At a time when his Coalition government are using a manufactured economic “crisis” to slash public service jobs in areas such as health and primary industries, Prime Minister Luxon revelaed on Newshub last night that he has 7 employees working on his and his Party’s social media output.
When asked about the amount of time he spent on social media, Luxon ( who describes himself as “the tik tok King ” ) said:
“I tell you I spend more time preparing and thinking about the questions that [Newshub Political Editor] Jenna Lynch asks me rather than actually thinking about how I can actually communicate with people across New Zealand.
Call me old fashioned, but the PSA should be taking strategic industrial action right now on the thousands of public servant and contractor job slashings–and please don’t bother raising technicalities such as bargaining process agreements and “political neutrality” tradition.
Te Pāti Māori, Forest & Bird, and Greens amongst many others have been doing well, Labour taking it slow, which was understandable pre Xmas, but they need to get way more active too. This is serious ruling class war on the Aotearoa NZ state that generations have built up previously inclusive of the substantial neo liberal interruption of the State Sector and Reserve Bank Acts etc.
Waiting it out till 2026 is not an option with this CoC Govt. of vandals.
I think Labour is responding TM but they are being left out of the loop. I've noted that TV1 does not always report Labour's responses yet when looking online the next day I will discover that Chris Hipkins or some shadow minister did respond but we never saw it.
Doesn't surprise me. I have the impression there's a lot of 'sucking up' occurring because the news agencies who rely on some Govt. funding fear they might be next in line for punishment if they stray too far from the NActF line. In other words, they're being blackmailed – not that there will be any emails etc. in existence to prove it. They don't have to… the writing is on the wall for all to see.
Yes, there are patsy interviews all over at the moment, including RNZ. The outrage and horror over 3 Waters…and diddly said about 3 Ministers seemingly being able to fast track whatever they want.
Yes Ingrid Hipkins was useless as usual on RNZ Morning Report today when talking to Chris Bishop, one of the Gang of Three. She failed to pursue the anti democratic nature of the Fast Track Bill, or the corruption angle where some people on The List are National Party donors.
"Strange you should have that view- media outlets wary of a hand that feeds them. Critics of the lolly scramble Public Interest Journalism Fund said that when it was introduced."
And with good reason.
"Such a shame, either through incompetence, arrogance or inertia the merger of RNZ/TVNZ couldn't be made to happen under Jackson's/Curran's watch"
Steve Maharey wrote a (paywalled It is possible to save the media: Steve Maharey – NZ Herald) piece on the media recently, in which he described the merger as a "fool’s errand because the two entities are from different worlds. One is oil, the other is water".
Sure the correct option was to move TVNZ (one channel broadcast and OnDemand digital) to direct funding first.
TV2 (ads) and OnDemand digital (local rights-subscriber fee) business – floated off as a separate company.
Then the move to digital – with SKY taking over the broadcast of free to air broadcast channels (so the old offline and isolated areas are still provided with a service).
TVNZ remaining as is has led to the mess.
Sans TV3 news etc, there is opening for a floated off TV 2 to do this.
Maharey advocates selling off TVNZ completely, putting the money into a trust to convert RNZ into "a 21st-century media organisation covering everything from broadcasting to social media and print".
I'm not sure what TVNZ would be worth?
As for the PIJF, Maharey has something of a swipe:
"It is vital the new organisation be independent of government. Any legislation should be free from the kind of instructions the previous Government loaded into its otherwise sensible and still-needed Public Interest Journalism policy."
"It is vital the new organisation be independent of government. Any legislation should be free from the kind of instructions the previous Government loaded into its otherwise sensible and still-needed Public Interest Journalism policy."
Agreed re the PIJF – hope Wong is listening/reading. What’s our CoC govt's position on funding public interest journalism – do they have one? Suspect Seymour considers it a waste of precious money, right up there with school lunches, but you never know.
"Stuff's Tova O'Brien said it had been a month and a half since the prime minister asked Lee to "leap into action" but so far there had been nothing."
I'm not sure Luxon asked Lee to do anything of the sort. (do you have anything other than Tova's word for that?). But if he did, he would be wrong. Private media companies make decisions for their shareholders, and in this case governments should butt out.
Owing to a spot of bother in 2010, our 1st Asian cabinet minister was replaced in the 2011 Botany by-election by Jami-Lee Ross, who in turn generated his own spot of bother and was replaced by Luxon.
I'm not sure Luxon asked Lee to do anything of the sort.
Not Lux's style – apparently he downplayed Newshub's closure, and is "laser-focused". Maybe O'Brien "deliberately, deceitfully and ignorantly misrepresented" what Lux said – many of Aotearoa's shrinking stock of MSM pros are similarly guilty, if our deputy PM is on the money – but will we ever know? Perhaps NZ has too many journalists (although we're a bit shy of Finland's 14,000), and the Nats certainly could've done without Dirty Politics.
But if he did, he would be wrong … and in this case governments should butt out.
Imho, it's fair to expect ministers to take an active interest in events relevant to their portfolios, but I can see why it might be considered wrong to ask a Minister of Media and Communications to "leap into action" in this case, and "largely missing in action" feels harsh.
"Come Home to the Feeling" – like a curate's egg; good in parts
I agree, and yes print media seems like a weird one to be considering investing in.
Re TVNZ – for me it should be a single channel public service broadcaster, fully funded and with editorial independence. We could then enjoy some in depth/long format analysis of issues, and (surely!) some better programming.
Bullshit beat up that owes more to fevered imagination than truth and has now seen journalists, under funded and very under appreciated, seen as legitimate targets for attack.
It’s seen as fertile territory for Winnie and so we know less about what councils and companies are doing around the country. Our quiet family oriented cronyism has turned in an island banana republic.
I know what my recent reaction was to Phil Twyford popping up to pontificate on social housing..
I watched gape-mouthed..as he banged on about what this gummint should do…
As an example of bare-faced cheek…it'd be hard to beat..
And my initial reaction was to urge him to just fornicate off ..
And to a lesser degree I feel much the same about other labour spokespeople…and it follows a theme..much along the lines of..'ok..so why the hell didn't you do it/that when you were in office…?'
It's too soon..!..they are jumping the gun…
We are yet to see/hear the mea culpas…and the defining of how they would do things differently next time..in finite detail..(don't worry..!..this rightwing cabal won't steal them… would that they would..)
Until that process has happened…I am more than happy not to hear from/see them..
I'm not sure which protests you mean Weka, as I was out of the country then. Should teachers be at the forefront of protests? It depends – if they're protesting for higher pay for teachers, that seems fair enough. But (for an imaginary example) "Teachers for/against co-governance" – no, they shouldn't be engaging in that kind of protest. As private individuals they are of course free to protest about whatever bugs them. But marching for/against non-teaching issues under a "teachers" banner discredits teachers in the eyes of anyone who's on the other side of the issue. And if teachers unions turn into "social justice" platforms (as mine did), right-wing or even centrist governments will quite reasonably look at alternative education options like charter schools. Some people don't want their kids being taught by "social justice" activists.
Oh please. Unions are social justice activist organisations, that's the whole point. To represent the workers.
If a teacher worked at Auckland Grammar and protested with a banner saying as much, you would have a point. But a teacher protesting a political issue saying they are a teacher, there's nothing wrong with that.
Representing the workers doesn't equate to what contemporary leftists call "social justice". Representing the workers means just that – pushing for better pay and working conditions for workers in the relevant industry. That is all.
Nah it is fine for unions to support each other, the wider union movement and union movements across the world and social issues.
Employers do not confine themselves to just running their businesses – in fact they spend tens of millions lobbying for broader interests.
Confining them to only their own workplace interests is a current neo-liberal and right wing and legislative constraint that Labour could have removed but did not. Just as they could have removed the restriction on going on strike outside of expired agreements or for specific health and safety reasons.
(Though Darien Fenton apparently thinks you can get unions to strike at any time)
Union movements were successful because they weren't confined to what you think they should be – employers used political power to constrain them. Fuck off with your chains.
Ok, so you don't know what unions are. But I was asking you what you thought, not what you think leftists think. Should teachers be able to protest on the streets on issues that matter to them? What about other public servants? Nurses? MPs? Scientists? How about DOC workers going to a SS4C march?
"Ok, so you don't know what unions are" sounds a bit patronizing, weka.
As I've said, teachers, nurses, scientists, bureaucrats, DOC workers etc are free to participate in any protest they like – as private individuals. But the moment they put up a banner saying (for example) "Teachers for Co-governance" or "Scientists for Gaza" – they've lost the plot. And they will damage the credibility of their professional bodies (whether unions or associations) in the eyes of people who sit on the other side of the issue. And there is another side to nearly all issues (the Holocaust and apartheid come to mind as exceptions). Academia is losing the trust of the public because there is so much activism by academics – some people now do not trust academics to handle the evidence honestly, because of their activism. The NZ Association of Scientists comes to mind – they have damaged the reputation of scientists by promoting maatauranga Maaori as "co-equal" with so-called "Western science".
dunno if it's patronising, but why not address the point?
I'm in favour of robust debate, and consider it core to democracy. If a professional body or association wants to take a politics position, then let them, so long as the mechanisms for critique are enabled and functional across society. The problem isn't the expression of political views, it's where we don't have good process to work that through eg pressures on MSM to cover only certain stories or in certain ways.
Suppressing political expression takes us down a different path, and it's a really bad one. We need to know what people are thinking. This doesn't mean free rein, it just means that there are better responses than making people stfu.
There are limits on that eg a teacher from a specific school putting the name of that school in their twitter bio while doing overtly political tweeting, that's a problem because it suggests that the person doesn't have a sense of boundaries and the value of social norms and thus we cannot know how they will be in a classroom of children. But being known as a teacher and expressing political dissent is not in and of itself a problem. It's a reflection of that person, not teachers or teaching generally.
Representing the workers doesn't equate to what contemporary leftists call "social justice". Representing the workers means just that – pushing for better pay and working conditions for workers in the relevant industry. That is all.
You know way back in the dim dark ages I used to think this. As I've got older I've got a bit wiser and a bit less knee jerk. I now realise and support the concept that unions have a place in the workplace, in NZ and in the world and it is the success of those relationships and that work that governs how successful they and we are. Of course like-wise employers also have a place in the workplace, in NZ and the world. In a functioning world both union/employer elements are strong and respectful of their members and of the other organisation.
I was fortunate to work as an employer's rep negotiating with PSA/Workers Union and others. Knowing that others around the table supported each other being strong and working for their members was a sensible and mature belief.
My own boss, gave me some 'riding instructions' which were these….the above ie strong employees and strong employers were vital in the fabric of society and needed each other to ge the best for all in society
and
in reality, employers hold all the cards compared with workers and it does not hurt an employer to be magnanimous
Of course it was not all jolly hockey sticks and unicorns and we all had our moments of temporarily withdrawing, leaving, flying kites to see what the other side thought, dealing with personal grievances that were no-goers and others that most definitely were.
So I've learned as I've got older.
I don't support your views about the place of unions and what they should be doing.
I've been a union delegate in two quite different organisations. Sometimes it was us, rather than some idiot managers, protecting the interests of the business. Some managers came up with some really stupid ideas. Surrounded by yes people who would never say no to them the delegates were the only protection that there was sometimes.
They are again taking us back to indentured labour, where workers are not allowed to associate, congregate or discuss conditions of work at their place of work, meantime bosses want almost 24hour contact, and job surveillance.
Political neutrality should be expected of all public servants, ie they work for the govt of the day and mostly the system works in this way.
This does not apply though to their unions – they'd be handicapped a mile down the straight if we demanded political neutrality from the unions. It is their place to be political.
The above applies to the core public service. The PS world is vastly changed since the enactments in the 1980s with union coverage & expectations.
Yes, important to distinguish between the public service and the PSA. But I'm not sure what you mean by "political". The PSA's job is to push for better pay and working conditions in the public service – that is all.
Your opinion is so completely wrong but your inability to listen to what others are informing you of is even worse.
From its own rules and regulations.
It shall, however, be free in the pursuit of its objectives to express opinions or take other action in respect of any act or omission of governments, organisations or persons, and to express its opinion on any issue or topic.
or the mandate to further environmental issues.
Eco Network
(1) In accordance with rule 74, there will be an Eco Network of the PSA, which shall be subject to the rules, regulations and policies of the union.
(2) The Eco Network exists to:
(a) promote environmental interests within the PSA;
(b) facilitate the sharing of information and resources;
(c) encourage engagement and action on the environment.
and look here are the PSA’s submissions on all sorts of things.
'We seem to have a lot of trolls here lately sharing their reckons with us. They come and go I guess".
I don't understand why people waste time and energy engaging with people who are not here to operate in good faith.
It clogs threads up and diminishes the value of this site, to me at least.
When I see the names of several commenters here now I just skip over them.
It's clear very early on when these people appear that they are not here to engage in genuine debate. I wish people would ignore them when that's obvious.
So hundred year mortgages and apartments without windows on floodplains? That’d meet KPIs and with immigrants that as Bill English once said are used to cramped poorly lit homes in their country.
Complaints here about housing having minimum standards for ceilings etc as being too expensive. Will see if I can find further comments, but it was immigrants don’t need minimum standards around light, windows and other things because they’re used to not having them. Not pushed to the top of his most treasured opinions, but relevant when we look at the current lot.
Recent studies have shown rules setting minimum floor space requirements and minimum balcony requirements add $50,000 to $100,000 to the cost of an apartment.
That's in addition to costs associated with other rules, such as rules setting minimum ceiling heights.
In the context of a high immigration and foreign student environment, many of whom lived in apartments.
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1/ Join community / common cause organisations Find organisations you resonate with. Join them and/or donate. In the fight against the state, it’s critical we pool together in all cases. If you don’t have the financial resources, sign up for information & updates. Knowledge is power. These groups, and the ...
Long story short: Aotearoa-NZ now has to make some difficult and probably expensive decisions about how we work and trade with China and the United States, our two largest trading partners. That’s because Donald Trump just overturned 80 years of certainty about how the US deals with and protects the ...
People killin', people dyin'Children hurt, and you hear them cryin'Can you practice what you preach?And would you turn the other cheek?Father, father, father, help usSend some guidance from above'Cause people got me, got me questioningWhere is the love?Songwriters: will.i.am, Justin Timberlake, Taboo, apl.de.ap, Printz Board, Michael Fratantuno, George Pajon, Jr.Where ...
A Bully in a China Shop?It is a mystery what Donald Trump learned when he did his BA in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid-1960s. The Ivy League college has a good economics reputation, but even had Trump been a top student – unlikely or he would ...
The conflict we can see echoing across the world is being imported directly into New Zealand by outside powers and monetary influences that we don't want in our politics. It makes our politics messy and confusing, but untangling the puppet strings can help make sense of how we got here.This ...
Questions1. The poem that offers the immortal words The boy stood on the burning deck is about what?a. Eskimo Nell’s younger brotherb. The Reichstag firec. One of Napoleon’s shipsd. Christopher Luxon’s first year as Prime Minister2. What happens to the boy in the poem?a. Goes on an absolute bender in ...
I decided not to bother listening to the Reserve Bank’s appearance at FEC yesterday morning. After all, the OCR decision had been much as expected and foreshadowed, the forecast tracks etc hadn’t changed much, and – with all due respect to some new FEC members – how searching was any ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedQuote of the day:Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published“Our primary duty, I believe, is to maintain our water, our lakes, our rivers in a form in nature that supports life, ecosystems, communities, and, indeed, it ...
NZ’s peaceful and historic Hikoi for Maori rights and bottom, London police arrest environmental protestorsPeaceful protesters around the world are being jailed for years for nothing more than turning up or planning a protestAusralian climate change protesters To continue to receive posts like this, consider becoming a free or paid ...
And mama said mmmmh, mmmmhWhy don't the newscasters cryWhen they read about people who dieAt least they could be decent enoughTo put just a tear in their eyesAnd mama saidIt's just make-believeYou can't believe everything you seeSo baby, close your eyes to the lullabiesOn the news tonightSongwriters: Jack Hody Johnson.The ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand.Winston representing New ZealandWinston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
At this year's State of the Planet address, Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
The Government has spent $3.6 million dollars on a retail crime advisory group, including paying its chair $920 a day, to come up with ideas already dismissed as dangerous by police. ...
The Green Party supports the peaceful occupation at Lake Rotokākahi and are calling for the controversial sewerage project on the lake to be stopped until the Environment Court has made a decision. ...
ActionStation’s Oral Healthcare report, released today, paints a dire picture of unmet need and inequality across the country, highlighting the urgency of free dental care for all New Zealanders. ...
The Golden Age There has been long-standing recognition that New Zealand First has an unrivalled reputation for delivering for our older New Zealanders. This remains true, and is reflected in our coalition agreement. While we know there is much that we can and will do in this space, it is ...
Labour Te Atatū MP Phil Twyford has written to the charities regulator asking that Destiny Church charities be struck off in the wake of last weekend’s violence by Destiny followers in his electorate. ...
Bills by Labour MPs to remove rules around sale of alcohol on public holidays, and for Crown entities to adopt Māori names have been drawn from the Members’ Bill Ballot. ...
The Government is falling even further behind its promised target of 500 new police officers, now with 72 fewer police officers than when National took office. ...
This morning’s Stats NZ child poverty statistics should act as a wake-up call for the government: with no movement in child poverty rates since June 2023, it’s time to make the wellbeing of our tamariki a political priority. ...
Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson’s Consumer Guarantees Right to Repair Amendment Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament this evening. ...
“The ACT Party can’t be bothered putting an MP on one of the Justice subcommittees hearing submissions on their own Treaty Principles Bill,” Labour Justice Spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
As the world marks three years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced additional sanctions on Russian entities and support for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction. “Russia’s illegal invasion has brought three years of devastation to Ukraine’s people, environment, and infrastructure,” Mr Peters says. “These additional sanctions target 52 ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced the Government’s plan to reform the Overseas Investment Act and make it easier for New Zealand businesses to receive new investment, grow and pay higher wages. “New Zealand is one of the hardest countries in the developed world for overseas people to ...
Associate Health Minister Hon Casey Costello is traveling to Australia for meetings with the aged care sector in Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney next week. “Australia is our closest partner, so as we consider the changes necessary to make our system more effective and sustainable it makes sense to learn from ...
The Government is boosting investment in the QEII National Trust to reinforce the protection of Aotearoa New Zealand's biodiversity on private land, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. The Government today announced an additional $4.5 million for conservation body QEII National Trust over three years. QEII Trust works with farmers and ...
The closure of the Ava Bridge walkway will be delayed so Hutt City Council have more time to develop options for a new footbridge, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Mayor of Lower Hutt, Campbell Barry. “The Hutt River paths are one of the Hutt’s most beloved features. Hutt locals ...
Good afternoon. Can I acknowledge Ngāti Whātua for their warm welcome, Simpson Grierson for hosting us here today, and of course the Committee for Auckland for putting on today’s event. I suspect some of you are sitting there wondering what a boy from the Hutt would know about Auckland, our ...
The Government will invest funding to remove the level crossings in Takanini and Glen Innes and replace them with grade-separated crossings, to maximise the City Rail Link’s ability to speed up journey times by rail and road and boost Auckland’s productivity, Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown ...
The Government has made key decisions on a Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) framework to enable businesses to benefit from storing carbon underground, which will support New Zealand’s businesses to continue operating while reducing net carbon emissions, Energy and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Economic growth is a ...
Minister for Regulation David Seymour says that outdated and burdensome regulations surrounding industrial hemp (iHemp) production are set to be reviewed by the Ministry for Regulation. Industrial hemp is currently classified as a Class C controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, despite containing minimal THC and posing little ...
The Ministerial Advisory Group on transnational and serious organised crime was appointed by Cabinet on Monday and met for the first time today, Associate Police Minister Casey Costello announced. “The group will provide independent advice to ensure we have a better cross-government response to fighting the increasing threat posed to ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will travel to Viet Nam next week, visiting both Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, accompanied by a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders. “Viet Nam is a rising star of Southeast Asia with one of the fastest growing economies in the region. This ...
The coalition Government has passed legislation to support overseas investment in the Build-to-Rent housing sector, Associate Minister of Finance Chris Bishop says. “The Overseas Investment (Facilitating Build-to-Rent Developments) Amendment Bill has completed its third reading in Parliament, fulfilling another step in the Government’s plan to support an increase in New ...
The new Police marketing campaign starting today, recreating the ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ ad from the 1990s, has been welcomed by Associate Police Minister Casey Costello. “This isn’t just a great way to get the attention of more potential recruits, it’s a reminder to everyone about what policing is and the ...
No significant change to child poverty rates under successive governments reinforces that lifting children out of material hardship will be an ongoing challenge, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. Figures released by Stats NZ today show no change in child poverty rates for the year ended June 2024, reflecting ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the most common family names given to newborns in 2024. “For the seventh consecutive year, Singh is the most common registered family name, with over 680 babies given this name. Kaur follows closely in second place with 630 babies, while ...
A new $3 million fund from the International Conservation and Tourism Visitor Levy will be used to attract more international visitors to regional destinations this autumn and winter, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says. “The Government has a clear priority to unleash economic growth and getting our visitor numbers ...
Good Evening Let us begin by acknowledging Professor David Capie and the PIPSA team for convening this important conference over the next few days. Whenever the Pacific Islands region comes together, we have a precious opportunity to share perspectives and learn from each other. That is especially true in our ...
The Reserve Bank’s positive outlook indicates the economy is growing and people can look forward to more jobs and opportunities, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Bank today reduced the Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points. It said it expected further reductions this year and employment to pick up ...
Agriculture Minister, Todd McClay and Minister for Māori Development, Tama Potaka today congratulated the finalists for this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy, celebrating excellence in Māori sheep and beef farming. The two finalists for 2025 are Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust and Tawapata South Māori Incorporation Onenui Station. "The Ahuwhenua Trophy is a prestigious ...
The Government is continuing to respond to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care by establishing a fund to honour those who died in care and are buried in unmarked graves, and strengthen survivor-led initiatives that support those in need. “The $2 million dual purpose fund will be ...
A busy intersection on SH5 will be made safer with the construction of a new roundabout at the intersection of SH28/Harwoods Road, as we deliver on our commitment to help improve road safety through building safer infrastructure, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Safety is one of the Government’s strategic priorities ...
The Government is turbo charging growth to return confidence to the primary sector through common sense policies that are driving productivity and farm-gate returns, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “The latest Federated Farmers Farm Confidence Survey highlights strong momentum across the sector and the Government’s firm commitment to back ...
Improving people’s experience with the Justice system is at the heart of a package of Bills which passed its first reading today Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee says. “The 63 changes in these Bills will deliver real impacts for everyday New Zealanders. The changes will improve court timeliness and efficiency, ...
Returning the Ō-Rākau battle site to tūpuna ownership will help to recognise the past and safeguard their stories for the benefit of future generations, Minister for Māori Crown Relations Tama Potaka says. The Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passed its third reading at ...
A new university programme will help prepare PhD students for world-class careers in science by building stronger connections between research and industry, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “Our Government is laser focused on growing New Zealand’s economy and to do that, we must realise the potential ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today announced funding of more than $14 million to replace the main water supply and ring mains in the main building of Auckland City Hospital. “Addressing the domestic hot water system at the country’s largest hospital, which opened in 2003, is vitally important to ensure ...
The Government is investing $30 million from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy to fund more than a dozen projects to boost biodiversity and the tourist economy, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. “Tourism is a key economic driver, and nature is our biggest draw card for international tourists,” says ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters will travel to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, China, Mongolia, and the Republic of Korea later this week. “New Zealand enjoys long-standing and valued relationships with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both highly influential actors in their region. The visit will focus on building ...
Minister for Rail Winston Peters has announced director appointments for Ferry Holdings Limited – the schedule 4a company charged with negotiating ferry procurement contracts for two new inter-island ferries. Mr Peters says Ferry Holdings Limited will be responsible for negotiating long-term port agreements on either side of the Cook Strait ...
Ophthalmology patients in Kaitaia are benefiting from being able to access the complete cataract care pathway closer to home, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. “Ensuring New Zealanders have access to timely, quality healthcare is a priority for the Government. “Since 30 September 2024, Kaitaia Hospital has been providing cataract care ...
Scientist Shaun Ogilvie recalls a hui at Wairewa marae, south of Christchurch, to discuss monitoring the polluted local lake, known by pākehā as Forsyth.Kuia Naomi Bunker got to her feet, Ogilvie told the High Court on Friday, and said: “You guys have been coming here and measuring stuff for a ...
It’s nearly one o’clock in the afternoon and my mother is entering a vegan restaurant called Salad Days. The vibe is Birkenstocks and natural fibres; she is wrongly dressed as always in a sparkly dress and heels. A young woman greets her. Her nametag says Rose. She shows my mother ...
The Wellington Indian Association is celebrating its centenary Monday, and mid this year a new book will lift the lid on the community’s long history with the city.That history goes back much further than 100 years, with the first Indian migrants jumping ship in the late 1700s.Jaqueline Leckie says that’s ...
The stakes in our women’s Super Rugby Aupiki are higher than they’ve ever been in the competition’s short history. The winner will face the Australian Super Rugby champion in April, and those who flourish will be selected for the Black Ferns Rugby World Cup campaign in August.The Blues victory over ...
Mike Hosking: Good morning Prime Minister, good to have you with us on Newstalk ZB. How are you?The Prime Minister: Well, I hold pretty high standards of wellness, of personal wellness but also the wellness of my team, and ultimately the wellness of New Zealand. So it’s really a holistic ...
Palestinian cultural expression should be treated with the same respect as any other, without fear or scrutiny. The keffiyeh is not a political threat - it is a symbol of history, survival, and belonging. ...
Gabi Lardies is here to reflect on the week as Mad Chapman is on leave.After the grabbing saga this week, there was the word salad saga. No matter how many times Mike Hosking tried to get a straight answer out of Chris Luxon on whether or not he would ...
Three cinemas, 1,315 minutes, two streaming platforms, too much sand and one vaping cardinal. Every hero’s journey starts with a call to adventure. Maximus Decimus Meridius, or Russell Crowe as we call him, found his family dead and was sold into slavery. Forrest Gump started running. Luke Skywalker was summoned ...
She once eliminated The Bachelor on Celebrity Treasure Island. Now Brynley Stent is the one on a televised quest for love.Having first burst onto New Zealand screens in Funny Girls, Brynley Stent has gone on to have a rich and varied television career. She’s worked on shows like Jono ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Teuila Field.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.Teuila Field (Sāmoan/Pākehā) has a decade of experience working as first assistant director (1st AD) ...
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi marked the start of a wave of cosy, melancholic Japanese and Korean fiction in translation. But what’s behind the popularity of books that are designed to make us have feelings? @Grapiedeltaco can hardly speak through her tears. “Why would someone be crying ...
Are you replacing real relationships with online interactions? This article was first published on Madeleine Holden’s self-titled Substack. Last month, the writer Rob Henderson threw out a delicious provocation on Substack: “The reason you feel alienated and alone is too many of your finite Dunbar number slots aren’t occupied by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will temporarily freeze the indexation on draught beer excise, in what it describes as a win for drinkers, brewers and businesses. The freeze is for two years and starts from the ...
By Khalia Strong of Pacific Media Network Tongan community leaders and artists in New Zealand have criticised the Treaty Principles Bill while highlighting the ongoing impact of colonisation in Aotearoa and the Pacific. Oral submissions continued this week for the public to voice their view on the controversial proposed bill, ...
"This is an overwhelmingly significant public response considering the submission period was over Christmas and the New Year,” said Claire Bleakley, president of GE Free NZ "Especially as the deadline of 17 February allowed only 4 weeks, after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gavin Brown, Lecturer in Religious Education, Australian Catholic University Wikimedia Commons Most people recognise organisations such as the YMCA and the Boy Scouts, or events such as the Modern Olympic Games, summer camps and wilderness retreats. Few, though, have ever ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum American quantum computing startup PsiQuantum announced yesterday that it has cracked a significant puzzle on the road to making the technology useful: manufacturing quantum chips ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gemma Hamilton, Senior Lecturer, RMIT University Jacob Lund/Shutterstock As International Women’s Day approaches, we must redouble our efforts to champion social justice and the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). These are under unprecedented attack by some political leaders. In ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard seven hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It’s the final day of the Justice Committee’s hearings of oral submissions on the Treaty principles bill. The road has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Thorp, Professor of Finance, University of Sydney Marek Masik/Shutterstock You might remember Pesto, the king penguin chick who became a star attraction at Melbourne Aquarium last year. Good food, good genes and a safe home let Pesto grow into a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julaine Allan, Professor, Mental Health and Addiction, Rural Health Research Institute, Charles Sturt University Lenscap Photography/Shutterstock Nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas or nangs – is cheap, widely available and popular among young people. Yet it often flies ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Dunley, Senior Lecturer in History and Maritime Strategy, UNSW Sydney Over the past few days, the Australian media has been dominated by the activities of the Chinese navy’s Task Group 107 as it has progressed south along the Australian coast and ...
Speed limits are being increased on 1,500 Auckland streets, many neighbouring schools, after a council objection failed to sway the government. Auckland Transport has released a list of 1,500 residential Auckland streets, many near schools, where speed limits are increasing by order of the Ministry of Transport.Last year, the ...
New Zealand crime thriller The Gone returns for a second season – with more missing Irish tourists. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. Theo Richter is standing in a hut deep in the New Zealand bush, staring out the window. An animal ...
A new poem by Mikaela Nyman. Moon Dogs Your words chafe days weeks months into a blur. Squinting brings petty relief. See pinpricks of light long lost turn into myriad of tiny chevrons all pointing at this extraterrestrially lonely human squatting between goal posts on an abandoned ...
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 Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins (Hay House, $32) Latest self-help bestseller that is proving controversial out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Zarmati, Senior Lecturer in Humanities and Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania A fragment of vitrified brain found at Herculaneum.Guido Giordano et al. / Scientific Reports A young man killed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ellen Reeves, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Liverpool Traci Hahn/Shutterstock People experiencing domestic violence are often urged to report their abuse to police. But what if your abuser is a police officer? Our new research, drawing on 17 interviews with victim-survivors ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan Korber, Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Shutterstock It might have surprised some people when the United Nations made 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives and praised the “significant role cooperatives play in advancing ...
Alex Casey recaps the last two months of kitchen nightmares. In October last year, David Seymour launched his revamped school lunch programme. At a cost of $3 per meal and reportedly set to save $130 million a year, the meal options included chickpea curry, butter chicken, “Tex-Mex” beans and rice, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney This weekend, Australia’s National Rugby League (NRL) continues to trumpet its now annual pilgrimage to open its season in Las Vegas. While it’s only the second year of a five-year ...
By Talaia Mika of the Cook Islands News As concerns continue to emerge over China’s “unusual” naval exercises in the Tasman Sea, raising eyebrows from New Zealand and Australia, the Cook Islands government was questioned for an update in Parliament. This follows the newly established bilateral relations between the Cook ...
Sixty years on from gaining independence, debate is raging in the Cook Islands about its political relationships with other countries.“Cook Islands deal with China takes NZ Government by surprise!”“Is Cook Islands-China deal shipshape?”“Crisis in the region deepens!”“Should New Zealand invade the Cook Islands?”From the questionable ...
Comment: Look, I know – no one really wants to think about the Covid pandemic, particularly in those parts of the world that suffered its worst horrors. We’ve moved on. But hear me out – if there’s one thing we can learn from those dark times it’s to get ready ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ehsan Noroozinejad, Senior Researcher, Urban Transformations Research Centre, Western Sydney University studiovin/Shutterstock Australia is in the grip of a severe housing shortage. Many people are finding it extremely difficult to find a place to live in the face of rising rents ...
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/04/22/guest-blog-bryan-bruce-the-manufactured-economic-crisis-justifying-slashing-public-services
UNbloody believable
Actually unbelievable, actually – peak Luxon. "It's pretty intuitive, pretty natural."
Obviously been taking lessons from his minister of "communications". A ratio of that adverb even higher than she usually achieves.
Call me old fashioned, but the PSA should be taking strategic industrial action right now on the thousands of public servant and contractor job slashings–and please don’t bother raising technicalities such as bargaining process agreements and “political neutrality” tradition.
Te Pāti Māori, Forest & Bird, and Greens amongst many others have been doing well, Labour taking it slow, which was understandable pre Xmas, but they need to get way more active too. This is serious ruling class war on the Aotearoa NZ state that generations have built up previously inclusive of the substantial neo liberal interruption of the State Sector and Reserve Bank Acts etc.
Waiting it out till 2026 is not an option with this CoC Govt. of vandals.
I think Labour is responding TM but they are being left out of the loop. I've noted that TV1 does not always report Labour's responses yet when looking online the next day I will discover that Chris Hipkins or some shadow minister did respond but we never saw it.
Doesn't surprise me. I have the impression there's a lot of 'sucking up' occurring because the news agencies who rely on some Govt. funding fear they might be next in line for punishment if they stray too far from the NActF line. In other words, they're being blackmailed – not that there will be any emails etc. in existence to prove it. They don't have to… the writing is on the wall for all to see.
Yes, there are patsy interviews all over at the moment, including RNZ. The outrage and horror over 3 Waters…and diddly said about 3 Ministers seemingly being able to fast track whatever they want.
Yes Ingrid Hipkins was useless as usual on RNZ Morning Report today when talking to Chris Bishop, one of the Gang of Three. She failed to pursue the anti democratic nature of the Fast Track Bill, or the corruption angle where some people on The List are National Party donors.
Strange you should have that view- media outlets wary of a hand that feeds them.
Critics of the
lolly scramblePublic Interest Journalism Fund said that when it was introduced.Such a shame, either through incompetence, arrogance or inertia the merger of RNZ/TVNZ couldn't be made to happen under Jackson's/Curran's watch
"Strange you should have that view- media outlets wary of a hand that feeds them. Critics of the
lolly scramblePublic Interest Journalism Fund said that when it was introduced."And with good reason.
"Such a shame, either through incompetence, arrogance or inertia the merger of RNZ/TVNZ couldn't be made to happen under Jackson's/Curran's watch"
Steve Maharey wrote a (paywalled It is possible to save the media: Steve Maharey – NZ Herald) piece on the media recently, in which he described the merger as a "fool’s errand because the two entities are from different worlds. One is oil, the other is water".
Sure the correct option was to move TVNZ (one channel broadcast and OnDemand digital) to direct funding first.
TV2 (ads) and OnDemand digital (local rights-subscriber fee) business – floated off as a separate company.
Then the move to digital – with SKY taking over the broadcast of free to air broadcast channels (so the old offline and isolated areas are still provided with a service).
TVNZ remaining as is has led to the mess.
Sans TV3 news etc, there is opening for a floated off TV 2 to do this.
Maharey advocates selling off TVNZ completely, putting the money into a trust to convert RNZ into "a 21st-century media organisation covering everything from broadcasting to social media and print".
I'm not sure what TVNZ would be worth?
As for the PIJF, Maharey has something of a swipe:
"It is vital the new organisation be independent of government. Any legislation should be free from the kind of instructions the previous Government loaded into its otherwise sensible and still-needed Public Interest Journalism policy."
Agreed re the PIJF – hope Wong is listening/reading. What’s our CoC govt's position on funding public interest journalism – do they have one? Suspect Seymour considers it a waste of precious money, right up there with school lunches, but you never know.
https://www.nzonair.govt.nz/funding/journalism-funding/
Who is Wong?
Pansy – sorry, wong National party minister – hope Lee is listening.
Do all those Chinese women look the same to you?
"All those Chinese women" being Wong and Lee? Honestly couldn't say – more interested in actions, and lack thereof.
Pansy Wong has not been an MP since 2011.
"Stuff's Tova O'Brien said it had been a month and a half since the prime minister asked Lee to "leap into action" but so far there had been nothing."
I'm not sure Luxon asked Lee to do anything of the sort. (do you have anything other than Tova's word for that?). But if he did, he would be wrong. Private media companies make decisions for their shareholders, and in this case governments should butt out.
Imho, it's fair to expect ministers to take an active interest in events relevant to their portfolios, but I can see why it might be considered wrong to ask a Minister of Media and Communications to "leap into action" in this case, and "largely missing in action" feels harsh.
"Come Home to the Feeling" – like a curate's egg; good in parts
He is probably right about PIJF, it and NZ On Air are funding, not the vehicle for a controlling interest.
My approach is better than his, as per broadcasting structure – as you note TVNZ has little value (except as part of a monopoly).
It's interesting he wants a state owned organisation involved in print (not just digital news) and social media – that for mine is another issue.
I agree, and yes print media seems like a weird one to be considering investing in.
Re TVNZ – for me it should be a single channel public service broadcaster, fully funded and with editorial independence. We could then enjoy some in depth/long format analysis of issues, and (surely!) some better programming.
Kinda rare to agree with mahary…but I do…
Bullshit beat up that owes more to fevered imagination than truth and has now seen journalists, under funded and very under appreciated, seen as legitimate targets for attack.
It’s seen as fertile territory for Winnie and so we know less about what councils and companies are doing around the country. Our quiet family oriented cronyism has turned in an island banana republic.
@ Anne .
Re labour being ignored….I can understand that…
I know what my recent reaction was to Phil Twyford popping up to pontificate on social housing..
I watched gape-mouthed..as he banged on about what this gummint should do…
As an example of bare-faced cheek…it'd be hard to beat..
And my initial reaction was to urge him to just fornicate off ..
And to a lesser degree I feel much the same about other labour spokespeople…and it follows a theme..much along the lines of..'ok..so why the hell didn't you do it/that when you were in office…?'
It's too soon..!..they are jumping the gun…
We are yet to see/hear the mea culpas…and the defining of how they would do things differently next time..in finite detail..(don't worry..!..this rightwing cabal won't steal them… would that they would..)
Until that process has happened…I am more than happy not to hear from/see them..
I am still too pissed off at them…
You can join Peter Dunne. Labour all at sea against Govt's legislative blitzkrieg (newsroom.co.nz)
No thanks…I wouldn't join dunne in a lifeboat..
So Tiger you don't believe "political neutrality" should be required of public servants?
As for "This is serious ruling class war on the Aotearoa NZ state". For God's sake Tiger, the PSA IS the ruling class in Wellington.
And as several commentators have pointed out, the cuts to date barely scratch the surface of the bloat that occurred under Ardern and Hipkins.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/350249071/public-service-cuts-situation-not-simple-it-seems
Teachers were at the forefront of the political protests in the early 90s. Are you saying they shouldn't?
I'm not sure which protests you mean Weka, as I was out of the country then. Should teachers be at the forefront of protests? It depends – if they're protesting for higher pay for teachers, that seems fair enough. But (for an imaginary example) "Teachers for/against co-governance" – no, they shouldn't be engaging in that kind of protest. As private individuals they are of course free to protest about whatever bugs them. But marching for/against non-teaching issues under a "teachers" banner discredits teachers in the eyes of anyone who's on the other side of the issue. And if teachers unions turn into "social justice" platforms (as mine did), right-wing or even centrist governments will quite reasonably look at alternative education options like charter schools. Some people don't want their kids being taught by "social justice" activists.
Oh please. Unions are social justice activist organisations, that's the whole point. To represent the workers.
If a teacher worked at Auckland Grammar and protested with a banner saying as much, you would have a point. But a teacher protesting a political issue saying they are a teacher, there's nothing wrong with that.
Representing the workers doesn't equate to what contemporary leftists call "social justice". Representing the workers means just that – pushing for better pay and working conditions for workers in the relevant industry. That is all.
Nah it is fine for unions to support each other, the wider union movement and union movements across the world and social issues.
Employers do not confine themselves to just running their businesses – in fact they spend tens of millions lobbying for broader interests.
Confining them to only their own workplace interests is a current neo-liberal and right wing and legislative constraint that Labour could have removed but did not. Just as they could have removed the restriction on going on strike outside of expired agreements or for specific health and safety reasons.
(Though Darien Fenton apparently thinks you can get unions to strike at any time)
Union movements were successful because they weren't confined to what you think they should be – employers used political power to constrain them. Fuck off with your chains.
Ok, so you don't know what unions are. But I was asking you what you thought, not what you think leftists think. Should teachers be able to protest on the streets on issues that matter to them? What about other public servants? Nurses? MPs? Scientists? How about DOC workers going to a SS4C march?
"Ok, so you don't know what unions are" sounds a bit patronizing, weka.
As I've said, teachers, nurses, scientists, bureaucrats, DOC workers etc are free to participate in any protest they like – as private individuals. But the moment they put up a banner saying (for example) "Teachers for Co-governance" or "Scientists for Gaza" – they've lost the plot. And they will damage the credibility of their professional bodies (whether unions or associations) in the eyes of people who sit on the other side of the issue. And there is another side to nearly all issues (the Holocaust and apartheid come to mind as exceptions). Academia is losing the trust of the public because there is so much activism by academics – some people now do not trust academics to handle the evidence honestly, because of their activism. The NZ Association of Scientists comes to mind – they have damaged the reputation of scientists by promoting maatauranga Maaori as "co-equal" with so-called "Western science".
dunno if it's patronising, but why not address the point?
I'm in favour of robust debate, and consider it core to democracy. If a professional body or association wants to take a politics position, then let them, so long as the mechanisms for critique are enabled and functional across society. The problem isn't the expression of political views, it's where we don't have good process to work that through eg pressures on MSM to cover only certain stories or in certain ways.
Suppressing political expression takes us down a different path, and it's a really bad one. We need to know what people are thinking. This doesn't mean free rein, it just means that there are better responses than making people stfu.
There are limits on that eg a teacher from a specific school putting the name of that school in their twitter bio while doing overtly political tweeting, that's a problem because it suggests that the person doesn't have a sense of boundaries and the value of social norms and thus we cannot know how they will be in a classroom of children. But being known as a teacher and expressing political dissent is not in and of itself a problem. It's a reflection of that person, not teachers or teaching generally.
No Dolomedes 111 That is not all Safety.!!
You know way back in the dim dark ages I used to think this. As I've got older I've got a bit wiser and a bit less knee jerk. I now realise and support the concept that unions have a place in the workplace, in NZ and in the world and it is the success of those relationships and that work that governs how successful they and we are. Of course like-wise employers also have a place in the workplace, in NZ and the world. In a functioning world both union/employer elements are strong and respectful of their members and of the other organisation.
I was fortunate to work as an employer's rep negotiating with PSA/Workers Union and others. Knowing that others around the table supported each other being strong and working for their members was a sensible and mature belief.
My own boss, gave me some 'riding instructions' which were these….the above ie strong employees and strong employers were vital in the fabric of society and needed each other to ge the best for all in society
and
in reality, employers hold all the cards compared with workers and it does not hurt an employer to be magnanimous
Of course it was not all jolly hockey sticks and unicorns and we all had our moments of temporarily withdrawing, leaving, flying kites to see what the other side thought, dealing with personal grievances that were no-goers and others that most definitely were.
So I've learned as I've got older.
I don't support your views about the place of unions and what they should be doing.
I've been a union delegate in two quite different organisations. Sometimes it was us, rather than some idiot managers, protecting the interests of the business. Some managers came up with some really stupid ideas. Surrounded by yes people who would never say no to them the delegates were the only protection that there was sometimes.
Teachers did themselves proud during the Hekia Parata era National Standards & Charter School campaigns.
Yeah na. The PSA is no ruling class, they are just a union. And it appears given
1.the consultancy business growth in the city
2.easier lay off contracts
3.hires from out the public service into management
increasingly irrelevant.
They are again taking us back to indentured labour, where workers are not allowed to associate, congregate or discuss conditions of work at their place of work, meantime bosses want almost 24hour contact, and job surveillance.
Political neutrality should be expected of all public servants, ie they work for the govt of the day and mostly the system works in this way.
This does not apply though to their unions – they'd be handicapped a mile down the straight if we demanded political neutrality from the unions. It is their place to be political.
The above applies to the core public service. The PS world is vastly changed since the enactments in the 1980s with union coverage & expectations.
Yes, important to distinguish between the public service and the PSA. But I'm not sure what you mean by "political". The PSA's job is to push for better pay and working conditions in the public service – that is all.
Your opinion is so completely wrong but your inability to listen to what others are informing you of is even worse.
From its own rules and regulations.
It shall, however, be free in the pursuit of its objectives to express opinions or take other action in respect of any act or omission of governments, organisations or persons, and to express its opinion on any issue or topic.
or the mandate to further environmental issues.
Eco Network
(1) In accordance with rule 74, there will be an Eco Network of the PSA, which shall be subject to the rules, regulations and policies of the union.
(2) The Eco Network exists to:
(a) promote environmental interests within the PSA;
(b) facilitate the sharing of information and resources;
(c) encourage engagement and action on the environment.
and look here are the PSA’s submissions on all sorts of things.
https://www.psa.org.nz/our-voice/#/submissions
We seem to have a lot of trolls here lately sharing their reckons with us. They come and go I guess.
'We seem to have a lot of trolls here lately sharing their reckons with us. They come and go I guess".
I don't understand why people waste time and energy engaging with people who are not here to operate in good faith.
It clogs threads up and diminishes the value of this site, to me at least.
When I see the names of several commenters here now I just skip over them.
It's clear very early on when these people appear that they are not here to engage in genuine debate. I wish people would ignore them when that's obvious.
In-depth CNN article about China's internal security services.
Thete's an iteresting new framing of national intelligence agency on social media to encourage citizen input on suspicious activity.
So hundred year mortgages and apartments without windows on floodplains? That’d meet KPIs and with immigrants that as Bill English once said are used to cramped poorly lit homes in their country.
When did Bill say that?
No doubt you can provide a link to what he said, and the words he used.
Complaints here about housing having minimum standards for ceilings etc as being too expensive. Will see if I can find further comments, but it was immigrants don’t need minimum standards around light, windows and other things because they’re used to not having them. Not pushed to the top of his most treasured opinions, but relevant when we look at the current lot.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1509/S00496/speech-on-housing-affordability.htm
Recent studies have shown rules setting minimum floor space requirements and minimum balcony requirements add $50,000 to $100,000 to the cost of an apartment.
That's in addition to costs associated with other rules, such as rules setting minimum ceiling heights.
In the context of a high immigration and foreign student environment, many of whom lived in apartments.