunity, with nothing that could not have been said via a press statement either. “No changes to the current bubble rules.” done.
On a brighter note, we have returned from a thoroughly enjoyable sojourn around West Coast/Buller/Tasman/Malborough.
The highlights: the friendly folk and hospitality esp Hokitika, Reefton and Takaka, the great quality beer – Eddyline, West Coast Brewery, Townsend and Mussell Inn, the scenery of Buller Gorge, the Glaciers and Golden Bay.
Personal highlight @ Lyell was two parent Weka mooching amongst our feet before moving away and 'booming' to the 4 chicks that followed.
Despite thinking the swing bridge across the Buller Gorge would be easy, it was a different thing in 'the flesh'. Border-line code brown.
Finished it all off with a great day at the Nelson Beer and Music Festival.
Hot tip, I thoroughly recommend getting a cabin for the return ferry crossing. Being able to nap before driving was a master stroke.
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Anna Källén, Stockholm University and Daniel Strand, Uppsala University A middle-aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is “0.012% ...
March 2021 The housing crisis right now in New Zealand is one of our biggest contributors to income and wealth inequality. “With the explosive increase in sales and prices, those with houses have their income and/or wealth rapidly increasing, and those who are not on the property ladder are falling ...
Samoans went to the polls on Friday, and delivered a stinging blow to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi one-party state. Pre-election Malielegaoi's Human Rights Protection Party had controlled 44 of 49 seats in Parliament, while using restrictive standing orders to prevent there from even being a recognised opposition in ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly consider a new Report from a European think tank that aims to identify an optimal COVID-19 response strategy. It considers mortality data, GDP impacts, and mobility data and suggests that COVID-19 elimination appears to be superior ...
Something I missed on Friday: the Māori Party has been referred to police over failure to disclose donations over $30,000. Looking at the updated return of large donations, this is about $320,000 donated to them by three donors - John Tamihere, the National Urban Māori Authority, and Aotearoa Te Kahu ...
Stormy Seas: Will Jacinda Ardern's Labour Government stand behind the revolutionary proposals contained in He Puapua – the 20-year plan devised by a government appointed working group to realise the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand?“GETTING AHEAD of the story” is one of the most ...
We have not been fans of the Climate Change Commission’s draft report. New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme with a binding cap, and a declining path for net emissions in the covered sector. Measures taken within the covered sector cannot reduce net emissions. NZU not purchased by one sector get ...
For several decades under Labour and National-led governments New Zealand has claimed to have an independent (and sometimes autonomous) foreign policy. This foreign policy independence is said to be gained by having a “principled but pragmatic” approach to international relations: principled when possible, pragmatic when necessary. More recently NZ foreign ...
This video produced in Seattle looks at the gender identity curriculum used in schools in the US. A thin veneer of pseudoscience is being used to indoctrinate children with an ideology based on scientific and medical inaccuracies. ...
For once, I have written my submission on a bill with enough time to spare to both enocurage any of you who wants to make a submission to do so as well, and to give you time to spot the typos in mine.Louisa Wall's Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate ...
A friend found a concerning FB post (see below – this is a public post & so I have not redacted the name) & – as you do – immediately queried it with Southern Cross Life & Health Insurance as well as sending the screenshot to me¹. We both read ...
Judith Collins’ National Party leadership is under more scrutiny, with increased talk in the media of her being replaced by brand new MP Christopher Luxon. For many commentators it’s just a question of “when” rather than “if” Collins is replaced. While others ponder whether Luxon really has what it takes ...
I tēnei tau i Waitangi, I whakahua ake te Tira o Te Mātāwaka o te Pātī Kākāriki i tā rātau aronga matua, ki te waihanga I tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori, mā Māori te kawe, mā Māori ngā whakahaere. Ko tā te tira; Kua rongohia ngā karanga a ngā Tangata Whenua, ...
During Waitangi this year the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka caucus announced their priority for an independent Māori Health Authority. We have heard the call from Tangata Whenua wanting any authority to be independent, and properly resourced. ...
The Greens welcome $6.6 million from the Government’s $455 million programme to increase access to mental health and addiction services for our Pasifika communities in Auckland and Wellington. ...
The Green Party is putting a Member’s Bill into the ballot today which will be a significant step towards overhauling the Social Security Act by embedding a tikanga Māori framework into the welfare system. ...
The Green Party have reaffirmed their strong commitment to the union movement in Aotearoa New Zealand by renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E Tū. ...
Soon, more kids in Aotearoa will have access to the in-school mental health support that has boosted the resilience of tamariki and whānau in Canterbury. ...
The Green Party supports the open letter released today by a cross-sector coalition calling for the Government to treat all drug use as a health issue, to repeal and replace the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. ...
Small businesses are not only the heart of our economy – they’re also the heart of our communities. They provide important goods and services, as well as great employment opportunities. They know and love their locals. And after a tough year, they need our support! ...
Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Teanau Tuiono MP, supports the demand from Pasifika communities fighting for climate action as their homelands are more at risk in the Pacific region. ...
The Green Party supports the six demands for climate action put forward by School Strike for Climate NZ, who are striking across the country today. ...
The Ministry of Justice Māori victimisation report, released today, reinforces what we already know about the impact of systemic racism in Aotearoa and that urgent action is needed. ...
Ricardo Menéndez March’s Members Bill to ensure that disabled New Zealanders do not face discrimination for having a disability assist dog was today pulled from the biscuit tin to be debated in Parliament. ...
More than one million people will be better off from today, thanks to our Government’s changes to the minimum wage, main benefits and superannuation. ...
On Wednesday morning, Minister of Health Andrew Little and Associate Minister of Health (Māori) Peeni Henare are announcing major health reforms. You can watch the announcement live here from 8am Wednesday. ...
New research into the probability of an Alpine Fault rupture reinforces the importance of taking action to plan and prepare for earthquakes, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi says. Research published by Dr Jamie Howarth of Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington today, shows there is a ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare today announced that New Zealand is deploying a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in support of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on North Korea. The Resolutions, adopted unanimously by the UNSC between 2006 and 2017, ...
The Transmission Gully Interim Review has found serious flaws at the planning stage of the project, undermining the successful completion of the four-lane motor north of Wellington Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood said. Grant Robertson said the review found the public-private partnership (PPP) established under the ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today that Australian Foreign Minister Hon Marise Payne will visit Aotearoa New Zealand for the first face-to-face Foreign Ministers’ Consulations since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “Australia is New Zealand’s closest and most important international partner. I’m very pleased to be able to welcome Hon Marise ...
Hundreds more families who were separated by the border closure will be reunited under new border exceptions announced today, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said. “The Government closed the border to everyone but New Zealand citizens and residents, in order to keep COVID-19 out, keep our economy open and keep New ...
Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Foreign Minister 8.30am, 19 April 2021 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Speech to the NZCC Korihi Pō, Korihi Ao E rongo e turia no Matahau Nō Tū te winiwini, Nō Tū te wanawana Tū Hikitia rā, Tū Hapainga mai Ki te Whai Ao, Ki te Ao Mārama Tihei Mauri ...
The Government is supporting a new project with all-wool New Zealand carpet company, Bremworth, which has its sights on developing more sustainable all-wool carpets and rugs, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced. The Ministry for Primary Industries is contributing $1.9 million towards Bremworth’s $4.9 million sustainability project through its Sustainable Food ...
New Zealand is providing further support to Timor-Leste following severe flooding and the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Our thoughts are with the people of Timor-Leste who have been impacted by the severe flooding and landslides at a time when the country is ...
A ceremony has been held today in Gisborne where the unclaimed medals of 28 (Māori) Battalion C Company soldiers were presented to their families. After the Second World War, returning service personnel needed to apply for their medals and then they would be posted out to them. While most medals ...
New Zealand has today added its voice to the international condemnation of the malicious compromise and exploitation of the SolarWinds Orion platform. The Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, Andrew Little, says that New Zealand's international partners have analysed the compromise of the SolarWinds Orion platform and attributed ...
An expert consenting panel has approved the Queenstown Arterials Project, which will significantly improve transport links and reduce congestion for locals and visitors in the tourism hotspot. Environment Minister David Parker welcomed the approval for the project that will construct, operate and maintain a new urban road around Queenstown’s town ...
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says a landmark deal has been agreed with Amazon for The Lord of the Rings TV series, currently being filmed in New Zealand. Mr Nash says the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) secures multi-year economic and tourism benefits to New Zealand, outside the screen ...
The Government welcomes the findings from a rapid review into the health system response to lead contamination in Waikouaiti’s drinking water supply. Sample results from the town’s drinking-water supply showed intermittent spikes in lead levels above the maximum acceptable value. The source of the contamination is still under investigation by ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the start of construction on the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s Papakura to Drury South project on Auckland’s Southern Motorway, which will create hundreds of jobs and support Auckland’s economic recovery. The SH1 Papakura to Drury South project will give more transport choices by providing ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha o te wa, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou, tēna tātou katoa. Ki ngā mana whenua, ko Ngāi Tahu, ko Waitaha, ko Kāti Māmoe anō nei aku mihi ki a koutou. Nōku te hōnore kia haere mai ki te ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the completion of upgrades to State Highway 20B which will give Aucklanders quick electric bus trips to and from the airport. The State Highway 20B Early Improvements project has added new lanes in each direction between Pukaki Creek Bridge and SH20 for buses and ...
The Government is putting in place a review of the work being done on animal welfare and safety in the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson announced today. “While Greyhound Racing NZ has reported some progress in implementing the recommendations of the Hansen Report, recent incidents show the industry still has ...
The infringement fee for using a mobile phone while driving will increase from $80 to $150 from 30 April 2021 to encourage safer driving, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said too many people are still picking up the phone while driving. “Police issued over 40,000 infringement notices ...
Pacific people in New Zealand will be better supported with new mental health and addiction services rolling out across the Auckland and Wellington regions, says Aupito William Sio. “One size does not fit all when it comes to supporting the mental wellbeing of our Pacific peoples. We need a by ...
New measures are being proposed to accelerate progress towards becoming a smokefree nation by 2025, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced. “Smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke kills around 12 people a day in New Zealand. Recent data tells us New Zealand’s smoking rates continue to decrease, but ...
More children will be able to access mental wellbeing support with the Government expansion of Mana Ake services to five new District Health Board areas, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Health Minister made the announcement while visiting Homai School in Counties Manukau alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate ...
The Government’s COVID-19 response has meant a record number of people moved off a Benefit and into employment in the March Quarter, with 32,880 moving into work in the first three months of 2021. “More people moved into work last quarter than any time since the Ministry of Social Development ...
A stocktake undertaken by France and New Zealand shows significant global progress under the Christchurch Call towards its goal to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The findings of the report released today reinforce the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, with countries, companies and civil society working together to ...
Racing Minister Grant Robertson has announced he is appointing Elizabeth Dawson (Liz) as the Chair of the interim TAB NZ Board. Liz Dawson is an existing Board Director of the interim TAB NZ Board and Chair of the TAB NZ Board Selection Panel and will continue in her role as ...
The Government has announced that the export of livestock by sea will cease following a transition period of up to two years, said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “At the heart of our decision is upholding New Zealand’s reputation for high standards of animal welfare. We must stay ahead of the ...
WORKSHOP ON LETHAL AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS Wednesday 14 April 2021 MINISTER FOR DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL OPENING REMARKS Good morning, I am so pleased to be able to join you for part of this workshop, which I’m confident will help us along the path to developing New Zealand’s national policy on ...
For the first time, all 18 prisons in New Zealand will be invited to participate in an inter-prison kapa haka competition, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The 2021 Hōkai Rangi Whakataetae Kapa Haka will see groups prepare and perform kapa haka for experienced judges who visit each prison and ...
The Government has introduced the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill, designed to boost New Zealand's ability to respond to a wider range of terrorist activities. The Bill strengthens New Zealand’s counter-terrorism legislation and ensures that the right legislative tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm. “This is the Government’s first ...
Coal boiler replacements at a further ten schools, saving an estimated 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Fossil fuel boiler replacements at Southern Institute of Technology and Taranaki DHB, saving nearly 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Projects to achieve a total ...
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of Cassie Nicholson as Chief Parliamentary Counsel for a term of five years. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is the principal advisor and Chief Executive of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO). She is responsible for ensuring PCO, which drafts most of New Zealand’s legislation, provides ...
Every part of Government will need to take urgent action to bring down emissions, the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw said today in response to the recent rise in New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions. The latest annual inventory of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shows that both gross and net ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says Aotearoa New Zealand has become the first country in the world to introduce a law that requires the financial sector to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and explain how they will manage climate-related risks and opportunities. The Financial ...
Exceptional employment practices in the primary industries have been celebrated at the Good Employer Awards, held this evening at Parliament. “Tonight’s awards provided the opportunity to celebrate and thank those employers in the food and fibres sector who have gone beyond business-as-usual in creating productive, safe, supportive, and healthy work ...
Applications are now invited from all councils for a slice of government funding aimed at improving tourism infrastructure, especially in areas under pressure given the size of their rating bases. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has already signalled that five South Island regions will be given priority to reflect that jobs ...
Tēnā koutou e ngā maata waka Tenā koutou te hau kāinga ngā iwi o Te Whanganui ā TaraTēnā koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te Rā. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa. It is a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you Graeme (Peters, ENA Chief ...
The Construction Skills Action Plan has delivered early on its overall target of supporting an additional 4,000 people into construction-related education and employment, says Minister for Building and Construction Poto Williams. Since the Plan was launched in 2018, more than 9,300 people have taken up education or employment opportunities in ...
An innovative new Youth Justice residence designed in partnership with Māori will provide prevention, healing, and rehabilitation services for both young people and their whānau, Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Whakatakapokai is located in South Auckland and will provide care and support for up to 15 rangatahi remanded or ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today expressed New Zealand’s sorrow at the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. “Our thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen at this profoundly sad time. On behalf of the New Zealand people and the Government, I would like to express ...
We, the Home Affairs, Interior, Security and Immigration Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (the ‘Five Countries’) met via video conference on 7/8 April 2021, just over a year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Guided by our shared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Staff, PhD Candidate, Australian National University “Suffragette white” is proving to be a popular fashion choice for women who want to make a statement. Most recently, former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate donned a white jacket in her appearance before a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Natasha Yates, Assistant Professor, General Practice, Bond University Although the country’s vaccine rollout is not progressing entirely as planned, thousands of Australians continue to receive their COVID vaccines every week. As a general practitioner administering the AstraZeneca vaccine, I find it strange ...
In meeting virtually with President Joe Biden and 39 other world leaders, PM Jacinda Ardern should press home the need to confront the current global economic model based on limitless growth. ‘It has failed us,’ says Wise Response chair, Prof. Liz ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Iles, Senior Lecturer in Physics, RMIT University Yesterday at 9pm Australian Eastern standard time, the Ingenuity helicopter — which landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in February — took off from the Martian surface. More importantly, it hovered for about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ann Kayis-Kumar, Associate Professor, UNSW When Debbie (not her real name) lost her main client and was left without a reliable income, the sole trader sold her home and adjoining investment unit to pay off her debts and ensure she had the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Iles, Senior Lecturer in Physics, RMIT University Yesterday at 9pm Australian Eastern standard time, the Ingenuity helicopter — which landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in February — took off from the Martian surface. More importantly, it hovered for about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frédérik Saltré, Research Fellow in Ecology for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Of all the weak targets ever adopted by Australian governments, one of the weakest has to have been an unemployment rate “comfortably below six per cent” in last year’s budget. ...
The Transmission Gully interim review has found serious flaws at the planning stage of the 27km highway, “undermining” the successful completion of the four-lane motorway north of Wellington, according to Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood. Grant Robertson said the review found the public-private partnership (PPP) established ...
With less than 1% of Auckland Transport’s senior leaders of Pacific descent, Justin Latif asks what the council-controlled organisation is doing to turn that around.“It’s just a battle to be heard.”Kim* is of Pacific descent, has held a variety of roles across local government, and is very familiar with the ...
The Council of Trade Unions has today formally written to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta and the Minister for Trade, Hon. Damien O’Connor calling on them to take action to halt ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ...
Two important omissions in the ministry's process for the sale and purchase of the land at Ihumātao means the deal is "unlawful" until it is validated by Parliament. ...
Last month, David Seymour MP and Nicola Willis MP wrote separately to our Office about the Government’s purchase of land at Te Puke Tāpapatanga a Hape (commonly referred to as Ihumātao). They had concerns about: $29.9 million of the appropriation ...
Kate Winslet descends on television once again to deliver a career-best performance in a cop drama that doesn’t quite deserve it, writes Sam Brooks.Let’s be up front about this: Kate Winslet is one of the greatest actors of her generation, and the reason you’re interested in Mare of Easttown at ...
Analysis by Bryce Edwards Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Speculation about the National Party’s leadership has died down, after a fortnight of rumours and overt positioning by supposed challengers to Judith Collins. She lives on as leader for a bit longer, and Christopher Luxon and Simon Bridges have been put ...
Responding To The Auditor-General’s Finding That The Government's $30 Million Ihumātao Deal Was Unlawful, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Louis Houlbrooke Says:“Today we learn that the Government didn’t just capitulate to illegal occupiers ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has had a busy two days. Hard on the heels of echoing the title of a book edited by academic writer Manying Ip to headline an important policy speech, she was announcing the visit here this week of Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne for ministerial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Porter, Senior Fellow (Indigenous Programs), The University of Melbourne Cultural warning: This article contains names and images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This article also contains links to graphic footage of police violence. This month marks 30 years ...
"Hamilton City Council cannot justify contributing $10 million to an inland lagoon resort while it’s increasing rates by 8.9 percent," says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “If the proposal makes good business ...
It’s embroidery, but not as you know it. Lema Shamamba’s intricate stitchwork features machine guns, severed limbs, people crying – and the logos of the global tech giants she holds responsible.CW: Violence, sexual assaultLema Shamamba fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo when armed militia started killing people in her ...
Covid-19 exacerbated existing levels of material and emotional hardship for people on low core benefit rates, a new study has found. Dr Louise Humpage, a sociologist at the University of Auckland who conducted the study in collaboration with Child ...
With consummate timing, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has stirred up another controversy days ahead of the first visit of her Australian counterpart, Marise Payne. New Zealand, she says, doesn’t want to use Five Eyes as the first point of contact on a range of issues that existed outside of its ...
Australia Week: The first day of the travel bubble was big news, so Tara Ward stayed home and watched it happen on the television. To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is casting an eye across the ditch all week – read our Australia Week content here.The trans-Tasman ...
This year will be the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne Cup of greyhound racing. The Silver Collar is described by the Auckland Greyhound Racing Club as a ‘gruelling’ and ‘stamina-sapping affair,’ raced over an ‘extreme’ 779 meters, which is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jamie Howarth, Senior lecturer, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The Alpine Fault marks the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates in the South Island of New Zealand.Author provided The chances of New Zealand’s Alpine Fault rupturing in ...
Last week in Wellington, a man was convicted of rape for removing his condom during sex without consent. For Frankie Bennett, who was subjected to a similar assault, it’s validating – but now we must stop using euphemisms to describe sex crimes. In 2018 I was “stealthed”; a man I was ...
Tuesday, 20 April 2021: Greenpeace has today launched a new petition calling on the New Zealand Government to ban seabed mining from the waters of Aotearoa. The petition calls on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to give New Zealand another world ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily. Today’s contentNZ-China relations: Mahuta Speech Tim Watkin (Pundit): Taniwha New Zealand shows its foreign policy ...
Kiwi Seafarers working internationally have been forgotten by the New Zealand government, their request for support keeps being ignored and their status as essential workers continues to be overlooked. Many Kiwi Seafarers are stuck outside of New Zealand ...
A small number of people have developed blood clots after receiving two types of the Covid-19 vaccine. Mirjam Guesgen explains what’s going on and how different countries are responding.What’s this I hear about blood clots and Covid-19 vaccines?Some people who received the AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines are developing severe, in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Reid, DECRA Research Fellow, Macquarie University Army ants (Eciton burchellii) are known for their vast foraging raids. Hundreds of thousands of ants flow like a river from their nest site, scouring the jungle as they prey on anything unable to escape ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Kewley, Director, ARC Centre for Excellence in All-Sky Astrophysics in 3D, Australian National University It will take until at least 2080 before women make up just one-third of Australia’s professional astronomers, unless there is a significant boost to how we nurture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Forget last week’s healthy 5.6% unemployment rate. It might be “comfortably below” the Coalition’s 6% threshold for commencing “fiscal repair” (another term for unpopular spending cuts), but the government is under unforeseen political ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Bartlett, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle Last week, the chief executive of Pfizer said anyone who receives its COVID-19 vaccine will probably need to have a third dose within 6-12 months after being fully immunised, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, The University of Melbourne Native deciduous trees are rare in Australia, which means many of the red, yellow and brown leaves we associate with autumn come from introduced species, such as maples, oaks and elms. One native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington What have we lost because of the pandemic? According to our calculations, a lot — and many of the worst hit countries and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Phillips, Associate Professor, Centre for Social Research and Methods, Director, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Australian National University The good news from new research conducted by the Australian National University for Social Ventures Australia and the Brotherhood of St Laurence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Webb, Dean, Graduate Research, University of Canberra In this series we pay tribute to the art we wish could visit — and hope to see once travel restrictions are lifted. She’s called Maman, and she emerged into the world in 1999, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for April 20, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz8.00am: Concerns euthanasia patients may take unapproved drugs, suffer prolonged deathAn investigation into how prepared New Zealand is to introduce euthanasia, following last year’s referendum, has uncovered concerns ...
The global movement to take leading academics out of lecture theatres and into pubs to present their latest research is returning to Auckland. Tonight, 20 University of Auckland lecturers will host talks in 10 local bars. The topics range from the search for alien life to the risks of vaping ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Mahuta moves away from Five Eyes in major speech, new research shows raised risk of Alpine fault quake, and trans-Tasman bubble opens on emotional day.Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has sought to continue a ‘best of both worlds’ approach to the ...
Business & Investing: The opening of the Tasman for tourists pushes Auckland Airport shares up, with Air NZ also benefiting; Plus Tilt Renewables wins bigger Mercury-PowAR deal ...
New Zealand is focusing purely on its own adaptations challenges - 'Impacts in My Backyard' - rather than the brutal climate impacts already being felt elsewhere. It's a gaping hole in our strategy, writes Dr Luke Harrington. We Kiwis are more concerned than ever about the significant and growing challenges of a ...
If history is any indication, we would expect the Covid pandemic to increase suicide rates. Dr Dennis Wesselbaum explains how that could be the case. New Zealand is the ninth happiest country in the world as reported in the 2021 World Happiness Report. Yet at the same time, New Zealand has the ...
From Wellington to Glasgow and home again, netball coach Gail Parata is helming the national champion Pulse side, and can call on her old room-mate for help. Dame Noeline Taurua and Gail Parata have a long relationship, once built on deception. Now among the best netball coaches in the world, the ...
Pilots and cabin crew can spend 20 days a month in isolation in order to link New Zealand to the rest of the world - but the hardest part is not feeling welcome when they come home. Matthew Scott reports. Touchdown in Hong Kong. In different times, pilots and ...
Graeme Lay on the problem of downsizing for the elderly Books, books, books: novels. short stories, poetry, anthologies, biographies, histories ... For many elderly people books are a treasured part of their households. Shelves and shelves of them; they're an integral part of our past. We remember when we bought ...
New research shows that the risk of the big one hitting the South Island’s spine is far higher than previously thought, write Ursula Cochran and lead researcher Jamie Howarth.Calculating the chance of an earthquake on a particular fault currently relies on the long geological earthquake record, which is both notoriously ...
A new TVNZ drama tells the story of a fictitious gang trying to go straight. Despite being funded as part of a major initiative to get Māori stories to screen, Vegas reinforces some centuries-old stereotypes, writes Leonie Hayden. Episode one of the new drama Vegas aired last night on TVNZ. ...
Australia Week: Nothing tests our mateship with Australia like the disputed delicacies both countries claim as their own. In the interest of diplomatic relations, Alice Neville sets the record straight.To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is casting an eye across the ditch all week – read ...
An old-style Marxist's withering takedown on contemporary leftists - even likening today's left liberals with neoliberals - has lessons for our economic and political debate, writes Oliver Hartwich ...
A carefully worded speech on NZ-China relations from Nanaia Mahuta nevertheless carried some telling notes about how the Government plans to navigate the Great Power divide, Sam Sachdeva writes Nanaia Mahuta may lack the bombast of Winston Peters, but her greater willingness to stick to the MFAT-approved script makes it ...
Trans-Tasman quarantine-free flights are back on - as New Zealand's vaccination rollout's been described as shambolic, and Australia's as a failure. On the week that our travel bubble opens up with Australia, both sides of the Tasman have been criticised for falling behind in their vaccine roll outs. New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As Scott Morrison gradually pivots his climate policy towards embracing a target of net zero emissions by 2050, he is seeking to distinguish the government from “inner city” types and political opponents who’ve been marching ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Peter Dutton has begun his tenure as defence minister by delivering a very public slap to his most senior military adviser, chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell. Dutton’s overriding of Campbell’s initial command ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Blakely, Professor of Epidemiology, Population Interventions Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne Coinciding with the Trans-Tasman travel bubble starting today, over the past week there have been murmurings Australia could ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Wilson, Honorary Professor, Australian National University The US Congress is considering a proposed law to ban the import and sale of kangaroo parts. Backed by a campaign called Kangaroos Are Not Shoes, the bill is aimed at stopping Nike, Adidas and ...
By Praneeta Prakash in Suva Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says a breach in protocol in relation to the 53-year-old woman now testing positive of covid-19 should not have happened. The woman who was working as a maid in a border quarantine facility developed symptoms last Thursday, but continued working ...
The Pacific Newsroom Vanuatu’s capital island of Efate has gone into covid-19 lockdown for three days after a body was found on a beach near Port Vila. The body, which tested positive for covid, was that of a Filipino crewman from the British-flagged liquified petroleum gas carrier Inge Kosan, a ...
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Skypath is dead.
That is a massive govt and Council setback.
Also an industry setback.
And for cyclists.
Twyford strikes again? Anything he touches seems to have the reverse Midas touch.
Rail down Dominion Road anyone?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/106505418/government-announces-it-will-fund-and-build-skypath-along-auckland-harbour-bridge
He's not the minister.
No this is on NZTA and its design team.
But he was the minister back in 2018. The reverse Midas touch often has a delayed reaction. There is also a rumor that the 10,000 Kiwi Build houses he promised will not happen.
it is 2021.
just saying. And for what its worth, houses got build. And that makes him pretty much the only Labour suit that actually tried to deliver on an idea he had, compare this to any other Labour suit and National for that matter.
And NZTA is a department of ‘do nothing, only do if people are likely to get killed, and only do it then if people were to complain about people getting killed.
And to build these houses, houses also got demolished which are never accounted for when we hear how many have been constructed.
interesting that you state that he is the ONLY labour suit to try to deliver. Your comment doesn’t give confidence to the others . Perhaps Sabine you should review that phrasing 😉
nope, my comment stands. I have no confidence what so ever in any of the current lot.
Agreed Sabine. The truck inspections spring to mind.
Here is a link to the RNZ story.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/438875/truck-engineers-group-backs-fiery-complaint-to-transport-minister
Good, it's bloody stupid to spend on that when Auckland needs a new crossing
+1
Is this not a party close to Gfoffloffl's heart?
If there is anyone out there who still reads the Herald? If there is are they willing to just give the bare bones of the story in todays edition.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/skypath-grounded-auckland-harbour-bridge-may-never-get-a-cycleway/C6YNBOCVXA3SWZPAIIMRJ4BM6Q/
Edit, for Ad. Snap
…has run into "significant and complex engineering issues". The Herald understands the current design will be scrapped.
Other options are being considered but these are likely to involve substantial delays.
The problem appears to relate to the capacity of the piers to take the extra load. A replacement plan may be announced at some time in the future.
Must be some very heavy cyclists in Auckland. Or they realised when they fixed the damage from the wind powered truck incident that the bridge has probably already reached/exceeded its maximum load.
Might have to build another bridge. Or a tunnel.
Thank you. If it is the basic structure and strength of the bridge it won't be easy to fix.
Hardly a surprise, it seemed unlikely that bolting another structure to the bridge that we have been told for years is pretty much at load capacity would be a goer…
Im sure the various parties have been well paid for their 'work ' though…
I see that the current plan was up to $360 million.
What ever happened to the $33 million scheme that was consented in 2015 and was supposed to be possible to implement by 2016? On July 3, 2015 Stuff said.
"It means the $33m public-private partnership can go ahead, and could be built as early as 2016."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/69928915/auckland-harbour-bridge-skypath-approved
NZTA's roading luddites were never going to allow a cycle crossing of "their" bridge. The $360 million scheme was proposed in the hope such a grotesquely gold plated obvious jobs for the boys scheme would be cancelled. When that didn't work they seem to have just given up on that approach and they are just going to refuse to it because they don't want to… errr, I mean because they can't design for shit…. err I mean the private sector gave them the answers there ongoing access to consultancy fees depend on.
NZTA over-engineered their solution, and I think the costs included some of the connecting cyclepath.
However I'd say they are genuinely confronting the structural limitations of the bridge that the truck crash highlighted. It may have adjusted their appetite for risk.
A cynical person would say that its NZTA sabotaging a temporary job so their second harbour crossing (in development since at least 2015) has to get accelerated.
I'm not that cynical yet.
[wrong e-mail address entered 😀 ]
Thanks Sacha for an opinion that presents possible causes.
A follow-up story in the Herald – which includes the cost allocation: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/skypath-cycling-community-gutted-auckland-harbour-bridge-may-never-get-a-cycleway/YKKTN6NK6B5DUM7D3J4X5WOYAI/
Perspective
Thank you for posting that story.
The other one that I had asked about was behind the paywall. This one is not. Perhaps they decided that anyone who rides a bike doesn't pay to read the Herald?
You have to wonder how the long the government is prepared to tolerate such a systemic campaign of insubordination as the one the NZTA wages against it.
Skypath loss will make it very difficult for the industry to believe the Transport Minister's upcoming announcements on light rail.
One would suspect the NZTA's roading mafia would not be unhappy to see the PT friendlt parts of the governments transport policy credibility subverted with private sector industry players.
One also doesn't need a degree in Kremlinology to read between the lines of the article to see the role played by Brett Gliddon in all this either.
Perhaps a reform of NZTA could start there.
Just “transform” the outer lanes of the harbour bridge into a shared path for cyclists and pedestrians until there’s an alternative solution.
Like they did no optioneering?
There's about 7 years of thinking and options already done.
Jesus wept, seven years of over paid consultants laughing all the way to the bank.
It's a politely restrained chuckle I'll have you know.
You need to drive over the bridge south morning and post 3:00 going either direction in the afternoon, the bridge currently is not coping with the current traffic volumes. And what would the utilisation of this cycle lane be and at what cost to the commute travel times ?
honestly no idea, but consider that every bike travelling is a car not used.
Bikes should have a place in daily commuting. But the best now is to integrate bike and walkways on any new road being build. And then as BWaghorn said upthread, build a new crossing, and integrate walking and bicyling into the design and then build them.
Every bike on the road is one less car – and it does not matter if it is kids cycling to games/school etc or people to the supermarket, a night out, or to work.
Every bike on the road is one less car.
Cars are built to be multi person transport. Bikes can be built to take two lengthwise usually – inefficient road space. Cars should be charged for only transporting one, credited for three or more. Hit drivers in the pocket. Bikes cannot do what cars do. The caption under rows of bikes that parked cars don't shop (sic) is seen in Nelson and considered clever, but that's stretching a point. Public transport and taxi circles should be promoted more with season tickets, or weekly tickets even, being low priced.
Have you heard of Holland? Germany? Sweden? Norway? etc?
they all have something in common.
High bicycle use to transport anything from oneself, to crates of beer – 24 0.5 l bottles a crate, to several children and even to go all the way from Germany to Italy for a holiday.
The point is not to replace cars totally – unless one really don't see a reason for them, like me – but to complement the 'public' transport and the 'environmentally friendly' option currently available.
So for example i might take the train to Britomart with my bicycle, and then i commute on my bike to where ever in town i work, and in the evenings when i am less time conscious i might cycle home on a safe and secure bicycle lane. Oh, look it, i have reduced the commute by a car in the morning, in the evenings and any other time i used my bike.
And the more bikes are on the road the less space we as a country will waste
on wasted carparks (who are the most inefficient land use anywhere on this planet), less pollution, lesser accidents, etc etc etc.
And then if one needs to transport their whole family of two or four, they can still use a car, or use a bike each.
also you might really want to rethink bicycle.
transporting your children
https://www.acv.de/ratgeber/fahrrad/sicherheit/lastenrad-kind
transporting loads
https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/living/2020/12/15/transport-anything-with-a-long-john-cargo-bike
moving lots of people having a beer
https://www.pissup.com/munich-stag-do/activities/beer-bike-munich/
Ambassador Robert Ford on the US role in Syria's 10-year war
Interesting interview with Robert Ford, retired US diplomat who served as US Ambassador to Syria from 2011 to 2014.
surely something will be done about this…..soon……so very soon….any month now, or maybe year….something……
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/housing-affordability/124581254/is-745k-reasonable-for-a-onebedroom-house-wellington-property-draws-ire-of-housing-advocates
I would click the link just to have look at the 745.000$ single wide container home, well three of them, on a standard section, with no privacy, and the deck ain't private either.
Well maybe she will find some new words to describe how she don't want to see housprices increasing any further cause the old words used sound as hollow as they were.
How about a regulation here and there and maybe a stipulation as to what is a house and what is a single wide, removable trailer.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/remedies-for-the-hot-housing-market-what-does-grant-robertson-have-up-his-sleeve/TYV4SLL5Q6BASVN6YH2ZBEXWZY/
It has to be a government housing program – everything else has been tried and failed -and any pretending that the market will do anything other than exploit the crisis needs to be rejected for the neoliberal lie that it is.
Interesting – waiting keenly!. https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2021/03/something-big.html
Grief of gods – well I guess we have to see. But it's not her that would need to resign if meaningful housing policy is blocked, but the the senior civil service. They're much too comfortable with the status quo. In most jobs, if you don't do 'em, you lose 'em.
Resigning and running a snap re-election to get a mandate for substantial govt action seems possible. Could also help neutralise the grey mandarins of Thorndon.
I'm not fond of that scenario for two reasons.
Firstly, the PM has an unprecedented mandate for change – not need to look for another, which would likely fall short of her present support level.
And secondly, if she stood down, which must be tempting as a newish mum, who in Labour could be trusted to prioritize significant action, and enjoys comparable support? No-one springs to my mind.
I'm suggesting Colonel Trotter or his sources may have confused resignation with dissolving government. I'd say the whole thing is wishful rubbish from bored Thorndonites.
But it can easily be argued that Labour has a mandate for doing nothing to scare the horses, given that’s what they campaigned on.
well i am not getting any hopes of.
the big she could do is the big she ruled out last year, 'no increases in benefits', and i can't see her walk this back.
What ever she does now, in the eyes of some like me it will be band aids. They had this awesome chance last year to re-think government and they spend it doing fuck all, and they are now spending the last of the capital pissing of various industries that are in the process of dying by telling them that government is not hear to help, and that if they expect help they better be humble. That is disaster capitalism nothing more and nothing less. For lack of better words, her governments 'not coming to help' bullshit is trickling down.
I don't see her or anyone else resign, i don't see anything exiting of this PR exercise today, and above all i don't see a thing changing in regards to poverty, homelessness and the housing obscenity that is currently playing out for all to see.
The big she ruled out last year is likely to return in disguise as part of the BIG big she and her political mates are rumoured to be planning in the near future.
Btw, last year was Covid, Covid, Covid. Everything else was pushed aside. I'm glad though. It means the country can galvanise again… so much sooner than most of the rest of the world.
at the moment it looks rather we are falling behind. So frankly, i have no hope.
Labour long ago drunk the cool aid of Free market neoliberalism, and once under the spell of that obscene ideology (along with National) have done nothing but adhere too, administer, and promote the principles of this ponzi scheme ideology in NZ…these people, Grant Robertson Ardern, Grant Robertson and NZ Labour are nothing more than free market fundamentalists…just look at what they have allowed to happen to our homes..,and all the while we have to listen to Robertson trying to use the tools of the 'market' to control the market that is only operating as it was designed by them to do…and remember it was Labour who unleashed this ideology that has turned our homes into the tradable commodities they are today, and Ardern has proved she is no different.
Turn Labour Left!
Have a relative working for one of the big Australian banks down in Wellington. Grant Robertson meets weekly with the head honcho to talk with them about how they think the housing market and economy is going. (I'm making a presumption here, that if he is meeting with one on a weekly basis, he is meeting with most – if not all).
I suspect this relationship has been built on continued ineffective policy and strategies. I believe that this Labour government has disdained any notion of building a trusting relationship with the public, particularly those who suffer from lack of affordable housing, otherwise they would do better. And they need to do better.
I know it is like RNZ, who only ever seem to talk to banking economists about our economy, you know banks whose sole purpose is to create debt FFS!
I regularly email RNZ and politely ask them why they don't interview economists who would have a more neutral and nuanced outlook…it is just bizarre.
" And they need to do better " sorry to be a bummer here, but they won't do better, well not the kind of better we really need at this moment, the best we can hope for from Labour is their usual 'fixing around the edges' they are not and never will be transformational while they are lead by their liberal free marker ideology…a sad fact.
Turn Labour Left!
Meanwhile, the Marlborough District Council is building 12 one bedroom flats for seniors on 800 sq.m. for $3.7m. The rent will be set at 80% of market rents and are projected to be about $220 to #230 p.w. The rent is expected to pay for the cost of construction over time- so is self-funding.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/retirement/124582021/the-squeeze-council-flats-for-seniors-prompt-rent-review-amid-housing-shortage
The individual cost is just over $300,000 per unit.
Put that figure against the Miramar glorified container at $745,000!
This is what should be build more, and even up to 4 – 5 stories high, but with mixed bedroom sizes. So that young/old and families live in mixed housing.
I can't even see how anyone would want to share a standard property with three others and no privacy as the one featured in the article i linked to. And yeah, the government could rule and regulate and promote the building of these apartments as per your article. The one is gonna be a slum, the other is going to be functional housing.
What is the land that it sits on worth?
it is a standard section, so i doubt it would be 3* 745.000 dollar a tick, but then people in NZ buy stupid properties any day now.
Also, the Landlord would not answer, and the fancy container builders are really proud for the double glazing.
its a standard section dude.
walk your bike over the bridge, or take it on the ferry. A bridge cycleway is elitist and unnecessary
Ferry $8 one way to Bayswater, could be more with a bike.
Well the elitists bike riders should be rich enough to afford it, its the poor cyclists – the one that ride a bike cause cheaper – that would be shit outta luck. As always.
'a bridge carway is elitist and unnecessary'
Putin challenges Biden to live debate after president calls him a 'killer'https://abc7.com/putin-challenges-biden-to-debate-killer-russia-us/10432148/
Now there is a debate I would stay up for..
[Image resized]
neither one of them is the solution of what ails the world.
And anyone thinking that POutin did not his share of unsavory shit during the time he was stationed in East Germany as the headhoncho of the USSR is deluding himself.
He is unsavory, he is deadly, and he ain't give a shit about anything, no more then the dude on the other side does. However, at least in the US the head honcho changes every now and then, meanwhile while in Russia ………………………………..
Putin is, as you correctly point out, unsavoury and deadly. However, he is a model of stability and integrity versus any of the horror shows—Bush, Obomber, Trump, Biden—that have occupied the Oval Office this century.
stability ey?
How much did you enjoy the last four years of instability in Washington?
Absolutely, but I doubt that the Americans want to hear their own sins.
oh boy, and good grief, and well finally they admit that covid really has not been that good to women, but that is not because they are women, it is because they work in jobs that 'dominated' by women, and these jobs that traditionally are womens jobs – such as cleaning hotel rooms – are now industries that have been impacted by Covid.
What a phrase.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/divided-we-fall-the-scary-trends-in-new-zealands-two-speed-economy/YVISWHWYQOV5ZPOICRMGU3QHUM/
But at least an article that admits what has been admitted elsewhere already, that Covid was not good for women, for womens income, for womens employment options, and for womens mental health. (#notallwomensomemadegoodmoneyduringcovid)
So Ardern is currently making an announcement, announcing that there will be a further announcement on the 6th of April on the possible travel bubble with Australia.
The wheels do turn slowly.
soon, sooooooon, so sooon, i will be any day now……sooon.
Seems reasonable.
Fixed window from a given situation seems to be the criteria for the bubble to happen, so given the most recent instance of that situation the bubble is not going to happen at least for a couple of weeks.
It's not like fingers can be snapped and suddenly it's safe to have a bubble. Quite the opposite – when it finally happens, at any time there could be a loud bang over the Tasman as the bubble suddenly pops and collapses into two smaller bubbles, one isolating each nation.
Well, we are as isolated atm as can be. Short of closing borders to returning kiwis, dancers, sports dudes/ettes, and the wiggles this is as isolated as isolation gets.
shall we wager what the government is gonna do on the 6th of April?
short we lose
long we pay.
what both governments decide will be based on conditions on the ground in April.
If we have another outbreak, Aussies could decide to put it off.
If they have another outbreak, we might put it off.
If everything's fine, they might make an announcement of the bubble happening x days later, to give hotels and airlines time to get up and running to a higher level, including their online booking.
We won't be betting on a decision, we'll be betting on whether conditions are better then than they are now.
Australia managed to turn quarantine free travel on and off. which is essentially what this is, not a bubble. State by state too. that's 7 juridisctions able to put into place what Jacinda can only make an announcement about being able to confirm when it will be in place.
It's hard to stomach the constant double speak
Ok.
Q: So when will it get turned on Aus-NZ?
A:Not until April 6 at the earliest.
Q: Why april 6 at the earliest?
A: Because the conditions won't suit it until April 6 at the earliest.
It's just like L1-L4. There will be criteria, somehwere, that will be a compromise between whatever Michael Baker wants and whatever the business lobbyists and the nats want. I cbf'd looking for that criteria, because I think the entire complaint about people not knowing what's going on is BS.
We've had a year of this – if people haven't figured out by now that loosened restrictions depend on things like the extent of community transition in an area (rather than the whims of the PM), they'll need some extensive 1:1 contact time with professional educators to actually figure it out.
The linger she can delay it the better imho. Getting those vaccines in arms before the next outbreak suits me
Why simply not announce that then? We don't want a bubble now, too dangerous. We want one under the these conditions and to get there we will do this that such. Announce a date for the vaccine rollout ( a very conservative, smallest amount of risk type announcement – say vaccine roll out happening for the larger public starting July – ish, finished by End of year / mid next year). Give it a time frame. Be done with it. Atm, no one can plan, no one knows anything, and lockdowns can happen any day. This is just painful, no purpose served stringing along a public because you can.
Today was another wasted PR opportunity, with nothing that could not have been said via a press statement either. “No changes to the current bubble rules.” done.
so, was there something big happening today?
did Grant came out to say something of substance?
did J.A said something of substance?
Or was that all pushed out to April too?
On a brighter note, we have returned from a thoroughly enjoyable sojourn around West Coast/Buller/Tasman/Malborough.
The highlights: the friendly folk and hospitality esp Hokitika, Reefton and Takaka, the great quality beer – Eddyline, West Coast Brewery, Townsend and Mussell Inn, the scenery of Buller Gorge, the Glaciers and Golden Bay.
Personal highlight @ Lyell was two parent Weka mooching amongst our feet before moving away and 'booming' to the 4 chicks that followed.
Despite thinking the swing bridge across the Buller Gorge would be easy, it was a different thing in 'the flesh'. Border-line code brown.
Finished it all off with a great day at the Nelson Beer and Music Festival.
Hot tip, I thoroughly recommend getting a cabin for the return ferry crossing. Being able to nap before driving was a master stroke.