I can't see any reasonable person agreeing with First Capital. With the council offering to top up the wages, all this Aussie company had to do was honour the conditions.
Clearly they are not good faith bargaining, more looking to trim the balance sheet so as to sell the business.
A TV series for the Labour Party, specifically Grant Robertson who believes that renters can 'just move to a different rental' when their current one gets to expensive. Tone deaf, out of touch, a one percenter if there ever was one.
Those thinking of leveraging their house to buy an investment property should watch Renters. Seeing the costs and associated risk of the landlord business may scare you off.
Everyone else, ignore it. Renters is not entertaining, it stereotypes tenants by highlighting extreme cases and it's so tone-deaf it will make you want to grab your pitchfork and start a revolution.
Also file this under 'we don't know how lucky we have been, still are' but rest assured that Government knows that it got elected by luck and luck alone.
he Ministry of Health allowed a family to remain in the community for more than two days after escaping managed isolation during last year's first level 3 lockdown.
The case was never reported publicly and was deemed low risk because they had come from a country without Covid-19.
But it had some officials in Auckland scrambling, with one person writing to the Ministry of Health to denounce their lack of direction over the incident.
Auckland Regional Isolation and Quarantine (RIQ) response manager at the time Lee Hazlewood wrote a critical email, obtained under the Official Information Act, that the ministry needed to step up.
The blunt email was sent to all agencies involved "respectfully for the record" with some of the issues he had identified.
He said the email was sent in case the breach became a public health issue and said his team contacted the Ministry of Health (MOH) first thing the morning after the breach seeking direction.
"We discussed several options with MOH during the day, [including] sending a clinical nurse to relay MOH guidance and supervise visit, [and] sending the staff member from the RIQ to relay any guidance from the MOH [National Health Coordination Centre]," the email read.
"The RIQ received no direction to act at this time or at any other time during the period that [the family] was outside of [managed isolation]."
His staff were also told conflicting stories around whether the family would return to quarantine or not.
Do you think the family was related to the Michael Woodhouse mystery homeless man in the upmarket Auckland MIQ hotel?
Maybe the 'luck alone' has to do with the luck that the National mob were dishonest, incompetent and idiotic.
Remember Michelle Boag releasing confidential information? Was that luck for Labour? Or bad luck for Hamish Walker who took one for the team while Nikki Kaye decided to quietly disappear? And Michael Woodhouse, no way would he have been in the loop of the info leak, parked himself in the background. And the good luck the 'enquiry' was a snow job.
Anyone who wants to call the government a 'sick joke from day one' is quite welcome to do it. To do it on the back of a relative handful of human stuff ups amongst the many millions of actions and interactions around covid and the border is silly.
Labour is the government and do have responsibility. National is just the opposition because they were thought to be incapable, dishonest and not trustworthy. The half pie enquiry into the Boag affair meant that National was helped to a huge 25.6% in the election and their supporters didn't have to confront the level of scumminess in the midst of the party.
I don't think they are a sick joke, but then i am well housed, well fed and clothes.
What i think they are is opportunistic and right now they make it up as they go along, and even then i don't blame them for that either as the Covid Pandemic will be the gift that keeps on giving for a few more years.
I also don't for a moment believe that we will ever go back to pre Lockdown 4 25th May 2020.
But what i do believe is that they will not tackle any of the social ills they should tackle.
Drug policies
racist drug polices, incrimination of other non violent/criminal behaviour, refusal to treat drug abuse as a health issue rather then a criminal one etc.
On that, total failure, in fact if Little could he would make the whole shebang worse.
Housing
we have currently up and down the country enough people to house a full scale mid size town and this government is going lalalalaala and keeps throwing money at it as if there is no tomorrow.
Total failure
Health and the inaction of Labour
we have new borns with cleft palates put on waiting lists, we have toddlers in need of cardiac surgery on waiting lists and we are currently crowdfunding for beds at Starships ICU
failure.
So what we have here is an inability from Labour to try anything other then the tried and trued that has not worked before. We have labour hide behind referendums in which senior Labour Politians did not state an opinion cause 'i don't want to influence the referendum" Well thanks a bunch dear.
If you ask willy nilly people on the street who boag is – and i actually had to look her up – they will not know. But ask them if they know someone who can't find a rental, or who is on a waiting list, or who is in prison due to racists and outdated criminal laws and chances are they can help you there.
So its not a sick joke, its just a bunch of worn out people that since helen clark never had to earn a day of living in the private market and who have very little ideas about how they affect the country in day to day live. Out of touch and somewhat callous, and devoid of courage. And now they can't hide behind an opposition bench, they can't hide behind coalition partners they are actually all alone responsible for what they do. So who cares about National, they can do no more then Labour could under John Key. Flap their wings and be impotent.
We have a joke for that in Germany : The operation was successful but the patient died. That to me is Labour today, and we are the patient.
We have a joke for that in Germany : The operation was successful but the patient died. That to me is Labour today, and we are the patient.
Germany (a wealthy country with competent political leadership and excellent health infrastructure) sadly has 973 COVID-19 deaths per million. NZ sadly has 5 deaths per million.
I hope that this pandemic has peaked, and reckon a 'joke' involving a patient dying might be considered a bit tasteless right now, even in Germany.
PCC, thankfully not everyone shares your opinion. Some opposition National party MPs are jokes, taking their queue from Collins' eyebrows (what a 'leader').
National party MPs are incapable of governing for all NZers – it's simply not in their DNA. Everyone understands that now – National party voters always knew it.
The Best and Worst Places to Be as Global Vaccinations Take Off A lightning-fast vaccination drive has propelled Israel toward the top of Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, transforming everyday life to put the country alongside New Zealand [#1] and Taiwan as one of the best places to be in the coronavirus era.
national mps are jokes, and in saying that the same thing could be said about labour during the john key years, they too managed to fail to win an election till they threw J.A at the electorate. So who will be the saviour of National? Maybe it will be tax cuts, opening weed to business and recreational use, and such. And guess what people would vote for that.
And neither eyebrows nor teeth should ever be cause for a joke.
Yes, they government that promised us transparency has been anything but. Our isolation and low population alone saved us.
I doubt Ashley Bloomfield could even lie straight in bed. So many cover ups and downright lies (remember his and the governments lies about PPE?)
This Labour administration has been a joke from start to finish. Kiwibuild. Airport light rail. Fast trains to Hamilton and Tauranga. A Minister of Health that hid under the bed in Dunedin (when not out breaking lockdown). The list is endless.
A Minister of Health who hid his under his bed for months while being part of the establishing of an internationally acknowledged success in dealing with the pandemic?
Of course it wasn't perfect – you weren't involved with your knowledge and expertise. Oh, and people, human beings, were involved in complex and new situations.
Your tone smacks of sadness at missing the hole in one, the home run that would have put a smile on your face to ram home 'the government is hopeless' narrative.
Are you sad tens of thousands didn't die to give you some real bullets?
" Our isolation and low population alone saved us."
Please , there were 1000s arriving every day at the major airport.
And low population ? Ask Ireland with around the same population of 5-6 million and 4800 covid deaths.
Taking the wrong steps in Victoria after an outbreak sourced from a MIQ hotel let to 800 deaths.
Elimination wasnt the starting strategy but very quickly did become that, while National moved to a sort of minimization- open the borders, bring back the students and other useless ideas. if the National party was in power we would be having a 3rd wave of hundreds of dead as we moved in winter
Ireland, part of england? That Ireland? Or is there an Ireland in the middle of an ocean with nothing other around them then water that you could just close off to the public and be done with? lol lol lol lol
yeas and orange is a fruit, and an apple is too, and yet they are so different.
We went into lockdown to prevent our healthcare system from collapsing. Elimination was not what the public was told, we bring in daily cases from overseas, so we have eliminated nothing. We are one infected person away from disaster, considering that our health care system collapsed without Covid, but just due to past and current underfunding by respective governments.
Honey Ireland is part of England and the EU. Ireland could not as we did just close the door to everyone as they were not the only ones to decide. I mean yeah for some details don't matter, but that is a bit thick.
But hey, here is Vietnam, borders China, Laos, Kambodia, 90 million plus people, an 'emerging' nation.
currently we have active 32 cases – all from overseas thus imported
from todays NZ herald.
Before you accuse me of falsehoods let me confim to you that you are looking like the fool that you have shown yourself to be. I generally only speak about things i have seen / read in fairly reputable news organs. I can link to pretty much any of my ideas/opinion for support. As for insulting other posters by throwing a wee tantrum on the floor, that also says more about you then it will ever say about me.
We would never refer to as Scotland as the UK or Ireland as the UK.
But yes, consider the shitshow that was /is England then one can assume that other countries that are also in the UK who are not England have an issue. That is what i was referring to.
Eighteen people have been arrested and 15 charged after crowds of predominantly loyalist youths attacked lines of riot police officers and vehicles with bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs.
Saturday night was the first without major incident since Good Friday on 2 April, with the lack of trouble being linked to the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.
While all Northern Ireland's main parties have condemned the violence, they are divided about its causes.
We are one infected person away from disaster. We are one tremendous South Island earthquake away from disaster. We are one nuclear weapon away from disaster.
The health care system collapsed without Covid? The system isn't perfect, to say it has collapsed is total and obvious rubbish.
Fortunately it wasn't allowed to collapse. Go back a year and a bit. Don't close the borders, don't have lockdowns, don't wear masks … How would that have gone with collapsing the health system?
are you feeling safer today with the health care system of today then you felt a year ago?
we are one case that gets out away from a major fucking disaster as the current mutations are worse and we would have heard if the government would have build a hospital, trained nurses free of charge, created space for an eventual outbreak and such. We got 100 ventilators since. We are still short on nurses, beds, space, and probably ppe, as i have not heard of the breaking ground to a facility that could produce these for us here in NZ.
Peter. CHCH "Our isolation and low population alone saved us".
I am sorry Peter this is absolute bullshit. There were many decisions made in crisis mode that saved us. Closing the boarder to China, major lockdown (hard and early) other wise rates of covid would have sky rocketted. Paying the wage subsidy which has ensured many businesses have survived. Setting up in great haste MIQ for returning Kiwis and reviewing every breach and putting things in. place to prevent them, Ordering a review on contact tracing (Dr Verrall, now a member of cabinet ) and getting it up to speed, ramping up laboratory testing. Locking down when necessary and closing our boarders recently to India where rates of Covid are catastrophic. Oh yes and buying a number vaccines with the roll out underway.
This is why we have had very little covid in our community and very few deaths. Mistakes will occur, because that is life. If you think about your own life over the last week, I imagine you have made some mistakes. i have too. Impossible not too.
So your claim that isolation and small pop = good covid result is nonsence
In 1976 the Bay City Rollers played at the Auckland Town Hall. There was a rule against standing on the seats; of course a lot of the girls in the crowd proceeded to stand on the seats, until a goon from Eden Security punched one of them.
There was, naturally, great anger directed at Eden Security after that.
The Bay City Rollers and The Nolan Sisters?…I never in a million years would have thought of putting those two acts together, but as you have mentioned it I have thought about (briefly) and it sounds not quite right, what makes you think they would have been a good match .
Just relistened to 'I'm in the mood for Dancing',not too bad, but hasn't really stood the test of time too well..but I probably danced to this at some school Disco back then, so who am I too judge?
Being a consultant is one of the most lucrative jobs one can get in one’s field. All it takes is knowing the right people, having a glossy business card, a good sales pitch and loads of confidence. One doesn’t have to be particularly good at anything, just use the right jargon and say the things the ‘customer’ wants to hear. Once one is ‘in’, one’s ‘in’ for as long as one likes. That said, there are very few genuinely good ones around, at least, AFAIK, but I’ve met a few duds in my professional life, some real shockers.
Peter. CHCH "Our isolation and low population alone saved us".
I am sorry Peter this is absolute bullshit. There were many decisions made in crisis mode that saved us. Closing the boarder to China, major lockdown (hard and early) other wise rates of covid would have sky rocketted. Paying the wage subsidy which has ensured many businesses have survived. Setting up in great haste MIQ for returning Kiwis and reviewing every breach and putting things in. place to prevent them, Ordering a review on contact tracing (Dr Verrall, now a member of cabinet ) and getting it up to speed, ramping up laboratory testing. Locking down when necessary and closing our boarders recently to India where rates of Covid are catastrophic. Oh yes and buying a number vaccines with the roll out underway.
This is why we have had very little covid in our community and very few deaths. Mistakes will occur, because that is life. If you think about your own life over the last week, I imagine you have made some mistakes. i have too. Impossible not too.
So your claim that isolation and small pop = good covid result is nonsence
all the people that stayed at home, all the people that closed the shops to their businesses knowing full well tht they will not have one to come back too, all the nurses, all the doctors, all the people that donated food, all of us that did all the right things, and the many many sacrifices so many made.
the best intention of government is worth fuck all when you have say a population like the US has.
And as i posted before Vietnam with a population of 93 million and surrounded by three countries one of them china had virtually the same number of infected, recovered and death – their dead numbering at 35 while ours stand at 26, and like us all their cases are imported ones.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/441093/taranaki-aquifer-contaminated-50-times-more-than-acceptable …"They're consistent with a local concentration, a local high-level concentration as opposed to normal land use. "Previously, I've seen concentrations as high or higher, but only around facilities or factories that store such pesticides." The regional council undertook an aerial search and questioned landowners in an effort to find the source of the contamination, but drew a blank and eventually abandoned its investigation.
…Barry Prophet hoped the source could be located. "It certainly isn't good. They are going to have to find out what, where and why?" He had his suspicions."Probably drums were just thrown away back a few years ago."
It could help to provide information if a highish monetary reward was offered for information leading to location – 'no names, no pack drill'.
Week in Review [18 April; 2021] To end this complete and utter shambles, National has called for a return of the Epidemic Response Committee to ensure the Government, and its departments, are held to account for their promises, scrutinise their decisions, and help deliver better public policy and action.
Not only a complete shambles, but an "utter shambles"! Witness the breathtakingly untrustworthy Bishop and Collins parading their feeble grasp on reality for all to see.
The Best and Worst Places to Be as Global Vaccinations Take Off A lightning-fast vaccination drive has propelled Israel toward the top of Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, transforming everyday life to put the country alongside New Zealand [#1] and Taiwan as one of the best places to be in the coronavirus era.
and Vietnam which has our numbers in cases plus 9 people more dead (grand total of 35) then us and is a country that is not an island and has 90+ million people living and working there.
I know an inconvenient truth for some, but I think they deserve a round of applaus and as far as governments go in times of a pandemic i think they deserve another round of applause cause these guys did well.
I think they deserve a round of applaus and as far as governments go in times of a pandemic i think they deserve another round of applause cause these guys did well.
Reckon all governments/populations that have done well so far deserve recognition
Maybe certain populations in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos have developed a some immunity to the virus, if, as is supposed, the transmission from bat to human occurred in that country which is the home of the bat to which the virus is linked. I understand that in the northern part of Vietnam there is frequent interaction between humans and the bats, as the local population enter the caves in which the bats live to collect their guano for fertiliser.
The data in the figure above indirectly support the hypothesis that the SARS-CoV-2 group actually originated in mainland Southeast Asia. Indeed, human populations in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam appear to be much less affected by the Covid-19 pandemic than other countries in the region, such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. This suggests that the populations of these four countries may be benefiting from a level of herd immunity to Sarbecoviruses.
Then again Vietnam have developed over the recent past a response to pandemics very similar to that which our Govt initiated in March last year.
As of December 31, 2020, Vietnam had reported 1,465 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths.2 This success has been attributed to several key factors, including a well-developed public health system, a decisive central government, and a proactive containment strategy based on comprehensive testing, tracing, and quarantining.
One of the reasons Vietnam was able to act so quickly and keep the case count so low is that the country experienced a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 and human cases of avian influenza between 2004 and 2010. As a result, Vietnam had both the experience and infrastructure to take appropriate action. Vietnam makes many key containment decisions in a matter of days, which may take weeks for governments in other countries to make. Although Vietnam is a highly centralized country, a number of key decisions were made at the local level, which also contributed to the swift response.
Unless someone can link to a credible study that shows natural immunity i would say that is a far fetched idea.
The reason i point to Vietnam as a success rather then us or Taiwan is simply the physical location.
Like we had it easiest among the many, for us to close the border was no issue as we literally just had to prevent airplanes from landing/same with boats. We don't have to worry about landborders that can be porous and hard to manage and controll.
I also point to Vietnam as a bigger success story as they actually continued to work as normally as possible inclusive building production facilities for PPE and such, while we here are still crowd funding ICU beds for Starship Hospital.
I don't consider NZ a success in the 'combat' against Covid, i consider us to be some of the luckiest people to have been physically where we are, and since then we have continued to be lucky. And i hope that we get lucky over and over again, cause we need it .
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The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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He Lives!
As I was consuming my morning repast, this emerged from my toaster. What can it mean?
https://markdoran.files.wordpress.com/2021/04/prince-ph-toast.jpg
You need a different horse.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington/300284386/thousands-sign-petition-in-support-of-striking-wellington-bus-drivers
please consider signing this petition
Done.
I can't see any reasonable person agreeing with First Capital. With the council offering to top up the wages, all this Aussie company had to do was honour the conditions.
Clearly they are not good faith bargaining, more looking to trim the balance sheet so as to sell the business.
A TV series for the Labour Party, specifically Grant Robertson who believes that renters can 'just move to a different rental' when their current one gets to expensive. Tone deaf, out of touch, a one percenter if there ever was one.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/karl-puschmann-tvnzs-renters-is-everything-wrong-with-nz/DN4ALYS5VVT3PRXZAQYTHDAPXI/
I have watched it a couple times. Some property managers seem to go over to the property when it is too late to help the landlord or the tenant.
Those who smash up their home have issues and intervention is required.
as do the ones that think you can rent a burned out property while its being renovated. 🙂
the whole serious is fucked up lowest common denominator television.
Also file this under 'we don't know how lucky we have been, still are' but rest assured that Government knows that it got elected by luck and luck alone.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-how-a-family-fled-and-returned-to-miq-facility-in-auckland/CBDHTOHBHO3I5YLCA324OIKUCE/
Do you think the family was related to the Michael Woodhouse mystery homeless man in the upmarket Auckland MIQ hotel?
Maybe the 'luck alone' has to do with the luck that the National mob were dishonest, incompetent and idiotic.
Remember Michelle Boag releasing confidential information? Was that luck for Labour? Or bad luck for Hamish Walker who took one for the team while Nikki Kaye decided to quietly disappear? And Michael Woodhouse, no way would he have been in the loop of the info leak, parked himself in the background. And the good luck the 'enquiry' was a snow job.
Peter, how does trotting out the Labour party line about National excuse the fact that this government has been a sick joke from day one?
Labour is actually the government, and thus they and they alone have the responsibility. National is just the opposition (and Boag not even that).
Transparency and honesty, I think Ardern promised. Yeah, right.
Anyone who wants to call the government a 'sick joke from day one' is quite welcome to do it. To do it on the back of a relative handful of human stuff ups amongst the many millions of actions and interactions around covid and the border is silly.
Labour is the government and do have responsibility. National is just the opposition because they were thought to be incapable, dishonest and not trustworthy. The half pie enquiry into the Boag affair meant that National was helped to a huge 25.6% in the election and their supporters didn't have to confront the level of scumminess in the midst of the party.
The sick joke is that House prices, Rents and the number if people in slum hotels are rising at record rates…
Labour governing for the land owning classes…
I don't think they are a sick joke, but then i am well housed, well fed and clothes.
What i think they are is opportunistic and right now they make it up as they go along, and even then i don't blame them for that either as the Covid Pandemic will be the gift that keeps on giving for a few more years.
I also don't for a moment believe that we will ever go back to pre Lockdown 4 25th May 2020.
But what i do believe is that they will not tackle any of the social ills they should tackle.
Drug policies
racist drug polices, incrimination of other non violent/criminal behaviour, refusal to treat drug abuse as a health issue rather then a criminal one etc.
On that, total failure, in fact if Little could he would make the whole shebang worse.
Housing
we have currently up and down the country enough people to house a full scale mid size town and this government is going lalalalaala and keeps throwing money at it as if there is no tomorrow.
Total failure
Health and the inaction of Labour
we have new borns with cleft palates put on waiting lists, we have toddlers in need of cardiac surgery on waiting lists and we are currently crowdfunding for beds at Starships ICU
failure.
So what we have here is an inability from Labour to try anything other then the tried and trued that has not worked before. We have labour hide behind referendums in which senior Labour Politians did not state an opinion cause 'i don't want to influence the referendum" Well thanks a bunch dear.
If you ask willy nilly people on the street who boag is – and i actually had to look her up – they will not know. But ask them if they know someone who can't find a rental, or who is on a waiting list, or who is in prison due to racists and outdated criminal laws and chances are they can help you there.
So its not a sick joke, its just a bunch of worn out people that since helen clark never had to earn a day of living in the private market and who have very little ideas about how they affect the country in day to day live. Out of touch and somewhat callous, and devoid of courage. And now they can't hide behind an opposition bench, they can't hide behind coalition partners they are actually all alone responsible for what they do. So who cares about National, they can do no more then Labour could under John Key. Flap their wings and be impotent.
We have a joke for that in Germany : The operation was successful but the patient died. That to me is Labour today, and we are the patient.
Germany (a wealthy country with competent political leadership and excellent health infrastructure) sadly has 973 COVID-19 deaths per million. NZ sadly has 5 deaths per million.
I hope that this pandemic has peaked, and reckon a 'joke' involving a patient dying might be considered a bit tasteless right now, even in Germany.
Germany is also a country in the middle of europe and nz is an island in a vast empty ocean.
all those apples and oranges….all fruit.
Comparisons may be fruitless, and yet there's no place I'd rather be.
Funny that.
PCC, thankfully not everyone shares your opinion. Some opposition National party MPs are jokes, taking their queue from Collins' eyebrows (what a 'leader').
National party MPs are incapable of governing for all NZers – it's simply not in their DNA. Everyone understands that now – National party voters always knew it.
Drowsy, we agree on one thing at least: some National mps are jokes. And yes, those eyebrows….
national mps are jokes, and in saying that the same thing could be said about labour during the john key years, they too managed to fail to win an election till they threw J.A at the electorate. So who will be the saviour of National? Maybe it will be tax cuts, opening weed to business and recreational use, and such. And guess what people would vote for that.
And neither eyebrows nor teeth should ever be cause for a joke.
Yes, they government that promised us transparency has been anything but. Our isolation and low population alone saved us.
I doubt Ashley Bloomfield could even lie straight in bed. So many cover ups and downright lies (remember his and the governments lies about PPE?)
This Labour administration has been a joke from start to finish. Kiwibuild. Airport light rail. Fast trains to Hamilton and Tauranga. A Minister of Health that hid under the bed in Dunedin (when not out breaking lockdown). The list is endless.
A Minister of Health who hid his under his bed for months while being part of the establishing of an internationally acknowledged success in dealing with the pandemic?
Of course it wasn't perfect – you weren't involved with your knowledge and expertise. Oh, and people, human beings, were involved in complex and new situations.
Your tone smacks of sadness at missing the hole in one, the home run that would have put a smile on your face to ram home 'the government is hopeless' narrative.
Are you sad tens of thousands didn't die to give you some real bullets?
" Our isolation and low population alone saved us."
Please , there were 1000s arriving every day at the major airport.
And low population ? Ask Ireland with around the same population of 5-6 million and 4800 covid deaths.
Taking the wrong steps in Victoria after an outbreak sourced from a MIQ hotel let to 800 deaths.
Elimination wasnt the starting strategy but very quickly did become that, while National moved to a sort of minimization- open the borders, bring back the students and other useless ideas. if the National party was in power we would be having a 3rd wave of hundreds of dead as we moved in winter
Ireland, part of england? That Ireland? Or is there an Ireland in the middle of an ocean with nothing other around them then water that you could just close off to the public and be done with? lol lol lol lol
yeas and orange is a fruit, and an apple is too, and yet they are so different.
We went into lockdown to prevent our healthcare system from collapsing. Elimination was not what the public was told, we bring in daily cases from overseas, so we have eliminated nothing. We are one infected person away from disaster, considering that our health care system collapsed without Covid, but just due to past and current underfunding by respective governments.
Which part of Ireland 5-6 million people.
I wondered before but now you have a tirade of falsehoods. Its pointless engaging with with a fact less froth
Im convinced as you get older the more to the right you will move so that by Hoskings age you could be his alter ego
Honey Ireland is part of England and the EU. Ireland could not as we did just close the door to everyone as they were not the only ones to decide. I mean yeah for some details don't matter, but that is a bit thick.
But hey, here is Vietnam, borders China, Laos, Kambodia, 90 million plus people, an 'emerging' nation.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-australia-lowy-idUSKBN29W311
flattening the curve
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/06/coronavirus-a-timeline-of-how-new-zealand-flattened-the-curve-and-beat-covid-19.html
suddenly flattening the curve not good enough anymore – elimination is now the goalpost.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300185880/flattening-curve-was-not-enough-jacinda-ardern-talks-about-new-zealands-covid-response-us-elections-in-ap-interview
currently we have active 32 cases – all from overseas thus imported
from todays NZ herald.
Before you accuse me of falsehoods let me confim to you that you are looking like the fool that you have shown yourself to be. I generally only speak about things i have seen / read in fairly reputable news organs. I can link to pretty much any of my ideas/opinion for support. As for insulting other posters by throwing a wee tantrum on the floor, that also says more about you then it will ever say about me.
now i am bored with you. bye.
No Ireland is not part of England.
The island of Ireland is home to Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland which is completely independent of the UK.
United Kingdom is made up of England Scotland Wales (the island of Great Britain) and Northern Ireland.
The island of Ireland comprises the Republic of Ireland, which is a sovereign country, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
Indeed sometimes people from not english countries take "English" as synonimous with "UK" the government, like for me. "England" is the UK much to the chagrin of Scotland. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56806107
We would never refer to as Scotland as the UK or Ireland as the UK.
But yes, consider the shitshow that was /is England then one can assume that other countries that are also in the UK who are not England have an issue. That is what i was referring to.
also Ireland and the EU
https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries/member-countries/ireland_en
lol Great way to piss off republicans and unionists at the same time, that.
didn't they. And one still is in the EU and the other isnt, and the it seems that history will repeat itself again, cause 'england'.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-56664378
We are one infected person away from disaster. We are one tremendous South Island earthquake away from disaster. We are one nuclear weapon away from disaster.
The health care system collapsed without Covid? The system isn't perfect, to say it has collapsed is total and obvious rubbish.
Fortunately it wasn't allowed to collapse. Go back a year and a bit. Don't close the borders, don't have lockdowns, don't wear masks … How would that have gone with collapsing the health system?
are you feeling safer today with the health care system of today then you felt a year ago?
we are one case that gets out away from a major fucking disaster as the current mutations are worse and we would have heard if the government would have build a hospital, trained nurses free of charge, created space for an eventual outbreak and such. We got 100 ventilators since. We are still short on nurses, beds, space, and probably ppe, as i have not heard of the breaking ground to a facility that could produce these for us here in NZ.
Definitely. A year ago NZers were dying daily from COVID-19 and that was causing much anxiety. In the last 7 months there's been 1 COVID-19 death.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/new-zealand/
During and after gearing up for COVID-19, my GP and local public hospital continue provide excellent service – can't praise/thank them enough.
By a fluke (!), we’ve also almost eliminated the flu.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nz-is-virtually-flu-free-but-heres-why-you-still-need-your-jab/3XPHU662SGQDVELGQIELXCS2AM/
Peter. CHCH "Our isolation and low population alone saved us".
I am sorry Peter this is absolute bullshit. There were many decisions made in crisis mode that saved us. Closing the boarder to China, major lockdown (hard and early) other wise rates of covid would have sky rocketted. Paying the wage subsidy which has ensured many businesses have survived. Setting up in great haste MIQ for returning Kiwis and reviewing every breach and putting things in. place to prevent them, Ordering a review on contact tracing (Dr Verrall, now a member of cabinet ) and getting it up to speed, ramping up laboratory testing. Locking down when necessary and closing our boarders recently to India where rates of Covid are catastrophic. Oh yes and buying a number vaccines with the roll out underway.
This is why we have had very little covid in our community and very few deaths. Mistakes will occur, because that is life. If you think about your own life over the last week, I imagine you have made some mistakes. i have too. Impossible not too.
So your claim that isolation and small pop = good covid result is nonsence
Endless? Go on, give us another four or five……
It was back in May last year. hardly anyone knew what we know now.
A single family here or there wasnt going to change much, it was the science driven 4.5 week level 4 lockdown and the measures that followed.
But you do have your fairytale stories of the big bad wolf coming to get us
lol
and guess what you would not know today where it not for someone asking.
Lucky, we are so lucky, and some are really happy that they are never told just how lucky they are lest they suddenly felt less lucky. lol
I should be so lucky, lucky lucky lucky – lol
R.I.P. Kevin McKeown from the Bay City Rollers.
A weird piece of Scottish pop culture, and a wee breakthrough here.
Always thought they should match up with The Nolans.
In 1976 the Bay City Rollers played at the Auckland Town Hall. There was a rule against standing on the seats; of course a lot of the girls in the crowd proceeded to stand on the seats, until a goon from Eden Security punched one of them.
There was, naturally, great anger directed at Eden Security after that.
The Bay City Rollers and The Nolan Sisters?…I never in a million years would have thought of putting those two acts together, but as you have mentioned it I have thought about (briefly) and it sounds not quite right, what makes you think they would have been a good match .
Just relistened to 'I'm in the mood for Dancing',not too bad, but hasn't really stood the test of time too well..but I probably danced to this at some school Disco back then, so who am I too judge?
I believe the quantity, quality and efficacy of reviews needs to be reviewed
Do they provide value for money? Who will review the reviewers?
Why the re re reviewers …..and im sure they can ascertain whether its all been value for money, subject to review of course.
Being a consultant is one of the most lucrative jobs one can get in one’s field. All it takes is knowing the right people, having a glossy business card, a good sales pitch and loads of confidence. One doesn’t have to be particularly good at anything, just use the right jargon and say the things the ‘customer’ wants to hear. Once one is ‘in’, one’s ‘in’ for as long as one likes. That said, there are very few genuinely good ones around, at least, AFAIK, but I’ve met a few duds in my professional life, some real shockers.
Good or bad, purpose served.
Peter. CHCH "Our isolation and low population alone saved us".
I am sorry Peter this is absolute bullshit. There were many decisions made in crisis mode that saved us. Closing the boarder to China, major lockdown (hard and early) other wise rates of covid would have sky rocketted. Paying the wage subsidy which has ensured many businesses have survived. Setting up in great haste MIQ for returning Kiwis and reviewing every breach and putting things in. place to prevent them, Ordering a review on contact tracing (Dr Verrall, now a member of cabinet ) and getting it up to speed, ramping up laboratory testing. Locking down when necessary and closing our boarders recently to India where rates of Covid are catastrophic. Oh yes and buying a number vaccines with the roll out underway.
This is why we have had very little covid in our community and very few deaths. Mistakes will occur, because that is life. If you think about your own life over the last week, I imagine you have made some mistakes. i have too. Impossible not too.
So your claim that isolation and small pop = good covid result is nonsence
and last but least….
all the people that stayed at home, all the people that closed the shops to their businesses knowing full well tht they will not have one to come back too, all the nurses, all the doctors, all the people that donated food, all of us that did all the right things, and the many many sacrifices so many made.
the best intention of government is worth fuck all when you have say a population like the US has.
And as i posted before Vietnam with a population of 93 million and surrounded by three countries one of them china had virtually the same number of infected, recovered and death – their dead numbering at 35 while ours stand at 26, and like us all their cases are imported ones.
good.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/man-sentenced-to-jail-for-rape-after-removing-condom-without-consent/NVRGH4GJNZLIEKSENRIDUHZJMI/
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/441093/taranaki-aquifer-contaminated-50-times-more-than-acceptable
…"They're consistent with a local concentration, a local high-level concentration as opposed to normal land use.
"Previously, I've seen concentrations as high or higher, but only around facilities or factories that store such pesticides."
The regional council undertook an aerial search and questioned landowners in an effort to find the source of the contamination, but drew a blank and eventually abandoned its investigation.
…Barry Prophet hoped the source could be located.
"It certainly isn't good. They are going to have to find out what, where and why?"
He had his suspicions. "Probably drums were just thrown away back a few years ago."
It could help to provide information if a highish monetary reward was offered for information leading to location – 'no names, no pack drill'.
Back a bit in 2016, this was published. It's timely to look again at the NZsituation.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/306913/land-of-sludge-and-money
As a matter of interest have a look at the long list various chemicals that might be present in the soil where there has been a factory making chemical/agricultural products:
https://www.trc.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Environment/Monitoring-Industry/MR2015-DowAgroSciences.pdf (search/find – difenoconazole)
Not only a complete shambles, but an "utter shambles"! Witness the breathtakingly untrustworthy Bishop and Collins parading their feeble grasp on reality for all to see.
and Vietnam which has our numbers in cases plus 9 people more dead (grand total of 35) then us and is a country that is not an island and has 90+ million people living and working there.
I know an inconvenient truth for some, but I think they deserve a round of applaus and as far as governments go in times of a pandemic i think they deserve another round of applause cause these guys did well.
🙂
Reckon all governments/populations that have done well so far deserve recognition
Maybe certain populations in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos have developed a some immunity to the virus, if, as is supposed, the transmission from bat to human occurred in that country which is the home of the bat to which the virus is linked. I understand that in the northern part of Vietnam there is frequent interaction between humans and the bats, as the local population enter the caves in which the bats live to collect their guano for fertiliser.
https://scroll.in/article/986077/viruses-similar-to-sars-cov-2-have-been-circulating-for-decades-we-found-one-in-cambodia
Then again Vietnam have developed over the recent past a response to pandemics very similar to that which our Govt initiated in March last year.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-exemplar-vietnam
[image resized]
Unless someone can link to a credible study that shows natural immunity i would say that is a far fetched idea.
The reason i point to Vietnam as a success rather then us or Taiwan is simply the physical location.
Like we had it easiest among the many, for us to close the border was no issue as we literally just had to prevent airplanes from landing/same with boats. We don't have to worry about landborders that can be porous and hard to manage and controll.
I also point to Vietnam as a bigger success story as they actually continued to work as normally as possible inclusive building production facilities for PPE and such, while we here are still crowd funding ICU beds for Starship Hospital.
I don't consider NZ a success in the 'combat' against Covid, i consider us to be some of the luckiest people to have been physically where we are, and since then we have continued to be lucky. And i hope that we get lucky over and over again, cause we need it .