From where I sit, whenever he chooses to speak about the recent wage negotiations or the current state of hospitals/staffing, he further alienates and severely pisses off the nursing workforce.
The trend in the annual number of work stoppages from the beginning of the fifth Nat govt through to 2020 puzzles me. Does anyone have some plausible reasons why workers were apparently being relatively content from 2008 – 2017?
Gee, perhaps they knew the pro-employer government of that period would ignore or ban industrial pressure while suppressing pay and conditions? Pent-up until a more reasonable government came into power..
The inter gang / Police negotiations were started under Poto Williams some weeks ago. Stop living in the Superman/Batman bullshit dynamic where a caped crusader fixes shit in an instant.
"There's 889 gangsters not in prison but with ankle bracelets, more than twice as many as when Labour took office," he said, adding it was not fair that they commit crimes and stay home."
One wonders if Labour is a cohesive government, or if it's compartmentalised?
Did Immigration think to ask Education about their ability to teach a influx of immigrant children given our education system is already riven with problems?
If you want to know why the hapless Tories will be the government next year, look no further.
Quote:
”There’s currently 1000 job vacancies across the education sector and Newshub can reveal the shortage could soon get even worse.”
I'm really beginning to wonder about your comprehension, Ad. I'm serious. You are either wilfully ignoring the core of my post…or you are not understanding?
''One wonders if Labour is a cohesive government, or if it's compartmentalised? Did Immigration think to ask Education about their ability to teach a influx of immigrant children given our education system is already riven with problems?''
My comment had little to do with staff shortages. That was a peripheral issue. My comment was about ''communication.''
Communication is generally the most import factor within given situations. The only reason you and I are posting on this blog is because someone wanted a decentralised communication network in case of war.
Your quote was about staff shortages. Your link was about staff shortages.
The word "communication" was missing in any part of your post.
So one might expect comment about staff shortages.
If you really want to see how Immigration allocate their skills criteria from Departmental and other feedback, it's published regularly. Go look it up.
Roberto David Castillo, the former president of Honduran power company Desarrollos Energeticos (DESA), was sentenced to 22 years and six months after being found guilty last year for being a co-collaborator in Caceres' murder.
Caceres, a teacher who won the prestigious Goldman Prize in 2015 for her environmental activism, had spoken out about the death threats against her and her family before she was killed.
The sentencing comes days after police in Brazil arrested more suspects involved in the murders of indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and British journalist Dom Phillips.
Just to clarify, you think that Hipkins has nothing to apologize for, when he's been found telling lies – or, at the very least, information which was subsequently (and very quickly) proved to be untrue?
I have to say, I do expect (though am often disappointed) a higher level of accuracy from those elected to represent us.
That "higher level of accuracy" still has to be based on the information supplied by the head honcho of the Public Service agency in question. If it eventually transpires the information given – and then passed on to the Minister – is not correct then yes… the minister has to carry the can. My recollection is that the information was not quickly found to be untrue. Inquiries of that nature are usually quite long-winded.
I can understand how distressed the woman at the centre of the bungle must have been, but there were better ways to have the problem sorted than rushing headlong to the media with her story. She must have known it would be used for political purposes and indeed it was. It turned out she was already in line for a new place in the queue – which also fitted in with her preferred time to return – so as far as I can see nothing in practical terms was gained.
That and rushing to Afghanistan to give the Taliban a thorough whitewashing despite the multitude of other options her New Zealand passport provided her.
The ways in which the machinery of government supplies that 'higher level of accuracy' to ministers always seem invisible to busy fault-finders. Sometimes it's worth lifting a corner of the rug to see if something has quietly been brushed under it, who knows why…
It’s understood Hipkins’ public apology was a request of Bellis’ lawyers. After Hipkins admitted fault privately to Bellis in March, her lawyers sought an apology instead of pursuing a legal settlement for defamation and a privacy breach.
On Wednesday morning, Hipkins issued a statement saying he had apologised to Bellis in a March 15 letter for “the errors in my comments, and the inclusion of personal information in the statement and for the subsequent distress it caused her”.
“I have subsequently been made aware that these comments were not accurate,” he said.
Bellis immediately challenged both the breach of privacy and the specific inaccurate information. I do not believe that it takes a great deal of time to double-check the embassy and or ministry logs, and confirm whether or not a request, offer of a place, or a conversation occurred. It's not rocket science.
Try looking at your own commenting history, here, Anne
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28-04-2022/#comment-1885075
“Ms Charlotte Bellis, who I understand was party to this court case, lost all credibility in my eyes when she mischievously attempted to malign the Covid minister, Chris Hipkins by claiming he had smeared her and violated her privacy in one of his press statements. It was a blatant lie and all too obvious to anyone who took the trouble to read the statement in question. Imo, anyone who goes to such lengths at a time of a raging pandemic is never to be trusted at any time.”
This is the minister who has now publicly apologised for A) not telling the truth about Bellis and B) invading her privacy.
You weren't alone – but were one of the loudest voices.
Yes. I guessed you would delve back into the files and dig up something I said. Preferably the most damaging one you could find – at least on the surface. 🙂
I resile from nothing! In the press statement referred to he did not say anything that resembled anything like a "smear". What does appear to have happened is: he reiterated a response he had received from someone in the ministry which he later learnt was incorrect. She took it at the time as a smear so he did the right thing and apologised back in March.
Yes, Populuxe @ 5.4.2.2 has reminded me of her questionable conduct in response to her predicament. It was widely commented on but my response was only in respect of the press statement.
Oh, I could find a lot more damaging that that… it was just the most recent of a long line of anti-Bellis commentary from you — echoing and amplifying the 'de jour' statements from the Labour politicians and/or commentariat.
This is not an error from the Ministry. The advice was released to the Minister under the 'no surprises' policy specifically "marked not for public release"
There is no excuse for Hipkins. He stuffed up massively in releasing this information. And, if he apologised for this is March, why were you still defending him for violating her privacy in April?
Now to the 'smear' business. Hipkins made incorrect (untrue) statements about Bellis being offered consular assistance, etc.
"Hipkins' incorrect comments included that Bellis had been offered consular assistance which she had not taken up – comments that were turned against Bellis and her partner and used to abuse them online."
Those statements were smears. And were used by commentators (yourself among them) to denigrate Bellis and her situation.
I don't know what your definition of a smear is – but it pretty clearly fits the definition that the rest of NZ uses (not to mention the Courts, which is clearly the only reason that Hipkins has released this public statement)
It's good to know that reality (even admission of error from your Labour heroes) has no power to change your entrenched belief.
Please. I think the lion's share of the criticism was directed at her peculiar choice to head to Afghanistan as a strongarm tactic. There's political misstatement and then there's providing a propaganda opportunity for one of the more unsavory regimes on the planet.
Some junior bureaucrat told his/her superior a 'mistruth' to cover a mistake. The superior told his/her superior what the junior had said. The superior's superior told his/her superior and so it went up the chain to the head superior who told the Minister. The Minister – who had no reason to suspect it wasn't correct – released the information to the media.
Lucky it wasn't a National Minister in charge because he/she would be the one apologising for the 'mistruth eh?
This story on ABC 2 Feb 22 It takes 5 months for Hipkins to be made away and react ? Hipkins had his information questioned by Bellis immediately at the time. Would for someone with an eye to detail not go back on his information to verify when questioned ?? But for some conscious mis information is acceptable🤫
No one believes your imagined chain of events. MFAT gave the info to the Minister under the 'no surprises' rule – with a specific note saying it was not for public comment
"COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins released personal details of journalist Charlotte Bellis' MIQ case despite receiving Government advice saying it was "not for public comment"."
You know, you can be a Labour supporter without blindly defending them against all possible negative coverage. In fact, you gain more credibility by admitting when your heroes have feet of clay, and celebrating the good, while regretting the bad.
Some junior bureaucrat told his/her superior a 'mistruth' to cover a mistake. The superior told his/her superior what the junior had said. The superior's superior told his/her superior and so it went up the chain to the head superior who told the Minister…
My comment was tongue-in-cheek. In other words the imagined chain ofevents was not meant to be anything else. I have not yet found a 'tongue in cheek' emoji, but assumed most would recognise the intent. 🙄
"Emotional junior staffer"? Good grief. Wasn't it a Nat who introduced that silly meme? Your interpretations are as vulnerable to inaccuracy as the rest of us.
Btw, It did stop short at Hipkins. The minister always carries the can… including mistakes from within their ministry. I said so @ 5.3.1.1. It happens now and then. Tough luck for the minister don't you think?
Yes, it was, a National statement. I was pointing out that it's no better when a Labour commenter makes that implication (blame it on a junior staffer) – which is exactly what you did.
Some junior bureaucrat told his/her superior a 'mistruth' to cover a mistake
If you can't see the parallel, then I suggest a bit of introspection.
And, no the point, which you seem incapable of grasping, is that it did not stop with Hipkins. He shared information from the briefing with the media, trying to spin what was rapidly turning into a PR disaster.
He should have made no comment whatsoever, to the media, based on the briefing he was given. Zip. Nada. None.
It was privileged information, which he was specifically told, was not for public release.
Instead, he shot from the lip, both smearing Bellis (with what turned out to be untrue information from the Ministry briefing), AND breaching her privacy (for which he is solely responsible).
Do I blindly defend the National party under all circumstances? No.
So, not a National commentator.
Unlike Anne, who has never (AFAICS) made or supported an even mildly critical comment about a Labour politician or the Party. Tribal Labour to the core.
As I've said before, I'm a centrist voter.
Though, clearly to those of you of the far-left persuasion, that looks like a "National voter" – to those who are actually tribal National, I'm a lefty flake.
If you want to level accusations at another commenter of being a ‘concern troll’ you’ll have to explain in no uncertain terms what you mean by that, i.e., what is your definition and yardstick, because there are a few variants about, and how does it apply to the other commenter. If Mods agree with you they may take action. If not, they may ask you to drop your case.
Looking at your history here I note that you’ve made the same accusation before and also about the same commenter. Please don’t do it again unless you can make it stick (see above).
Unlike Anne, who has never (AFAICS) made or supported an even mildly critical comment about a Labour politician or the Party. Tribal Labour to the core.
Anne is on record criticisng Labour plenty of times. I did so only a few days ago. You haven't been around this site for very long. Perhaps you should have the humility to recognise you don't know everything.
Anne also doesn't mind having a bit of a laugh at herself which was evident in my 'tongue in cheek' comment you have been making such a grand fuss about. The way it was worded should have given the game away, but of course the prima-donna knows best.
Okay, okay I apologise, But you've been asking for it.
the Nats are masters of the political dark arts – you'd have to be blind not to see it.
At least Boag managed an apology. It's particularly disappointing that no National party MP (past or present) has ever publically repudiated the political obscenity that was Dirty Politics. Maybe Luxon can jog the Nats out of their preferred pattern of behaviour, but I have such doubts.
That is a lot to unpack, especially if you had a rather peculiar master at your British boarding school to prepare you for leadership of those legions of anal raping mulattoes.
More to point, more evidence if you need it of the coarseness of fascism. The violence of the language is instantly recognisable to anyone familiar with the utterances of fervent Nazis.
In 1980 I looked in a French phone-book in Lyon, and it seemed to me that half the names listed were non-French, , so maybe this is less surprising than you would think.
GP who had to see 60 patients in one day in tear. Can someone tell Captain Little that the shiny new NZ Health will make f…all difference and that our health system is on the brink, not because we don’t have the right health structure and we need to change around the bureaucrats, actually we need health professionals. You no Drs and nurses……
Sorry to hear you have burn out Muttonbird (or are you really Andrew Little? Ie someone who is burnt out and failing to realize what a health system actually is) Are you contemplating a move to Australia to get better pay and work conditions. Cause I can guarantee many nurses, Drs, radiologists etc will be..
This Drs burn out is to do with seeing 60 patients a day. Do you imagine that is a safe number for a GP to see in a day?
Been to ED lately? I have, it was like a war zone and I wasn’t in Middlemore.
Are you aware that there is a large number of GPS who are due to retire and we don’t have enough to replace them.
Australia is one of the most racist countries in the world. I will never move there.
I find it odd that some people, led by The Herald, are actively campaigning for our nurses to head across the ditch. NZME has become a recruitment arm for the Australian government. I wonder if they are being paid as such.
I think the people actively campaigning for our nurses to head to Australia are health recruitment companies in a Australia. The Herald is meerely reporting what our Drs and nurses are experiencing.
You seem to be minimizing or denying the situation our health systerm is in (Ie the real health system the Dr and nurses who do the work). Feel free to keep going with that and join Andrew Little on the deck of the Titanic rearranging the deck chairs.
And just hope like hell you don't get sick and need medical care.
I have never said that the Health System doesn't need managers. Nor have I every heard it said that there is a shortage of health system managers. If there is they are keeping quiet about it.
I think the re-structure is a waste of time and money. The DHBs did o.k. during the health crisis.
Can someone tell Captain Little that the shiny new NZ Health will make f…all difference and that our health system is on the brink, not because we don’t have the right health structure and we need to change around the bureaucrats, actually we need health professionals. You [know,] Drs and nurses……
Our son in QLD has needed surgery for gallstones for 4 years He keeps getting pushed off the list His Dr is in despair. So their problems mirror ours 3 Covid years and costs sky rocketting, but of course It is Andrew Little not covid …silly us. sarc
Andrew Little is our Minister of Health and so he is responsible for the Heath System. I believe he is wasting time and money with the re-structure. The most urgent thing he needs to attends to is staffing.
David. Clark before him chose to waste time and money on on the Commission of Inquiry into Mental Health. Its simple really increase staffing who are
skilled in evidence based mental health treatments
Just because it's diversely multicultural and its government does a bit of lip service to its indigenous peoples once in a while does not make it not an incrediblyracist place, especially outside of the big cities.
Not defending Australia, but to claim that it's one of the most racist countries in the world is drawing the longbow quite a bit: try being Korean in Japan, Uyghur in China, Chechen in Russia, or someone with 'dark' coloured skin in swathes of the US.
Some of the racists I met in Australia were the worst I've come across. Casually cruel and they think it's hilarious. Casually violent and they think they have a right.
Of course there are staffing and resource issues but then, when wasn't staffing and resourcing an issue in health. In my recent experience the ED was functioning, the in-patient care I received was exemplary and out-patient appointments were on time. Gee, in my burg you can even enroll with a PHO as a new patient.
But if it makes you feel better, do catastrophise away.
Good luck with finding a new GP in mine. Hell, my GP has difficulty finding locums.
The health system is under extreme stress, and not just from covid. Nurses to primary healthcare to building maintenance to specialists. Some areas have it worse than others, but basically we pay too low and are too understaffed to make "lifestyle" a substitute for pay.
And the ones we train here, we saddle with massive debt as a handy "fuck off please". Then we wonder why people turn up to ED rather than going to a GP (whom they either can't afford or already owe hundreds of dollars).
Labour aren't solely, even mostly, to blame, but that's the cesspit they have inherited. and it'll take longer than a few years to sort out.
Yup. My sister is an IC nurse manager who could name her price in UK/AU and a mate who's recently chucked in a full-time job at a surgical unit reckons he’s making ends meet with two shifts at a private hospital.
Lots of medicos bring their kids here to attend Collegiate, though.
We get what we pay for. While our captains of industry, major banks, and their shareholders, multinationals, reap the benefits of others' labour, our "parlous" state will continue.
So nurses, doctors, teachers are all shouting that they are underpaid and not coping with their workloads. (We are in the middle of a pandemic aren't we). As if, in the short term, more money is going to make one bit of difference to their workloads.
Perhaps it needs a nation that has the will to revolutionise the tax system – so it can build more hospitals, recruit more professional staff, reduce patient/student ratios and raise Joe Blow's living standards.
Just imagine if a massive natural disaster was to hit NZ, knocking out all essential services. The media pundits (if they could be heard) would still be reporting that there is a shortage of doctors, nurses, teachers and looking to blame the system.
No more money won't make a difference to their workloads logie97. It needs to be a two pronged approach. Much Better pay to stop people leaving and more staff.
Who else do we blame for the catastrophic state of our health workforce (including the mental health workforce) but the Govt of 5 and a half years and the Minister?
Frnkly they have been reckless with health money (and I am not talking about the Covid response here).
A Commission of Enquiry into Mental Health. Waste of time and meney. Just employ more trained professionals in the community and at secondary care level.
Cancer Agency. IMO not good use of money. We know what to do about cancer already i.e. how to treat it and what helps prevent it.
Restructure of DHB in NZ Health Authority a shameless waste of money which will do little to solve the problems in the health system: hint have adequate staffing levels. new medical school; pay health professionals better as there will be a better chance of retaining them in a competitive international market.
Oh yeah and try to explain why Ms Mahutas husband was given $29,000 for suicide prevention, when he has no background in mental health?
Just the last 5 years. Do me a favour. Doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen, police et al have been crying paucity of salaries for decades. There is only so much of a public purse to spread around, while the monied in our society salt it all away overseas. Actually, could be nailed down to the relaxation of exchange controls in 1984.
logie97 – you seem to forget that since those reforms of 1980s etc, certain elements of society have become grossly overpaid by previous, fairer standards.
And health, education etc workers are NOT among those over-privileged elements.
I agree entirely – I have not forgotten the scourge of Douglas and the neo-liberals at all. (Read Richardson and ACT)
As a former teacher I used to get frustrated at the constant focus of NZEI, in its negotiations with the ministry, on more pay. There was always a quid pro quo – teachers had to yield something. Negotiations were always confrontational because MOE, the state, argued limited money available. And the workloads just got bigger.
Instant pay rises would do nothing for workloads and stress, because the nature of employers attitudes would be "You've got the money now work harder!" You could pay all state service employees double their monies and it would not change the immediate work load or stresses.
And don't get started on the B/S paperwork that the various ministries have set up as job requirements. Key performance indicators/portfolios of work/ performance management??? They would have appeared to have contributed nothing to better outcomes in the professions. (Another product of the neo-libs I believe!!!)
What is required is for the employer (state) to accept during negotiations, that there is a problem with workload and there is a ministry commitment to halve the problem in the next few years. By all means increase the salary considerably, understand the issue, and commit to doubling the work force however that can be done.
Unfortunately, state pay rises are all about linking to cost of living.
More taxes and a nations will to accept the problem would seem to be the only way through this.
I agree entirely: I was in secondary teaching, and active in PPTA.
My disappointment was that too many teachers always voted for more money, demanding that as our best aim.
But when unions were weakened, we could barely fight for anything. Most teachers were unwilling to do anything more than a one-day strike or a bit of token rolling strikes action. The govt threw their hands up in utter horror for the public, casting us as anti-social villains, and the media complied..
We won decent settlements only when govt realised that Boards of Trustees were likely to rebel and come out on our side.
The problem is that our neo-liberal-driven govts care only about enlarging profits for their masters, and care very little for health and education workers.
Society? What on earth is that? Worthy of weasel words only.
How do you know I don't know how health systems work. FYI I have worked in the health system on two occassions
I think I gave a pretty thorough list of where I think Labour has wasted health money.
Mental health commission of enquiry, Cancer authority, shiney new NZHealth. Oh and money for suicide prevention for Ms Mahutas husband who no one seems to know what if was for.
Sacha you are correct I haven't worked in strategy for the health system.
I have worked in a head office for another Govt Dept.
I don't pretend to know about strategy and health. I am glad there is a strategy division, because the strategy needs to be around increasing the health workforce.
But honestly if you want to tell me what you know about strategy and the Ministry of Health, I am really open to hearing. Geniunely curious
Anker. Not sure how you can draw a conclusion that I am denying any serious workforce shortages in health or any of the state sector professions.
I do not believe it is a recent issue however – it has been going on for years. Bargaining has never had a bottom line of telling the ruling parties – "No deal until commitment is in place for workplace staffing to be at least doubled".
I remember teachers being promised 1:20 ratios but by slight of hand governments and school boards of trustees (through their principals) were able to load the senior classes to that the ratios in the junior area were 1:20.
The last National government even (mis)quoted Prof. Hattie as saying that small class numbers are not material in educational outcomes and therefore not a priority.
And believe it or not the membership just rolled over once again. And of course the younger teachers have since gone on their right of passage O.E whilst the experienced maturer teachers have bailed out.
I cannot speak to health workers but I am sure that there has been a consistent cry for increased workforce. They have at times negotiated a better pay deal but there have been tradeoffs and whatever those pay deals were, they were clearly not enough to immediately increase recruitment numbers. It seems also that nursing compliance is a factor for their leaving the profession.
logie: Absolutely correct about the last National Govt and that traitrous Hattie person.
Remember, they weakened the Health Workers' unions by splitting them up into different regions with local contracts at different times, making it pretty well illegal for one union to strike in support of another, unless they were negotiating at the same time?
Our current situation where any teachers or nurses with any brains would not immediately move overseas is a direct consequence of previous govts trying to cut costs but not tax immense income going to a minority.
They think NZ's beauties will keep us here?
No, they are also busily destroyng NZ's beauties. No more swimmable rivers, etc etc.
ATLANTA, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Weeks after the 2020 election, a Chicago publicist for hip-hop artist Kanye West traveled to the suburban home of Ruby Freeman, a frightened Georgia election worker who was facing death threats after being falsely accused by former President Donald Trump of manipulating votes. The publicist knocked on the door and offered to help.
The visitor, Trevian Kutti, gave her name but didn’t say she worked for West, a longtime billionaire friend of Trump. She said she was sent by a “high-profile individual,” whom she didn’t identify, to give Freeman an urgent message: confess to Trump’s voter-fraud allegations, or people would come to her home in 48 hours, and she’d go to jail.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm – The Government says it cannot rule out the return of lockdowns
and more hmmmmmmmmm Omicron sub-variants ‘evolving to target the lungs and overcome immunity’
"…According to preliminary data from Kei Sato at the University of Tokyo and colleagues, BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 may have evolved to refavour infection of lung cells, rather than upper respiratory tract tissue – making them more similar to earlier variants, such as Alpha or Delta…"
Highly coincidental at the least, I’d be picking quite closely related.
Probably not that smart to be heading overseas and wanting to be able to come home at will for a while. Expect to see a real tightening of medical clauses with travel insurance shortly
The few publicly complaining health workers , docs and nurses, are doing their cause no favours at all in describing the 'hellish, insane, terrible terrible" working conditions in hospitals etc. FFS shut up, any young person considering becoming a health worker is going "Fuck that for a joke, I'm off to be a barista or HR person or any of those other myriad useless do nothing jobs". FYI a lot more health workers per 100,000 people than there were in any previous decade and its because health becomes so much more complicated and labour intensive every decade and we have run out of that percentage of the population that actually gives a fuck about caring for their fellow humans. sort that out and the staffing problem is halfway cured.
It is immoral and indefensible to strip poorer countries of their best and brightest to wipe our sorry entitled arses.
I did the sums a few months ago Belladonna, but its complicated and takes more time than I have at the moment, but remember a whole lot of health categories and interventions never existed until recently and they need trained health professionals to use them properly. Who ever heard of anything flasher than a old fuzzy ex-ray machine now we have ultra sound, thermal imaging etc etc, not to mention the huge expansion of physiotherapy and other practices, and so many diseases that can now be cured or mitigated considerably. The best info was the number of nurses in the early 50s compared to now and my best recall is about 15% more nurses per 100,000 today than earlier decades and that came from the official NZ Yearbooks
Ok. So you're talking about more the 1950s or 1970s, than the 2010s. I can certainly see that.
However, I don't think that our health professional workforce has anything like kept pace with our population increase over the last 20 years – or even the last 10.
Adrian: You say, "It is immoral and indefensible to strip poorer countries of their best and brightest to wipe our sorry entitled arses."
But that is exactly what richer countries like Australia are doing to us.
We have to fight the system of profiteering.
I well remember the advocates of Rogernomics repetitively saying: "Profit isn't a dirty word, you know."
Then the profit-gougers flourished, and healthy societies have been declining and languishing ever since. International stats on wealth gaps show this, along with health stats.
So, as you say, how do we sort out the problem that only a minority of today's society actually give a fuck about caring for our fellow human beings?
(I think that we should be teaching about the evils of profit-gouging in our schools, because most students, I would think, currently mistake ‘entrepreneurism’ for profit-gouging.)
Comments deleted, as you requested, because of a 'technical glitch', but please note that Mods don't usually delete comments and this was an exception.
I would have thought that just because Australia does it to us is hardly justification for us to do it to countries that definitley need their medical staff more than we do.
Yes, people go where they can mostly gain the best pay, but there are a few quirks in the system with nurses for instance coming here from countries of huge income diversity, the ones who come here from India and other such countries for instance are generally from wealthy families, the poor can not afford education and cannot get the opportunity to advance themselves. A large number of offshore nurses who do come here go on to work in rest homes not hospitals as the language requirements are pretty high to work in a hospital in NZ and understandably so as no doubt you would realise why. I was being flippant about the giving a fuck about caregiving but health already absorbs a large percentage of our workforce and not everybody wants to work in it like not that many people want to do other demanding jobs. I know I couldn't do it, I, 60 years ago thought I might be a surgeon because they relieve suffering and help others but the thought of cutting someone up even to help them is beyond me. I would bet that the complainers raging against the lack of health staff have hardly ever encouraged their own offspring to join the health force.
This is very disturbing. It appears that NZ is not a sovereign nation and that its justice system has sold out to the US. Is Kim Dotcom our Julian Assange?
I can understand the 'guilty and get it over with' plea. As unsatisfactory as this is in principle I am not going to blame these guys for taking the pragmatic way out of what must have been a drawn-out, stressful matter.
Just in case anyone wonders – having an unresolved legal matter like this hanging over you for years is bloody awful. Corrosive and stressful to an extent anyone who hasn't been through it probably does not fully appreciate.
As for the the US angle, yes it is another Assange all over again. I spent the best part of a decade here defending him (and Dotcom to a lesser extent) against all-comers. There were only a handful of us willing to stand in his corner for a very long time. Our last hope really is that Albanese will step up and make a direct plea to Biden.
Across the entire world justice systems are prone to this kind of capture, and when they make mistakes are very, very bad at correcting them. Everyone in the system covers arse like mad, and justice gets ditched. A very real problem that deserves way more than one small comment.
This comment (above, no. 15) was an accidental one, by my pressing a wrong button as I was logging out. It is not yet 8.00pm (see my posting time) but for some reason I have no edit or delete option, even though my 10 mins are not up.
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TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
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Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
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RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
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Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
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The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
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While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
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Andrew Little seems to have the 'reverse Midas' touch.
Health minister says flu, staff absences cause of new hospital pressures | Stuff.co.nz
How so?
From where I sit, whenever he chooses to speak about the recent wage negotiations or the current state of hospitals/staffing, he further alienates and severely pisses off the nursing workforce.
The trend in the annual number of work stoppages from the beginning of the fifth Nat govt through to 2020 puzzles me. Does anyone have some plausible reasons why workers were apparently being relatively content from 2008 – 2017?
https://www.employment.govt.nz/starting-employment/unions-and-bargaining/work-stoppages/
Gee, perhaps they knew the pro-employer government of that period would ignore or ban industrial pressure while suppressing pay and conditions? Pent-up until a more reasonable government came into power..
Thanks Sacha – yep, ‘Little’ chance of a fair shake for workers under the Nats.
The 2017 spike is pent-up demand from the remaining unions making sure Labour paid them back for their unstinting support.
Which was rewarded.
Whereas National as ever didn't give a fuck and the nurses and doctors and teachers just left overseas or retired.
I thought someone was holding the Minister responsible for the flu season.
Hipkins is on to it and hopefully something will now get done.
New Police Minister hints at gang crackdown, doesn't know if truce has been called between Auckland gangs (msn.com)
Labour need more ministers like Hipkins.
The inter gang / Police negotiations were started under Poto Williams some weeks ago. Stop living in the Superman/Batman bullshit dynamic where a caped crusader fixes shit in an instant.
/
Perhaps the Act party has given Hipkins a few ideas of what to do?
ACT wanted gangs, Police and community leaders broker a truce?? Well, strike me down with a feather!!
Tie Seymour to a pole in the middle of town like a goat, see if the bait works.
Like a goat?
If it's a curry
Nah, sorry, can’t do; I donate to the SPCA.
"There's 889 gangsters not in prison but with ankle bracelets, more than twice as many as when Labour took office," he said, adding it was not fair that they commit crimes and stay home."
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/06/21/gang-violence-police-operation-to-roll-out-nationwide/
Good to see they have embraced the new 'working from home'.
One wonders if Labour is a cohesive government, or if it's compartmentalised?
Did Immigration think to ask Education about their ability to teach a influx of immigrant children given our education system is already riven with problems?
If you want to know why the hapless Tories will be the government next year, look no further.
Quote:
”There’s currently 1000 job vacancies across the education sector and Newshub can reveal the shortage could soon get even worse.”
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/06/exclusive-teacher-shortage-could-get-worse-due-to-immigration-influx.html
Staff shortages are everywhere, across industry in New Zealand, whether you are in the public or private sectors.
We remain hovering around 3% headline unemployed and far less than that for anyone with a degree.
So no, it's not specific to this government.
I'm really beginning to wonder about your comprehension, Ad. I'm serious. You are either wilfully ignoring the core of my post…or you are not understanding?
''One wonders if Labour is a cohesive government, or if it's compartmentalised? Did Immigration think to ask Education about their ability to teach a influx of immigrant children given our education system is already riven with problems?''
My comment had little to do with staff shortages. That was a peripheral issue. My comment was about ''communication.''
Communication is generally the most import factor within given situations. The only reason you and I are posting on this blog is because someone wanted a decentralised communication network in case of war.
Look in the mirror Blade.
Your quote was about staff shortages. Your link was about staff shortages.
The word "communication" was missing in any part of your post.
So one might expect comment about staff shortages.
If you really want to see how Immigration allocate their skills criteria from Departmental and other feedback, it's published regularly. Go look it up.
What is your understanding of how long it takes for a change of elected Ministers to affect government agencies communicating well day-to-day?
Well, that depends on when the scheme ( or lack of was implemented). Before or after a change of ministers. The reality is it doesn't matter.
It is a general question for you to answer.
These people…incredibly Brave ! A terrible and long list … dying to protect their…and OUR Earth. From scum and their greed
Labour apologises for getting something wrong!!!!!
"I have subsequently been made aware that these comments were not accurate."
'These comments were not accurate': Hipkins apologises over stoush with pregnant Kiwi journalist (msn.com)
Perhaps it's time for Jacinda to apologise to the KFC worker she shamed publicly.
Following Luxon's fine example where he apologised, gushingly and profusely, to those New Zealanders he called, "bottom-feeders"?
Look over there! They do it too!
They do too! Thanks for the heads-up, Jimmy – if we don't keep our eyes on them, they'll get away with blue murder!
You laid the whataboutery bait and Robert took it.
Handy blog name.
Sorry, I tried but couldn't find the story there. It appears to have been buried under a mountain of click ads.
Shame on you for spaming ad links across the site.
Here is the RNZ link to the story.
Try clicking on the link I provided. It worked for me.
He has nothing to apologise for. When you weaponise the media you get what you ask for.
Just to clarify, you think that Hipkins has nothing to apologize for, when he's been found telling lies – or, at the very least, information which was subsequently (and very quickly) proved to be untrue?
I have to say, I do expect (though am often disappointed) a higher level of accuracy from those elected to represent us.
That "higher level of accuracy" still has to be based on the information supplied by the head honcho of the Public Service agency in question. If it eventually transpires the information given – and then passed on to the Minister – is not correct then yes… the minister has to carry the can. My recollection is that the information was not quickly found to be untrue. Inquiries of that nature are usually quite long-winded.
I can understand how distressed the woman at the centre of the bungle must have been, but there were better ways to have the problem sorted than rushing headlong to the media with her story. She must have known it would be used for political purposes and indeed it was. It turned out she was already in line for a new place in the queue – which also fitted in with her preferred time to return – so as far as I can see nothing in practical terms was gained.
That and rushing to Afghanistan to give the Taliban a thorough whitewashing despite the multitude of other options her New Zealand passport provided her.
The ways in which the machinery of government supplies that 'higher level of accuracy' to ministers always seem invisible to busy fault-finders. Sometimes it's worth lifting a corner of the rug to see if something has quietly been brushed under it, who knows why…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129043872/journalist-charlotte-bellis-accepts-minister-chris-hipkins-apology-for-incorrect-claims
As commented below – Hipkins deliberately breached Bellis' privacy – despite the advice from MFAT being labelled not for public release.
There is no excuse for him over that part.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/chris-hipkins-released-charlotte-bellis-personal-details-despite-official-advice-not-to.html
Bellis immediately challenged both the breach of privacy and the specific inaccurate information. I do not believe that it takes a great deal of time to double-check the embassy and or ministry logs, and confirm whether or not a request, offer of a place, or a conversation occurred. It's not rocket science.
So if in your opinion he has nothing to apologise for, why is he apologising? He obviously thinks he does.
Perhaps also an apology from all of the TS commentators who uncritically accepted Hipkins 'word' and trashed Bellis on this forum
Lol.
Inaccurate comment Belladonna.
She was strongly criticised by most for the way she went about it!
Try looking at your own commenting history, here, Anne
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28-04-2022/#comment-1885075
“Ms Charlotte Bellis, who I understand was party to this court case, lost all credibility in my eyes when she mischievously attempted to malign the Covid minister, Chris Hipkins by claiming he had smeared her and violated her privacy in one of his press statements. It was a blatant lie and all too obvious to anyone who took the trouble to read the statement in question. Imo, anyone who goes to such lengths at a time of a raging pandemic is never to be trusted at any time.”
This is the minister who has now publicly apologised for A) not telling the truth about Bellis and B) invading her privacy.
You weren't alone – but were one of the loudest voices.
Hipkins has admitted he was wrong. Will you?
Yes. I guessed you would delve back into the files and dig up something I said. Preferably the most damaging one you could find – at least on the surface. 🙂
I resile from nothing! In the press statement referred to he did not say anything that resembled anything like a "smear". What does appear to have happened is: he reiterated a response he had received from someone in the ministry which he later learnt was incorrect. She took it at the time as a smear so he did the right thing and apologised back in March.
Yes, Populuxe @ 5.4.2.2 has reminded me of her questionable conduct in response to her predicament. It was widely commented on but my response was only in respect of the press statement.
Oh, I could find a lot more damaging that that… it was just the most recent of a long line of anti-Bellis commentary from you — echoing and amplifying the 'de jour' statements from the Labour politicians and/or commentariat.
This is not an error from the Ministry. The advice was released to the Minister under the 'no surprises' policy specifically "marked not for public release"
There is no excuse for Hipkins. He stuffed up massively in releasing this information. And, if he apologised for this is March, why were you still defending him for violating her privacy in April?
Now to the 'smear' business. Hipkins made incorrect (untrue) statements about Bellis being offered consular assistance, etc.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-chris-hipkins-formally-apologises-over-charlotte-bellis-emergency-miq-saga/DX35AVZARU5RPUFTFUKDCNMK5A/
Those statements were smears. And were used by commentators (yourself among them) to denigrate Bellis and her situation.
I don't know what your definition of a smear is – but it pretty clearly fits the definition that the rest of NZ uses (not to mention the Courts, which is clearly the only reason that Hipkins has released this public statement)
It's good to know that reality (even admission of error from your Labour heroes) has no power to change your entrenched belief.
Please. I think the lion's share of the criticism was directed at her peculiar choice to head to Afghanistan as a strongarm tactic. There's political misstatement and then there's providing a propaganda opportunity for one of the more unsavory regimes on the planet.
That's not my recollection.
I suggest you look at Weka's excellent post "Women's human rights and the vulnerability of pregnant women" on TS (sorry not sure how to link directly)
And read the comments.
Here you are – And special mention for Weka in the moderation of the post.
https://thestandard.org.nz/womens-human-rights-and-the-vulnerability-of-pregnant-women/
Reply to Jimmy @5, Theres something wrong in that statement , substitute "journalist " for " self deluded attention seeker ". There, fixed it for you.
Some junior bureaucrat told his/her superior a 'mistruth' to cover a mistake. The superior told his/her superior what the junior had said. The superior's superior told his/her superior and so it went up the chain to the head superior who told the Minister. The Minister – who had no reason to suspect it wasn't correct – released the information to the media.
Lucky it wasn't a National Minister in charge because he/she would be the one apologising for the 'mistruth eh?
This story on ABC 2 Feb 22 It takes 5 months for Hipkins to be made away and react ? Hipkins had his information questioned by Bellis immediately at the time. Would for someone with an eye to detail not go back on his information to verify when questioned ?? But for some conscious mis information is acceptable🤫
“the minister had no reason” … are you for real
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/463080/hipkins-unapologetic-over-charlotte-bellis-disclosures
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y4fKbso_oeI
No one believes your imagined chain of events. MFAT gave the info to the Minister under the 'no surprises' rule – with a specific note saying it was not for public comment
"COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins released personal details of journalist Charlotte Bellis' MIQ case despite receiving Government advice saying it was "not for public comment"."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/chris-hipkins-released-charlotte-bellis-personal-details-despite-official-advice-not-to.html
You know, you can be a Labour supporter without blindly defending them against all possible negative coverage. In fact, you gain more credibility by admitting when your heroes have feet of clay, and celebrating the good, while regretting the bad.
My comment was tongue-in-cheek. In other words the imagined chain of events was not meant to be anything else. I have not yet found a 'tongue in cheek' emoji, but assumed most would recognise the intent. 🙄
Well, it looks a lot more like an attempt to blame an 'emotional junior staffer'
It doesn't look any better when a left-wing commenter does it.
And, in any case, the chain of error (if it existed) should have stopped short at Hipkins.
"Emotional junior staffer"? Good grief. Wasn't it a Nat who introduced that silly meme? Your interpretations are as vulnerable to inaccuracy as the rest of us.
Btw, It did stop short at Hipkins. The minister always carries the can… including mistakes from within their ministry. I said so @ 5.3.1.1. It happens now and then. Tough luck for the minister don't you think?
Yes, it was, a National statement. I was pointing out that it's no better when a Labour commenter makes that implication (blame it on a junior staffer) – which is exactly what you did.
If you can't see the parallel, then I suggest a bit of introspection.
And, no the point, which you seem incapable of grasping, is that it did not stop with Hipkins. He shared information from the briefing with the media, trying to spin what was rapidly turning into a PR disaster.
He should have made no comment whatsoever, to the media, based on the briefing he was given. Zip. Nada. None.
It was privileged information, which he was specifically told, was not for public release.
Instead, he shot from the lip, both smearing Bellis (with what turned out to be untrue information from the Ministry briefing), AND breaching her privacy (for which he is solely responsible).
Nothing 'tough luck' about that.
What's a "Labour commenter"?
If it’s what I think it is, that makes you a “National commenter”.
Glad we have that cleared up.
Do I blindly defend the National party under all circumstances? No.
So, not a National commentator.
Unlike Anne, who has never (AFAICS) made or supported an even mildly critical comment about a Labour politician or the Party. Tribal Labour to the core.
As I've said before, I'm a centrist voter.
Though, clearly to those of you of the far-left persuasion, that looks like a "National voter" – to those who are actually tribal National, I'm a lefty flake.
Righto.
You took the time to label someone from your frame of reference using entirely your reckons.
I did the same and you squealed, "but I'm a centrist!"
Belladonna, as I've commented before, is a 'concern troll.'
I’ve yet to see her commenting on any right wing blog!
This Mod doesn’t see it the same way.
If you want to level accusations at another commenter of being a ‘concern troll’ you’ll have to explain in no uncertain terms what you mean by that, i.e., what is your definition and yardstick, because there are a few variants about, and how does it apply to the other commenter. If Mods agree with you they may take action. If not, they may ask you to drop your case.
Looking at your history here I note that you’ve made the same accusation before and also about the same commenter. Please don’t do it again unless you can make it stick (see above).
Anne is on record criticisng Labour plenty of times. I did so only a few days ago. You haven't been around this site for very long. Perhaps you should have the humility to recognise you don't know everything.
Anne also doesn't mind having a bit of a laugh at herself which was evident in my 'tongue in cheek' comment you have been making such a grand fuss about. The way it was worded should have given the game away, but of course the prima-donna knows best.
Okay, okay I apologise, But you've been asking for it.
Provided evidence.
Yet to see you do the same…..
Typical…..
Anne has repeatedly made the point that she is a Labour supporter on TS.
Grow up.
Bully girls always like the last word so the stage is all yours. 🙂
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/covid-19/437598/covid-19-hipkins-backs-ardern-after-case-l-says-she-wasn-t-told-to-isolate
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20210309_051240000/2-question-no-2-prime-minister
With their bene bashing ways, and self-serving hit jobs on inconvenient public servants:
the Nats are masters of the political dark arts – you'd have to be blind not to see it.
At least Boag managed an apology. It's particularly disappointing that no National party MP (past or present) has ever publically repudiated the political obscenity that was Dirty Politics. Maybe Luxon can jog the Nats out of their preferred pattern of behaviour, but I have such doubts.
Charming stuff from Poots' brain.
https://twitter.com/CathyYoung63/status/1538586562698563584
Well, the "anal-raping mulattoes "know who to start with!
That is a lot to unpack, especially if you had a rather peculiar master at your British boarding school to prepare you for leadership of those legions of anal raping mulattoes.
More to point, more evidence if you need it of the coarseness of fascism. The violence of the language is instantly recognisable to anyone familiar with the utterances of fervent Nazis.
Or fundamentalist Orthodox Christians…like Putin?
I tend to distrust all fundamentalists, even here in NZ!
I'm in. Where do I sign up?
Mourn the painful death of irony.
https://twitter.com/kromark/status/1539271743482777601?t=CZX9hHc–D2ULqF3-lzPSw&s=19
Painful.
https://twitter.com/kamilkazani/status/1504585747931623449
In 1980 I looked in a French phone-book in Lyon, and it seemed to me that half the names listed were non-French, , so maybe this is less surprising than you would think.
Meh. I've got burnout too. No-one sheds a tear for me.
It's post-pandemic pain, and it will pass.
Is your burnout from too much time spent on The Standard website? Try having 60 meetings in a day or seeing 60 clients or patients.
At least I work, Jimmy.
That's good to know you are contributing to society. I work also.
Oh come on, don't you know that inflation, health sector stress and every other woe is unique to this country?
Been to ED lately? I have, it was like a war zone and I wasn’t in Middlemore.
Are you aware that there is a large number of GPS who are due to retire and we don’t have enough to replace them.
Australia is one of the most racist countries in the world. I will never move there.
I find it odd that some people, led by The Herald, are actively campaigning for our nurses to head across the ditch. NZME has become a recruitment arm for the Australian government. I wonder if they are being paid as such.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-front-page-lure-of-australia-could-worsen-nzs-nursing-crisis/HLFQSZTU5B7K45BSYH6P3H2L3A/
I think the people actively campaigning for our nurses to head to Australia are health recruitment companies in a Australia. The Herald is meerely reporting what our Drs and nurses are experiencing.
You seem to be minimizing or denying the situation our health systerm is in (Ie the real health system the Dr and nurses who do the work). Feel free to keep going with that and join Andrew Little on the deck of the Titanic rearranging the deck chairs.
And just hope like hell you don't get sick and need medical care.
We need more nurses especially, but health systems do not work without managers. It's a convenient fiction that the Nats capitalise on.
I have never said that the Health System doesn't need managers. Nor have I every heard it said that there is a shortage of health system managers. If there is they are keeping quiet about it.
I think the re-structure is a waste of time and money. The DHBs did o.k. during the health crisis.
Compared with what? No idea where you get the idea that DHBs 'did ok'. System held together only by the goodwill of its people.
Ah, I was reading your #7 above:
Our son in QLD has needed surgery for gallstones for 4 years He keeps getting pushed off the list His Dr is in despair. So their problems mirror ours 3 Covid years and costs sky rocketting, but of course It is Andrew Little not covid …silly us. sarc
Andrew Little is our Minister of Health and so he is responsible for the Heath System. I believe he is wasting time and money with the re-structure. The most urgent thing he needs to attends to is staffing.
David. Clark before him chose to waste time and money on on the Commission of Inquiry into Mental Health. Its simple really increase staffing who are
skilled in evidence based mental health treatments
Ian Powell pointing out in 2017 to David Clark the most pressinng need was the workforce
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/opinion/distracted-health-leadership-means-leadership-neglect
Re Queensland, yes everywhere thire is a health workforce shortage. Watch NZ's get worse if there isn't urgent atttention paid to it.
"Australia is one of the most racist countries in the world. I will never move there".
Have you ever been there, and I mean for a bit more than a fleeting moment?
Just because it's diversely multicultural and its government does a bit of lip service to its indigenous peoples once in a while does not make it not an incredibly racist place, especially outside of the big cities.
Not defending Australia, but to claim that it's one of the most racist countries in the world is drawing the longbow quite a bit: try being Korean in Japan, Uyghur in China, Chechen in Russia, or someone with 'dark' coloured skin in swathes of the US.
Some of the racists I met in Australia were the worst I've come across. Casually cruel and they think it's hilarious. Casually violent and they think they have a right.
Try being an indigenous Australian…
It isn't just Middlemore, our local ED, a 23 bed unit, had more than 70 patients at 7am…
It's ok. The minister hasn't seen any evidence.
gsays @ 8.2 of course the minister hasn't!
Yup. Four times in the past 16 months, three admissions, two to CC, with minimal delays.
The problem in my burg is people timing their arrival at the ED after the onsite walk-up GP clinic has closed.
Joe 90 are you denying that there is a serious workforce shortage in the health sector and preditions are that it will get worse?
I said my considerable interactions with health services in the last wee while have been timely and thorough.
What did you want me to say?
You are free to say whatever you want.
Its up to you whether you answer my question about the crisis in the health work force
Of course there are staffing and resource issues but then, when wasn't staffing and resourcing an issue in health. In my recent experience the ED was functioning, the in-patient care I received was exemplary and out-patient appointments were on time. Gee, in my burg you can even enroll with a PHO as a new patient.
But if it makes you feel better, do catastrophise away.
Good luck with finding a new GP in mine. Hell, my GP has difficulty finding locums.
The health system is under extreme stress, and not just from covid. Nurses to primary healthcare to building maintenance to specialists. Some areas have it worse than others, but basically we pay too low and are too understaffed to make "lifestyle" a substitute for pay.
And the ones we train here, we saddle with massive debt as a handy "fuck off please". Then we wonder why people turn up to ED rather than going to a GP (whom they either can't afford or already owe hundreds of dollars).
Labour aren't solely, even mostly, to blame, but that's the cesspit they have inherited. and it'll take longer than a few years to sort out.
Especially GPs. We seem to be losing a lot of mid-career GPs, rural GPs are declining in number, and burnout is increasing significantly. Some of that will be due to covid (survey regulary done, but that version conducted sept 2020), but not all.
Yup. My sister is an IC nurse manager who could name her price in UK/AU and a mate who's recently chucked in a full-time job at a surgical unit reckons he’s making ends meet with two shifts at a private hospital.
Lots of medicos bring their kids here to attend Collegiate, though.
We get what we pay for. While our captains of industry, major banks, and their shareholders, multinationals, reap the benefits of others' labour, our "parlous" state will continue.
So nurses, doctors, teachers are all shouting that they are underpaid and not coping with their workloads. (We are in the middle of a pandemic aren't we). As if, in the short term, more money is going to make one bit of difference to their workloads.
Perhaps it needs a nation that has the will to revolutionise the tax system – so it can build more hospitals, recruit more professional staff, reduce patient/student ratios and raise Joe Blow's living standards.
Just imagine if a massive natural disaster was to hit NZ, knocking out all essential services. The media pundits (if they could be heard) would still be reporting that there is a shortage of doctors, nurses, teachers and looking to blame the system.
No more money won't make a difference to their workloads logie97. It needs to be a two pronged approach. Much Better pay to stop people leaving and more staff.
Who else do we blame for the catastrophic state of our health workforce (including the mental health workforce) but the Govt of 5 and a half years and the Minister?
Frnkly they have been reckless with health money (and I am not talking about the Covid response here).
A Commission of Enquiry into Mental Health. Waste of time and meney. Just employ more trained professionals in the community and at secondary care level.
Cancer Agency. IMO not good use of money. We know what to do about cancer already i.e. how to treat it and what helps prevent it.
Restructure of DHB in NZ Health Authority a shameless waste of money which will do little to solve the problems in the health system: hint have adequate staffing levels. new medical school; pay health professionals better as there will be a better chance of retaining them in a competitive international market.
Oh yeah and try to explain why Ms Mahutas husband was given $29,000 for suicide prevention, when he has no background in mental health?
Just the last 5 years. Do me a favour. Doctors, nurses, teachers, firemen, police et al have been crying paucity of salaries for decades. There is only so much of a public purse to spread around, while the monied in our society salt it all away overseas. Actually, could be nailed down to the relaxation of exchange controls in 1984.
logie97 – you seem to forget that since those reforms of 1980s etc, certain elements of society have become grossly overpaid by previous, fairer standards.
And health, education etc workers are NOT among those over-privileged elements.
I agree entirely – I have not forgotten the scourge of Douglas and the neo-liberals at all. (Read Richardson and ACT)
As a former teacher I used to get frustrated at the constant focus of NZEI, in its negotiations with the ministry, on more pay. There was always a quid pro quo – teachers had to yield something. Negotiations were always confrontational because MOE, the state, argued limited money available. And the workloads just got bigger.
Instant pay rises would do nothing for workloads and stress, because the nature of employers attitudes would be "You've got the money now work harder!" You could pay all state service employees double their monies and it would not change the immediate work load or stresses.
And don't get started on the B/S paperwork that the various ministries have set up as job requirements. Key performance indicators/portfolios of work/ performance management??? They would have appeared to have contributed nothing to better outcomes in the professions. (Another product of the neo-libs I believe!!!)
What is required is for the employer (state) to accept during negotiations, that there is a problem with workload and there is a ministry commitment to halve the problem in the next few years. By all means increase the salary considerably, understand the issue, and commit to doubling the work force however that can be done.
Unfortunately, state pay rises are all about linking to cost of living.
More taxes and a nations will to accept the problem would seem to be the only way through this.
I agree entirely: I was in secondary teaching, and active in PPTA.
My disappointment was that too many teachers always voted for more money, demanding that as our best aim.
But when unions were weakened, we could barely fight for anything. Most teachers were unwilling to do anything more than a one-day strike or a bit of token rolling strikes action. The govt threw their hands up in utter horror for the public, casting us as anti-social villains, and the media complied..
We won decent settlements only when govt realised that Boards of Trustees were likely to rebel and come out on our side.
The problem is that our neo-liberal-driven govts care only about enlarging profits for their masters, and care very little for health and education workers.
Society? What on earth is that? Worthy of weasel words only.
Compared with what? Easy to say when you do not understand how health systems work.
How do you know I don't know how health systems work. FYI I have worked in the health system on two occassions
I think I gave a pretty thorough list of where I think Labour has wasted health money.
Mental health commission of enquiry, Cancer authority, shiney new NZHealth. Oh and money for suicide prevention for Ms Mahutas husband who no one seems to know what if was for.
You have worked in national health policy or strategy rather than frontline services?
I'm not hearing any sign of it.
Sacha you are correct I haven't worked in strategy for the health system.
I have worked in a head office for another Govt Dept.
I don't pretend to know about strategy and health. I am glad there is a strategy division, because the strategy needs to be around increasing the health workforce.
But honestly if you want to tell me what you know about strategy and the Ministry of Health, I am really open to hearing. Geniunely curious
Logie you denying that there is a serious workforce shortage in the health sector and preditions are that it will get worse?
By the way I am not saying there weren’t problems in the health workforce before 5 years ago. I am saying Labour has had over five years to fix them.
Anker. Not sure how you can draw a conclusion that I am denying any serious workforce shortages in health or any of the state sector professions.
I do not believe it is a recent issue however – it has been going on for years. Bargaining has never had a bottom line of telling the ruling parties – "No deal until commitment is in place for workplace staffing to be at least doubled".
I remember teachers being promised 1:20 ratios but by slight of hand governments and school boards of trustees (through their principals) were able to load the senior classes to that the ratios in the junior area were 1:20.
The last National government even (mis)quoted Prof. Hattie as saying that small class numbers are not material in educational outcomes and therefore not a priority.
And believe it or not the membership just rolled over once again. And of course the younger teachers have since gone on their right of passage O.E whilst the experienced maturer teachers have bailed out.
I cannot speak to health workers but I am sure that there has been a consistent cry for increased workforce. They have at times negotiated a better pay deal but there have been tradeoffs and whatever those pay deals were, they were clearly not enough to immediately increase recruitment numbers. It seems also that nursing compliance is a factor for their leaving the profession.
logie: Absolutely correct about the last National Govt and that traitrous Hattie person.
Remember, they weakened the Health Workers' unions by splitting them up into different regions with local contracts at different times, making it pretty well illegal for one union to strike in support of another, unless they were negotiating at the same time?
Our current situation where any teachers or nurses with any brains would not immediately move overseas is a direct consequence of previous govts trying to cut costs but not tax immense income going to a minority.
They think NZ's beauties will keep us here?
No, they are also busily destroyng NZ's beauties. No more swimmable rivers, etc etc.
RMT's Mick Lynch, enjoy:
https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1539343975236116480
Note to Kay Burley. Only one person in your interview was flustered, and it wasn’t Mick Lynch.
These people were terrorised by the President of the United States and his lackeys.
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1539329328529518593
https://twitter.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1539340507029164034
ATLANTA, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Weeks after the 2020 election, a Chicago publicist for hip-hop artist Kanye West traveled to the suburban home of Ruby Freeman, a frightened Georgia election worker who was facing death threats after being falsely accused by former President Donald Trump of manipulating votes. The publicist knocked on the door and offered to help.
The visitor, Trevian Kutti, gave her name but didn’t say she worked for West, a longtime billionaire friend of Trump. She said she was sent by a “high-profile individual,” whom she didn’t identify, to give Freeman an urgent message: confess to Trump’s voter-fraud allegations, or people would come to her home in 48 hours, and she’d go to jail.
https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/kanye-west-publicist-pressed-georgia-election-worker-confess-bogus-fraud-charges-2021-12-10/
Hmmmmmmmmmmm – The Government says it cannot rule out the return of lockdowns
and more hmmmmmmmmm Omicron sub-variants ‘evolving to target the lungs and overcome immunity’
"…According to preliminary data from Kei Sato at the University of Tokyo and colleagues, BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 may have evolved to refavour infection of lung cells, rather than upper respiratory tract tissue – making them more similar to earlier variants, such as Alpha or Delta…"
Are these two things linked?
Highly coincidental at the least, I’d be picking quite closely related.
Probably not that smart to be heading overseas and wanting to be able to come home at will for a while. Expect to see a real tightening of medical clauses with travel insurance shortly
Related.
https://twitter.com/BioinfoTools/status/1539410690045509632
The few publicly complaining health workers , docs and nurses, are doing their cause no favours at all in describing the 'hellish, insane, terrible terrible" working conditions in hospitals etc. FFS shut up, any young person considering becoming a health worker is going "Fuck that for a joke, I'm off to be a barista or HR person or any of those other myriad useless do nothing jobs". FYI a lot more health workers per 100,000 people than there were in any previous decade and its because health becomes so much more complicated and labour intensive every decade and we have run out of that percentage of the population that actually gives a fuck about caring for their fellow humans. sort that out and the staffing problem is halfway cured.
It is immoral and indefensible to strip poorer countries of their best and brightest to wipe our sorry entitled arses.
Do you have a link to support your statement
" FYI a lot more health workers per 100,000 people than there were in any previous decade "
It would surprise me if it's true – but I'm always open to being surprised!
I did the sums a few months ago Belladonna, but its complicated and takes more time than I have at the moment, but remember a whole lot of health categories and interventions never existed until recently and they need trained health professionals to use them properly. Who ever heard of anything flasher than a old fuzzy ex-ray machine now we have ultra sound, thermal imaging etc etc, not to mention the huge expansion of physiotherapy and other practices, and so many diseases that can now be cured or mitigated considerably. The best info was the number of nurses in the early 50s compared to now and my best recall is about 15% more nurses per 100,000 today than earlier decades and that came from the official NZ Yearbooks
Ok. So you're talking about more the 1950s or 1970s, than the 2010s. I can certainly see that.
However, I don't think that our health professional workforce has anything like kept pace with our population increase over the last 20 years – or even the last 10.
Adrian: You say, "It is immoral and indefensible to strip poorer countries of their best and brightest to wipe our sorry entitled arses."
But that is exactly what richer countries like Australia are doing to us.
We have to fight the system of profiteering.
I well remember the advocates of Rogernomics repetitively saying: "Profit isn't a dirty word, you know."
Then the profit-gougers flourished, and healthy societies have been declining and languishing ever since. International stats on wealth gaps show this, along with health stats.
So, as you say, how do we sort out the problem that only a minority of today's society actually give a fuck about caring for our fellow human beings?
(I think that we should be teaching about the evils of profit-gouging in our schools, because most students, I would think, currently mistake ‘entrepreneurism’ for profit-gouging.)
Comments deleted, as you requested, because of a 'technical glitch', but please note that Mods don't usually delete comments and this was an exception.
Merci
Bit of a cock-up on the button-pushing front..
I would have thought that just because Australia does it to us is hardly justification for us to do it to countries that definitley need their medical staff more than we do.
Yes, people go where they can mostly gain the best pay, but there are a few quirks in the system with nurses for instance coming here from countries of huge income diversity, the ones who come here from India and other such countries for instance are generally from wealthy families, the poor can not afford education and cannot get the opportunity to advance themselves. A large number of offshore nurses who do come here go on to work in rest homes not hospitals as the language requirements are pretty high to work in a hospital in NZ and understandably so as no doubt you would realise why. I was being flippant about the giving a fuck about caregiving but health already absorbs a large percentage of our workforce and not everybody wants to work in it like not that many people want to do other demanding jobs. I know I couldn't do it, I, 60 years ago thought I might be a surgeon because they relieve suffering and help others but the thought of cutting someone up even to help them is beyond me. I would bet that the complainers raging against the lack of health staff have hardly ever encouraged their own offspring to join the health force.
This is very disturbing. It appears that NZ is not a sovereign nation and that its justice system has sold out to the US. Is Kim Dotcom our Julian Assange?
I can understand the 'guilty and get it over with' plea. As unsatisfactory as this is in principle I am not going to blame these guys for taking the pragmatic way out of what must have been a drawn-out, stressful matter.
Just in case anyone wonders – having an unresolved legal matter like this hanging over you for years is bloody awful. Corrosive and stressful to an extent anyone who hasn't been through it probably does not fully appreciate.
As for the the US angle, yes it is another Assange all over again. I spent the best part of a decade here defending him (and Dotcom to a lesser extent) against all-comers. There were only a handful of us willing to stand in his corner for a very long time. Our last hope really is that Albanese will step up and make a direct plea to Biden.
Across the entire world justice systems are prone to this kind of capture, and when they make mistakes are very, very bad at correcting them. Everyone in the system covers arse like mad, and justice gets ditched. A very real problem that deserves way more than one small comment.
This comment (above, no. 15) was an accidental one, by my pressing a wrong button as I was logging out. It is not yet 8.00pm (see my posting time) but for some reason I have no edit or delete option, even though my 10 mins are not up.
Can a mod help by deleting both 15 and 15.1?