One unexpected benefit might be for pedestrians walking along the esplanade, and not have unheard cycles from behind pass a sideways step away from collision, as they do, as cyclists will have a safe and dedicated path.
As Mrs Mac1 found out yesterday on a Wellington footpath, uneven surfaces can lead to sudden changes of direction and falls. A passing cyclist would have compounded the issue.
If cyclists are threatened by motorists opening doors without checking, as they do, then at least the cyclist won’t have to escape (or be pushed out) into car traffic, but will have a footpath to seek refuge.
And I’ve ridden on half and half paths where pedestrians walk side by side taking up the entire path and not fucken looking thus endangering both cyclists and pedestrians.
Long-time cycleway opponent Jane Byrnesaid the “silent majority” was speaking up because they felt the road was too narrow, while the cycleway was too wide and poorly signposted.
No, that would be the noisy minority making even more noise.
The new layout and raised pedestrian crossings were actually having a positive impact on safety, because they were slowing down motorists who had been ignoring the 50kmh and 30kmh limits along The Parade, Wade-Brown said.
Yep, that’s something that’s been found around the world. Narrower streets slow cars down and reduce crashes (I would link the article but I can’t find it).
Government controlled by party purporting to stand up for the workers is detaining workers for being unable to do their job as a result of policies implemented by that very same government.
No more ironic than a government purporting to be interested in economics running failed neo-liberal cultist policies until their country is $105 billion in debt.
The same Government that is receiving plaudits worldwide for it’s economic performance during a very difficult period that included the GFC and major earthquakes.
Looking at Bowalley Road and lifted this from a comment there. Haven’t read it but it sounds interesting – relating to housing. It refers to Hugh Pavletich who is a developer or speculator or both, of housing and has a vested interest in his own projects and himself.
So interesting to see what line he is pushing. Usually these people are going for more greenfields development, more supply etc .
Hugh Pavletich is touting this:
PLANNING RULES THE CAUSE OF HOUSING CRISIS … TWYFORD & HARTWICH … NEW ZEALAND HERALD
Hartwich’s previous job was with the libertarian thinktank, CIS in Australia.
Twyford is being stupid in agreeing with the govt’s analysis that our housing problem is all about land and councils, rather than financial market factors as well.
Twyford has finally woken up. You only have to look at your new CV to see that it is the land values that are rising fast not the value of the building. Those of us who live in the real world have known this for years.
Jeez Labour, no need to be so quick to condemn beneficiaries for trading their food grant for cash. Are these even legitimate incidences or is it just Tolley and BM playing on their fake Trade Me and other accounts to stir up further hatred (?)
I’ve been searching for it without luck. I thought it was 7am but it must have been the 7 30 update. It went something like: Labours Carmel Sepuloni condemns misuse of hardship grant cards..
Fuck I reckon, Labour should be arguing that the cards are a stupid idea, thats a better angle, differentiate themselves from National. I try to like Labour, I do like Andrew Little, but they sure do make it hard. (& of course, could be media ‘gotcha’ politics, mps speaking without thinking, etc…)
Political parties usually avoid that by directing their caucuses firmly and hiring comms experts. Labour seems to have forgotten that basic approach for about the last 8 years.
It’s Christmas. Deck the halls with holly and find a smile and good word when you see a good person. Don’t bother about Nats, Act (don’t), and take the curate’s egg approach to Labour. All other earnest tryers for good give love and support to at Christmas-time. https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3097440-a-christmas-carol?page=4
“the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.” “Come, then,” returned the nephew gaily. “What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
“There was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town, and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun might have endeavoured to diffuse in vain.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
The idea of it is good, the implementation a bit of a bugger’s muddle IN THE NZ context. I note the claim that this is of international design, and commonplace overseas. Unfortunately, Kiwis are not very good drivers as has been discussed elsewhere eg.
– 2 second rule more like the 1 second rule for MOST drivers
– indiscriminate lane changing and trying to get ahead (i.e. driving as though it was all some sort of competition)
– travelling over the speed limit (and as the signs suggest) treating the limit as though it’s a target
– inability to keep within lanes (probably to do with an inability to judge the size of their vehicle – especially SUVs)
– etc.
(and I concede too that not only are NZers not very good drivers, many are not very good cyclists)
I might actually go and take a look at it in the flesh.
Whilst I am all for encouraging people to get onto bikes, walk, run, etc. for health reasons as much as anything else, I’m not sure that designing things in a way that can impact on public transport – which carries many more people – is the way to go.
@ Chairman – I’m interested in your thoughts too.
OK @ Chairman – now I’ve seen it in the flesh.
What I like:
The environment and implementation reinforces the idea that this road is actually SUBurban – i.e. not the racetrack it once was – although there’d been efforts to achieve that previously
What I don’t like:
It’s actually been done on the cheap – YET again (short term-ism).
The road going northward has a berm on the left hand side. The road southward does not.
With a little more investment and commitment to the concept – given the available space, it could have been better. AND it could have included trees on the southward (i.e EAST side) had they thought about it more.
With a little more thought, and shifting things like guttering, we could have had things like (from the property/housing frontage perspective going outward to the road centre line), and with trees on BOTH sides of the road:
– a property frontage
– a minimal berm, equipped with trees (and whatever – even community vege and other gardens)
– a footpath with adequate (though not excessive) width (for the traffic involved)
– a directional cycle lane
– a street parking area
– a street thoroughfare – and one which takes account of the necessities of things like trolleybus lines
– a centre line (probably with ‘no overtaking’)
we could probably have also had things like bus stop bays AND walkways and cycleways that are in-the-main ….. STRAIGHT – but I guess straightness and order is not very trendy these days. WCC and power companies can’t even get positioning of lamp posts consistent (so much so that installation of fibre channels have to wend their merry way around a variety of bullshit obstructions – not so bad though if you’re a Chorus contractor trying to clip the ticket at every twist and turn).
So there ya go. Now tell me what you think of it all
As a student of Sciology, perhaps what this suggests is:
– the average Kiwi bloke is dissatisfied with the size of his dick
– feels the need to forever prove himslef
– as a result, has an inferiority complex
Jeez, maybe I’ve jiss explained JFK.
NOW …. how the fuck to we explain Max. Answer: JOHN
I don’t generally support the slowing of traffic. It largely defeats the purpose of having cars and negatively impacts on productivity.
Ideally, cyclists, motorists and pedestrians need to be separated as much as possible. Therefore, I would have opted for dividing (with a median barrier) and extending the footpath.
OK.
Well perhaps with a little more thought as to how the available space could be used, combined with existing trees and planting others on the other side, as well as relocating curbing …… that separation could have been achieved.
The Parade is fairly wide. In places the footpaths are wider than need be.
But, as I said (above), it has been done on a budget and it seems to have needlessly pissed a lot of people off as a result.
I’m not sure about some of the complaints I’ve seen though – such as the road carriage way not being wide enough.
NO
It’s been a very long long time since I was a SysProg but it looks like that string has been something exrtacted from a DB.
I have some advice though for you (BM) and other IT geeks:
Firstly ….. there’s actually a shitload more to life – especially as you get older.
Secondly ….. reinventing wheels only serves to prop up you own ego if its just as inefficient and ‘in-effective’. I could even argue that the only advances in modern times have occurred at the “PRESENTATION layer’ – if you comprenez VOUS – and I’m sure that you do!
Thirdly …. humans should drive technology – not the other way round
Fourthly (as I often hear when following ‘IT professionals’ discussing their various projects – and believe me its UNINTENTIONAL’) as I walk thru’ the Streets of Wellington and hear them wanking each other off …… reinventing wheels is ekshully not that ‘S M A R T’. In fek it’s really a bit pathetic
Fourthly ….. trying to make yourself indispensable by coding methods that are (to say the least) fucking stupid – e.g. hardcoding IDs rather than referencing a table that Joseph Bloggs (or in your case Joseph Goebles) is going to be a losing battle,
I don’t really think I should carry on. Steven Joooooice (Choooooice Bro – with reference to a dainty little Ayshun from Mermaids) would have a harda tek.
There could be a fifthly, and a sixthly ……… etc.
I’m perfikly happy to deal with it as you see fit.
But PLEASE PLEASE don’t come moaning when the inevitable happens
come to think about it …. BM are the initials of one of the biggest wankers I ever came across – we could go into details – but best not. It’s the thing that LEAST interests me in life as I watch on in amusement.
It’s a bit like blokes that think they know better than an instruction manual authored by someone whose constructed some bullshit-well-needed-essential-app.
are you in Wellington? Spark? Datacom?
Formerly engaged in some earth-shattering project such as INCIS, or in the health sector, or anywhere else for that matter – the record is pretty fukng bleak wherever it was – but then of course you’ve had learnings as to why, and none of it could possibly EVER have been your fault.
no forget that question …. it’s illegal given the terms and conditions.
It’s a condition that comes with engaging with the likes of you. There’s no known cure. The worst part of it is forgetting not to bother in the first place. Some call it troll feeding I think.
Thanks though. I’ll remember not to in future.
It is a bug left over from last weeks WordPress upgrade. The JavaScript I put in to set the first field got invalidated. But work, patchwork sleeping and Damn shopping haven’t left time for coding blocks at home.
From the NZHerald today, an analyst from McKinseys telling the New Zealand government that active leadership to diversify our economy is absolutely critical. And that oil exploration is the wrong way to diversify, because it is as much a commodity product as milk.
Just to let you know BM – The economy is a subset of the environment – not the other way round. You trash the environment – you trash the economy – end of story.
This is what Layla Parker-Katiraee advocates. This could be helped if more students were exposed to science and critical analysis in their education.
“In the meantime, there are a few things we can do:
1) Encourage children in our circle of influence to take science classes in high school and college, even if they’re pursuing a career in an unrelated field.
2) Scientists should step up their communication skills. There aren’t many scientists in the private sector involved in science communication or education. Many of us have been trained in presentation skills. Giving concise explanations or pitches are often required in the private sector. There’s no reason why you can’t expand that skill into a part time hobby.
3) Remember that we all have gaps in our knowledge. Working to fill those gaps rather than mocking them will go a long way.”
If we worked to educate ourselves and others in understanding the role and nature of science and in critical thinking then society would be better able to handle “controversial” scientific issues requiring democratic decisions.
IMO, there’s two parts to the problem that we see here.
The first problem is education and the lack there of both in the basics facts and how to think logically and critically.
The second part is specialisation in that people have become overly specialised and have little to no knowledge of other areas. This prevents people from joining the dots in logical progression to come to the correct answer despite not having the same knowledge of a subject as a specialist would have.
Apparently it will released at 2.15pm. Sorry – no link as word of mouth.
Timing is interesting not only because of Xmas, but because the hearing only finished on Nov 24. So one of the fastest court decisions that I can recall for such a complex case.
MSM is now reporting the expected release – eg The Herald here
I find it unhelpful to have a “heads will roll culture” because my experience in the workplace is that when things go wrong it is often systemic. It is to do with the culture of the place. sometimes its a commitment to doing things the cheapest way possible and making as much profit as possible. Scapegoating one person will not solve systemic problems. I have also had experience of the wrong person being blamed in the case I was thinking of a manager had done some dodgy figures but managed to blame it on the manager under her in the hierarchy who got demoted. A thorough examination of the whole culture of the place and the systems that were operating might have done something to effect real change. As it was it really was pretty much business as usual.
With the lack of culpability witnessed, I question whether we actually suffer from a culture of blame.
I agree that on some occasions problems can be systemic within an enterprise. However, CEO’s and such are there to oversee such issues are rectified. A CEO should be aware of the culture within their organization. Therefore, I disagree with your notion.
As for people being wrongly accused, I agree examinations require to be thorough, with any blame being laid solely at the feet of those responsible.
I think there’s a distinction around that how accountability occurs following a failure.
Presenting this in an adventure aviation context is interesting, here there’s a culture of finding “what” went wrong in an adverse event and working to prevent it happening again. This is quite different to the “who” scapegoating that often appears in political and media culture.
It’s rare outside criminal intent or negligence that an adverse event has a single point of accountability, and we have laws and legal accountabilities to deal with these aspects. And these legal sanctions should be robust and with out favour.
However business failures, like aviation accidents have a multitude of causes, often totally unrelated that line up produce carnage. An air accident investigation tries to determine as many of these aspects as possible so that better outcomes can be achieved from similar situations in the future. This has allowed aviation to progress from what was pretty dodgy in 1920 to safer than driving, and probably walking now.
When we focus on finding individual scapegoats we get other things happening. First we miss the real causes of the failure, maybe the weakest, financially, politically or socially goes down masking everything else, and then everyone gets really risk adverse.
I don’t think this sort of accountability culture is going to produce an environment where people can confidently and easily move from one career to another. We need a culture where failure is seen as a positive learning experience and shared. A culture change around this could be rather disruptive of our political environment.
It’s only logical to find out what went wrong in order to help prevent it from reoccurring. However, doing so generally points to whom (if anyone) was at fault.
It may be that accountability may have to be shared. And although we do have laws to deal with criminal intent or negligence (if and when identified) you seem to be overlooking professional accountability.
I’m not advocating we seek out scapegoats to scalp, but I am pointing out professional accountability can’t be overlooked and those accountable must be held to account.
Therefore, while I agree with a number of your points, I reject the notion that failure should only be seen as a positive learning experience and shared. If investigations show people are culpable, they require to be held to account.
It’s conservative thinking that seeks certainty and the elimination of risk, and then trys to abrogate responsibility when it all turn to shit. The trap here is in thinking that we can eliminate ALL risk. You can’t, there’s just too many unrelated and random variables. So, when we progress, as in try something new, we are going to get some honest failures, along with spectacular wins. We should celebrate both.
Dishonest activities however, both failures and “wins”, must be jumped on, hard.
It doesn’t follow that all failure is dishonest, and it’s bloody tragic to see otherwise honest and honourable people go down for doing dishonest things as their lives and /or business falls to bits. A better attitude to, and management of failure would save a lot of grief.
Holding the culpable to account is not an attempt to eliminate risk, but it does help set in place an accepted framework and expected level of professionalism.
Removing accountability opens the door to excessive risk taking and a culture of failure acceptance.
While taking risk can produce benefits and lead to a company’s progression, excessive risk can result in a company’s collapse.
Growing too fast, taking on excessive risk and ultimately collapsing is an opportunity wasted, thus not a model for future success.
Therefore, it’s not a model to be encouraged and expanded by removing accountability and celebrating failure.
a culture of blame works all ways…..as was highlighted by Keys stated cause of child poverty. Thought the article in its entirety provoked interest it what they will release next year….heres hoping it is something inspiring.
I find it incredible that some posters think it is acceptable on a thread about alleged rape humour to call me Fisi-anal or some such moniker. Not a single Leftist has called out shame. The hypocrisy of the Left is gob smacking. My noble African name is sacred and no matter what I post such gutter language is surely unacceptable to any person with some sense of decency. It is a particularly childish and nasty form of internet bullying. It will not silence me.
You condone such behaviour. Disgraceful. This blog is not surely just an echo chamber for the deluded. I never compared the insults aimed at me with rape. Can you not read?
I think you insult the intelligence of everyone here with pretty much every damned comment you make, and you don’t even have the decency to be honest about it and call people names.
1: it’s not football. It’s not a game.
2: fuck that guy. There’s room for disagreement, then there’s that tory trooll. He’s worked hard for it and earned the abuse.
And the divine economy might or might not exist. But as respect between humans is earned, so are scorn, defiance, slight regard and contempt. Of which fisiani has earned a plenitude.
fisiani
Aren’t you the guy that loves Key and can’t understand why no one else here does, I don’t know why you don’t try kiwiblog, they share similar view point to you and have a similar level of intellect, you’d be right at home.
I don’t know if realise what you just said?
“You should be able to love Key with out being called a name”
I didn’t condone the supposed name calling, I merely suggested an alternative spot where he could go and not receive any grief, I don’t know if you read the posts that are in dispute, but McFlock’s comments were appropriate, everybody has the right to free speech, even you.
So just to clarify, we’re allowed to suggest someone’ “sounds like” they’ve done enough wrong to be imprisoned, but we’re not allowed to use rude words or show other poor form according to you?
Yeah, nah. My insults are direct. Yours are duplicitous. Get off your hypocritical high horse.
Christ! For once “I’m inclined to agree with you Mathew”. However As far as I can see so far, I haven’t seen your mates on the roster (“hard Rightists”) call people out either.
Who’s on duty tonight btw?
Do you do The Daily Blog as well? There now seems to be six at least hitting the dislike button. You should congratulate yourselves – that’s an increase of 50% (going forward). Could be a brighter future eh?
Good to see that you now fully appreciate the nastiness of Key’s behaviour.
I hope you will now also call him out for his hypocrisy on – oh! so many things – such as being an ambassador for white ribbon and at the same time indulging in jokes about prison rape, failing to apologize to Tania over his Govt’s appalling handling of her sexual assault and claiming it was a political stunt, calling many women MPs who have been the subject of abuse – “rape apologists”, being an habitual predator handling the pony tails of young girls and women, and twisting the apology of David Cunliffe on behalf of men to women – when NZ has one of the highest rates of abuse in the western world, etc.
When you have called out Key on his appalling hypocrisy maybe then we might apologize for calling you names.
The problem is that the site policy allow for such “abuse” provided the moderators can see a point to it, just as they allow for you to comment with your own opinions and to provide your own take on the opinions of others. We couldn’t give a damn if you choose or don’t choose to use the provided room for pointed attacks and abuse or not. That is your choice.
Personally, I find that I use whatever I need to when I want to get a point across. My nastiest attacks when I want to have a go at someone use absolutely no “abuse”. I simply read their previous comments and figure out suggestions or explanations for the ‘reasoning’ behind the formation of their views and opinions.
There are very few people that I can’t set off like a rocket at guy fawkes with those kinds of attacks at their world views without ever “abusing” them if I feel the inclination. This is a skill developed after decades around the net is probably why I don’t feel the need to level the playing field where you do. In my opinion, all that does is to give way too much weight to net experience. Allowing robust debate and pointed abuse evens up the playing field somewhat because it means that people can express themselves more freely at whatever level they feel comfortable with.
What you are proposing allows a dissection using manners that gives the advantage to whoever has the most experience within the implied rules. I don’t like that 18th century farce. As far as I’m concerned it should have died with the French monarchy at Versailles in 1789, but which unfortunately survived up until after the second world war.
As it is I keep a vigilant eye for people trying to game the system and deliberately pressing people into the policy electric fence that they know about and the other does not.
Abyway trying to change the rules on this site is a dangerous tactic if you aren’t an author, because for those of us who actually work on the site, it becomes highly irritating to argue with people who don’t and who have no real idea about what is going on. Especially since they are always so damn repetitive about repetitively screaming what they want (like a spoilt child) rather than considering what authors and others might want. Plus not considering why these rules were set at the position that they were. Which appears to be what you are doing.
But you should be pretty aware of this already. It isn’t like I try to conceal my attitudes about the best way to deal with people without skin in the site trying to help us out by suggesting directly or indirectly how we should run the site.
Fact, in 2011, there were fewer new homes built in NZ that year than were built in (wait for it) 1965, and now a housing shortage.
An interesting aspect to the large influx of refugees into Germany, over 800,000, was how would Germany house them all.
It seems Germany has an interesting housing policy, they maintain a surplus of relatively cheap housing stock, ensuring real affordability for there own work force, they also regulate the housing industry, there reasoning is that these workers are considered a very important part of a successful economy, by keeping rents and housing prices relatively low, the work force has more money in their pockets to spend in the local economy, this all forms part of a wider economic strategy.
They found that the workers were more productive if they didn’t feel they were only going to work to pay the rent.
Of the 800,000 refugees, most will get work, and they will end up very loyal employees.
For a right wing Govt, it’s unusual to see a smart, common sense approach to the way in which they treat their work force, there maybe some lessons to be learned here.
we have a housing policy where it’s more profitable to leave them vacant and flip them to other speculators than it is to actually provide homes for people.
Yeah, and who profits from that, Germany in is an industrial nation of 110m , they’ve realised over the long term that a highly productive work force is more profitable than short term speculation, every one needs a roof over their head.
I suppose that is the crux of it, a long term economic plan that will lift the countries prosperity
“What could possibly go wrong?”
That is funny, I don’t know if you meant it to be.
Hasn’t it already gone wrong, Key is the man without a plan for the future of NZ, I just wish his tenure was a short term.
Unfortunately much of the appeal of neo-liberalism to the current government is that divesting state services enables ministers to be lazier and less accountable. They have no desire to actually govern, and think that destroying state capacity is a positive achievement. Most third world countries are better governed, perhaps in part because their citizens would not tolerate the kind of pathetic crap that our Gnat MPs get up to. The neo part of Labour isn’t much better.
It’s not a product for sale — it’s a memorial, a tribute. First of all, to me, it doesn’t seem appropriate. It really was just an expression that I felt was important for me offer to these families, and for other people to hear so that they could have a voice for what they were feeling inside, because a lot of the dialogue that we hear in the media doesn’t give us the opportunity to grieve a way that is respectful to the families. I wanted to offer that to everyone, especially the families. I wanted them to see that there are people who understand their pain and are not just trying to make a headline out of their tragedy.
The point being that there is a long history to central banks creating money for productive spending – the idea did not begin nor end with Jeremy Corbyn or Richard Murphy. Indeed, throughout history many states have successfully used their money creating powers to grow their economies (without triggering hyperinflation).
The empirical reality, both when looking at quantitative data and qualitative descriptions of what actually happens in hyperinflations, shows that they are not the results of well-governed states abusing the money creation process.
Indeed, the case study of Weimar Republic shows that it was not even state-led money creation but private bank money creation that triggered hyperinflation.
The lessons from the above case studies suggest that hyperinflations do not happen simply because of an increase in money creation; indeed, the private banking sector in the UK more than doubled the money stock from 1997-2007 and we did not see experience hyperinflation. Hyperinflation in Germany and Zimbabwe was preceded by a fundamental collapse in the productive capacity of the economy, which started the inflationary pressure.
Throughout history, governments have used their ability to create money to fund public spending. While none of these policies were called, “People’s QE”, “Sovereign Money Creation”, or “Helicopter Money”, they shared the common trait of using newly created state money to finance government spending, rather than relying on commercial banks to create new money through lending.
The times when this state-led money creation has resulted in high inflation or even hyperinflation (inflation of over 50% a year) have been well documented. However, the times when governments have created money in a careful and responsible manner to grow the economy are usually ignored or overlooked. At Positive Money, we want to set the record straight and bring to light the many case studies where state-led money creation has successfully boosted the economy without leading to economic disaster.
Money creation by the state is the answer to our financial difficulties such as poverty and inequality.
This type of story pisses me off – blame it on computer generated letters?? bullshit!!!
“Then the second letter came, claiming that even though the agency had now seen Leger’s medical certificates, he still needed to be “actively seeking work”.
Leger said the suggestion of sending out CVs from his hospital bed sounded like a bad joke.
“It’s that extra stress that you don’t need at this time going through the treatment,” he said.”
It wouldn’t surprise me if those computer generated letters were designed to upset people, you know, so they get out of their sick beds and get a job.
gnat 101
extra stress = more motivation
less money = more motivation
persistent hassle = more motivation
ridicule = more motivation
cut additional benefits = more motivation
desperation = more motivation
loss of dignity = more motivation
not enough money = more motivation
begging for help = more motivation
…….Corrrrrrr Blimey. That gnat 101 stuff is rilly rilly esprashunul eh? Now I know where all those street “beggars” I just encountered walking from Courtenay Place to Lambton Quay are going wrong. I guess they really should just pull themselves together as ‘get with the programme’
Ekshully, I must remember to give them a right good letchering the next time I pass.
There are obviously Pulla Bent and Soimun Brudgizz type learnings to be learned. I’ll give them a set of bootstraps – how they choose to use them of course…. is up to them
No that can’t be right marty. When I look about at the top execs and CEO’s they very loudly claim that the exact opposite of all those things = more motivation.
It wouldn’t surprise me if those computer generated letters were designed to upset people, you know, so they get out of their sick beds and get a job.
I think it’s more what is said later in the article,
“She said it’s not us it’s just a system generated message that can’t separate who’s got what sickness or what amount of sickness.
Which is basically that when they scraped sickness benefit the system they put in place was done incompetently. If you want to see where National are doing evil there, it’s more likely to be in monkey wrenching the system over time so that eventually they’ve got an excuse to privatise.
“Which is basically that when they scraped sickness benefit the system they put in place was done incompetently.”
yes done incompetently and the system they put in was incompetent too – deliberately? Is monkey wrenching when they chuck a monkey wrench in and wait and see what shit happens or is it when the place it into position to create shit.
I’m lucky I spose I can see multiple layers of incompetence, mistakes and deliberate design all over the system and I agree the end goal is some type of privatisation agenda.
There are many preventable calamities at this time of year – kia kaha to all those dealing with this system.
Yeah, it’s always that weird mix of creepy ideology and incompetence and hard to tell how much of which each time. And with WINZ we can add in the fact that it was already a system pretty stressed by meddling from multiple governments, instead of taking care of something important.
“In my day, school report cards did not mince words to mollycoddle fragile little darlings or confuse litigious parents.
In similar spirit, here’s Prime Minister John Key’s report for 2015.
English
Oral. John has plenty to say on behalf of all New Zealanders. His pronunciation – which often compresses syllables into sausage meat – would benefit from speech therapy.
Written. We have not sighted any prose (or poetry) we are confident is John’s original work. Apparently he pays a huddle of crack spin doctors to produce his essays behind the bike sheds. F”
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TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
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Happy Solstice everyone 🙂
+1
“Bike-lash”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/75315964/Wellingtons-Island-Bay-cycleway-has-left-residents-confused-and-angry
Thoughts?
One unexpected benefit might be for pedestrians walking along the esplanade, and not have unheard cycles from behind pass a sideways step away from collision, as they do, as cyclists will have a safe and dedicated path.
As Mrs Mac1 found out yesterday on a Wellington footpath, uneven surfaces can lead to sudden changes of direction and falls. A passing cyclist would have compounded the issue.
If cyclists are threatened by motorists opening doors without checking, as they do, then at least the cyclist won’t have to escape (or be pushed out) into car traffic, but will have a footpath to seek refuge.
I have been on European streets where the footpath is split half and half for bikes and pedestrians. It works well. We should get used to it.
And I’ve ridden on half and half paths where pedestrians walk side by side taking up the entire path and not fucken looking thus endangering both cyclists and pedestrians.
+1
Separate the traffic.
No, that would be the noisy minority making even more noise.
Yep, that’s something that’s been found around the world. Narrower streets slow cars down and reduce crashes (I would link the article but I can’t find it).
Oh the bitter sweet irony.
Government controlled by party purporting to stand up for the workers is detaining workers for being unable to do their job as a result of policies implemented by that very same government.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/21/venezuela-frees-pepsi-workers-it-arrested-for-not-making-enough-pepsi
No more ironic than a government purporting to be interested in economics running failed neo-liberal cultist policies until their country is $105 billion in debt.
The same Government that is receiving plaudits worldwide for it’s economic performance during a very difficult period that included the GFC and major earthquakes.
Looking at Bowalley Road and lifted this from a comment there. Haven’t read it but it sounds interesting – relating to housing. It refers to Hugh Pavletich who is a developer or speculator or both, of housing and has a vested interest in his own projects and himself.
So interesting to see what line he is pushing. Usually these people are going for more greenfields development, more supply etc .
Hugh Pavletich is touting this:
PLANNING RULES THE CAUSE OF HOUSING CRISIS … TWYFORD & HARTWICH … NEW ZEALAND HERALD
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11553128
Paveletich is a long-time sprawl-promoter who pimps Demographia’s annual surveys, debunked in a series of posts on Transportblog (latest: http://transportblog.co.nz/2015/06/03/how-wrong-is-demographia-a-proof-by-contradiction/).
Hartwich’s previous job was with the libertarian thinktank, CIS in Australia.
Twyford is being stupid in agreeing with the govt’s analysis that our housing problem is all about land and councils, rather than financial market factors as well.
Twyford has finally woken up. You only have to look at your new CV to see that it is the land values that are rising fast not the value of the building. Those of us who live in the real world have known this for years.
So increase the density (shouldn’t cause you any issues) and use less land per residence.
Seems like the natural progression to me..
+1
Especially when the exponential costs of sprawl are taken into account.
Jeez Labour, no need to be so quick to condemn beneficiaries for trading their food grant for cash. Are these even legitimate incidences or is it just Tolley and BM playing on their fake Trade Me and other accounts to stir up further hatred (?)
link?
All I found was this stuff article with no mention of Labour
Carmel Sepaloni (apologies if spelt wrong) on RNZ news this morn
latest firefox update doesn’t seem to play the rnz links. bugger.
works now, still can’t find it. What time news?
I’ve been searching for it without luck. I thought it was 7am but it must have been the 7 30 update. It went something like: Labours Carmel Sepuloni condemns misuse of hardship grant cards..
well you’re hardly going to say it’s fine. I’d expect a follow-on along the lines of saying it’s rare and hurts families in genuine need, though.
Fuck I reckon, Labour should be arguing that the cards are a stupid idea, thats a better angle, differentiate themselves from National. I try to like Labour, I do like Andrew Little, but they sure do make it hard. (& of course, could be media ‘gotcha’ politics, mps speaking without thinking, etc…)
+1
“mps speaking without thinking”
Political parties usually avoid that by directing their caucuses firmly and hiring comms experts. Labour seems to have forgotten that basic approach for about the last 8 years.
It’s Christmas. Deck the halls with holly and find a smile and good word when you see a good person. Don’t bother about Nats, Act (don’t), and take the curate’s egg approach to Labour. All other earnest tryers for good give love and support to at Christmas-time.
https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3097440-a-christmas-carol?page=4
“the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.” “Come, then,” returned the nephew gaily. “What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
“There was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town, and yet was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air and brightest summer sun might have endeavoured to diffuse in vain.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
@ Chairman
The idea of it is good, the implementation a bit of a bugger’s muddle IN THE NZ context. I note the claim that this is of international design, and commonplace overseas. Unfortunately, Kiwis are not very good drivers as has been discussed elsewhere eg.
– 2 second rule more like the 1 second rule for MOST drivers
– indiscriminate lane changing and trying to get ahead (i.e. driving as though it was all some sort of competition)
– travelling over the speed limit (and as the signs suggest) treating the limit as though it’s a target
– inability to keep within lanes (probably to do with an inability to judge the size of their vehicle – especially SUVs)
– etc.
(and I concede too that not only are NZers not very good drivers, many are not very good cyclists)
I might actually go and take a look at it in the flesh.
Whilst I am all for encouraging people to get onto bikes, walk, run, etc. for health reasons as much as anything else, I’m not sure that designing things in a way that can impact on public transport – which carries many more people – is the way to go.
@ Chairman – I’m interested in your thoughts too.
OK @ Chairman – now I’ve seen it in the flesh.
What I like:
The environment and implementation reinforces the idea that this road is actually SUBurban – i.e. not the racetrack it once was – although there’d been efforts to achieve that previously
What I don’t like:
It’s actually been done on the cheap – YET again (short term-ism).
The road going northward has a berm on the left hand side. The road southward does not.
With a little more investment and commitment to the concept – given the available space, it could have been better. AND it could have included trees on the southward (i.e EAST side) had they thought about it more.
With a little more thought, and shifting things like guttering, we could have had things like (from the property/housing frontage perspective going outward to the road centre line), and with trees on BOTH sides of the road:
– a property frontage
– a minimal berm, equipped with trees (and whatever – even community vege and other gardens)
– a footpath with adequate (though not excessive) width (for the traffic involved)
– a directional cycle lane
– a street parking area
– a street thoroughfare – and one which takes account of the necessities of things like trolleybus lines
– a centre line (probably with ‘no overtaking’)
we could probably have also had things like bus stop bays AND walkways and cycleways that are in-the-main ….. STRAIGHT – but I guess straightness and order is not very trendy these days. WCC and power companies can’t even get positioning of lamp posts consistent (so much so that installation of fibre channels have to wend their merry way around a variety of bullshit obstructions – not so bad though if you’re a Chorus contractor trying to clip the ticket at every twist and turn).
So there ya go. Now tell me what you think of it all
As a student of Sciology, perhaps what this suggests is:
– the average Kiwi bloke is dissatisfied with the size of his dick
– feels the need to forever prove himslef
– as a result, has an inferiority complex
Jeez, maybe I’ve jiss explained JFK.
NOW …. how the fuck to we explain Max. Answer: JOHN
I don’t generally support the slowing of traffic. It largely defeats the purpose of having cars and negatively impacts on productivity.
Ideally, cyclists, motorists and pedestrians need to be separated as much as possible. Therefore, I would have opted for dividing (with a median barrier) and extending the footpath.
OK.
Well perhaps with a little more thought as to how the available space could be used, combined with existing trees and planting others on the other side, as well as relocating curbing …… that separation could have been achieved.
The Parade is fairly wide. In places the footpaths are wider than need be.
But, as I said (above), it has been done on a budget and it seems to have needlessly pissed a lot of people off as a result.
I’m not sure about some of the complaints I’ve seen though – such as the road carriage way not being wide enough.
@ lprent …. a bug perhaps? or merely an inexplicable glitch not worth the time and effort given it might be a set of circumstances that’s so rare ….
My previous comment on this thread was a reply to Chairman (I.e. replying to his asking for comments [2] above).
It went into a black hole.
I came back to repost and found the following appended to th” Name (Required) * –
field
i.e. in my case >>>>>
“Once was Tim 100 SabineÃÂÃÂÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂæour ancestors lived frugally and wel ”
actually now I think about it, my last comment was a reply (on another thread) to Sabine
Just thought you might be interested (being a perfectionist and coding fiddler – that’s a compliment btw)
Are you copying and pasting from word?
NO
It’s been a very long long time since I was a SysProg but it looks like that string has been something exrtacted from a DB.
I have some advice though for you (BM) and other IT geeks:
Firstly ….. there’s actually a shitload more to life – especially as you get older.
Secondly ….. reinventing wheels only serves to prop up you own ego if its just as inefficient and ‘in-effective’. I could even argue that the only advances in modern times have occurred at the “PRESENTATION layer’ – if you comprenez VOUS – and I’m sure that you do!
Thirdly …. humans should drive technology – not the other way round
Fourthly (as I often hear when following ‘IT professionals’ discussing their various projects – and believe me its UNINTENTIONAL’) as I walk thru’ the Streets of Wellington and hear them wanking each other off …… reinventing wheels is ekshully not that ‘S M A R T’. In fek it’s really a bit pathetic
Fourthly ….. trying to make yourself indispensable by coding methods that are (to say the least) fucking stupid – e.g. hardcoding IDs rather than referencing a table that Joseph Bloggs (or in your case Joseph Goebles) is going to be a losing battle,
I don’t really think I should carry on. Steven Joooooice (Choooooice Bro – with reference to a dainty little Ayshun from Mermaids) would have a harda tek.
There could be a fifthly, and a sixthly ……… etc.
I’m perfikly happy to deal with it as you see fit.
But PLEASE PLEASE don’t come moaning when the inevitable happens
come to think about it …. BM are the initials of one of the biggest wankers I ever came across – we could go into details – but best not. It’s the thing that LEAST interests me in life as I watch on in amusement.
It’s a bit like blokes that think they know better than an instruction manual authored by someone whose constructed some bullshit-well-needed-essential-app.
are you in Wellington? Spark? Datacom?
Formerly engaged in some earth-shattering project such as INCIS, or in the health sector, or anywhere else for that matter – the record is pretty fukng bleak wherever it was – but then of course you’ve had learnings as to why, and none of it could possibly EVER have been your fault.
no forget that question …. it’s illegal given the terms and conditions.
You seem a bit unhinged there, Tim.
Might want to go back to your doctor and get him to triple your dosage.
It’s a condition that comes with engaging with the likes of you. There’s no known cure. The worst part of it is forgetting not to bother in the first place. Some call it troll feeding I think.
Thanks though. I’ll remember not to in future.
It is a bug left over from last weeks WordPress upgrade. The JavaScript I put in to set the first field got invalidated. But work, patchwork sleeping and Damn shopping haven’t left time for coding blocks at home.
From the NZHerald today, an analyst from McKinseys telling the New Zealand government that active leadership to diversify our economy is absolutely critical. And that oil exploration is the wrong way to diversify, because it is as much a commodity product as milk.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11564682
Nothing new, but all sound points.
The bit at the bottom left out the rather important fact that Kinley Salmon is a raging environmentalist.
He’s hardly going to be pro primary products.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/lifestyle-entertainment/3235009/From-Nayland-to-Cambridge
I guess primary production is all Gnats can visualise – never got past primary school most of them.
BM, that’s the least important point.
But you neocons are all about attacking the messenger and ignoring the evidence.
Just to let you know BM – The economy is a subset of the environment – not the other way round. You trash the environment – you trash the economy – end of story.
+1
Democracy and expert advice on scientific issues
IMO, there’s two parts to the problem that we see here.
The first problem is education and the lack there of both in the basics facts and how to think logically and critically.
The second part is specialisation in that people have become overly specialised and have little to no knowledge of other areas. This prevents people from joining the dots in logical progression to come to the correct answer despite not having the same knowledge of a subject as a specialist would have.
Court Decision Alert
The Kim Dotcom and others Extradition decision will be released tomorrow.
https://twitter.com/CourtsofNZ/status/679115520180793345
No doubt whoever loses will appeal, so not the end yet.
Interesting!
We had the judge’s decision on the Hager case last week – less than 2 weeks before Xmas. Now we have the Dotcom case – two days before Xmas.
You do have to wonder about the timing – just before Xmas when most people are otherwise engaged.
Apparently it will released at 2.15pm. Sorry – no link as word of mouth.
Timing is interesting not only because of Xmas, but because the hearing only finished on Nov 24. So one of the fastest court decisions that I can recall for such a complex case.
MSM is now reporting the expected release – eg The Herald here
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/news/article.cfm?&objectid=11564885
Link to actual item:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11564885
Little says he wants to see a shift away from a ‘culture of blame’ – where there is a call for heads to roll when an enterprise fails.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/74985370/andrew-little-finds-success-in-stability-as-labour-recovers-from-2014-nosedive
The statement comes across as if he’s attempting to remove accountability.
Your thoughts?
I find it unhelpful to have a “heads will roll culture” because my experience in the workplace is that when things go wrong it is often systemic. It is to do with the culture of the place. sometimes its a commitment to doing things the cheapest way possible and making as much profit as possible. Scapegoating one person will not solve systemic problems. I have also had experience of the wrong person being blamed in the case I was thinking of a manager had done some dodgy figures but managed to blame it on the manager under her in the hierarchy who got demoted. A thorough examination of the whole culture of the place and the systems that were operating might have done something to effect real change. As it was it really was pretty much business as usual.
With the lack of culpability witnessed, I question whether we actually suffer from a culture of blame.
I agree that on some occasions problems can be systemic within an enterprise. However, CEO’s and such are there to oversee such issues are rectified. A CEO should be aware of the culture within their organization. Therefore, I disagree with your notion.
As for people being wrongly accused, I agree examinations require to be thorough, with any blame being laid solely at the feet of those responsible.
I think there’s a distinction around that how accountability occurs following a failure.
Presenting this in an adventure aviation context is interesting, here there’s a culture of finding “what” went wrong in an adverse event and working to prevent it happening again. This is quite different to the “who” scapegoating that often appears in political and media culture.
It’s rare outside criminal intent or negligence that an adverse event has a single point of accountability, and we have laws and legal accountabilities to deal with these aspects. And these legal sanctions should be robust and with out favour.
However business failures, like aviation accidents have a multitude of causes, often totally unrelated that line up produce carnage. An air accident investigation tries to determine as many of these aspects as possible so that better outcomes can be achieved from similar situations in the future. This has allowed aviation to progress from what was pretty dodgy in 1920 to safer than driving, and probably walking now.
When we focus on finding individual scapegoats we get other things happening. First we miss the real causes of the failure, maybe the weakest, financially, politically or socially goes down masking everything else, and then everyone gets really risk adverse.
I don’t think this sort of accountability culture is going to produce an environment where people can confidently and easily move from one career to another. We need a culture where failure is seen as a positive learning experience and shared. A culture change around this could be rather disruptive of our political environment.
It’s only logical to find out what went wrong in order to help prevent it from reoccurring. However, doing so generally points to whom (if anyone) was at fault.
It may be that accountability may have to be shared. And although we do have laws to deal with criminal intent or negligence (if and when identified) you seem to be overlooking professional accountability.
I’m not advocating we seek out scapegoats to scalp, but I am pointing out professional accountability can’t be overlooked and those accountable must be held to account.
Therefore, while I agree with a number of your points, I reject the notion that failure should only be seen as a positive learning experience and shared. If investigations show people are culpable, they require to be held to account.
It’s conservative thinking that seeks certainty and the elimination of risk, and then trys to abrogate responsibility when it all turn to shit. The trap here is in thinking that we can eliminate ALL risk. You can’t, there’s just too many unrelated and random variables. So, when we progress, as in try something new, we are going to get some honest failures, along with spectacular wins. We should celebrate both.
Dishonest activities however, both failures and “wins”, must be jumped on, hard.
It doesn’t follow that all failure is dishonest, and it’s bloody tragic to see otherwise honest and honourable people go down for doing dishonest things as their lives and /or business falls to bits. A better attitude to, and management of failure would save a lot of grief.
Holding the culpable to account is not an attempt to eliminate risk, but it does help set in place an accepted framework and expected level of professionalism.
Removing accountability opens the door to excessive risk taking and a culture of failure acceptance.
While taking risk can produce benefits and lead to a company’s progression, excessive risk can result in a company’s collapse.
Growing too fast, taking on excessive risk and ultimately collapsing is an opportunity wasted, thus not a model for future success.
Therefore, it’s not a model to be encouraged and expanded by removing accountability and celebrating failure.
a culture of blame works all ways…..as was highlighted by Keys stated cause of child poverty. Thought the article in its entirety provoked interest it what they will release next year….heres hoping it is something inspiring.
When it comes to the poor, there does seem to be a culture of blame among the right.
I find it incredible that some posters think it is acceptable on a thread about alleged rape humour to call me Fisi-anal or some such moniker. Not a single Leftist has called out shame. The hypocrisy of the Left is gob smacking. My noble African name is sacred and no matter what I post such gutter language is surely unacceptable to any person with some sense of decency. It is a particularly childish and nasty form of internet bullying. It will not silence me.
Refences to the anal area are not references to rape.
But yes, you are frequently disrespected and insulted. Because that is the level of respect you have diligently earned – see sentence 1.
You condone such behaviour. Disgraceful. This blog is not surely just an echo chamber for the deluded. I never compared the insults aimed at me with rape. Can you not read?
liberals don’t need to read cos they’re always right.
You called it hypocrisy, not me.
I think you insult the intelligence of everyone here with pretty much every damned comment you make, and you don’t even have the decency to be honest about it and call people names.
“you do it too” is no defense.
Maybe not.
But it sure as hell is an accusation.
bullshit. play the ball not the man.
1: it’s not football. It’s not a game.
2: fuck that guy. There’s room for disagreement, then there’s that tory trooll. He’s worked hard for it and earned the abuse.
so there’s this thing called metaphor…
in the divine economy there is no earning of abuse.
Some metaphors are more appropriate than others.
And the divine economy might or might not exist. But as respect between humans is earned, so are scorn, defiance, slight regard and contempt. Of which fisiani has earned a plenitude.
I missed it – but you are right.
You should not be insulted.
I support you on that.
You would not annoy people if you were to stop trolling so regularly.
And that name is not a reference to rape.
Apologist for bad behaviour. Duh!
fisiani
Aren’t you the guy that loves Key and can’t understand why no one else here does, I don’t know why you don’t try kiwiblog, they share similar view point to you and have a similar level of intellect, you’d be right at home.
the point is name calling. people should be able to love key anywhere they want without being called names.
I don’t know if realise what you just said?
“You should be able to love Key with out being called a name”
I didn’t condone the supposed name calling, I merely suggested an alternative spot where he could go and not receive any grief, I don’t know if you read the posts that are in dispute, but McFlock’s comments were appropriate, everybody has the right to free speech, even you.
yeah McFlock is blaming his poor netiquette on Fisiani’s trolling. “you’ve earned the abuse” – sounds like the guy’s done some time in prison.
If you click on the name fisiani you will find this is a tr0ll who (metaphorically speaking) has done time for many indiscretions in the past.
North calling fisiani fused anus was an accurate description for someone so consistently full of shit.
it’s in poor taste.
worse is that you’d take a troll so seriously. some lines off blake:
mock on, mock on, voltaire, rousseau
mock on, mock on, tis all in vain
you throw the sand against the wind
the wind blows it back again
lol
So just to clarify, we’re allowed to suggest someone’ “sounds like” they’ve done enough wrong to be imprisoned, but we’re not allowed to use rude words or show other poor form according to you?
Yeah, nah. My insults are direct. Yours are duplicitous. Get off your hypocritical high horse.
horses may be more easily forgiven for shitting freely in public.
In some areas horseshit is not just forgiven, but actively sought.
In other areas, the person taking the horse for a ride is blamed.
hope your xmassy thing went well, though.
No – they mustn’t do it in the streets and frighten the horses.
They should do it on kiwiblog where the audience appreciates it and gimp suits and lashings of whale oil are provided for that purpose.
Christ! For once “I’m inclined to agree with you Mathew”. However As far as I can see so far, I haven’t seen your mates on the roster (“hard Rightists”) call people out either.
Who’s on duty tonight btw?
Do you do The Daily Blog as well? There now seems to be six at least hitting the dislike button. You should congratulate yourselves – that’s an increase of 50% (going forward). Could be a brighter future eh?
BAM CRRRAAACK BIFF BOFF KAPOW Brilliant
Good to see that you now fully appreciate the nastiness of Key’s behaviour.
I hope you will now also call him out for his hypocrisy on – oh! so many things – such as being an ambassador for white ribbon and at the same time indulging in jokes about prison rape, failing to apologize to Tania over his Govt’s appalling handling of her sexual assault and claiming it was a political stunt, calling many women MPs who have been the subject of abuse – “rape apologists”, being an habitual predator handling the pony tails of young girls and women, and twisting the apology of David Cunliffe on behalf of men to women – when NZ has one of the highest rates of abuse in the western world, etc.
When you have called out Key on his appalling hypocrisy maybe then we might apologize for calling you names.
“Not a single Leftist has called out shame.”
Actually I have. And some have agreed with me.
The problem is that the site policy allow for such “abuse” provided the moderators can see a point to it, just as they allow for you to comment with your own opinions and to provide your own take on the opinions of others. We couldn’t give a damn if you choose or don’t choose to use the provided room for pointed attacks and abuse or not. That is your choice.
Personally, I find that I use whatever I need to when I want to get a point across. My nastiest attacks when I want to have a go at someone use absolutely no “abuse”. I simply read their previous comments and figure out suggestions or explanations for the ‘reasoning’ behind the formation of their views and opinions.
There are very few people that I can’t set off like a rocket at guy fawkes with those kinds of attacks at their world views without ever “abusing” them if I feel the inclination. This is a skill developed after decades around the net is probably why I don’t feel the need to level the playing field where you do. In my opinion, all that does is to give way too much weight to net experience. Allowing robust debate and pointed abuse evens up the playing field somewhat because it means that people can express themselves more freely at whatever level they feel comfortable with.
What you are proposing allows a dissection using manners that gives the advantage to whoever has the most experience within the implied rules. I don’t like that 18th century farce. As far as I’m concerned it should have died with the French monarchy at Versailles in 1789, but which unfortunately survived up until after the second world war.
As it is I keep a vigilant eye for people trying to game the system and deliberately pressing people into the policy electric fence that they know about and the other does not.
Abyway trying to change the rules on this site is a dangerous tactic if you aren’t an author, because for those of us who actually work on the site, it becomes highly irritating to argue with people who don’t and who have no real idea about what is going on. Especially since they are always so damn repetitive about repetitively screaming what they want (like a spoilt child) rather than considering what authors and others might want. Plus not considering why these rules were set at the position that they were. Which appears to be what you are doing.
But you should be pretty aware of this already. It isn’t like I try to conceal my attitudes about the best way to deal with people without skin in the site trying to help us out by suggesting directly or indirectly how we should run the site.
“My noble African name is sacred”.
Citation please. No amount of earnest Googling in good faith on my part can verify that statement.
All I know is “The baby was cut out of the womb”.
Whose that, eh?
Fact, in 2011, there were fewer new homes built in NZ that year than were built in (wait for it) 1965, and now a housing shortage.
An interesting aspect to the large influx of refugees into Germany, over 800,000, was how would Germany house them all.
It seems Germany has an interesting housing policy, they maintain a surplus of relatively cheap housing stock, ensuring real affordability for there own work force, they also regulate the housing industry, there reasoning is that these workers are considered a very important part of a successful economy, by keeping rents and housing prices relatively low, the work force has more money in their pockets to spend in the local economy, this all forms part of a wider economic strategy.
They found that the workers were more productive if they didn’t feel they were only going to work to pay the rent.
Of the 800,000 refugees, most will get work, and they will end up very loyal employees.
For a right wing Govt, it’s unusual to see a smart, common sense approach to the way in which they treat their work force, there maybe some lessons to be learned here.
we have a housing policy where it’s more profitable to leave them vacant and flip them to other speculators than it is to actually provide homes for people.
Yeah, and who profits from that, Germany in is an industrial nation of 110m , they’ve realised over the long term that a highly productive work force is more profitable than short term speculation, every one needs a roof over their head.
I suppose that is the crux of it, a long term economic plan that will lift the countries prosperity
Whereas NZ has elected a short-term currency gambler and an unreconstructed 80s Treasury wideboy. What could possibly go wrong?
“What could possibly go wrong?”
That is funny, I don’t know if you meant it to be.
Hasn’t it already gone wrong, Key is the man without a plan for the future of NZ, I just wish his tenure was a short term.
Unfortunately much of the appeal of neo-liberalism to the current government is that divesting state services enables ministers to be lazier and less accountable. They have no desire to actually govern, and think that destroying state capacity is a positive achievement. Most third world countries are better governed, perhaps in part because their citizens would not tolerate the kind of pathetic crap that our Gnat MPs get up to. The neo part of Labour isn’t much better.
+1
Sky-Crane 2: Daughter of Skycrane.
Game changer.
Chris Westling
@chriswestling
Falcon 9 brought cost of a 13-tonne payload to LEO from $110m to $56m. With landing & reuse, #SpaceX is projecting new cost of <$8m. #BFD
https://twitter.com/chriswestling/status/679124127144394754
Médecins Sans Frontières – a year in pictures.
https://msf.exposure.co/a-year-in-pictures
(light version for shitty connections https://msf.exposure.co/a-year-in-pictures?slow=1 )
Aloe Blacc on his Christmas tribute.
It’s not a product for sale — it’s a memorial, a tribute. First of all, to me, it doesn’t seem appropriate. It really was just an expression that I felt was important for me offer to these families, and for other people to hear so that they could have a voice for what they were feeling inside, because a lot of the dialogue that we hear in the media doesn’t give us the opportunity to grieve a way that is respectful to the families. I wanted to offer that to everyone, especially the families. I wanted them to see that there are people who understand their pain and are not just trying to make a headline out of their tragedy.
http://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/459109275/songs-we-love-aloe-blacc-merry-christmas-mr-brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvf6NKJCKwY
The History of People’s QE – Neither Right nor Left, Just the Way Forward
Part 2
Part 3
Money creation by the state is the answer to our financial difficulties such as poverty and inequality.
The private creation of credit is one of the most fiercely and brutally guarded privileges of all.
Spot on Draco
This type of story pisses me off – blame it on computer generated letters?? bullshit!!!
“Then the second letter came, claiming that even though the agency had now seen Leger’s medical certificates, he still needed to be “actively seeking work”.
Leger said the suggestion of sending out CVs from his hospital bed sounded like a bad joke.
“It’s that extra stress that you don’t need at this time going through the treatment,” he said.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/75373823/leukaemia-patient-told-by-work-and-income-to-find-a-job-or-risk-his-benefit
It wouldn’t surprise me if those computer generated letters were designed to upset people, you know, so they get out of their sick beds and get a job.
gnat 101
extra stress = more motivation
less money = more motivation
persistent hassle = more motivation
ridicule = more motivation
cut additional benefits = more motivation
desperation = more motivation
loss of dignity = more motivation
not enough money = more motivation
begging for help = more motivation
and so on to infinity and back
…….Corrrrrrr Blimey. That gnat 101 stuff is rilly rilly esprashunul eh? Now I know where all those street “beggars” I just encountered walking from Courtenay Place to Lambton Quay are going wrong. I guess they really should just pull themselves together as ‘get with the programme’
Ekshully, I must remember to give them a right good letchering the next time I pass.
There are obviously Pulla Bent and Soimun Brudgizz type learnings to be learned. I’ll give them a set of bootstraps – how they choose to use them of course…. is up to them
No that can’t be right marty. When I look about at the top execs and CEO’s they very loudly claim that the exact opposite of all those things = more motivation.
Agreed marty mars that is not only appalling behaviour for a human being, it is actually just bloody stupid.
The National Party government is highlighted in all of its ignorant ideology with this poor fulla’s plight.
Just stupid, brainless, lacks any form of logic, no common sense.
The nacts are frikkin’ loopy
and that is the problem with conservatives when they try to change things….
because they are afraid of change they do not know how to undertake it, and hence make a big hash of things….
conservatives should stay in the hold like the useless ballast that they are
Labour’s frightened of change. That’s more the problem.
It wouldn’t surprise me if those computer generated letters were designed to upset people, you know, so they get out of their sick beds and get a job.
I think it’s more what is said later in the article,
“She said it’s not us it’s just a system generated message that can’t separate who’s got what sickness or what amount of sickness.
Which is basically that when they scraped sickness benefit the system they put in place was done incompetently. If you want to see where National are doing evil there, it’s more likely to be in monkey wrenching the system over time so that eventually they’ve got an excuse to privatise.
“Which is basically that when they scraped sickness benefit the system they put in place was done incompetently.”
yes done incompetently and the system they put in was incompetent too – deliberately? Is monkey wrenching when they chuck a monkey wrench in and wait and see what shit happens or is it when the place it into position to create shit.
I’m lucky I spose I can see multiple layers of incompetence, mistakes and deliberate design all over the system and I agree the end goal is some type of privatisation agenda.
There are many preventable calamities at this time of year – kia kaha to all those dealing with this system.
Yeah, it’s always that weird mix of creepy ideology and incompetence and hard to tell how much of which each time. And with WINZ we can add in the fact that it was already a system pretty stressed by meddling from multiple governments, instead of taking care of something important.
Amazing flip flop from Trotter who seems to have stopped fighting …for anything.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/75307377/chris-trotter-my-surprise-pick-for-politician-of-the-year
good grief.
Little gem here from The North…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11564706
Joanne McNeil: PM gets an F for Social Studies
“In my day, school report cards did not mince words to mollycoddle fragile little darlings or confuse litigious parents.
In similar spirit, here’s Prime Minister John Key’s report for 2015.
English
Oral. John has plenty to say on behalf of all New Zealanders. His pronunciation – which often compresses syllables into sausage meat – would benefit from speech therapy.
Written. We have not sighted any prose (or poetry) we are confident is John’s original work. Apparently he pays a huddle of crack spin doctors to produce his essays behind the bike sheds. F”
and so on…
Very good.