So, the Swedish government has just collapsed, and with it come the very high prospect of fresh elections.
This probably needs is own post, but when Sweden does get fresh elections, we are very likely to see the social democratic party take a hiding.
Sweden was one of the pioneers of a very socialised state with heavy taxes and a very strong social network of services from cradle to the grave (for those old enough to remember the 1970s, ABBA paid between 56 and 85% tax to the Swedish government on their huge earnings).
I've been pointing out for a while now that New Zealand is very much a global outlier as a social democratic government – even in our mild form.
Across Europe the social democratic cause has collapsed in Austria, Germany, increasingly Britain, and now it's just had a pretty big reversal in Sweden.
Of those that remain other than New Zealand, Denmark, Finland and Spain are still going OK. Denmark's version got back with a strong anti-immigration theme which has continued. The social democratic movement has declined at the same time as the welfare state has been challenged by mass immigration.
We might have expected after the revival of state interventionism across the world last year that there would be fresh purpose to parties that saw the good in the strongly redistributive state. Maybe that's still to come.
Meantime, even the Scandinavian model has taken yet another hit.
Other than the outliers, the social democratic effort is now at its lowest point.
Some of the reasons for the political discontent are not discussed, not accepted and politically incorrect. But people will and do react.
All the mentioned countries had an influx, and still have of large numbers of refugees and additionally of economic immigrants on the coat tail of the refugees who are getting state support in form of housing, cash and vouchers, special grants etc. Often higher than any beneficiary in the very same country.
This has basically drained the countries dry of funds for those who have paid into the scheme – the citizen and taxpayers of the respective country. One needs to remember that the tax is divided into Social welfare components, be it health, unemployment or retirement and other. Hence the astronomical "tax take". In other words taxpayers contribute from their wages to their cost in form of taxation rather then privatised insurance individually. In contrast NZ has a general taxation system and I think only ACC and Kiwi saver are the exceptions. ACC is compulsory but Kiwi saver is not.
The Social Democratic systems across Europe are very similar in terms of taxation. Under above circumstance, there are experiences where one own family's welfare is curtailed i.e. elderly have not enough to survive, and being ask to contribute more. This will spell disaster. This is the reason why Europe is moving to conservative politics or even further right. Some seriously consider similar regimes like Erdogan has established. When the own citizenry is being made to suffer the call is always for a strong politicians. This is dangerous and should not be underestimated.
Lets watch this to learn from a highly social minded people what an assumption that nothing ever has consequences and everybody is a philanthropist can do.
If unwanted and untrammeled immigration were the primary cause for the decline of such social democratic movements, rather than a late contributing factor, we would have seen a whole bunch more political instability than we've had.
Rather what it tells me is that some states were far more brittle than they appeared from the outside, and substantially made brittle both institutionally and in their voters because the GFC and the EU austerity responses had made their societies so weak.
Immigration is part of the answer in Scandinavia – it has seriously disrupted a previously homogenous society. But that doesn't work in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore, where they have had controlled waves of immigration that have not really tested the strength of the welfare state to deliver.
There's a fair few reasons for the collapse of social democrat movements.
Ad – Australia, New Zealand and Singapore never had to support fully from the word go millions of refugees, EU 1400 per person per month = NZ $ 2800 per person per month plus child care, plus accommodation – meaning actual housing not hotels, healthcare etc. There are actual cases where the taxpayer is getting not enough to live on despite having paid into the social fund for 45 years. All the rhetoric of we care etc. goes out the window. Its human nature and applies to everybody, no exceptions. The Brussels Brigade is demanding more and more to the detriment of sovereign countries in the misled belief that EU can function like the USA. In a nutshell, the people of EU have had enough and even the most placid starting to get not just stroppy but outright agro. Believe me, my family lives there.
Absolutely, that's why the danish social Democratic party was anti immigration and anti refugee… and it won …working class people in Europe don't like what's happened since the migrant crisis. They just don't. I'm not saying it's right or wrong I find it fascinating that it's clearly an issue for working class voters and most modern social Democratic parties just ignore it. Nz labour could hardly be called a massively pro immigration party heading into 2017 either.
In fact if you'll recall the nz labour party was highly criticized locally and overseas for wanting to lower immigration and foreign ownership, they even had a list of Chinese sounding names!! these policies may not have registered with the pollsters but they certainly did at the local pubs, and I've always found working class pubs to be far more insync with the public mood than academics, ideologues and media.
Germanys social Democratic party is dead not just because it supported the Tory govt but also cos it supported the huge amounts of migrants, Uk labour is associated with a whole list of things but one thing people don't like to talk about is working class Brits associate it's last term of govt with mass immigration and freedom of movement.
Same with the us democrats. Open borders sanctuary cities etc etc etc
If you asked most working class kiwis they'd not only like to stop all immigration for a couple years but they'd like to stop kiwis from coming home.
It's weird the modern left worships MJS and the first three labour governments but never likes to talk about those governments extremely racist immigration policies which were all about protecting local labour markers …. this was left wing policy which is why Winston peters appeals to a lot of socially conservative labour voters
People are stressing out about their housing situations, their kids housing situations and if there is a massive collapse in the nz housing market or economy nz is absolutely bripe for a populist anti immigration party ( I hope it never happens, I'm an internationalist, not a globalist I like multiculturalism)
Social democratic parties have mostly not ever been able to come to grips with the effects that globalism of capital and labour have had on their domestic working class and it's crippled their parties, NZ labour particularly if you look at the fourth and fifth labour govts is incredibly lucky to have survived and not gone the way of the Greek, icelandic or Netherlands labour parties.
Nz hasn't, yet, had the kinds of refugee crisis that Europe had (we will when climate change really hits) Europe had ten million refugees in a couple years, a couple years after the gfc, they have more terrorist incidents than you can shake a stick at and have genuine hard right populists who are able to seriously manipulate the working class into thinking this is the fault of the left not right wing wars and economics and with the neoliberal eu wanting more and more sovereignty…. It might actually play well for parties like UK labour to fully become eurosceptic parties…
Maybe not…
One does have to wonder what would have happened had labour been a pro brexit party after the referendum and accepted the results but promised a better deal not a referendum on a deal.
Good points Foreign Waka. And going further – why are there so many refugees – wars being declared by resource-hungry big powers often, usually? The strong countries driven by their elites are willing to crucify the people in foreign and their own countries. The neolib economic system was meant to open up the world to predator interests. We see the results.
Going into space. The wet dream of men with too much in their hands, money, opportunity, single-minded drive, competition with peers, and the admiration of the gullible. And tech robotics, and profit driven use of them, also again men's love of complex machinery, novelty.
And in the future, more areas being led to famine as is the case apparently right now in Tigray, Ethiopia. Gwyn Dyer did one of his informative columns on them. It has happened before, but that is not enough for the callous blood lust of some Ethiopians.
Women in future, as the understanding of what a woman is, and more homosexuals choose not to cross-gender, and the state and men find having babies and looking after them just a burden to them and the planet, I foresee that women will become a sub-group. Certainly rights only obtained after much effort are being wiped, and mothers are to be manipulated.
In China, it was a one child policy and girls were not part of the mainstay of the social fabric, so were unwelcome.
In Peru – Keiko Fujimori’s supporters have also been urging her to resume the forced sterilisation of the rural poor that was initiated by her father Alberto, during the 1990s. The official health figures in Peru show that 270,000 women and 22,000 men were sterilised
In USA – It's different. Women, individually want the right of choice about abortion and sterilisation, not have fertility enforced on them, but; the US Catholic Bishops Conference passed a remit a few days ago calling for the drawing up of a statement on the Eucharist intended to eventually deny Biden access to Communion, because of his support for abortion rights.,,
If the only government one can form is to sit on the fence between the left and the right, sooner or later they'll try to pull you apart like a wishbone.
Chris Penk in the news twice in one week. Once with his remark about wanting to be leader one day. Made on Newshub Nation. And today using the f word in tweet about Winston.
In a political sense Penk shows he's is an out of touch jerk. It's all right to be a smart arse out the back with the boys and girls over a beer but if he's that stupid as to not realise the naivety of his tweet he's in the wrong business.
Well, maybe the right business if National wants to stay where it is in the public's eyes.
(Any chance David Seymour will pop up his head and criticise the evident "cancel culture"?)
Peters didn't traverse the party's review into what went wrong last year in his speech, but said there was a growing sentiment among the public that the Government needed NZ First.
"We were pilloried for being the handbrake, but since the last election hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders are coming to understand why we were essential and now why we are missed."
Canadian Politician Derek Sloan and 3 medical professionals-who say they represent hundreds of their colleagues -said last week in a press conference the Canadian Government is suppressing information about the harmful effects of lockdown, vaccine risks in children, and the efficacy of certain covid treatments.
The College of physicians and surgeons of Ontario CPSO issued a dire statement late April threatening doctors who spoke out about what they witnessed in their local hospitals and communities. "The purpose of CPSO is to protect the public" said Sloane '' ,not stifle legitimate scientific enquiry or dissent by professional Doctors" He says his office was flooded with calls from doctors, nurses, and other scientific experts who said they have been threatened and blocked from sharing their stories.
'I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it " Voltaire !!!
[Hysterical Pete, you’re now in Pre-Moderation until you can provide a comment that does not sound like it’s coming from a full-blown conspiracy nutbar and contains a decent link – Incognito]
Just in case anyone really wonders, I googled the quote, and got 5 pages of results, every single one of which comes from a well-known lying disinformation rabid anti-vax site.
Me too. Not because I'd be banning people, but with the safety of being a mod I'd be saying a lot more of what I really want to say. Which would make other mods uncomfortable.
Thanks for looking it up Andre so we can confirm our strong suspicions and keep the facts as we know them clean and understandable. It's hard to find your way through the fog of dark suspicions otherwise; and people can be so certain about them. All they need is to find one hole in something accepted and the deluge follows. We have to keep our finger on the hole in the dyke like the Dutch story!
These attacks were by and large not pursued through normal channels of scientific discussion. Her research became the target of an aggressive campaign that included insults, errors, misinformation, social media posts, behind-the-scenes gossip and maneuvers, and complaints to her employer. The goal appeared to be to undermine and discredit her work. The controversy was something deliberately manufactured, and the attacks primarily consisted of repeated assertions of preconceived opinions. She learned first-hand the antagonism that could be provoked by inconvenient scientific findings.
The inequities are laid out in a series of briefings, obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act, from ACC to its Minister Carmel Sepuloni, after the corporation analysed claims data between June 2015 and July 2020.
Green Party ACC spokesperson Jan Logie, who has campaigned for successive governments to address inequalities in the scheme, said the biases were inevitable because the Accident Compensation Act, developed in the 1970s, "just hadn't kept up" with changes in society.
"It was developed at a time where mostly it was men going out to work, and doing particular types of work," she said. As a result, there was a "very strong bias" in favour of working men, she said.
"At the moment, women, Māori and Pasifika are bearing the burden of that failure."
You could say this for ALL social services as even a women earning will become a "handbag" to her partner/husband as soon as it comes to applying for all sorts of support. It almost feels like the 60's, we are launching rockets and yet women are still treated like extension of males. Moon landing rockabilly, we haven't moved at all.
An inequality not mentioned is that when a person dies from an injury and they do not have an executor the next of kin is unable to access the person's ACC file. This is distressing when the information on the injury form differs to what the surgeon wrote in the patients surgery notes.
Everyone else which I have contacted with the authorisation from the next of kin has given me the dead person's file.
ACC told me that even if I gave them the surgeons notes that ACC could be taken to court were they to give me the file as the person's privacy would be breached. The Privacy Commissioner's Office told me that they do not advocate for a dead man.
My response was a dead man has no rights and ACC cannot make a correct decision when the true extent of the injury was not stated on the injury form.
Totally reasonable arguments raised by a part-time landlording corporate lawyer with a preference for biking downhill fuelled by discounted Martinborough pinot noir and erecting election hoardings. I hope that encourages Standardistas to read bwaghorn's worthy recommendation (hint- you need to get past the opening paragraphs' rather well-disguised 'chinaman').
What, an another unsavoury National MP? Chris Penk joining the ranks now. Do they train them at an unfit for public office school? Always plenty of candidates.
To maintain the atmosphere of superiority and high pricing I remember that a NZ company I think Lands for Bags destroyed new bags at the end of a season. Putting them out at sale prices would detract from their desirability and allure. That attitude makes sense when dealing with the high-end of society and fashion. The price put on bags with top-end designers names is pure BS on sale to air-heads.
My scavenging, bin diver extraordinaire mate routinely drags all manner of small appliances home, we're talking dozens here, and in an attempt to rewire them, tasks me to find tools to deal with the proprietary fasteners used. I only manage to find the occasional screw bit so most end up back where they came from, the bin.
Are they genuinely brand-new, or maybe warranty returns that didn't work when the customer first plugged it in?
I've yet to need to get into something and haven't been able to using just a fairly basic set of security screw driver bits. I'd be awfully curious which brands feel the need to make it harder than that to get in.
Unsold brand spankers from big box outlets. And the jaycar is one of several kits and yet he's still routinely defeated by slightly mis-matched drives designed to strip/single use destruction and odd-ball centre pin security fasteners.
defeated by slightly mis-matched drives designed to strip/single use destruction and odd-ball centre pin security fasteners.
Yeah I know what you mean!
Mind you this is no modern idiosyncrasy. I had a '29 model A Ford way back. One saturday driving back home over the wainui hill she started running on 3 cylinders. So Back home. Just before Uni final exams. Had to take the head off to see what was wrong. One collapsed 3rd piston! Not a bit – left all in the sump! Thank goodness for splash lubrication. So then the task was to remove the con rod and find a replacement piston. Henry Ford wasn't having any after parts shinnanigans going on and all the bolts nuts and threads were weird sizing – especially the threads which were very fine. So fine that the nuts was now welded onto the con rod bolts. After wrecking two of my dads special sockets I asked a friend who was an AA mechanic – "How do you get those nuts off?" "With a chisel!"
we also hope that even though this platform no longer will be around, that hong kong journalists will continue to hold ground, and pursue the truth. last but not least, thanks to the anchors, editors, and other colleagues behind the scene …
for accepting a mission impossible, a mission in response to today's society. thanks again to all of you for your support. to the people of hong kong, stay strong. may we meet down the road. bye bye."
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper and website could shut down this weekend if authorities do not agree to the board’s request to unfreeze its assets, after the arrest of its senior editors and executives last week.
According to various local reports on Monday afternoon, an internal memo said Next Digital, Apple Daily’s parent company, would seek restored access to its accounts so it can pay staff, but that if this did not happen by Friday it would make a decision to stop publication of the pro-democracy title.
The potential end of the 26-year-old paper comes after a police operation in which officers raided the homes of five executives, including Apple Daily’s editor-in-chief, Ryan Law, and arrested them under the national security law, before raiding the newsroom with an unprecedented warrant allowing the seizure of journalistic materials.
"The department for safeguarding the national security of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) arrested the editor-in-chief and four directors on suspicion of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
This was the second time Apply Daily, founded and owned by Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who bears multiple charges including conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or forces to endanger national security, has been raided since the national security law for Hong Kong came into force on June 30, 2020.
Senior Superintendent of Hong Kong police Steve Li Kwai-wah told reporters after the arrests that strong evidence showed that dozens of questionable articles published by Apple Daily since 2019 played a very crucial part in the conspiracy which provided the ammunition for foreign countries and institutions or organizations to impose sanctions on China and the Hong Kong region.
Police raided the offices of Apple Daily following a search warrant, in accordance with Article 43 of the national security law for Hong Kong, which stipulates that when handling cases concerning offence endangering national security, the department for safeguarding national security of the Hong Kong police may take measures such as a search of premises, vehicles, vessels, aircraft and other relevant places and electronic devices that may contain evidence of an offense. "
Myanmar: on the brink of collapse
The strangling of the press On World Press Freedom Day, on 3 May, 50 journalists were detained in Myanmar while dozens more journalists were evading arrest warrants, according to the non-profit organisation Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Journalists are predominantly charged under section 505(a) of the penal code, which criminalises the spread of information that could cause disobedience within the police or armed forces and is punishable by up to three years in prison.
Courage and terror in Myanmar Lives and livelihoods have been laid down for democracy. The economy is on the brink of collapse. The world must support the people’s quest to end military rule once and for all, writes Preeti Jha.
This would reduce competition wouldn't it? If we can't have one SOE? operating our small nation's electricity, which would be the practical way to go – with some way of monitoring for price and effectiveness – then it is likely to be worse if there are just a few players, I would think?
Could someone who knows about such things give a valid opinion? Has Mercury got a good record?
On situation in HK.
Put it down to the American and western covert actions, trying to pierce the soft underbelly of China. It was never going to work, unless this is what the west wanted, trying to increase revolt by the people of HK, who in the most part did not support the bullshit umbrella actions of the hegemonic US.
They cause the reactions by the interfered Countries all over the World. America is only truly free to the elite classes, so fuck your crocodile tears.
I guess he was looking at this one right in front of him that he could put a link to. Is that a reasonable answer to your rather pointed question? One does want to approach matters in an equality-based not biased, way.
What does it have to do with the colour of her skin? If she was white, yellow or green I still think the sentence should be harsher. My comment was regarding the judge who seems to be afraid to actually hand down a sentence that may actually deter her as she is obviously a repeat offender and needs to be stopped. She didn't learn from 2012 so needs a harsher sentence.
I think the judge in this case should also start issuing appropriate sentences (and this repeat offender is white).
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
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About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
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As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
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TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
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TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
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So, the Swedish government has just collapsed, and with it come the very high prospect of fresh elections.
This probably needs is own post, but when Sweden does get fresh elections, we are very likely to see the social democratic party take a hiding.
Sweden was one of the pioneers of a very socialised state with heavy taxes and a very strong social network of services from cradle to the grave (for those old enough to remember the 1970s, ABBA paid between 56 and 85% tax to the Swedish government on their huge earnings).
I've been pointing out for a while now that New Zealand is very much a global outlier as a social democratic government – even in our mild form.
Across Europe the social democratic cause has collapsed in Austria, Germany, increasingly Britain, and now it's just had a pretty big reversal in Sweden.
Of those that remain other than New Zealand, Denmark, Finland and Spain are still going OK. Denmark's version got back with a strong anti-immigration theme which has continued. The social democratic movement has declined at the same time as the welfare state has been challenged by mass immigration.
We might have expected after the revival of state interventionism across the world last year that there would be fresh purpose to parties that saw the good in the strongly redistributive state. Maybe that's still to come.
Meantime, even the Scandinavian model has taken yet another hit.
Other than the outliers, the social democratic effort is now at its lowest point.
Some of the reasons for the political discontent are not discussed, not accepted and politically incorrect. But people will and do react.
All the mentioned countries had an influx, and still have of large numbers of refugees and additionally of economic immigrants on the coat tail of the refugees who are getting state support in form of housing, cash and vouchers, special grants etc. Often higher than any beneficiary in the very same country.
This has basically drained the countries dry of funds for those who have paid into the scheme – the citizen and taxpayers of the respective country. One needs to remember that the tax is divided into Social welfare components, be it health, unemployment or retirement and other. Hence the astronomical "tax take". In other words taxpayers contribute from their wages to their cost in form of taxation rather then privatised insurance individually. In contrast NZ has a general taxation system and I think only ACC and Kiwi saver are the exceptions. ACC is compulsory but Kiwi saver is not.
The Social Democratic systems across Europe are very similar in terms of taxation. Under above circumstance, there are experiences where one own family's welfare is curtailed i.e. elderly have not enough to survive, and being ask to contribute more. This will spell disaster. This is the reason why Europe is moving to conservative politics or even further right. Some seriously consider similar regimes like Erdogan has established. When the own citizenry is being made to suffer the call is always for a strong politicians. This is dangerous and should not be underestimated.
Lets watch this to learn from a highly social minded people what an assumption that nothing ever has consequences and everybody is a philanthropist can do.
If unwanted and untrammeled immigration were the primary cause for the decline of such social democratic movements, rather than a late contributing factor, we would have seen a whole bunch more political instability than we've had.
Rather what it tells me is that some states were far more brittle than they appeared from the outside, and substantially made brittle both institutionally and in their voters because the GFC and the EU austerity responses had made their societies so weak.
Immigration is part of the answer in Scandinavia – it has seriously disrupted a previously homogenous society. But that doesn't work in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore, where they have had controlled waves of immigration that have not really tested the strength of the welfare state to deliver.
There's a fair few reasons for the collapse of social democrat movements.
Ad – Australia, New Zealand and Singapore never had to support fully from the word go millions of refugees, EU 1400 per person per month = NZ $ 2800 per person per month plus child care, plus accommodation – meaning actual housing not hotels, healthcare etc. There are actual cases where the taxpayer is getting not enough to live on despite having paid into the social fund for 45 years. All the rhetoric of we care etc. goes out the window. Its human nature and applies to everybody, no exceptions. The Brussels Brigade is demanding more and more to the detriment of sovereign countries in the misled belief that EU can function like the USA. In a nutshell, the people of EU have had enough and even the most placid starting to get not just stroppy but outright agro. Believe me, my family lives there.
Absolutely, that's why the danish social Democratic party was anti immigration and anti refugee… and it won …working class people in Europe don't like what's happened since the migrant crisis. They just don't. I'm not saying it's right or wrong I find it fascinating that it's clearly an issue for working class voters and most modern social Democratic parties just ignore it. Nz labour could hardly be called a massively pro immigration party heading into 2017 either.
In fact if you'll recall the nz labour party was highly criticized locally and overseas for wanting to lower immigration and foreign ownership, they even had a list of Chinese sounding names!! these policies may not have registered with the pollsters but they certainly did at the local pubs, and I've always found working class pubs to be far more insync with the public mood than academics, ideologues and media.
Germanys social Democratic party is dead not just because it supported the Tory govt but also cos it supported the huge amounts of migrants, Uk labour is associated with a whole list of things but one thing people don't like to talk about is working class Brits associate it's last term of govt with mass immigration and freedom of movement.
Same with the us democrats. Open borders sanctuary cities etc etc etc
If you asked most working class kiwis they'd not only like to stop all immigration for a couple years but they'd like to stop kiwis from coming home.
It's weird the modern left worships MJS and the first three labour governments but never likes to talk about those governments extremely racist immigration policies which were all about protecting local labour markers …. this was left wing policy which is why Winston peters appeals to a lot of socially conservative labour voters
People are stressing out about their housing situations, their kids housing situations and if there is a massive collapse in the nz housing market or economy nz is absolutely bripe for a populist anti immigration party ( I hope it never happens, I'm an internationalist, not a globalist I like multiculturalism)
Social democratic parties have mostly not ever been able to come to grips with the effects that globalism of capital and labour have had on their domestic working class and it's crippled their parties, NZ labour particularly if you look at the fourth and fifth labour govts is incredibly lucky to have survived and not gone the way of the Greek, icelandic or Netherlands labour parties.
Nz hasn't, yet, had the kinds of refugee crisis that Europe had (we will when climate change really hits) Europe had ten million refugees in a couple years, a couple years after the gfc, they have more terrorist incidents than you can shake a stick at and have genuine hard right populists who are able to seriously manipulate the working class into thinking this is the fault of the left not right wing wars and economics and with the neoliberal eu wanting more and more sovereignty…. It might actually play well for parties like UK labour to fully become eurosceptic parties…
Maybe not…
One does have to wonder what would have happened had labour been a pro brexit party after the referendum and accepted the results but promised a better deal not a referendum on a deal.
Good points Foreign Waka. And going further – why are there so many refugees – wars being declared by resource-hungry big powers often, usually? The strong countries driven by their elites are willing to crucify the people in foreign and their own countries. The neolib economic system was meant to open up the world to predator interests. We see the results.
Going into space. The wet dream of men with too much in their hands, money, opportunity, single-minded drive, competition with peers, and the admiration of the gullible. And tech robotics, and profit driven use of them, also again men's love of complex machinery, novelty.
And in the future, more areas being led to famine as is the case apparently right now in Tigray, Ethiopia. Gwyn Dyer did one of his informative columns on them. It has happened before, but that is not enough for the callous blood lust of some Ethiopians.
Women in future, as the understanding of what a woman is, and more homosexuals choose not to cross-gender, and the state and men find having babies and looking after them just a burden to them and the planet, I foresee that women will become a sub-group. Certainly rights only obtained after much effort are being wiped, and mothers are to be manipulated.
In China, it was a one child policy and girls were not part of the mainstay of the social fabric, so were unwelcome.
In Peru – Keiko Fujimori’s supporters have also been urging her to resume the forced sterilisation of the rural poor that was initiated by her father Alberto, during the 1990s. The official health figures in Peru show that 270,000 women and 22,000 men were sterilised
In USA – It's different. Women, individually want the right of choice about abortion and sterilisation, not have fertility enforced on them, but; the US Catholic Bishops Conference passed a remit a few days ago calling for the drawing up of a statement on the Eucharist intended to eventually deny Biden access to Communion, because of his support for abortion rights.,,
As Vox News noted, US politicians who support the death penalty have never been similarly threatened by the US Bishops for flouting the Church’s clear opposition to executions. This opposition was re-stated by Pope Francis in an encyclical called Fratelli Tutti last October.. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2106/S00067/on-the-lancets-stance-against-the-olympic-games-and-on-the-us-culture-battles-over-abortion.htm
Sorry I couldn't get access to the Gwynne Dyer piece on Ethiopia despite lots of looking – I saw it in the Christchurch Press just this morning.
If the only government one can form is to sit on the fence between the left and the right, sooner or later they'll try to pull you apart like a wishbone.
The nationalists called the vote, the ex-communists withdrew their support. Is that a slip to the right, or is it both extremes flexing their muscles?
Chris Penk in the news twice in one week. Once with his remark about wanting to be leader one day. Made on Newshub Nation. And today using the f word in tweet about Winston.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/winston-peters-called-national-party-sex-maniacs-judith-collins-responds-to-barb/LASZHB4UVDTGRUIYR2RILG4FPA/
More jostling for position for Deputy Leader behind Luxon?
And ha! They've since "cancelled" the tweet.
In a political sense Penk shows he's is an out of touch jerk. It's all right to be a smart arse out the back with the boys and girls over a beer but if he's that stupid as to not realise the naivety of his tweet he's in the wrong business.
Well, maybe the right business if National wants to stay where it is in the public's eyes.
(Any chance David Seymour will pop up his head and criticise the evident "cancel culture"?)
Winston First is polling at about 1%.
Canadian Politician Derek Sloan and 3 medical professionals-who say they represent hundreds of their colleagues -said last week in a press conference the Canadian Government is suppressing information about the harmful effects of lockdown, vaccine risks in children, and the efficacy of certain covid treatments.
The College of physicians and surgeons of Ontario CPSO issued a dire statement late April threatening doctors who spoke out about what they witnessed in their local hospitals and communities. "The purpose of CPSO is to protect the public" said Sloane '' ,not stifle legitimate scientific enquiry or dissent by professional Doctors" He says his office was flooded with calls from doctors, nurses, and other scientific experts who said they have been threatened and blocked from sharing their stories.
'I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it " Voltaire !!!
[Hysterical Pete, you’re now in Pre-Moderation until you can provide a comment that does not sound like it’s coming from a full-blown conspiracy nutbar and contains a decent link – Incognito]
Please provide a link when you quote an article like that.
Just in case anyone really wonders, I googled the quote, and got 5 pages of results, every single one of which comes from a well-known lying disinformation rabid anti-vax site.
Glad I'm not a moderator..
Me too. Not because I'd be banning people, but with the safety of being a mod I'd be saying a lot more of what I really want to say. Which would make other mods uncomfortable.
Thanks for looking it up Andre so we can confirm our strong suspicions and keep the facts as we know them clean and understandable. It's hard to find your way through the fog of dark suspicions otherwise; and people can be so certain about them. All they need is to find one hole in something accepted and the deluge follows. We have to keep our finger on the hole in the dyke like the Dutch story!
"they've been blocked from telling their stories" yet somehow continue to tell their stories.
Evelyn Beatrice Hall!!!…but you're an historian, right?
/
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/01/defend-say/
See my Moderation note @ 11:50 am.
Heh.
The fat libels,the problematic issue of heresy.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033062021000670
ACC reports to its Minister about its problematic relationship with certain population groups: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445178/acc-biased-against-women-maori-and-pasifika-agency-s-own-analysis-shows
You could say this for ALL social services as even a women earning will become a "handbag" to her partner/husband as soon as it comes to applying for all sorts of support. It almost feels like the 60's, we are launching rockets and yet women are still treated like extension of males. Moon landing rockabilly, we haven't moved at all.
An inequality not mentioned is that when a person dies from an injury and they do not have an executor the next of kin is unable to access the person's ACC file. This is distressing when the information on the injury form differs to what the surgeon wrote in the patients surgery notes.
Everyone else which I have contacted with the authorisation from the next of kin has given me the dead person's file.
ACC told me that even if I gave them the surgeons notes that ACC could be taken to court were they to give me the file as the person's privacy would be breached. The Privacy Commissioner's Office told me that they do not advocate for a dead man.
My response was a dead man has no rights and ACC cannot make a correct decision when the true extent of the injury was not stated on the injury form.
The Courts allowing the Peter Ellis appeal to proceed after his death is an example of a dead man having rights.
Ellis did the appeal when he was alive. It was heard after he died.
The point I am making is that I cannot advocate for a dead man unless I can have discussions with ACC as they do not have the full information.
The full injury needs to be argued that it is not a normal consequence of the treatment.
The coroner, HDC and the DHB have all mislead each other. ACC misleads itself.
Not really an inequality but distressing to experience all the same.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300338373/government-needs-to-make-uteturn
A uteload of reasons why townies need their utes!
Totally reasonable arguments raised by a part-time landlording corporate lawyer with a preference for biking downhill fuelled by discounted Martinborough pinot noir and erecting election hoardings. I hope that encourages Standardistas to read bwaghorn's worthy recommendation (hint- you need to get past the opening paragraphs' rather well-disguised 'chinaman').
What, an another unsavoury National MP? Chris Penk joining the ranks now. Do they train them at an unfit for public office school? Always plenty of candidates.
As if built in deliberate obsolescence wasn't enough.
Online giant Amazon is destroying millions of items of unsold stock every year, products that are often new and unused, ITV News can reveal.
Footage gathered by ITV News shows waste on an astonishing level.
And this is from just one of 24 fulfilment centres they currently operate in the UK.
https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-21/amazon-destroying-millions-of-items-of-unsold-stock-in-one-of-its-uk-warehouses-every-year-itv-news-investigation-finds
To maintain the atmosphere of superiority and high pricing I remember that a NZ company I think Lands for Bags destroyed new bags at the end of a season. Putting them out at sale prices would detract from their desirability and allure. That attitude makes sense when dealing with the high-end of society and fashion. The price put on bags with top-end designers names is pure BS on sale to air-heads.
Do you think this link fits:
In the yards of nearly every dealer in the country you'll find brand new small appliances binned minus their leads.
How do you know that joe90? I haven't seen that reported.
My scavenging, bin diver extraordinaire mate routinely drags all manner of small appliances home, we're talking dozens here, and in an attempt to rewire them, tasks me to find tools to deal with the proprietary fasteners used. I only manage to find the occasional screw bit so most end up back where they came from, the bin.
Are they genuinely brand-new, or maybe warranty returns that didn't work when the customer first plugged it in?
I've yet to need to get into something and haven't been able to using just a fairly basic set of security screw driver bits. I'd be awfully curious which brands feel the need to make it harder than that to get in.
Unsold brand spankers from big box outlets. And the jaycar is one of several kits and yet he's still routinely defeated by slightly mis-matched drives designed to strip/single use destruction and odd-ball centre pin security fasteners.
Yeah I know what you mean!
Mind you this is no modern idiosyncrasy. I had a '29 model A Ford way back. One saturday driving back home over the wainui hill she started running on 3 cylinders. So Back home. Just before Uni final exams. Had to take the head off to see what was wrong. One collapsed 3rd piston! Not a bit – left all in the sump! Thank goodness for splash lubrication. So then the task was to remove the con rod and find a replacement piston. Henry Ford wasn't having any after parts shinnanigans going on and all the bolts nuts and threads were weird sizing – especially the threads which were very fine. So fine that the nuts was now welded onto the con rod bolts. After wrecking two of my dads special sockets I asked a friend who was an AA mechanic – "How do you get those nuts off?" "With a chisel!"
They've won. Freedom of the press is done in Hong Kong.
https://twitter.com/lokmantsui/status/1406979448411365378
we also hope that even though this platform no longer will be around, that hong kong journalists will continue to hold ground, and pursue the truth. last but not least, thanks to the anchors, editors, and other colleagues behind the scene …
for accepting a mission impossible, a mission in response to today's society. thanks again to all of you for your support. to the people of hong kong, stay strong. may we meet down the road. bye bye."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/21/hong-kong-apple-daily-newspaper-crisis-talks-avert-shutdown-advisor-says
"The department for safeguarding the national security of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) arrested the editor-in-chief and four directors on suspicion of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
This was the second time Apply Daily, founded and owned by Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who bears multiple charges including conspiracy to collude with foreign countries or forces to endanger national security, has been raided since the national security law for Hong Kong came into force on June 30, 2020.
Senior Superintendent of Hong Kong police Steve Li Kwai-wah told reporters after the arrests that strong evidence showed that dozens of questionable articles published by Apple Daily since 2019 played a very crucial part in the conspiracy which provided the ammunition for foreign countries and institutions or organizations to impose sanctions on China and the Hong Kong region.
Police raided the offices of Apple Daily following a search warrant, in accordance with Article 43 of the national security law for Hong Kong, which stipulates that when handling cases concerning offence endangering national security, the department for safeguarding national security of the Hong Kong police may take measures such as a search of premises, vehicles, vessels, aircraft and other relevant places and electronic devices that may contain evidence of an offense. "
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202106/1226466.shtml
Intriguing PoV, but it's clear why it's happening, imho. Meanwhile, in Myanmar…
Myanmar coup latest: Urban warfare erupts in Mandalay
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-latest-Urban-warfare-erupts-in-Mandalay
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/445193/mercury-nz-plans-to-buy-trustpower-s-retail-business-for-441m
This would reduce competition wouldn't it? If we can't have one SOE? operating our small nation's electricity, which would be the practical way to go – with some way of monitoring for price and effectiveness – then it is likely to be worse if there are just a few players, I would think?
Could someone who knows about such things give a valid opinion? Has Mercury got a good record?
"Has Mercury got a good record?"
Bohemian Rhapsody isn't bad.
Hah. Without a song and a dance what are we? Thank you for the music, for giving it to me.
On situation in HK.
Put it down to the American and western covert actions, trying to pierce the soft underbelly of China. It was never going to work, unless this is what the west wanted, trying to increase revolt by the people of HK, who in the most part did not support the bullshit umbrella actions of the hegemonic US.
And fuck the people of Hong Kong and the one country, two systems promise of self-determination, right?
No. Fuck the interference of the hegemonic US.
They cause the reactions by the interfered Countries all over the World. America is only truly free to the elite classes, so fuck your crocodile tears.
Ah, the old "stop making me hit my own people" line, huh.
What is wrong with these judges. Harsher sentences need to be handed out, not a slap on the wrist with a wet bus ticket. This is a repeat offender.
Elderly conned of life savings for P and pokie money by serial scammer | Stuff.co.nz
Why, despite the wet bus ticket dished out to dozens of thieves who took advantage of their special positions that you've not bothered to comment on, does a drug addicted brown woman rate a mention?
Heh. Though in mitigation, perhaps Stuff failed to inform Jimmy of these other cases in the same prominent manner that they did for the brown woman?
I guess he was looking at this one right in front of him that he could put a link to. Is that a reasonable answer to your rather pointed question? One does want to approach matters in an equality-based not biased, way.
What does it have to do with the colour of her skin? If she was white, yellow or green I still think the sentence should be harsher. My comment was regarding the judge who seems to be afraid to actually hand down a sentence that may actually deter her as she is obviously a repeat offender and needs to be stopped. She didn't learn from 2012 so needs a harsher sentence.
I think the judge in this case should also start issuing appropriate sentences (and this repeat offender is white).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/dunedin-court-gives-repeat-drink-driver-home-detention-for-latest-offence/YUHZ7G7ANB7ZI2425NHUQ7JY44/
Respect.
https://twitter.com/secondzeit/status/1407171536272838657
Context
https://twitter.com/richardhills777/status/1407086961035137024