Doctors have gone to court to block surgeons from owning medical imaging services, saying it is "dangerous" for them to be able to refer patients for scans to practices they have a stake in, when that referral would benefit them financially.
Their action at the High Court, Commerce Commission and Medical Council aims to get the new radiology businesses barred and broken up.
Demand for x-ray, CT and ultrasound scans, and most especially MRI, is soaring.
Payouts by ACC, the largest single funder of private radiologists to do scans of trauma injuries, have doubled in a decade to $177m last year.
Interesting, as in Europe many medical clinics / doctor offices have some machinery as it allows them to get results faster, or are affiliated with praxises that would provide these images/blood tests. Simply because it actually saves money.
The only time i have ever been send to an of site blood test is in NZ. Anywhere else i have lived, D, FR, NL it was done onsite by the doctors nurse and send away. Ditto with X-rays.
The doubling of the cost of imaging has probably occurred due to ACC arguing the cause of impairment. I suppose it is cheaper for ACC to pay for the imaging, medical reports and staff hours arguing entitlement than covering a no fault injury.
It seems to me to be the standard argument about public/private medical practice, re-appearing in a different costume.
It is virtually impossible to get a scan, ordered by your GP, in any reasonable time-frame within the public hospital system.
I've just had a discussion over this – when it was disclosed to me that the scan the doctor would like to have, in order to double-check (and hopefully exclude) a potentially serious medical condition, would take approx 4-6 months through the public hospital system (and no guarantee that it wouldn't be longer), or I could pay privately, and have it next week.
The explosion in private radiography services – is primarily driven by the failure of the public service. Why the public provision has failed, is an entirely different question.
Scans of various kinds are a routine tool for doctors – and especially surgeons (no one wants someone cutting them open and finding that there isn't a problem).
If there is any evidence that doctors are unnecessarily referring patients for scans they don't need – then this should be produced. But, quite frankly, I don't believe it for one minute.
Any doctor who has worked with ACC in the past, knows that having a scan is absolutely critical in providing a benchmark for the immediate post-injury situation. Given ACCs propensity for contesting claims (especially those ones with long-term health outcomes), a doctor would probably be negligent, if they didn't benchmark the injury.
This looks to me like a tanty by the newly formed institutional body for 'independent' radiographers – at someone else horning in on their highly profitable market.
And, I can absolutely guarantee that any medical insurance provider (the people actually paying for the majority of the private scans) will be keenly interested in any price differentials from the different scanning providers. If the 'doctor-invested' ones are dearer – then the insurance companies won't cover them.
Good news.Now the Govt needs to supercharge Kiwi Bank to compete against foreign owned banks that think fines for misfeasance /malfeasance are normal costs of…doing..business.
The Government accounts being with Westpac is largely an accounting exercise. Think about a customer that has a current account that they keep only enough money in to cover payments out – they pay off their credit card every month so never pay penalty interest for that card, and keep their savings an investments in other places. Compare the profit a bank makes from that customer compared with a client that has a mortgage with them, and who is not well enough organised to always pay off their credit card each month, but also who sometimes holds quite a bit of money in their current account. With Westpac, the government will manage its daily balance with Westpac always finish each day with a very small balance (positive or negative) for the overnight balance. In the meantime, Westpac will process thousands and thousands of payments from government departments – some regular for various payrolls; most of it triggered by electronic files authorising large numbers of payments to specific accounts. The money goes in and out the same day; Westpac systems will have been set up to handle the volumes of payments, and there will be separately payments from government to cover Westpac costs under their contract. Not mcuh profit there, but probably Westpac has paid money for special systems to ensure that it works smoothly with minimal cost – there have probably been tenders from government for the work, but no other bank has wanted to do the work to get them the contract . . .
So no I hope they do not try and take the money transfer work from Westpac – it would do little to increase competition for normal banking from the big four.
This is my understanding of the contract implementation as well. And whoever is the provider the govt account is strictly separate to the banks accounts. Westpac doesn't get to treat govt funds as its own capital.
If it's been poorly framed, then that sheets directly home to the Government. It's their legislation, it's up to them to convince ordinary Kiwis that it's a good thing.
They're looking at an additional 'tax' coming out of their pay packets – and not seeing that they will get any gain. And, people – especially on lower incomes – are really feeling the economic pinch.
Unemployment insurance in a time of full employment is a pretty hard sell.
If you think that this scheme extends ACC to illness – then you'd better go back to the drawing board, and actually read what's being proposed.
Ham fisted framing, or falling into the trap of right wing framing, is something that Labour does way to often.
Makes you wonder how many people in Parliamentary Labour, and their advisers, PR people, truly have their heart in any progressive initiatives.
The "proposals" are for social insurance funded by a levy on wages, for illness or unemployment. Exactly what ACC does for accidents.
Polls on the subject, show that removing the differing treatment for accidents and illness, by allowing the same ACC provisions for both, is hugely popular.
Why they didn't propose just extending ACC, to illness in the First instance, which would have only been opposed by right wing tragics, rather than re-inventing the wheel, and a whole new organisation, is puzzling.
Seems like someone, behind the scene, doesn’t want it to work.
Yes, a failure by successive governments to fund it at similar rates to the capital raising by the other trading banks. National never regarded funding the Bank as more desirable than almost anything else – but they knew they could not afford to be seen to sell it off. Labour have done some things to keep it going, but it has never been as urgent a need for capital as providing money to correct the reductions that National always make to wages, benefits, health, education; all to fund tax cuts that together reduced our level of government capital. One of the reasons for setting it up was to provide some competition to the Aussie trading banks – it is clear that at its current market share that is not happening – the level of bank profits has risen significantly both during and after the period of a National Government. Hopefully Labour will be able to find the money to again use Kiwibank to slow down the high profits that mortgage holders are giving to other banks . . .
Competing with the Oz banks, not even a question of Capital (though it will look like one after the event). If Kiwibank was willing to skirt closer to the margins on lending then it would be more competitive. In terms of competition its only going to get those higher percentage of NZ mortgages when it will lend and Westpac, BNZ, ANZ will not for some reason.
Kiwibank probably has more hurdles and reasons to say no to a potential borrower in place, and are probably into taking fewer risks with govt Capital. This seems fair enough, not unreasonable use of govt Capital, but your not going to have it both ways.
What are the supposed benefits of this switch? AFAIK the main function is that government departments and public servants get good seem-less access to business credit cards and accounts as needed facilitated via this contract.
My understanding is that Kiwibank was initially not that well integrated into the NZ banking network, and had other integration issues to solve before being so prepared. Maybe they are now as capable but otherwise whats the benefit of this switch?
I'm mostly asking as I have seen people project almost mystical economic benefits onto the switch of contract provider here and I don't think such tangible benefits eventuate from the change.
No, "your" saying that : ). I am merely saying that a NZ Bank as in KiwiBank will be better for NZ. Especially with the profit from the nz /AUSTRALIAN banks going out of our country.Seems obvious. Well, maybe not to you….
In 2018, Australian banks made a profit of over $5b in New Zealand. That's $14m every day being taken out of our economy. Yet a new survey shows a huge number of Kiwis don't even realise their bank is owned by the Aussies.
The banks have reported a string of record profits in New Zealand and ANZ is on track to become the country's first $2 billion-a-year bank in the near future.
Well you chose to make your point by highlighting flaws in some Aus owner banks fraud prevention implementations. So you will have to excuse my interpretation of 'Some reasons' as saying apply the articles contents to the subject.
As far as the NZ govt contract goes, its not very profitable. Its a prestige contract which you agree to as a business with low profit margins because it shows your business ability to provide at that scale. Most Aus banks make similar profit margins with only Westpac having the govt contract.
If we want Kiwibanks profits to escellate in a scale to Aus banks they need to do more risky mortgage lending. Also maybe review the BNZ bailout circa 1989 for why they won't.
This is what I was implying about magical thinking. The ideal outcome of the policy of, lowered profits for Aus banks, is not ever going to result from the policy.
Well you chose to make your point by highlighting flaws in some Aus owner banks fraud prevention implementations. So you will have to excuse my interpretation of 'Some reasons' as saying apply the articles contents to the subject.
Well in your haste..to defend,you missed my first link.
Westpac or the other nz/Australian banks owe NOTHING to NZ . Apart from of course gratitude for the Massive profits they siphon off to Australia ! As I link to in my other comment.
As to your "magical thinking"..wtf ? Sounds like banking insider reckon….who doesnt want the status quo…to change. Ever.
Anyway, I wont waste any more time responding to you.
The real Bank for the NZ Government is the Reserve Bank – all Westpac does is link to the system for making payments to all the entities that government departments pay each day – and make sure that this is done at the lowest cost to the government.
Since Kiwibank will shortly answer directly to government Ministers, and Roberston has used governance instruments to interfere with the Reserve Bank, Robertson must show the market and its account holders how it is going to manage actual or perceived regulatory conflicts of interest.
Drive all privately owned banks out of business by taxing banking at 100%. All profits from banking should go into the public purse. People will have to move their accounts from the other banks to KB, if the others are no longer there. Banking is political whether we like it or not.
In November 2019, it was revealed that Westpac was alleged to have violated anti-money laundering, child exploitation and counter-terror finance laws. Westpac's CEO, Brian Hartzer, resigned in the wake of the scandal. According to Australian regulators, Westpac had 23 million anti-money laundering law violations, which is Australia's biggest ever anti-money laundering scandal to date.
On 24 September 2020, Westpac and AUSTRAC agreed to a AUD$1.3 billion penalty over Westpac's breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. This is the largest fine ever issued in Australian corporate history.
A hear tell Dr. Gaurav Sharma has some links to local BJP types in NZ.
My piece of wild (but devastatingly shrewd and marginally informed, even if I do say so myself) speculation for the day is once he is kicked out of Labour he is going to form an Indian NZ party and try and tap into the not inconsiderable resentment in the local expat Indian community, a group that contains many with at least as big Brahmin Prince syndrome as Dr. Sharma and feels (possibly with some justification) that street crime impacting Indians is out of control and it has got the smelly end of the immigration stick from the Labour government/Labour Maori caucus under the cover of covid.
The main Hindu party in India, currently in government. Most notable because of its promotion of religous and ethnic suppression of non hindu, non-mainstream religions, and campaigns against ethnic minorities.
The most extreme and obvious one being their current political, military, and economic campaign in Kashmir.
I figure that they are about a decade away from igniting another full blown religious pogrom in India. Plus their efforts in Kashmir look like they will be heading to concentration camps similar to Chinese model on the Uighers.
Pretty much all done for electoral and caste advantage
Where is your EVIDENCE in this,"Maybe that's why Sharma had trouble working with colleagues" ????
No accusations levelled at Dr Sharma have been proven as far as I can find. Yet many here have accepted this to be fact, and at the same time accepting that Dr Sharma's comments to be false.
Maybe Dr Sharma is correct in his comments and that the Labour government has been so contained within its bubble that behaviour that they find acceptable is now no longer such by societies standards ??
It's well known – and observed throughout my 70+ years life time – so it's not a sweeping generalisation. And, as a teacher I have seen too many girls cowed and lacking in confidence because of this male dominated status. As a female I have been forced to step aside in doorways and on pathways by groups of these young males who think they are entitled to the right of way. As a senior, doing exercise in a local pool, I have seen Indian women "accompanied" by their husbands so thy can't just do their thing with a bunch of other senior women.
Going to make a whole lot of cultural stereotype allegations about Pacific Islanders, or Maori, or Chinese, too?
Yes. You did make a sweeping generalization.
Yes. It is racist.
No. You can't assume that behaviour that you've observed exhibited by some people in an ethnic/national group is shared by all people within that group.
Really. This is sounding like a right-wing-nationalist group, rather than a leftie blog.
Also, Bombers giving you the call up, you've now made the line up for team Woke. You will be coming off the bench when the National party affiliated squad members (running all the 'Labour does it too' plays) need a break.
Among other nationalist and pro-Hindu/anti-muslim acts the BJP supports building Hindu temples on mosque sites where the mosque was ripped down by Hindu's.
He won't be the only one. There has been a lot of organisation of Kiwi/Indian small busines owners by one "Sunny" Kaushall who was connected to Labour in Mt Roskill for some time, but who "wakajumped" off to National when he did not get the recognition/reward he thought he deserved. The Nats don't seem to have to have been that responsive to his transactional style of political expectations either. Mr Kaushall pops up on the TV every time there is a ram raid on a dairy. And many MP's Facebook pages are bombarded with demands for entry from the Indian sub-continent for visa holders and their relatives.
Just before the NZLP party list was put forward in early 2017 – that was what I remember…
Ummm, Yep – interesting that his official reason was bullying as well. I guess it played well as a line at least enough to be reused.
It is pretty damn hard to stay on the list over multiple elections because there are always other people trying to get on to it, and you can't just coast from election to election in the same place (or higher). Without obvious results, you will get less support at any level.
People in the party tend to throw a very sceptical eye over how well someone is doing at bringing votes to the party – especially for the party vote. I know that I do.
This is the reason that you find sitting electorate MPs sliding down the list if they aren't in a crucial ministerial position (ie working too damn hard to run a local campaign). You can’t coast in politics any more. No-one tolerates it. And no-one works for people who do.
Politics is always a grind. Personally I have never had any interest in doing politics, and I usually just walk over people who ever try it on me. I’ve only been willing to pick people I’m willing to support and to lend a hand on the basis that it is a task for the common good to get competent people who are silly enough to want to do the job into doing it (and keeping out the idiots who just want the ego boost out of it).
Helen Clark just ran a superb local organisation for decades. She could leave them to do a lot of the work when she was deputy and then leader and eventually PM. That was becasue peope, were willing to work fro her even when she was a lowly candidate and back bencher. Jacinda has been rebuilding that in Mt Albert.
Same when Goff was in Roskill and Woods has kept that up. You see the same thing in a lot of electorates, and increasingly in politicians in list positions.
Politics is about what you bring to it, and probably the most important part is in how you build a group of helpers and even people that you have employed (via PS) who are willing to give up time to make sure that the support a politician needs is there for a long term career. If they can't get that from people they work with – well then they don't have don't have a future in politics. Just talking rather than doing isn't enough.
So far to me, it looks like Sharma didn't value the people doing any work for him. Staff, volunteers, whips, or PS.
My piece of wild (but devastatingly shrewd and marginally informed, even if I do say so myself) speculation for the day is once he is kicked out of Labour …
Is one not allowed to speculate and do so with a touch of self-deprecating humour.
"A hear tell Dr. Gaurav Sharma has some links to local BJP types in NZ."
So some evidence that this is something other than a commentator interviewing his keyboard, would be nice. Whether with humor or otherwise.
'Speculation' when not allied to any basis of fact, is indistinguishable from conspiracy-theory madness – and we all know what lies down that pathway…..
Quite frankly, without any evidence, this comes across as a profoundly racist comment (nasty Indians with foreign political ideas) – and I expect better of TS.
… this comes across as a profoundly racist comment (nasty Indians with foreign political ideas) – and I expect better of TS
Bullshit.
Sanctuary – indeed most of us here – do not indulge in racist language. A comment directed at a person or persons within a certain ethnic group who may be aligned to a far right organisation of that ethnicity does not constitute racism.
If your expectations of this site do not meet your very high standards then maybe this is not the right forum for you.
Perhaps the problem is that many here are so insulted that they do not understand what a racist comment is or how it takes toll of those who have received these comments, and as such have no basis to call anyone out when such comments are made (Unless they are Nationals or Act supporters), as someone who has had the N word thrown at them, I can speak from experience. But then many within Labour have NO IDEA as they live in their university educated fairyland lifestyle, and their sycophants just blindly agree. So anyone who calls out racists behaviour should be applauded.
I agree. Many commenters here appear to be unaware when they slide over the boundary from disapproving of an individual's behaviour (for what are no doubt valid reasons), to making generic racist slurs about the ethnic/national group to which that individual belongs.
Making up (apparently out of whole cloth) an allegation that Sharma has links to a political movement in another country – simply because of his ethnicity – is absolutely racist.
PS I hope you are OK. It can be really triggering standing up for what you believe, after the horrible experience it sounds as though you've had in the past.
Sanctuary made (and you supported) a racist allegation about Sharma, with zero evidence.
Smoke, lots of smoke.
/
Language is deeply political and constituted in terrains of power. The politics of language is evident in the struggles for Te Reo Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.
When I witnessed Labour MP Dr Gaurav Sharma, of Indian origin, take his oath in Te Reo, I was joyful to see the possibilities of solidarity with the struggles of tangata whenua articulated in the gesture.
The MP then proceeded to take his oath in Sanskrit.
While the MP’s use of Sanskrit to take the oath may be seen as another triumph for multiculturalism in New Zealand politics, the gesture raises vital questions to ponder upon, particularly in the context of the hegemony of the majoritarian politics of hate in contemporary India.
This politics of hate that underlies the governing structure of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India is built on the revitalisation of Sanskrit, the turn to Hindu knowledge claims, the erasure of diverse cultural claims, and the active attacks on India’s oppressed caste and minority communities.
Sanskrit is largely a scriptural language that is used by caste Brahmins in India, reflective of and imbricated in India’s caste structure. Used historically by Brahmins to perform sacred rituals, Sanskrit was held up by a politics of caste-based gatekeeping.
Since its ascendance to power, the BJP has deployed Sanskrit as an instrument of marginalisation. Sanskritisation has served as a vital resource in the saffronisation (right-wing policies which impose a Hindu nationalist agenda) of the nation.
The caste politics of Sanskrit is particularly salient in the backdrop of the ongoing violence on outcaste (dalit) communities under the BJP regime.
The Indian origin activist Dr Sapna Samant voiced on Facebook how the act of oath-taking in Sanskrit by a Labor MP lends credence to the Hindutva forces in India.
In response to the post, Dr Sharma untagged himself and unfriended her.
I agree that language can be a tool of imperialism (after all, I'm writing in English, the pre-eminent example!).
Clearly reading the oath in Sanscrit wasn't seen (by Labour or almost anyone else) as an issue at the time. It, presumably, was a personal affirmation in his first language.
Even this commenter notes that Sharma has previously expressed dissatisfaction with Hindu supremacists.
Many other MPs have also read the oath (after the mandatory English or Maori version) in their birth or heritage language – some of which are equally as divisive or problematic (e.g. Naisi Chen, reading in Mandarin – which is the language the Chinese government imposes on ethnic minorities; or Golriz Ghahraman speaking in Farsi – which is the state language of Iran, imposed on other ethnic groups). https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/how-irans-new-education-proposal-silences-and-criminalizes-non-persian-languages
This might indeed be smoke (or equally as well, mirrors) – but has nothing to do with the specific allegation, that was made.
"A hear tell Dr. Gaurav Sharma has some links to local BJP types in NZ."
Your twitter link doesn't say anything about Sharma's links to the BJP – the specific allegation that was made by Sanctuary.
And, again, this clearly wasn't enough to raise an eyebrow in Labour Party HQ, either at selection time, or subsequently.
I'm quite sure that every MP in the house would have twitter commentary saying that they 'don't deserve to be there' – for one reason or another. Some a good deal more bitter than this (some of the Green Party twitter haters are simply frothing mad – yes, that's a generalization, and I don't have a psych degree to actually diagnose them)
Please calm down! The comment was edited within the 10-min editing time and you saw it before the change was made and you reacted too quickly. I have been caught out doing the exact same thing – I’ve learned to count to 10 😉
[Looks to me like you’re attacking the person rather than addressing the substance & content of their comment(s). If this is the extent of your contributions here then you won’t be missed at all. This is your warning – Incognito]
A (sic) hear tell Dr. Gaurav Sharma has some links to local BJP types in NZ … he is going to form an Indian NZ party and try and tap into the not inconsiderable resentment in the local expat Indian community, a group that contains many with at least as big Brahmin Prince syndrome as Dr. Sharma
Demonize the Heretic … and denigrate his ethnic community just for good measure … for do we, the Partisan Righteous, not possess unusually refined moral sensibilities ?
” Quote : "The most important * The Halle-Saalekreis district trade association in Saxony-Anhalt has written an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. * In it, they call for an end to all sanctions against Russia and to start negotiations to end the war against Ukraine. The letter is available to the editorial network Germany and has 16 signatories from all guilds.
"We would like to begin by emphasizing that Russia's attack on Ukraine is a clear violation of Article 2 of the UN Charter and is viewed and criticized by us as a serious crime," the letter said. However, this war did not start on February 24, 2022. In addition, the district craftsmen's association is "justifiably concerned. Concerns about the future of our children and grandchildren, worries about the continued existence of our businesses, worries about our country.”
"We know that the vast majority is not willing to sacrifice their hard-earned standard of living for Ukraine"
It goes on to say: “We as craftsmen know from many discussions with our customers that the vast majority is not willing to sacrifice their hard-earned standard of living for Ukraine. It's not our war either!"
According to a publication by Transparency International Deutschland eV, Ukraine will be 122nd in terms of corruption in 2021. "No other European country does worse here," say the signatories. And under no circumstances can one speak of a flawless democratic state in the case of Ukraine. The signatories therefore ask: "And you want to put Germany at risk for this?"
“Do you want to be the chancellor who ruined Germany”
It's rumoring in the country. Prices rose at such a rate that "average earners" would soon no longer be able to make a living. Then even normal, necessary manual work would become unaffordable, which would lead to layoffs and the closure of companies.
"Do you want to be the chancellor who ruined Germany?" It reads. "Do you really want to sacrifice your country for Ukraine?"
Craftsmen make three demands on Scholz
The district craftsmen's association therefore raises three demands: "1. Immediately stop all sanctions against Russia. 2. Immediately begin diplomatic negotiations to end the war. 3. All political decisions are to be checked for the benefits for the German people – as you have sworn."
At the end of the letter it says: "We are not talking about 1 or 2 degrees less room temperature or whether swimming pools have to lower their water temperature. We're talking about Germany's death here! Many people in our country recognize that, why don't you?" And: "Change your course. In the interests of our homeland.”" ” Quote end
The empty suits currently running Germany will have a decision to make, find a solution, or get put out in the cold to freeze – symbolically speaking – to a political death.
Also, England is gonna be fun to watch. If you thought that a few people dying in a heatwave because they are too poor to pay for cooling is/ was an issue, imagine how bad it will get when many many more die because they are too poor or suddenly to poor to pay for heating.
England is on the verge of a Dickensian humanitarian crisis where thousands of people will literally freeze and starve to death this winter. All the Conservatives have to offer is a particularly malevolent and stupid new leader who wants to cosplay Margaret Thatcher and double down on rigid monetarist cruelty, and the British state in general is a now a withered, decrepit exercise that looks incapable of reacting to the looming crisis in a timely or meaningful way.
I expect the outbreak of widespread social violence in the UK this winter, on a par with the poll tax rebellion. Compared to the era of the poll tax riots however the British state, withered and decrepit and and as incapable reform as it is, is now an institution far more reliant on punitive and oppressive laws to enforce order so the potential for crazy violence is very real.
The UK seems to be relatively independent from Russia in terms of gas (it's mostly North Sea for them).
It's on the cards that Britain would stop supplying the EU if there were domestic supply issues. Which is bad news for Europe, but not domestically for the UK.
A little 'pain' now will make bugger all difference – burn, baby, burn!
And finally… burn, baby, burn
Stuart Kirk, global head of responsible investing at HSBC Asset Management, told a Financial Times event: “Who cares if Miami is six metres under water in 100 years?”
The night we lost the war on climate change
The real problem, he [President Carter] told America about its unrestrained fuel consumption, was “our failure to plan for the future, or to take energy conservation seriously.”
…
“Some of these efforts will also require dedication, perhaps even some sacrifice from you,” Carter told Americans in February 1977 about efficient use of resources. He stressed “cooperation and mutual effort.”
Technocratic climate denialism
Future generations, enduring the brunt of increasingly intolerable summers and extreme weather, seeing Oregon’s forests and natural beauty decimated by climate change will look back to the decisions ODOT is making now and ask how it could simply ignore this problem, ignore the demonstrated science about its causes, and then commit literally billions of dollars to make it worse, dollars that future generations will be forced to repay.
This may seem like a simple, routine technical matter. It’s not. Its an irrevocable commitment to burn our state, to cower in ignorance in the face of an existential challenge, and an effort to cling to an outdated ideology that created this problem.
England is on the verge of a Dickensian humanitarian crisis where thousands of people will literally freeze and starve to death this winter.
BTW I have been active for the past 30 years campaigning on reducing GHG emissions, submitting to Parliament, carrying out and supporting action to reduce GHG emissions. Our household is totally committed to the reduction of carbon emissions in our everyday life. My daughter has not only been an active member of Gen Zero, she has been a regional co-chair for the Green Party, and a local govt community board chair. I think our commitment to action on reducing the effects of AGW such as climate change is unquestioned.
“Energy consumers are facing the prospect of a very expensive winter,” Craig Lowery, a principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said. “As the energy market continues to grapple with global political and economic uncertainty, the corresponding high wholesale prices, and the UK’s continued reliance on energy imports has once again seen predictions for the domestic consumer default tariff cap to rise to what are even more unaffordable levels.”
My Bold to help your comprehension skills.
BTW if you haven't already realized there is a shortage of energy especially in Europe, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, That has caused a huge rise in the price of energy world wide, from which the energy companies are making massive profits. The UK govt is making no effort to control the usury antics by the Energy companies.
Thanks for your bold –
I certainly realized that there is a shortage of Energy in Europe – especially in Germany, and other countries predominantly reliant on Russian gas.
The point I was making is that Britain is not one of them – they do not get gas from Russia, it's predominantly local North Sea gas. Yes, they import other energy sources (no oil in Britain – they get it from the oil-rich states, just like the rest of us). They are experiencing price inflation (as we are here in NZ), not shortages. (Well, maybe supply shortages, with the post-covid logistical nightmare)
But, apparently, all they need to do is follow your household's recipe for reduction – and they'll all be sweet. No need for Dickensian freezing. /sarc/
The majority of English housing has not been built with passive heating in mind, so I'm sorry, no they can't all adopt our families recipe for GHG reduction.
@Marco – oh yes. I stayed in a house in Salisbury built in 1680 with walls a couple of feet thick. Like an icebox when we first entered, and it took about 3 hours of heating before we could even be brave enough to take our gloves off.
I'm afraid, with continuing climate/energy/Tory problems the UK is f**ked.
If only because they have 60 million people but only produce enough food for less than a third of them. When the shit hit the fan (or the melting ice meets the water) well, they're in deep trouble!
The UK not being self sufficient in Energy (gas,fluids electricity,wood) is reliant in imported energy,
The cost of imported electricity ( Norwegian hydro) is now (6.22 gmt) 596.73 euro a megawatt ( Local norwegian price 5 euro)
All the meteorological predicates suggest a repeat of the 1976 conditions ( with the same economic parameters ) a colder then average winter following a summer with significant drought conditions,La Nina and the enhanced forcing from the Hunga-Tonga eruption,fat tails have unhappy endings.
And, actually, yes, I've lived through a couple of English winters. Though in relatively modern high-rise apartments in London.
Not appreciably colder than Otago.
If you want to live in a 17th century listed English village stone building, then you're going to have to find the money for heating (or go back to log burning). Note, most working-class people certainly couldn't afford to even buy one, let alone live in it.
Quisling is not a German word, but nobody needs google translate to get the meaning.
” Quote : "The most important * The Halle-Saalekreis district trade association in Saxony-Anhalt has written an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. * In it, they call for an end to all sanctions against Russia and to start negotiations to end the war against Ukraine.….
…."We know that the vast majority is not willing to sacrifice their hard-earned standard of living for Ukraine"
Really? How could these cynical self serving mercenary barstards possibly know that?
We hear these same repeated arguments from those who say that we should do nothing about climate change. ie we can't save the planet because it will ruin the economy.
Blah, blah, blah.
But History tells us that often times when people are called upon they are prepared to forgo their hard earned standard of living for a noble cause beyond their personal comfort.
On the rise of another blood thirsty expansionist imperial power, British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, took office promising the British people blood, sweat, toil and tears. And promptly set about on delivering on his promise.
And in the spirit of self sacrifice the British people rose to the occasion and the many onerous demands made of them.
Despite delivering blood sweat toil and tears to the British people Churchill has won hands down every poll taken in Britain on the most favourite British leader of all time.
The German people are no different. We can all see what is going on in Ukraine. If they have to cut down on food or warm their hands around an oil fire drum.
If called to, they will do it. After all the German people have made even bigger sacrifices in the past for much less worthy causes.
Try googling Churchill's political fate once the crisis was over…..
And the long-term economic result for the people of Great Britain in the latter part of the 20th century: hint, it was a lot better to be a West German and benefit from the Marshall Plan, than it was to be a notional 'ally' and be re-paying war debt for decades.
I note that people who call for sacrifice, seldom appear in the front row of those preparing to sacrifice their current and future wellbeing.
In any period of economic turmoil, it is the poor who are worst off. No one believes that the Kardashians will cease using private jets, or living a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption – regardless of how much it costs. But those struggling to pay the power (and food, and heating, and fuel) bills – will be sacrificing their quality of life.
Try googling Churchill's political fate once the crisis was over…..
The power and influence of the British Empire was much dented by the end of the war. As Empire's fortunes went down so did Churchill's. And a good job too.
Churchill may have been the man of the hour. But as Clement Atlee famously said "I know Churchill is a monster. But he is our monster."
I would go further and say that both Churchill and the British Empire were monstrous. I am glad their time has past. (as is probably most of humanity).
So, on the one hand, you're celebrating him as the greatest leader, and on the other you're calling him an outdated monster.
It's not exactly a ringing endorsement for leadership in a time of crisis.
You might equally well laud Stalin for his tenacity during WW2 – while ignoring his appalling record of torture, assassination and legalized murder against his own citizens.
Hitler, also called for, and received, unprecedented levels of self-sacrifice from the German people prior to and during WW2.
As noted above, the leaders rarely participate in this self-sacrifice, not do the intellectuals (and there always are some) justifying it.
I don't celebrate Churchill, his faults are well known.
Imperialist, racist, strike breaker, privileged ruling class elitist, antisemetic
But that is not to say that there is nothing we can learn from him.
One of Churchill's greatest strengths, he was non-sectarian.
To get things done, would work with whoever he could, – hated the British Labour Party, but made Labour Party leader Clement Atlee Deputy Prime Minister, brought union leader Ernest Bevin into his cabinet despite his hatred of unions.
Most famously of course formed an alliance with Stalin despite being a lifelong opponent of communism.
In my opinion, the love/hate relationship between the left wing anti-imperialist New Zealand cartoonist David Low, and between Churchill, best sums up how the Left should view Britain's war time leader.
New Zealander David Low worked mostly for left-wing periodicals like the Star and the New Statesman…..
Churchill on Low
..When he was growing to years of discretion, the best way of getting a laugh was to gibe at the established order of things, and especially at the British Empire…
To jeer at its fatted soul was the delight of the green-eyed young Antipodean radical.
Low on Churchill
“An upholder of Democracy,” he described Churchill—“yes, when he was leading it.” Impatient with it when he was not…
His definition of democracy, I felt, would be something like “government of the people, for the people, by benevolent and paternal ruling-class chaps like me.” Remembering him as one of the most energetic mis-educators of public opinion in the early 1920s, when his dislike of political onrushes took him within hail of fascism, when the rabbits of the Trades Union Council were held up as Russian bears and the idea of a Labour Government was alleged to mean the enthronement of Bolshevism at Westminster….
The Germans are still awaiting a report (third one) on the risks and requirements for retaining Nuclear.
Inter politic with finance minister saying it is important and Harbeck (the green leader) using his skills as an author of childrens fiction books to say there are safety concerns.
Even with 100% storage for gas,they will only have capacity for 66% of normal use.Then there is the problem with electricity supply with Norway/Sweden wanting limits on exports to low countries ( Norway now subsidizing own consumers to pre problem levels)
The increase in gas prices in the US has started raising concerns with some politicians in asking for an investigation into german environmental groups and their connections and prior funding from Russia.The German current account surplus is now falling sharply and debt will start to accrue,fuelling interest rate demand in the ECB arena.
So far in the FARC (e.g Tamaki) vs the rest stakes, Tamaki is clearly winning. He stated quite clearly they have no intention of occupying parliament.
Despite elements of the non-FARC crew insisting that it was only the Tamaki supporters who were ever the violent extremists. Also that FARC were the Nazis involved. Also that their protest was peaceful. Also that Tamaki was never a reasonable political leader and needed to be removed.
But since his group have organised multiple protests which didn't wind people up for a full month they seem to be the reasonable faction. If the idea is to politically take control of the whole disaffected movement I expect Tamaki to be more successful than the other factions. That even though Tamaki has merely announced the other groups need to pool up politically and integrate into his coalition thanks.
Churchill did not say we shall fight them when everyone else does.
The Prime Minister said that climate change is this generations nuclear free moment.
What if David Lange had said the whole world has to move on nuclear weapons, before he made New Zealand nuclear weapons free.
Churchill and Lange did not act when everyone else did. They acted before everyone else did. They gave a lead they challenged the rest of the world to follow.
Great point. I think of Greta, who inspired a global movement. NZ could be the first domino, and ignite rapid, vociferous following. The populations of the big-emitting countries could be too loud for the leaders to ignore.
Instead of an insipid call on the world to move, Prime Minister Ardern could have taken the "devastation" in Nelson as an opportunity to deliver a rallying cry to the nation to move on climate change.
Dunkirk was a "colossal military disaster" for Britain.
Churchill took this "colossal disaster" as an opportunity to deliver a rallying cry to the British people.
Churchill could have said, "We need the whole world to move" and sued for a separate peace with Germany.
Suddenly the scene has cleared, the crash and thunder has for the moment — but only for the moment — died away….
….. the navy, using nearly one thousand ships of all kinds, carried over 335,000 men, French and British, out of the jaws of death and shame, to their native land and to the tasks which lie immediately ahead. We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations….
….We have perhaps lost one third of the men we lost in the opening days of the battle of March 21, 1918, but we have lost nearly as many guns — nearly one thousand — and all our transport, all the armored vehicles that were with the army in the north….
….They had the first fruits of all that our industry had to give, and that is gone. And now here is this further delay. How long it will be, how long it will last, depends upon the exertions which we make in this island. An effort the like of which has never been seen in our records is now being made. Work is proceeding everywhere, night and day, Sundays and weekdays. Capital and labor have cast aside their interests, rights, and customs and put them into the common stock. Already the flow of munitions has leaped forward. There is no reason why we should not in a few months overtake the sudden and serious loss that has come upon us…..
…..Nevertheless, our thankfulness at the escape of our army and so many men, whose loved ones have passed through an agonizing week, must not blind us to the fact that what has happened in France and Belgium is a colossal military disaster….
…..I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do…..
"The Miracle of Dunkirk"
June 4, 1940
Winston Churchill
Churchill did not say we shall fight them when everyone else does.
Well, no, that would have been more than a little redundant at the time of the 'fight them on the beaches' speech. This was during the period when all other continental allies had fallen or were about to fall, and Great Britain and the Empire (or those parts of it fighting) were standing alone against the juggernaut that was Nazi Germany.
Lange had a virtually cost-free opportunity to do his piece of virtue-signalling. NZ had zero nuclear infrastructure, and withdrawal from the ANZUS treaties, was a benefit so far as he was concerned. It also had (and still has) almost zero impact on nuclear proliferation throughout the world. He might have been leading, but no one was following.
Ardern, on the other hand, would be sacrificing the standard of living of the country, in order to assume a position of leadership on climate change.
In doing so, she'd be the true leader on climate change.
We will all experience a reduction in our standard of living; through political management or the effects of climate change. Best to choose that path, manage it with the advantage of being early-adapters, rather than take it as the climate serves it up to us.
She'd also be dumped at the election quicker than you could blink an eye – and the policies reversed immediately by the incoming National/Act government.
Implementing any such 'world leading' policies would involve a lot of pain for all Kiwis (rich and poor – and we all know the poor would be worst off, as they always are in times of economic turmoil). And economic pain for the electorate is a death-knell for the government-in-charge.
It might be a better long term solution, but we'd never have the chance to find out.
It might be a better long term solution, but we'd never have the chance to find out.
It's been the only real (if not realistic) solution on offer for the last 50 years, imo, and you're on the money re chances that this iteration of civilisation will adopt it.
Those 'on top' have never had it so good – BAU ho!
Climate Endgame: Exploring catastrophic climate change scenarios
[1 August 2022] Conclusions
There is ample evidence that climate change could become catastrophic. We could enter such “endgames” at even modest levels of warming. Understanding extreme risks is important for robust decision-making, from preparation to consideration of emergency responses. This requires exploring not just higher temperature scenarios but also the potential for climate change impacts to contribute to systemic risk and other cascades. We suggest that it is time to seriously scrutinize the best way to expand our research horizons to cover this field. The proposed “Climate Endgame” research agenda provides one way to navigate this under-studied area. Facing a future of accelerating climate change while blind to worst-case scenarios is naive risk management at best and fatally foolish at worst.
It would not have been appropriate today for the PM to personalise devastated people, so soon after their homes have been wrecked, using them to highlight climate change. They need to be given some space for a while and not have media harassing them.
Instead of the hugely expensive and litigious sideshow which is cycling across the Auckland Harbour bridge – local government (and potentially government – since it affects a motorway) – need to sort out public transport out to the west.
While it was the Key government who didn't invest in properly supporting the bus lane infrastructure alongside the motorway (what's going in now, is better than nothing, but still nowhere close to what's needed) – this government doesn't get a free pass either.
Where is the heavy investment into the existing rail infrastructure to ensure that PT is both frequent and affordable?
And the Council seem to have dropped the ball badly in terms of infrastructure planning to encourage PT use. While developments are planned to be 'car-less' (i.e. no on site parking) there is no realistic alternative to travelling by car – so all of the roads are jammed with residents parking there.
"To get to her bus stop, she needs to walk 25 minutes along the side of busy Fred Taylor Drive where footpaths are few and far between and cars whizz by at 80km/h. The bus journey takes about another hour on top."
I'm moving out west this year because with two of us working remotely, that is the best location to currently do it.
Not because of the public transport (which is better from the North Shore). But mostly because both myself and my partner have been working remotely for out of town and international jobs for a quite a while now, and we need more office space.
The cycle way down the north western is there if I need to head towards into town, and it is faster than the bus. Probably faster than the train as well.
The couriers know how to find most places out there. The fibre is there. We have efficient cars to use on the motorways out of commuting hours – bypassing the city on SH18 and SH20. Plus the house prices are cheaper.
Personally, I have pretty much given up on public transport for anything except the shortest trips. It simply takes too long, and getting caught in a train or bus with people coughing on me feels somewhat dangerous.
Personally, I have pretty much given up on public transport for anything except the shortest trips. It simply takes too long, and getting caught in a train or bus with people coughing on me feels somewhat dangerous.
And this is the sad, but real, indictment of PT in Auckland.
However you have to consider it against NZTA's abject failure in Auckland to deal with roading as well. I also don't commute using the motorways because they are parking lots for much of the day.
In 1990 I was commuting from Auckland Central to Manakau City for work daily. It took 15-25 minutes each way in rush hours reliably except for friday night.
Now it takes about 30-40 minutes every day around commuting times.
Going the other way is way worse. Typically 45-70 minutes. Generally the train is faster. The bus/train is as fast (just). It is almost as fast to cycle there (and would be if there was a decent cycle way).
Same thing from Auckland Central to Albany where I worked in 2007/8. The time taken to and from there has jumped by at least 50%.
Consequently I don't commute to work any more unless it is within a easy cycle range for about 5km. Who in the hell wants to waste their life sitting in a car listening to morons on radio stations. At least on public transport I could read.
Of course I work in an industry where I can do that. But one of the major reasons for getting into this industry was because it meant that I had options about how I worked.
Similarly where and how I live (ie centrally) was originally because I could use the central motorway systems and public transport hubs to efficiently get to work. Now they are essentially useless because instead of chewing a maximum of an hour out of my day to commute, they chew 2 or 3 hours out if I commute.
That is a real indictment of our transport system. That the transport systems and especially NZTA get in the way of an efficient use of our skills. That same applies to the transport of goods around the city.
The PT is just another symptom. You should point your criticism directly at NZTA because they have proved to be useless at doing their primary job in Auckland.
Auckland is a isthmus. There is virtually no more room for new roads. And if they put them in, then they will fill as fast as SH20 did.
The fastest way to improve commutes in Auckland would be to move cars and trucks off the existing arterial systems (ie stae highways) by taxing them as hard as Singapore does, and doing what Singapore did and rapidly pushing the PT.
Instead NZTA dither and build sparsely populated motorways in the Waikato for tourists because it is easier than doing some real hard work.
Instead of the hugely expensive and litigious sideshow which is cycling across the Auckland Harbour bridge – local government (and potentially government – since it affects a motorway) – need to sort out public transport out to the west…..
And to the North Shore as well.
The Northern Busway has proved a runaway success. But it strikes a bottleneck when it it hits the Harbour Bridge and the busses have to merge in with the general traffic.
What is needed to get the full potential out of the Northern Busway is to bring the Busway across the Bridge and into the CBD, (and further afield).
The beauty of this scheme is that at times when the traffic flow is light, (for instance on Sundays), the buses could be directed back into the car lanes and the bus lane given over to cyclists and walkers just for the day once a week.
The other beautiful thing about this plan is that by taking one lane away from cars would restrict the amount of traffic coming into the inner city. To somewhat soothe the hard done by car drivers, the busway be made fare free with free parking at park and ride depos. Commute to bridge in your car. Get on a free bus into the city. And not have to pay for parking. Sounds good to me. And if I want to take my kids on a sightseeing trip over the Bridge I just have to wait till Sunday.
And at a fraction of the $785 million cost for the unloved and unlovely Bike Bridge.
A proposed $785 million cycling and walking bridge across Auckland's Waitemata harbour was canned by the Government in October, four months after it was announced.
The fact that the majority of the traffic going over the bridge *isn't* going to the inner city. It's heading right on by, south or west.
There is also zero chance that NZTA will ever allow cyclists to use bus lanes – huge health and safety risk. And, does nothing about the major issue over which NZTA have already canned the cycle trial – the danger to cyclists/walkers of a single lane, with no protection, and cars, buses, etc., zooming past at 80kph.
It also pre-supposes a reduction of 2 lanes (one in each direction) for the buses. And would make installation of any safety barriers impossible (buses couldn't get through – those outside bridge lanes are pretty darn narrow)
Park and ride depots (already mostly free) are totally chocka-block by 7am – people illegally parking on berms and in the surrounding streets – and AT have made it totally clear that they won't increase the number of car parks. So no realistic sweetener for those people who have to drive (no options, PT doesn't go where they need to go, or get them there when they need to be there)
Also, this is a solution looking for a problem. By the time the dedicated bus lane ends – at the Onewa Rd on ramp – there *is* no serious congestion – the traffic is free-flowing (unless there is an accident – in which case all bets are off). Because all of the on-ramps are traffic-light controlled – the congestion occurs in getting on to the bridge, not once you're there.
Given that all approaches to the harbour bridge on the North Shore (out, at least to Albany) are locked solid with traffic in rush hour already – I don't see how it would be possible to 'commute to the bridge in your car'.
Where do you envisage you'd park it – once you're there (I assure you, Northcote Point does not have vast areas of land just waiting to be turned into a commuter carpark – and neither does St Mary's Bay in the other direction!)
The 'fraction of a cost' solution – is to put a cycle transit system in place. Motor vehicle with a cycle trailer (it could even be an EV). Running from the plaza outside the old Bridge authority offices, on a loop across the bridge to Shelly Beach Rd & drop off/pick up at Curran St. Run it every 10 minutes in rush hour (or more frequently, if the demand is there) and every 30 minutes off peak. Different roster on weekends – to accommodate the recreational cyclist demand.
It's a smell-of-an-oily-rag solution – heck you could run it free for at least the first 2 years on what they've already spent on this cycle-bridge drama.
AND, it would give actual usage figures, to factor into whatever harbour crossing solution is going to be put in place.
Good to hear from someone who knows what they are talking about. You haven't provided any proofs or links but I expect that you are speaking from a place of knowledge. And most of your objections seem valid. Personally speaking I think at least some of them could be overcome. High rise parking buildings on both sides of the bridge for instance, taking the bus lanes the full length of the Southern, making all PT completely free. bike racks on all busses
These are my suggestions but I admit I don't really know.
But what I do know is that if we are to lessen climate change, air pollution, traffic congestion and road accidents and make our city more liveable, we have to get the commuting public out of their private cars
any suggestions on how we could do this are welcome
I'm on the side of not flooding NZ with cheap workers (just getting that on the table, up front).
But this is really not a good look for Labour, it seems to me that they have either:
A. Stuffed up the legislation that they brought in less than a year ago. So incompetent legislators.
OR
B. Bowed to pressure from business lobby groups, and therefore shafted the NZ workers which they (Labour, remember) are supposed to support.
The three sectors highlighted as gaining expemptions from the median wage requirements are: tourism, aged care and construction.
I can see no (as in zero) justification for the tourism sector to be able to opt out of paying standard wages. If prices have to go up for tourists – that is a sacrifice I can easily live with 😉
Construction workers should absolutely be being paid standard wages. We've seen too many fly-by-night operators exploiting overseas workers. And, this is an area where we should be building our capacity – and businesses should have incentives to grow the Kiwi trade workforce, rather than employ short-term overseas 'contractors'. How much of this is driven by Chinese entrepreneurs wanting to employ Chinese workers under Chinese employment conditions?
Aged care is more problematic. While I believe that wages should indeed go up to the median level – this is constrained by the Government's willingness to pay for the aged care sector.
This is one area, I think that the government should put its money where its mouth is – and fund adequately to cover the required salaries. Rather than contracting out by turning a blind eye to low-wage immigrant workers.
I think Labour misses the healthy skeptical input of the Labour movement.
Next time they contemplate some starry-eyed employer fantasy, maybe they should get their head in the game by listening to some worker input like this.
"Labour MP Gaurav Sharma has shared what he claims is a text message from a Government minister to the party's caucus – urging members not to share written correspondence before speaking to senior members first."
I was disappointed when I read that. Not because of what was in the text but because of the things that weren't said in it.
Apparently Kiri Allan texted, "it is "less than desirable" when written correspondence is shared without discussing issues first. "Hey team – reminder to have a chat with your ministerial colleague before sending correspondence."
She should have clarified it by saying: "This is because there are some dumb buggers who'll say something stupid, or say something which can be twisted any which way by some malicious journalist trying to justify their existence. Their headlines will be believed by people who are so they think the Government beamed out radiation making them sick at the Wellington protest and tinfoil hats was the best."
That might be thought to be demeaning to her colleagues, a slur and showing an appalling lack of respect for them, but convincing the world there aren't dumb buggers there given Sharma's antics?
If this is the juiciest stuff Sharma has got from almost two years in government then Labour is running a pretty tight ship. Discouraging junior MPs from leaping into print unnecessarily without speaking to a senior colleague first seems like pretty sensible risk management to me.
Agree about managing communication. When I worked in a potentially public interest role (that is, most of the time we were happily uninteresting and therefore invisible, but there was always the possibility that the custard would hit the fan) – we were taught to look at everything that we wrote officially through the lens of "would you be happy to see this on the front page of the Herald"
But, this doesn't read to me as an instruction about MPs launching into print (as in communicating outside government), but rather an instruction about not lobbying in writing inside government.
Quote with my emphasis
"…have a chat with your ministerial colleagues before sending correspondence. All correspondence is OIA'able, and if we're being lobbied on issues by colleagues, especially where we haven't had a yarn, things unfolding through OIA process less than desirable."
But, in either case, using OIA as a reason for not putting issues in writing is skating on the edge of acceptability.
Now, this may just be a less-than-well-formed piece of communication (tweets are often off the cuff) – although, as a piece of communication, they are also potentially discoverable through the OIA process. But, it looks like weaselling around OIA requirements (which all politicians do, and none will admit to)
John Key, Judith Collins and Cam Slater must be pissing themselves with laughter at this "Shock! Horror!" revelation. Is that all? Labour are amateurs! Where are the threats, the nasty abuse, the raw hatred?
Coming soon: the follow-up to "Dirty Politics", in which a Labour party member texts "Um, I don't know if I completely agree with this policy" to a Labour MP. A scorching best-seller we just can't wait to read.
Didn't nice Mr Key have a collection of hats he could swap between for the purpose of keeping communications secret?
Something of the art seems to have been lost when it turned out replacement Mullers hat was a collectors item and unable to be taken off the shelf (or worn in public).
Oh, and Ardern is also treating this as an instruction about internal lobbying (from your link – down towards the bottom)
Ardern said Allan could not be seen as if she was being influenced by lobbying from an MP: "There's nothing inappropriate about reminding MPs" about that.
Ardern said the Allan message was not aimed at evading the OIA by holding verbal conversations rather than writing letters – but to give a minister the chance to tell an MP if the lobbying they were planning would compromise the minister's decision-making ability.
This one is really dancing on a pin-head. It's about being 'seen to be influenced'. How, would Allen be able to tell the MP that their lobbying would compromise her decision-making ability, without knowing what they were lobbying about?
She would be just as influenced by a verbal presentation as a written one – but only the written one is discoverable under OIA.
Kids have asserted their sense of self-worth and dignity by giving the big FU to KidsCan and their labeled charity. Better to be cold, wet – whatever than satisfy do-gooder arseholes who need ego feeding!
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The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
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Well..this all seems interesting. Conflict of Interest? Private Health NZ ? Good questions are being asked..esp ACC payouts to same
Interesting, as in Europe many medical clinics / doctor offices have some machinery as it allows them to get results faster, or are affiliated with praxises that would provide these images/blood tests. Simply because it actually saves money.
The only time i have ever been send to an of site blood test is in NZ. Anywhere else i have lived, D, FR, NL it was done onsite by the doctors nurse and send away. Ditto with X-rays.
The doubling of the cost of imaging has probably occurred due to ACC arguing the cause of impairment. I suppose it is cheaper for ACC to pay for the imaging, medical reports and staff hours arguing entitlement than covering a no fault injury.
It seems to me to be the standard argument about public/private medical practice, re-appearing in a different costume.
It is virtually impossible to get a scan, ordered by your GP, in any reasonable time-frame within the public hospital system.
I've just had a discussion over this – when it was disclosed to me that the scan the doctor would like to have, in order to double-check (and hopefully exclude) a potentially serious medical condition, would take approx 4-6 months through the public hospital system (and no guarantee that it wouldn't be longer), or I could pay privately, and have it next week.
The explosion in private radiography services – is primarily driven by the failure of the public service. Why the public provision has failed, is an entirely different question.
Scans of various kinds are a routine tool for doctors – and especially surgeons (no one wants someone cutting them open and finding that there isn't a problem).
If there is any evidence that doctors are unnecessarily referring patients for scans they don't need – then this should be produced. But, quite frankly, I don't believe it for one minute.
Any doctor who has worked with ACC in the past, knows that having a scan is absolutely critical in providing a benchmark for the immediate post-injury situation. Given ACCs propensity for contesting claims (especially those ones with long-term health outcomes), a doctor would probably be negligent, if they didn't benchmark the injury.
This looks to me like a tanty by the newly formed institutional body for 'independent' radiographers – at someone else horning in on their highly profitable market.
And, I can absolutely guarantee that any medical insurance provider (the people actually paying for the majority of the private scans) will be keenly interested in any price differentials from the different scanning providers. If the 'doctor-invested' ones are dearer – then the insurance companies won't cover them.
Good news.Now the Govt needs to supercharge Kiwi Bank to compete against foreign owned banks that think fines for misfeasance /malfeasance are normal costs of…doing..business.
Government to take full ownership of Kiwibank | Stuff.co.nz
This is good news. Perhaps now they will fund it sufficiently to take the Government accounts from Westpac.
Snap : )
(oh, on other I read your comment https://thestandard.org.nz/this-is-what-the-climate-crisis-looks-like-in-new-zealand-so-far/#comment-1906979 re Comandanta Ramona. Great stuff ! )
The Government accounts being with Westpac is largely an accounting exercise. Think about a customer that has a current account that they keep only enough money in to cover payments out – they pay off their credit card every month so never pay penalty interest for that card, and keep their savings an investments in other places. Compare the profit a bank makes from that customer compared with a client that has a mortgage with them, and who is not well enough organised to always pay off their credit card each month, but also who sometimes holds quite a bit of money in their current account. With Westpac, the government will manage its daily balance with Westpac always finish each day with a very small balance (positive or negative) for the overnight balance. In the meantime, Westpac will process thousands and thousands of payments from government departments – some regular for various payrolls; most of it triggered by electronic files authorising large numbers of payments to specific accounts. The money goes in and out the same day; Westpac systems will have been set up to handle the volumes of payments, and there will be separately payments from government to cover Westpac costs under their contract. Not mcuh profit there, but probably Westpac has paid money for special systems to ensure that it works smoothly with minimal cost – there have probably been tenders from government for the work, but no other bank has wanted to do the work to get them the contract . . .
So no I hope they do not try and take the money transfer work from Westpac – it would do little to increase competition for normal banking from the big four.
This is my understanding of the contract implementation as well. And whoever is the provider the govt account is strictly separate to the banks accounts. Westpac doesn't get to treat govt funds as its own capital.
They have bought it now that ACC and NZSuper have sucked out the remaining cash since the sold off its Kiwisaver to Fisher Funds.
It's been going for 20 years and only has 4% market share.
This government takeover looks more like an admission of failure.
It wasn't set up to be a roaring success was it.
Remind me then what the government is getting out of buying a bank that it sold half of.
This government is spending $2.1 billion that could have been spent on doctors and nurses, for no particular policy outcome I can see.
Exactly what value are we all getting out of this? Anyone?
It looks like Robertson propping up ACC to prepare to run his Income Insurance scheme.
This is a very good point.
The same Income Insurance scheme proposal which is massively unpopular with all of the lower and middle wage earners where I work.
I'm not quite sure who it is intended to appeal to.
Especially, right now, when anyone can walk out of a job, and right into a better paying one the next day.
Yep, it doesn't make sense as a second-tier welfare scheme but I think the appeal is for traders, providing another massive fund.
So the Labour Government legislating for the benefit of share fund managers? Cognitive whiplash, anyone!
This is the post-1984 Labour party remember, we've had 38 years to expect this from them.
All to do with framing, eh?
Ask the people around you about extending ACC to illness and unemployment, which is what the scheme does.
You will find it massively "popular".
If it's been poorly framed, then that sheets directly home to the Government. It's their legislation, it's up to them to convince ordinary Kiwis that it's a good thing.
They're looking at an additional 'tax' coming out of their pay packets – and not seeing that they will get any gain. And, people – especially on lower incomes – are really feeling the economic pinch.
Unemployment insurance in a time of full employment is a pretty hard sell.
If you think that this scheme extends ACC to illness – then you'd better go back to the drawing board, and actually read what's being proposed.
Ham fisted framing, or falling into the trap of right wing framing, is something that Labour does way to often.
Makes you wonder how many people in Parliamentary Labour, and their advisers, PR people, truly have their heart in any progressive initiatives.
The "proposals" are for social insurance funded by a levy on wages, for illness or unemployment. Exactly what ACC does for accidents.
Polls on the subject, show that removing the differing treatment for accidents and illness, by allowing the same ACC provisions for both, is hugely popular.
Why they didn't propose just extending ACC, to illness in the First instance, which would have only been opposed by right wing tragics, rather than re-inventing the wheel, and a whole new organisation, is puzzling.
Seems like someone, behind the scene, doesn’t want it to work.
Yes, a failure by successive governments to fund it at similar rates to the capital raising by the other trading banks. National never regarded funding the Bank as more desirable than almost anything else – but they knew they could not afford to be seen to sell it off. Labour have done some things to keep it going, but it has never been as urgent a need for capital as providing money to correct the reductions that National always make to wages, benefits, health, education; all to fund tax cuts that together reduced our level of government capital. One of the reasons for setting it up was to provide some competition to the Aussie trading banks – it is clear that at its current market share that is not happening – the level of bank profits has risen significantly both during and after the period of a National Government. Hopefully Labour will be able to find the money to again use Kiwibank to slow down the high profits that mortgage holders are giving to other banks . . .
Competing with the Oz banks, not even a question of Capital (though it will look like one after the event). If Kiwibank was willing to skirt closer to the margins on lending then it would be more competitive. In terms of competition its only going to get those higher percentage of NZ mortgages when it will lend and Westpac, BNZ, ANZ will not for some reason.
Kiwibank probably has more hurdles and reasons to say no to a potential borrower in place, and are probably into taking fewer risks with govt Capital. This seems fair enough, not unreasonable use of govt Capital, but your not going to have it both ways.
Far out that is Good News ! For the longest time I have wanted this to happen. As in, why the fuck is Westpac the NZ govt bank?
Also be a fuck off to the Australian owned BNZ and other Aus "NZ" banks.
Awesome
Well said.
What are the supposed benefits of this switch? AFAIK the main function is that government departments and public servants get good seem-less access to business credit cards and accounts as needed facilitated via this contract.
My understanding is that Kiwibank was initially not that well integrated into the NZ banking network, and had other integration issues to solve before being so prepared. Maybe they are now as capable but otherwise whats the benefit of this switch?
I'm mostly asking as I have seen people project almost mystical economic benefits onto the switch of contract provider here and I don't think such tangible benefits eventuate from the change.
Some reasons
Your saying govt departments would find money laundering harder with the contract switched over to Kiwibank?
No, "your" saying that : ). I am merely saying that a NZ Bank as in KiwiBank will be better for NZ. Especially with the profit from the nz /AUSTRALIAN banks going out of our country.Seems obvious. Well, maybe not to you….
Well….IMO KiwiBank…about time !
Well you chose to make your point by highlighting flaws in some Aus owner banks fraud prevention implementations. So you will have to excuse my interpretation of 'Some reasons' as saying apply the articles contents to the subject.
As far as the NZ govt contract goes, its not very profitable. Its a prestige contract which you agree to as a business with low profit margins because it shows your business ability to provide at that scale. Most Aus banks make similar profit margins with only Westpac having the govt contract.
If we want Kiwibanks profits to escellate in a scale to Aus banks they need to do more risky mortgage lending. Also maybe review the BNZ bailout circa 1989 for why they won't.
This is what I was implying about magical thinking. The ideal outcome of the policy of, lowered profits for Aus banks, is not ever going to result from the policy.
Well in your haste..to defend,you missed my first link.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/439067/westpac-bank-considering-sale-of-new-zealand-business
Westpac or the other nz/Australian banks owe NOTHING to NZ . Apart from of course gratitude for the Massive profits they siphon off to Australia ! As I link to in my other comment.
As to your "magical thinking"..wtf ? Sounds like banking insider reckon….who doesnt want the status quo…to change. Ever.
Anyway, I wont waste any more time responding to you.
Have a great day : )
The real Bank for the NZ Government is the Reserve Bank – all Westpac does is link to the system for making payments to all the entities that government departments pay each day – and make sure that this is done at the lowest cost to the government.
Since Kiwibank will shortly answer directly to government Ministers, and Roberston has used governance instruments to interfere with the Reserve Bank, Robertson must show the market and its account holders how it is going to manage actual or perceived regulatory conflicts of interest.
Unprecedented attack on Reserve Bank independence | Newsroom
Closer you get to power, the stronger the spotlight.
The last thing account holders need is a politicised retail bank.
If there is a whiff of this, people will close their accounts quickly.
Drive all privately owned banks out of business by taxing banking at 100%. All profits from banking should go into the public purse. People will have to move their accounts from the other banks to KB, if the others are no longer there. Banking is political whether we like it or not.
The reality is National hate KB,Kiwisaver and the Cullen fund with a passion.
They view them as a threat to private equities insatiable appetite for profit.Competition from Govt's with deep pockets is not welcomed.
The champion of trying to sideline them was present ANZ Chairman…John Key.
The Anglo/American banks have criminal, rap sheets that make the Mafia look like beginners .
If the Govt took their contract off WPac and gave it to KB….the screams of communism would be deafening.
Anyone know why National P.M John Key was awarded Australia's highest honour-the Order of Australia!!
Reapportioning NZders money to Australians – that's worth a gong!
Official reason here
https://thewest.com.au/politics/john-key-awarded-order-of-australia-ng-s-1749698
Speculative conspiracy-theory reasons are legion – and I'm sure you're more than capable of adding to them.
No. I accept being 'admiral' and a great 'friend' as being too compelling.![wink wink](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png?x42494)
lol : )
Yeah…seems to me…that our own NZ Bank ,would be a much better fit for NZ.
Would it be asking too much when there is a National government to not flog off Kiwibank?
A hear tell Dr. Gaurav Sharma has some links to local BJP types in NZ.
My piece of wild (but devastatingly shrewd and marginally informed, even if I do say so myself) speculation for the day is once he is kicked out of Labour he is going to form an Indian NZ party and try and tap into the not inconsiderable resentment in the local expat Indian community, a group that contains many with at least as big Brahmin Prince syndrome as Dr. Sharma and feels (possibly with some justification) that street crime impacting Indians is out of control and it has got the smelly end of the immigration stick from the Labour government/Labour Maori caucus under the cover of covid.
BJP?
The main Hindu party in India, currently in government. Most notable because of its promotion of religous and ethnic suppression of non hindu, non-mainstream religions, and campaigns against ethnic minorities.
The most extreme and obvious one being their current political, military, and economic campaign in Kashmir.
I figure that they are about a decade away from igniting another full blown religious pogrom in India. Plus their efforts in Kashmir look like they will be heading to concentration camps similar to Chinese model on the Uighers.
Pretty much all done for electoral and caste advantage
And let's nor forget their attitudes towards women. Maybe that's why Sharma had trouble working with colleagues?
Where is your EVIDENCE in this,"Maybe that's why Sharma had trouble working with colleagues" ????
No accusations levelled at Dr Sharma have been proven as far as I can find. Yet many here have accepted this to be fact, and at the same time accepting that Dr Sharma's comments to be false.
Maybe Dr Sharma is correct in his comments and that the Labour government has been so contained within its bubble that behaviour that they find acceptable is now no longer such by societies standards ??
You mean like many have accepted what Dr Sharma said was true and what they extrapolated from that was also true?
I questioned regardingRosieLee was making, that could be read that his ethnicity has issues with woman !!
Or can we all make sweeping generalisations and apply them to attack an individual and belittle them ???
It's well known – and observed throughout my 70+ years life time – so it's not a sweeping generalisation. And, as a teacher I have seen too many girls cowed and lacking in confidence because of this male dominated status. As a female I have been forced to step aside in doorways and on pathways by groups of these young males who think they are entitled to the right of way. As a senior, doing exercise in a local pool, I have seen Indian women "accompanied" by their husbands so thy can't just do their thing with a bunch of other senior women.
Going to make a whole lot of cultural stereotype allegations about Pacific Islanders, or Maori, or Chinese, too?
Yes. You did make a sweeping generalization.
Yes. It is racist.
No. You can't assume that behaviour that you've observed exhibited by some people in an ethnic/national group is shared by all people within that group.
Really. This is sounding like a right-wing-nationalist group, rather than a leftie blog.
If you have the other attributes, you can pretty well much just add that one in as a given.
.
They need to keep you the hell away from Jury Service.
Wild unsubstantiated rumour followed by wildly speculative smearing.
I completely agree.
Also, Bombers giving you the call up, you've now made the line up for team Woke. You will be coming off the bench when the National party affiliated squad members (running all the 'Labour does it too' plays) need a break.
Ahh that's a real shame … I understand you were 6 years, 3 months & 21 days sober … until tonight.
lol. We can repeat this insight after I sleep it off overnight.
Among other nationalist and pro-Hindu/anti-muslim acts the BJP supports building Hindu temples on mosque sites where the mosque was ripped down by Hindu's.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hindus-in-india-set-to-build-temple-at-razed-mosque-site/2020/08/03/f6e6d4de-d5f7-11ea-a788-2ce86ce81129_story.html
He won't be the only one. There has been a lot of organisation of Kiwi/Indian small busines owners by one "Sunny" Kaushall who was connected to Labour in Mt Roskill for some time, but who "wakajumped" off to National when he did not get the recognition/reward he thought he deserved. The Nats don't seem to have to have been that responsive to his transactional style of political expectations either. Mr Kaushall pops up on the TV every time there is a ram raid on a dairy. And many MP's Facebook pages are bombarded with demands for entry from the Indian sub-continent for visa holders and their relatives.
Just before the NZLP party list was put forward in early 2017 – that was what I remember…
Ummm, Yep – interesting that his official reason was bullying as well. I guess it played well as a line at least enough to be reused.
It is pretty damn hard to stay on the list over multiple elections because there are always other people trying to get on to it, and you can't just coast from election to election in the same place (or higher). Without obvious results, you will get less support at any level.
People in the party tend to throw a very sceptical eye over how well someone is doing at bringing votes to the party – especially for the party vote. I know that I do.
This is the reason that you find sitting electorate MPs sliding down the list if they aren't in a crucial ministerial position (ie working too damn hard to run a local campaign). You can’t coast in politics any more. No-one tolerates it. And no-one works for people who do.
Politics is always a grind. Personally I have never had any interest in doing politics, and I usually just walk over people who ever try it on me. I’ve only been willing to pick people I’m willing to support and to lend a hand on the basis that it is a task for the common good to get competent people who are silly enough to want to do the job into doing it (and keeping out the idiots who just want the ego boost out of it).
Helen Clark just ran a superb local organisation for decades. She could leave them to do a lot of the work when she was deputy and then leader and eventually PM. That was becasue peope, were willing to work fro her even when she was a lowly candidate and back bencher. Jacinda has been rebuilding that in Mt Albert.
Same when Goff was in Roskill and Woods has kept that up. You see the same thing in a lot of electorates, and increasingly in politicians in list positions.
Politics is about what you bring to it, and probably the most important part is in how you build a group of helpers and even people that you have employed (via PS) who are willing to give up time to make sure that the support a politician needs is there for a long term career. If they can't get that from people they work with – well then they don't have don't have a future in politics. Just talking rather than doing isn't enough.
So far to me, it looks like Sharma didn't value the people doing any work for him. Staff, volunteers, whips, or PS.
The literal Brahmin Left.
I did think about Labour losing the support of voters aligned to Sharma.
Evidence of these links? Or is this just some gossip from a bloke in the pub?
Is one not allowed to speculate and do so with a touch of self-deprecating humour.
"A hear tell Dr. Gaurav Sharma has some links to local BJP types in NZ."
So some evidence that this is something other than a commentator interviewing his keyboard, would be nice. Whether with humor or otherwise.
'Speculation' when not allied to any basis of fact, is indistinguishable from conspiracy-theory madness – and we all know what lies down that pathway…..
Quite frankly, without any evidence, this comes across as a profoundly racist comment (nasty Indians with foreign political ideas) – and I expect better of TS.
Bullshit.
Sanctuary – indeed most of us here – do not indulge in racist language. A comment directed at a person or persons within a certain ethnic group who may be aligned to a far right organisation of that ethnicity does not constitute racism.
If your expectations of this site do not meet your very high standards
then maybe this is not the right forum for you.
Totally racist. Sanctuary made (and you supported) a racist allegation about Sharma, with zero evidence.
You're hitting a new low, even for you, Anne.
Blind support of a political party is clearly taking you into some very troubled waters, indeed.
Perhaps the problem is that many here are so insulted that they do not understand what a racist comment is or how it takes toll of those who have received these comments, and as such have no basis to call anyone out when such comments are made (Unless they are Nationals or Act supporters), as someone who has had the N word thrown at them, I can speak from experience. But then many within Labour have NO IDEA as they live in their university educated fairyland lifestyle, and their sycophants just blindly agree. So anyone who calls out racists behaviour should be applauded.
I agree. Many commenters here appear to be unaware when they slide over the boundary from disapproving of an individual's behaviour (for what are no doubt valid reasons), to making generic racist slurs about the ethnic/national group to which that individual belongs.
Making up (apparently out of whole cloth) an allegation that Sharma has links to a political movement in another country – simply because of his ethnicity – is absolutely racist.
PS I hope you are OK. It can be really triggering standing up for what you believe, after the horrible experience it sounds as though you've had in the past.
I see racists. How often do you see them? All the time. They're everywhere.
Seems Aotearoa NZ (still) has a big (and possibly growing) racism problem.
What will you give to racism?
You and Gaurav Sharma ought to get together. Two of a kind. 🙄
Gosh, personal attacks – what a surprise.
Who should I compare you to?
Totally dredging the bottom of the barrel now.
Gosh I thought you would be flattered. 😮
Troll
Smoke, lots of smoke.
/
Language is deeply political and constituted in terrains of power. The politics of language is evident in the struggles for Te Reo Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand.
When I witnessed Labour MP Dr Gaurav Sharma, of Indian origin, take his oath in Te Reo, I was joyful to see the possibilities of solidarity with the struggles of tangata whenua articulated in the gesture.
The MP then proceeded to take his oath in Sanskrit.
While the MP’s use of Sanskrit to take the oath may be seen as another triumph for multiculturalism in New Zealand politics, the gesture raises vital questions to ponder upon, particularly in the context of the hegemony of the majoritarian politics of hate in contemporary India.
This politics of hate that underlies the governing structure of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India is built on the revitalisation of Sanskrit, the turn to Hindu knowledge claims, the erasure of diverse cultural claims, and the active attacks on India’s oppressed caste and minority communities.
Sanskrit is largely a scriptural language that is used by caste Brahmins in India, reflective of and imbricated in India’s caste structure. Used historically by Brahmins to perform sacred rituals, Sanskrit was held up by a politics of caste-based gatekeeping.
Since its ascendance to power, the BJP has deployed Sanskrit as an instrument of marginalisation. Sanskritisation has served as a vital resource in the saffronisation (right-wing policies which impose a Hindu nationalist agenda) of the nation.
The caste politics of Sanskrit is particularly salient in the backdrop of the ongoing violence on outcaste (dalit) communities under the BJP regime.
The Indian origin activist Dr Sapna Samant voiced on Facebook how the act of oath-taking in Sanskrit by a Labor MP lends credence to the Hindutva forces in India.
In response to the post, Dr Sharma untagged himself and unfriended her.
https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/opinion-why-does-an-oath-in-sanskrit-in-aotearoa-new-zealands-parliament-raise-questions/
I agree that language can be a tool of imperialism (after all, I'm writing in English, the pre-eminent example!).
Clearly reading the oath in Sanscrit wasn't seen (by Labour or almost anyone else) as an issue at the time. It, presumably, was a personal affirmation in his first language.
Even this commenter notes that Sharma has previously expressed dissatisfaction with Hindu supremacists.
Many other MPs have also read the oath (after the mandatory English or Maori version) in their birth or heritage language – some of which are equally as divisive or problematic (e.g. Naisi Chen, reading in Mandarin – which is the language the Chinese government imposes on ethnic minorities; or Golriz Ghahraman speaking in Farsi – which is the state language of Iran, imposed on other ethnic groups).
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/how-irans-new-education-proposal-silences-and-criminalizes-non-persian-languages
This might indeed be smoke (or equally as well, mirrors) – but has nothing to do with the specific allegation, that was made.
"A hear tell Dr. Gaurav Sharma has some links to local BJP types in NZ."
I made no such allegation.
But Dr Sapna Samant does allege Gaurav Sharma has links to local Hindutva types in NZ
https://twitter.com/drsapna/status/1557649795950723072
my quote "that was made"
Your twitter link doesn't say anything about Sharma's links to the BJP – the specific allegation that was made by Sanctuary.
And, again, this clearly wasn't enough to raise an eyebrow in Labour Party HQ, either at selection time, or subsequently.
I'm quite sure that every MP in the house would have twitter commentary saying that they 'don't deserve to be there' – for one reason or another. Some a good deal more bitter than this (some of the Green Party twitter haters are simply frothing mad – yes, that's a generalization, and I don't have a psych degree to actually diagnose them)
I cited word for word. Where's my fucking apology?
Please calm down! The comment was edited within the 10-min editing time and you saw it before the change was made and you reacted too quickly. I have been caught out doing the exact same thing – I’ve learned to count to 10 😉
Getting smokey AF.
https://twitter.com/tzemingdynasty/status/1557645773306703872
Stopped walking behind your husband yet Bella?
[Looks to me like you’re attacking the person rather than addressing the substance & content of their comment(s). If this is the extent of your contributions here then you won’t be missed at all. This is your warning – Incognito]
Really, racist jokes aren't funny. And if you think they are, then you should do a bit of personal reflection.
Please note, I haven't responded in kind – no matter how tempted I am.
Mod note
Sometimes different people can have the same name.
https://in.linkedin.com/in/gaurav-sharma-261b12186
.
Demonize the Heretic … and denigrate his ethnic community just for good measure … for do we, the Partisan Righteous, not possess unusually refined moral sensibilities ?
Sure hope Germany has its energy use and energy storage modelling right.
Germany rules out delay to nuclear phaseout | News | DW | 21.08.2022
some news in German, Google translates is good enough for this.
https://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/handwerker-fordern-ende-der-sanktionen-wut-brief-an-scholz-wollen-sie-wirklich-fuer-die-ukraine-ihr-land-opfern_id_136711040.html
” Quote : "The most important * The Halle-Saalekreis district trade association in Saxony-Anhalt has written an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. * In it, they call for an end to all sanctions against Russia and to start negotiations to end the war against Ukraine. The letter is available to the editorial network Germany and has 16 signatories from all guilds.
"We would like to begin by emphasizing that Russia's attack on Ukraine is a clear violation of Article 2 of the UN Charter and is viewed and criticized by us as a serious crime," the letter said. However, this war did not start on February 24, 2022. In addition, the district craftsmen's association is "justifiably concerned. Concerns about the future of our children and grandchildren, worries about the continued existence of our businesses, worries about our country.”
"We know that the vast majority is not willing to sacrifice their hard-earned standard of living for Ukraine"
It goes on to say: “We as craftsmen know from many discussions with our customers that the vast majority is not willing to sacrifice their hard-earned standard of living for Ukraine. It's not our war either!"
According to a publication by Transparency International Deutschland eV, Ukraine will be 122nd in terms of corruption in 2021. "No other European country does worse here," say the signatories. And under no circumstances can one speak of a flawless democratic state in the case of Ukraine. The signatories therefore ask: "And you want to put Germany at risk for this?"
“Do you want to be the chancellor who ruined Germany”
It's rumoring in the country. Prices rose at such a rate that "average earners" would soon no longer be able to make a living. Then even normal, necessary manual work would become unaffordable, which would lead to layoffs and the closure of companies.
"Do you want to be the chancellor who ruined Germany?" It reads. "Do you really want to sacrifice your country for Ukraine?"
Craftsmen make three demands on Scholz
The district craftsmen's association therefore raises three demands: "1. Immediately stop all sanctions against Russia. 2. Immediately begin diplomatic negotiations to end the war. 3. All political decisions are to be checked for the benefits for the German people – as you have sworn."
At the end of the letter it says: "We are not talking about 1 or 2 degrees less room temperature or whether swimming pools have to lower their water temperature. We're talking about Germany's death here! Many people in our country recognize that, why don't you?" And: "Change your course. In the interests of our homeland.”" ” Quote end
The empty suits currently running Germany will have a decision to make, find a solution, or get put out in the cold to freeze – symbolically speaking – to a political death.
Also, England is gonna be fun to watch. If you thought that a few people dying in a heatwave because they are too poor to pay for cooling is/ was an issue, imagine how bad it will get when many many more die because they are too poor or suddenly to poor to pay for heating.
England is on the verge of a Dickensian humanitarian crisis where thousands of people will literally freeze and starve to death this winter. All the Conservatives have to offer is a particularly malevolent and stupid new leader who wants to cosplay Margaret Thatcher and double down on rigid monetarist cruelty, and the British state in general is a now a withered, decrepit exercise that looks incapable of reacting to the looming crisis in a timely or meaningful way.
I expect the outbreak of widespread social violence in the UK this winter, on a par with the poll tax rebellion. Compared to the era of the poll tax riots however the British state, withered and decrepit and and as incapable reform as it is, is now an institution far more reliant on punitive and oppressive laws to enforce order so the potential for crazy violence is very real.
Why do you think that?
The UK seems to be relatively independent from Russia in terms of gas (it's mostly North Sea for them).
It's on the cards that Britain would stop supplying the EU if there were domestic supply issues. Which is bad news for Europe, but not domestically for the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jun/29/great-britain-will-stop-supplying-gas-to-mainland-europe-if-hit-by-shortages-national-grid
UK energy bills ‘could hit more than £3,300 a year this winter’
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/jul/08/uk-energy-bills-rise-winter-energy-price-cap
So, no shortage – just price increases.
Contributing to the general cost-of-living crisis.
Surely all the people believing that any pain is worth it, if we just use less energy – should be delighted.
A little 'pain' now will make bugger all difference – burn, baby, burn!
Sorry, totally my brain fade about oil from the UK. Of course, North Sea is oil as well as gas.
Looks as though they are a net exporter of oil – according to this summary for the popular reader.
https://www.goodto.com/money/where-does-uk-get-oil-gas-654919
Which, of course reinforces that there is no UK shortage of energy (either oil or gas).
🙄
Shifting goal posts.
The question was why would Sanct think that:
BTW I have been active for the past 30 years campaigning on reducing GHG emissions, submitting to Parliament, carrying out and supporting action to reduce GHG emissions. Our household is totally committed to the reduction of carbon emissions in our everyday life. My daughter has not only been an active member of Gen Zero, she has been a regional co-chair for the Green Party, and a local govt community board chair. I think our commitment to action on reducing the effects of AGW such as climate change is unquestioned.
From the link I gave above:
My Bold to help your comprehension skills.
BTW if you haven't already realized there is a shortage of energy especially in Europe, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, That has caused a huge rise in the price of energy world wide, from which the energy companies are making massive profits. The UK govt is making no effort to control the usury antics by the Energy companies.
Thanks for your bold –
I certainly realized that there is a shortage of Energy in Europe – especially in Germany, and other countries predominantly reliant on Russian gas.
The point I was making is that Britain is not one of them – they do not get gas from Russia, it's predominantly local North Sea gas. Yes, they import other energy sources (no oil in Britain – they get it from the oil-rich states, just like the rest of us). They are experiencing price inflation (as we are here in NZ), not shortages. (Well, maybe supply shortages, with the post-covid logistical nightmare)
But, apparently, all they need to do is follow your household's recipe for reduction – and they'll all be sweet. No need for Dickensian freezing. /sarc/
Have you lived through an English winter?
Hint it is colder than a NZ winter.
The majority of English housing has not been built with passive heating in mind, so I'm sorry, no they can't all adopt our families recipe for GHG reduction.
you say, yet they still manage to squeeze out 800,000 barrels per day – it's magic![laugh laugh](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png?x42494)
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/crude-oil-production
https://www.worldometers.info/oil/uk-oil/#oil-production
@Marco – oh yes. I stayed in a house in Salisbury built in 1680 with walls a couple of feet thick. Like an icebox when we first entered, and it took about 3 hours of heating before we could even be brave enough to take our gloves off.
I'm afraid, with continuing climate/energy/Tory problems the UK is f**ked.
If only because they have 60 million people but only produce enough food for less than a third of them. When the shit hit the fan (or the melting ice meets the water) well, they're in deep trouble!
The UK not being self sufficient in Energy (gas,fluids electricity,wood) is reliant in imported energy,
The cost of imported electricity ( Norwegian hydro) is now (6.22 gmt) 596.73 euro a megawatt ( Local norwegian price 5 euro)
All the meteorological predicates suggest a repeat of the 1976 conditions ( with the same economic parameters ) a colder then average winter following a summer with significant drought conditions,La Nina and the enhanced forcing from the Hunga-Tonga eruption,fat tails have unhappy endings.
https://acd-ext.gsfc.nasa.gov/Data_services/met/qbo/mls_h2o_qbo_lat_10hPa.png
And, actually, yes, I've lived through a couple of English winters. Though in relatively modern high-rise apartments in London.
Not appreciably colder than Otago.
If you want to live in a 17th century listed English village stone building, then you're going to have to find the money for heating (or go back to log burning). Note, most working-class people certainly couldn't afford to even buy one, let alone live in it.
Yes. England has me worried. They are truly between a rock and a hard place.
Quisling is not a German word, but nobody needs google translate to get the meaning.
Really? How could these cynical self serving mercenary barstards possibly know that?
We hear these same repeated arguments from those who say that we should do nothing about climate change. ie we can't save the planet because it will ruin the economy.
Blah, blah, blah.
But History tells us that often times when people are called upon they are prepared to forgo their hard earned standard of living for a noble cause beyond their personal comfort.
On the rise of another blood thirsty expansionist imperial power, British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, took office promising the British people blood, sweat, toil and tears. And promptly set about on delivering on his promise.
And in the spirit of self sacrifice the British people rose to the occasion and the many onerous demands made of them.
Despite delivering blood sweat toil and tears to the British people Churchill has won hands down every poll taken in Britain on the most favourite British leader of all time.
The German people are no different. We can all see what is going on in Ukraine. If they have to cut down on food or warm their hands around an oil fire drum.
If called to, they will do it. After all the German people have made even bigger sacrifices in the past for much less worthy causes.
Try googling Churchill's political fate once the crisis was over…..
And the long-term economic result for the people of Great Britain in the latter part of the 20th century: hint, it was a lot better to be a West German and benefit from the Marshall Plan, than it was to be a notional 'ally' and be re-paying war debt for decades.
I note that people who call for sacrifice, seldom appear in the front row of those preparing to sacrifice their current and future wellbeing.
In any period of economic turmoil, it is the poor who are worst off. No one believes that the Kardashians will cease using private jets, or living a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption – regardless of how much it costs. But those struggling to pay the power (and food, and heating, and fuel) bills – will be sacrificing their quality of life.
The power and influence of the British Empire was much dented by the end of the war. As Empire's fortunes went down so did Churchill's. And a good job too.
Churchill may have been the man of the hour. But as Clement Atlee famously said "I know Churchill is a monster. But he is our monster."
I would go further and say that both Churchill and the British Empire were monstrous. I am glad their time has past. (as is probably most of humanity).
So, on the one hand, you're celebrating him as the greatest leader, and on the other you're calling him an outdated monster.
It's not exactly a ringing endorsement for leadership in a time of crisis.
You might equally well laud Stalin for his tenacity during WW2 – while ignoring his appalling record of torture, assassination and legalized murder against his own citizens.
Hitler, also called for, and received, unprecedented levels of self-sacrifice from the German people prior to and during WW2.
As noted above, the leaders rarely participate in this self-sacrifice, not do the intellectuals (and there always are some) justifying it.
I don't celebrate Churchill, his faults are well known.
Imperialist, racist, strike breaker, privileged ruling class elitist, antisemetic
But that is not to say that there is nothing we can learn from him.
One of Churchill's greatest strengths, he was non-sectarian.
To get things done, would work with whoever he could, – hated the British Labour Party, but made Labour Party leader Clement Atlee Deputy Prime Minister, brought union leader Ernest Bevin into his cabinet despite his hatred of unions.
Most famously of course formed an alliance with Stalin despite being a lifelong opponent of communism.
In my opinion, the love/hate relationship between the left wing anti-imperialist New Zealand cartoonist David Low, and between Churchill, best sums up how the Left should view Britain's war time leader.
The only thing both men could agree on was their mutual hatred of fascism.
Of course Churchill was to come later to this hatred than Low, when the fascists threatened the interests of the British Empire.
The Germans are still awaiting a report (third one) on the risks and requirements for retaining Nuclear.
Inter politic with finance minister saying it is important and Harbeck (the green leader) using his skills as an author of childrens fiction books to say there are safety concerns.
https://twitter.com/SStapczynski/status/1561378806916849664
Even with 100% storage for gas,they will only have capacity for 66% of normal use.Then there is the problem with electricity supply with Norway/Sweden wanting limits on exports to low countries ( Norway now subsidizing own consumers to pre problem levels)
The increase in gas prices in the US has started raising concerns with some politicians in asking for an investigation into german environmental groups and their connections and prior funding from Russia.The German current account surplus is now falling sharply and debt will start to accrue,fuelling interest rate demand in the ECB arena.
Apparently this is happening today, I never knew:
Parliament protest: Barricades erected, public urged to plan ahead https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/473252/parliament-protest-barricades-erected-public-urged-to-plan-ahead
Police are planning ahead, as well. Keep those tractors off the steps of parliament! https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/69734244/tractor-protests-become-a-regular-feature-at-parliament—150-years-of-news
So far in the FARC (e.g Tamaki) vs the rest stakes, Tamaki is clearly winning. He stated quite clearly they have no intention of occupying parliament.
Despite elements of the non-FARC crew insisting that it was only the Tamaki supporters who were ever the violent extremists. Also that FARC were the Nazis involved. Also that their protest was peaceful. Also that Tamaki was never a reasonable political leader and needed to be removed.
But since his group have organised multiple protests which didn't wind people up for a full month they seem to be the reasonable faction. If the idea is to politically take control of the whole disaffected movement I expect Tamaki to be more successful than the other factions. That even though Tamaki has merely announced the other groups need to pool up politically and integrate into his coalition thanks.
"We need the whole world to move" [on climate change] Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. 22 August 2022
While visiting the flood damaged Nelson, the Prime Minister makes a lame excuse for her administration's climate inaction.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/breakfast/live
The Prime Minister echoes John Key's excuse for New Zealand's climate in-action that New Zealand would be a fast follower on climate action.
"We need the whole world to move"
With this statement the Prime Minister has signaled that she has given up on New Zealand's leadership on climate change.
Sure the whole world has to move, but that will never happen without leadership.
That's not how change happens. Someone has to make the first move, someone has to give a lead, if not us who?
If we everyone is waiting for everyone else to move, no one will move.
If the world is ever going to take the necessary steps to combat climate change, leadership is the key.
"Give me a fulcrum and I can move the world" Archimedes
Churchill never waited for the world to move before he declared war on Germany.
Churchill did not say we shall fight them when everyone else does.
The Prime Minister said that climate change is this generations nuclear free moment.
What if David Lange had said the whole world has to move on nuclear weapons, before he made New Zealand nuclear weapons free.
Churchill and Lange did not act when everyone else did. They acted before everyone else did. They gave a lead they challenged the rest of the world to follow.
We need to do the same.
Great point. I think of Greta, who inspired a global movement. NZ could be the first domino, and ignite rapid, vociferous following. The populations of the big-emitting countries could be too loud for the leaders to ignore.
Instead of an insipid call on the world to move, Prime Minister Ardern could have taken the "devastation" in Nelson as an opportunity to deliver a rallying cry to the nation to move on climate change.
Dunkirk was a "colossal military disaster" for Britain.
Churchill took this "colossal disaster" as an opportunity to deliver a rallying cry to the British people.
Churchill could have said, "We need the whole world to move" and sued for a separate peace with Germany.
To combat the menace of climate change could Prime Minister Ardern have delivered such a rallying cry to the team of 5 million?
She may have missed her chance this time.
But maybe next time a climate disaster hits us, our PM will rise to the occasion.
Let's hope so.
Ardern "leading" like that would rightly be decried as grisly ambulance chasing, and in very poor taste.
Not even the Greens are that dumb.
Aussie tories are on the same page.
According to Right Wingers politicians shouldn't call for taking action on climate change during climate change disasters.
So when according to you, ad should politicians talk about taking action on climate change?
When it is not in the headlines?
When the weather is moderate and and the public might be forgiven for thinking it is not a problem?
What next?
Don't call to stop the war when the war is on?
Don't call for solutions to poverty or homelessness in the midst of cost of living crisis?
Well, no, that would have been more than a little redundant at the time of the 'fight them on the beaches' speech. This was during the period when all other continental allies had fallen or were about to fall, and Great Britain and the Empire (or those parts of it fighting) were standing alone against the juggernaut that was Nazi Germany.
Lange had a virtually cost-free opportunity to do his piece of virtue-signalling. NZ had zero nuclear infrastructure, and withdrawal from the ANZUS treaties, was a benefit so far as he was concerned. It also had (and still has) almost zero impact on nuclear proliferation throughout the world. He might have been leading, but no one was following.
Ardern, on the other hand, would be sacrificing the standard of living of the country, in order to assume a position of leadership on climate change.
In doing so, she'd be the true leader on climate change.
We will all experience a reduction in our standard of living; through political management or the effects of climate change. Best to choose that path, manage it with the advantage of being early-adapters, rather than take it as the climate serves it up to us.
She'd also be dumped at the election quicker than you could blink an eye – and the policies reversed immediately by the incoming National/Act government.
Implementing any such 'world leading' policies would involve a lot of pain for all Kiwis (rich and poor – and we all know the poor would be worst off, as they always are in times of economic turmoil). And economic pain for the electorate is a death-knell for the government-in-charge.
It might be a better long term solution, but we'd never have the chance to find out.
"It might be a better long term solution…"
But hey, let's plump for short-term "comfort"!
What could go wrong?
Ritual sacrifice is not politically correct,especially for developing countries.
https://twitter.com/ThomasSowell/status/1561397953532657665
https://twitter.com/IEA/status/1561001363382976512?cxt=HHwWgIC-5YWe5akrAAAA
It's been the only real (if not realistic) solution on offer for the last 50 years, imo, and you're on the money re chances that this iteration of civilisation will adopt it.
Those 'on top' have never had it so good – BAU ho!![sad sad](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/sad_smile.png?x42494)
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/climate-change/
It would not have been appropriate today for the PM to personalise devastated people, so soon after their homes have been wrecked, using them to highlight climate change. They need to be given some space for a while and not have media harassing them.
Said by every Right Winger since ages ago;
.
Instead of the hugely expensive and litigious sideshow which is cycling across the Auckland Harbour bridge – local government (and potentially government – since it affects a motorway) – need to sort out public transport out to the west.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/costcos-opening-is-fuelling-hopes-westgate-can-fast-track-development/J2MPOKKO54M4DUYAUVBBK4Y7RA/?c_id=1&objectid=12542187&ref=rss
While it was the Key government who didn't invest in properly supporting the bus lane infrastructure alongside the motorway (what's going in now, is better than nothing, but still nowhere close to what's needed) – this government doesn't get a free pass either.
Where is the heavy investment into the existing rail infrastructure to ensure that PT is both frequent and affordable?
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2022/04/05/west-aucklands-proposed-new-new-network/
And the Council seem to have dropped the ball badly in terms of infrastructure planning to encourage PT use. While developments are planned to be 'car-less' (i.e. no on site parking) there is no realistic alternative to travelling by car – so all of the roads are jammed with residents parking there.
I'm moving out west this year because with two of us working remotely, that is the best location to currently do it.
Not because of the public transport (which is better from the North Shore). But mostly because both myself and my partner have been working remotely for out of town and international jobs for a quite a while now, and we need more office space.
The cycle way down the north western is there if I need to head towards into town, and it is faster than the bus. Probably faster than the train as well.
The couriers know how to find most places out there. The fibre is there. We have efficient cars to use on the motorways out of commuting hours – bypassing the city on SH18 and SH20. Plus the house prices are cheaper.
Personally, I have pretty much given up on public transport for anything except the shortest trips. It simply takes too long, and getting caught in a train or bus with people coughing on me feels somewhat dangerous.
And this is the sad, but real, indictment of PT in Auckland.
The first part is.
However you have to consider it against NZTA's abject failure in Auckland to deal with roading as well. I also don't commute using the motorways because they are parking lots for much of the day.
In 1990 I was commuting from Auckland Central to Manakau City for work daily. It took 15-25 minutes each way in rush hours reliably except for friday night.
Now it takes about 30-40 minutes every day around commuting times.
Going the other way is way worse. Typically 45-70 minutes. Generally the train is faster. The bus/train is as fast (just). It is almost as fast to cycle there (and would be if there was a decent cycle way).
Same thing from Auckland Central to Albany where I worked in 2007/8. The time taken to and from there has jumped by at least 50%.
Consequently I don't commute to work any more unless it is within a easy cycle range for about 5km. Who in the hell wants to waste their life sitting in a car listening to morons on radio stations. At least on public transport I could read.
Of course I work in an industry where I can do that. But one of the major reasons for getting into this industry was because it meant that I had options about how I worked.
Similarly where and how I live (ie centrally) was originally because I could use the central motorway systems and public transport hubs to efficiently get to work. Now they are essentially useless because instead of chewing a maximum of an hour out of my day to commute, they chew 2 or 3 hours out if I commute.
That is a real indictment of our transport system. That the transport systems and especially NZTA get in the way of an efficient use of our skills. That same applies to the transport of goods around the city.
The PT is just another symptom. You should point your criticism directly at NZTA because they have proved to be useless at doing their primary job in Auckland.
Auckland is a isthmus. There is virtually no more room for new roads. And if they put them in, then they will fill as fast as SH20 did.
The fastest way to improve commutes in Auckland would be to move cars and trucks off the existing arterial systems (ie stae highways) by taxing them as hard as Singapore does, and doing what Singapore did and rapidly pushing the PT.
Instead NZTA dither and build sparsely populated motorways in the Waikato for tourists because it is easier than doing some real hard work.
And to the North Shore as well.
The Northern Busway has proved a runaway success. But it strikes a bottleneck when it it hits the Harbour Bridge and the busses have to merge in with the general traffic.
What is needed to get the full potential out of the Northern Busway is to bring the Busway across the Bridge and into the CBD, (and further afield).
The beauty of this scheme is that at times when the traffic flow is light, (for instance on Sundays), the buses could be directed back into the car lanes and the bus lane given over to cyclists and walkers just for the day once a week.
The other beautiful thing about this plan is that by taking one lane away from cars would restrict the amount of traffic coming into the inner city. To somewhat soothe the hard done by car drivers, the busway be made fare free with free parking at park and ride depos. Commute to bridge in your car. Get on a free bus into the city. And not have to pay for parking. Sounds good to me. And if I want to take my kids on a sightseeing trip over the Bridge I just have to wait till Sunday.
And at a fraction of the $785 million cost for the unloved and unlovely Bike Bridge.
Good for our green house emissions cuts as well.
What’s not to like?
What’s not to like?
The fact that the majority of the traffic going over the bridge *isn't* going to the inner city. It's heading right on by, south or west.
There is also zero chance that NZTA will ever allow cyclists to use bus lanes – huge health and safety risk. And, does nothing about the major issue over which NZTA have already canned the cycle trial – the danger to cyclists/walkers of a single lane, with no protection, and cars, buses, etc., zooming past at 80kph.
It also pre-supposes a reduction of 2 lanes (one in each direction) for the buses. And would make installation of any safety barriers impossible (buses couldn't get through – those outside bridge lanes are pretty darn narrow)
Park and ride depots (already mostly free) are totally chocka-block by 7am – people illegally parking on berms and in the surrounding streets – and AT have made it totally clear that they won't increase the number of car parks. So no realistic sweetener for those people who have to drive (no options, PT doesn't go where they need to go, or get them there when they need to be there)
Also, this is a solution looking for a problem. By the time the dedicated bus lane ends – at the Onewa Rd on ramp – there *is* no serious congestion – the traffic is free-flowing (unless there is an accident – in which case all bets are off). Because all of the on-ramps are traffic-light controlled – the congestion occurs in getting on to the bridge, not once you're there.
Given that all approaches to the harbour bridge on the North Shore (out, at least to Albany) are locked solid with traffic in rush hour already – I don't see how it would be possible to 'commute to the bridge in your car'.
Where do you envisage you'd park it – once you're there (I assure you, Northcote Point does not have vast areas of land just waiting to be turned into a commuter carpark – and neither does St Mary's Bay in the other direction!)
The 'fraction of a cost' solution – is to put a cycle transit system in place. Motor vehicle with a cycle trailer (it could even be an EV). Running from the plaza outside the old Bridge authority offices, on a loop across the bridge to Shelly Beach Rd & drop off/pick up at Curran St. Run it every 10 minutes in rush hour (or more frequently, if the demand is there) and every 30 minutes off peak. Different roster on weekends – to accommodate the recreational cyclist demand.
It's a smell-of-an-oily-rag solution – heck you could run it free for at least the first 2 years on what they've already spent on this cycle-bridge drama.
AND, it would give actual usage figures, to factor into whatever harbour crossing solution is going to be put in place.
Good to hear from someone who knows what they are talking about. You haven't provided any proofs or links but I expect that you are speaking from a place of knowledge. And most of your objections seem valid. Personally speaking I think at least some of them could be overcome. High rise parking buildings on both sides of the bridge for instance, taking the bus lanes the full length of the Southern, making all PT completely free. bike racks on all busses
These are my suggestions but I admit I don't really know.
But what I do know is that if we are to lessen climate change, air pollution, traffic congestion and road accidents and make our city more liveable, we have to get the commuting public out of their private cars
any suggestions on how we could do this are welcome
Labour not wasting the Sharma crisis by taking the opportunity to sell NZ workers down the river yet again.
Government says immigration tweaks will help relieve workforce pressures | Stuff.co.nz
I'm on the side of not flooding NZ with cheap workers (just getting that on the table, up front).
But this is really not a good look for Labour, it seems to me that they have either:
A. Stuffed up the legislation that they brought in less than a year ago. So incompetent legislators.
OR
B. Bowed to pressure from business lobby groups, and therefore shafted the NZ workers which they (Labour, remember) are supposed to support.
The three sectors highlighted as gaining expemptions from the median wage requirements are: tourism, aged care and construction.
I can see no (as in zero) justification for the tourism sector to be able to opt out of paying standard wages. If prices have to go up for tourists – that is a sacrifice I can easily live with 😉
Construction workers should absolutely be being paid standard wages. We've seen too many fly-by-night operators exploiting overseas workers. And, this is an area where we should be building our capacity – and businesses should have incentives to grow the Kiwi trade workforce, rather than employ short-term overseas 'contractors'. How much of this is driven by Chinese entrepreneurs wanting to employ Chinese workers under Chinese employment conditions?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/300322905/immigration-nz-charges-employer-with-using-10-illegal-chinese-construction-workers
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/building-industry-boss-chinese-workers-bonded-labour-scheme-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/7KL64FPIKQLKWVBRX2SM7EIJRU/
Aged care is more problematic. While I believe that wages should indeed go up to the median level – this is constrained by the Government's willingness to pay for the aged care sector.
This is one area, I think that the government should put its money where its mouth is – and fund adequately to cover the required salaries. Rather than contracting out by turning a blind eye to low-wage immigrant workers.
https://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/article/undoctored/aged-care-rejects-health-new-zealands-funding-increase
I think Labour misses the healthy skeptical input of the Labour movement.
Next time they contemplate some starry-eyed employer fantasy, maybe they should get their head in the game by listening to some worker input like this.
"Labour MP Gaurav Sharma has shared what he claims is a text message from a Government minister to the party's caucus – urging members not to share written correspondence before speaking to senior members first."
I was disappointed when I read that. Not because of what was in the text but because of the things that weren't said in it.
Apparently Kiri Allan texted, "it is "less than desirable" when written correspondence is shared without discussing issues first. "Hey team – reminder to have a chat with your ministerial colleague before sending correspondence."
She should have clarified it by saying: "This is because there are some dumb buggers who'll say something stupid, or say something which can be twisted any which way by some malicious journalist trying to justify their existence. Their headlines will be believed by people who are so they think the Government beamed out radiation making them sick at the Wellington protest and tinfoil hats was the best."
That might be thought to be demeaning to her colleagues, a slur and showing an appalling lack of respect for them, but convincing the world there aren't dumb buggers there given Sharma's antics?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pm-jacinda-ardern-to-face-questions-ahead-of-protests-gaurav-sharma-nelson-and-kiwibank-buy-out/P2PUNG5XP5ZLDSOO4NCOFLC6EY/
If this is the juiciest stuff Sharma has got from almost two years in government then Labour is running a pretty tight ship. Discouraging junior MPs from leaping into print unnecessarily without speaking to a senior colleague first seems like pretty sensible risk management to me.
Agree about managing communication. When I worked in a potentially public interest role (that is, most of the time we were happily uninteresting and therefore invisible, but there was always the possibility that the custard would hit the fan) – we were taught to look at everything that we wrote officially through the lens of "would you be happy to see this on the front page of the Herald"
But, this doesn't read to me as an instruction about MPs launching into print (as in communicating outside government), but rather an instruction about not lobbying in writing inside government.
Quote with my emphasis
"…have a chat with your ministerial colleagues before sending correspondence. All correspondence is OIA'able, and if we're being lobbied on issues by colleagues, especially where we haven't had a yarn, things unfolding through OIA process less than desirable."
But, in either case, using OIA as a reason for not putting issues in writing is skating on the edge of acceptability.
Now, this may just be a less-than-well-formed piece of communication (tweets are often off the cuff) – although, as a piece of communication, they are also potentially discoverable through the OIA process. But, it looks like weaselling around OIA requirements (which all politicians do, and none will admit to)
John Key, Judith Collins and Cam Slater must be pissing themselves with laughter at this "Shock! Horror!" revelation. Is that all? Labour are amateurs! Where are the threats, the nasty abuse, the raw hatred?
Coming soon: the follow-up to "Dirty Politics", in which a Labour party member texts "Um, I don't know if I completely agree with this policy" to a Labour MP. A scorching best-seller we just can't wait to read.
A reminder of the good times, when nice Mr Key was in charge instead of that nasty Jacinda …
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/63523163/dirty-politics-keeping-keys-hands-clean
Not even on the same planet. Bring back the Nats and let's do it properly.
Didn't nice Mr Key have a collection of hats he could swap between for the purpose of keeping communications secret?
Something of the art seems to have been lost when it turned out replacement Mullers hat was a collectors item and unable to be taken off the shelf (or worn in public).
Oh, and Ardern is also treating this as an instruction about internal lobbying (from your link – down towards the bottom)
This one is really dancing on a pin-head. It's about being 'seen to be influenced'. How, would Allen be able to tell the MP that their lobbying would compromise her decision-making ability, without knowing what they were lobbying about?
She would be just as influenced by a verbal presentation as a written one – but only the written one is discoverable under OIA.
You've chosen your non de plume well!
If that's all you've got, why bother…..
Good news from Auckland educators who visited:
Kids have asserted their sense of self-worth and dignity by giving the big FU to KidsCan and their labeled charity. Better to be cold, wet – whatever than satisfy do-gooder arseholes who need ego feeding!
Bit obscure.