I guess Jacinda’s baby will not get to swim in the oceans around her house as by the time she grows up that will not be possible by the look of things.
“Opposition grows to pumping sewage into Waitemata Harbour near the harbour bridge”
When Water care stared charging water separately from the Auckland rates it was supposed to transform Auckland’s water into 21 century with no sewerage going into the sea.
Instead Water care via Auckland council took the money, and have not separated the pipes and applying to keep polluting. Even if they do separate the pipes, there is growing pollution from the diesel and pollution of the wastewater due to the very poor planning in every area from Auckland council and the government.
In spite of all the growing problems local and central government stubbornly refuse to acknowledge they did this to make a short term buck out of immigration and leave the mess to the residents to clean up (or price them out as it seems to be turning out).
Like transport it is not just money that is needed. Watercare needs to be de corporatised into an organisation that answers to the people, has a clear mandate to stop pollution and does not have any salaries over $300k.
Less managers and a smaller more expert team to do the job instead of send out glossy pamphlets every month saying what a great job they do and asking for more money from ratepayers.
I live right beside the sea in Ngataringa Bay and have done so for the last 17 years. I swim October through to May.
The water quality has been steadying improving during that time. The old Devonport tip (long since closed) does not leach out nearly as much as in the past. Watercare has spent a lot of money in the last 15 years upgrading pipes, so sewerage overflows basically no longer happen.
I certainly recall water quality being much worse than it is now at Narrow Neck and at Cheltenham.
Sure Watercare could do better, but so far they are doing a pretty good job. Probably the best of all the Council Controlled Organisations. It certainly does not need major reform.
Jacinda’s baby will still be swimming in the sea around Auckland well into her old age.
Now, now, marty. Just because he’s a Nat doesn’t mean Wayne is always wrong.
The Manukau harbour has massively improved in the 19 years I’ve been in Titirangi. Problems now generally occur after heavy rainfall in areas where the sewage infrastructure is newish. Which leads me to suspect the coliforms are probably from pets, rather than inadequate infrastructure.
@Wayne, we can’t all afford to live in Devonport, according to the article, “Auckland Council has red alerts in place at more than 60 of the city’s 84 beaches; red alert means a “moderate to high risk of infection” from swimming.”
I don’t see that as a good omen for Jacinda’s baby or anyone elses kids either, look at the damage they are doing down Long Bay with their developments, and they are thinking of pumping sewerage into St Mary’s Bay, when Cox is bay is permanently polluted!
Watercare don’t deal with stormwater – Council’s Healthy Waters Department does that. It’s the storm water overflows at peak mixed with old sewer lines that Auckland Council failed to separate that do the most damage.
Watercare are separating most of this in the isthmus through the Central Interceptor project. That $900m+ job is preparing its bidders now.
Wayne & Ad overlook the fact that stormwater is not the polluter, wastewater is, and Watercare deceitfully opted out of the 3 waters concept when the greater Auckland City was formed they have been talking about a new Western interceptor for years and now they are involved with ACC in suggesting that money should be spent to ensure that wastewater can be discharged into the harbour above the bridge.
Watercare needs to be completely restructured it it no longer fit for purpose as far as handling wastewater is concerned except that they are keeping the North Shore Rosedale plant at the high standard that it had been brought up to before they acquired it from NSCC in the amalgamation ion process after many years of neglect.
saveNZ
23 June 2018 at 9:10 am
I guess Jacinda’s baby will not get to swim in the oceans around her house as by the time she grows up that will not be possible by the look of things.
With rising sea levels my guess is Jacinda’s baby may get to swim in the oceans around her house, whether she wants it or not.
More disappointment for affordable homes. Funny how when business and richer influential individuals consult they are listened too, but when the public consults they are ignored and called Nimby’s.
So first we had the Super city under the Natz, getting ready the assets for privatisation, next we had the unitary plan to sky rise the price of land and make instant profits out of thin air under the Natz, but now we have Labour believing the lie that it is the land that needs to be made affordable, and it is ok for NZ to open our land to the world to be speculated by foreign buyers driving up the prices?
Apparently that was so the ‘neoliberal mantra says’ foreigners put money in to build houses on the land.
But now backtrack, foreign buyers are actually now able to buy and speculate on the apartments as well as the land?
Surely we are worse off now than before because we just put another million low wage workers into Auckland to help keep the Ponzi housing and transport going and expect the residents to pay for it?????
“The select committee report, released today, recommends:
– allowing pre-selling up to 60 per cent of units in big housing projects to foreigners, without them having to on-sell once construction is finished, as long as the investors don’t live in the properties.
– Waiving the requirement to on-sell immediately for investors in big developments intended to be rented out or sold under a rent-to-buy model.
– Allowing all resident visa holders, not just those with permanent residents visas, to buy land without Overseas Investment Office consent.
– Putting the burden of proof on purchasers, not lawyers, to make sure they meet the residency criteria.
– Allowing foreigners to invest in major hotel developments as long as they lease the rooms they buy back to the hotel.”
You seem to be well out of date there with that remark/innuendo BG.
Go have a look at the threads under 8 (not 8 itself but further down the thread) and 11 in Open Mike yesterday. Parker made it very clear on Thursday in the House, and on RNZ Morning Report yesterday morning that he is not mates with Darby and has hardly seen him for many years.
As Anne remarked at 8.2.2 Parker “was obviously very angry and at one point politely advised Espiner that some of the claims he was making were bordering on defamation.”
Hooton’s original article in the Herald has apparently also disappeared off the website …
oops thanks veutoviper….it looked very damning at first glance and I have had dealings with John Darby in the environment court where, shall we say (being careful here) some of the evidence put forward was questionable.
Of course I should have realised it was Hooton=largely made up.
How about electric buses and trucks being mandatory to reduce pollution, get the rail going to and out of the centre of Auckland, remove ports of Auckland somewhere else so freight is not going there and reducing congestion and putting the Vancouver tax on foreign sales ASAP!
Oh and actually have a 15 year period before giving out NZ permanent residency and citizenship like lollies while saying we can’t afford to pay super or care properly for our our residents hospital and educations and throwing up our arms and thinking a tax will stop the pollution of the oceans when they are pumping in more sewage and wastewater and forgetting about climate change and increased flooding in their haste to create more ‘tenants in our own country’ under a Labour government and NZ First government and Green government that campaigned on stopping foreign speculation!
It works a lot better for China, they have way cheaper electricity than say NZ… makes far more sense for them to do it. Our Solar is expensive (lack of cheap land and sun hours) so we rely on hydro but only enough for the local populace at this point. Any extra and the grid will be stretched.
Shut down Tiwai Point and there will be plenty of spare capacity.
After all, Australia’s bauxite mines are in the middle of one of the best solar resource areas in the world. Eventually it will make more sense to take advantage of that solar and refine it there rather than shipping alumina, which by weight is half oxygen that needs to be removed, to an island in the middle of nowhere to then be shipped back out again once it’s refined.
Once demand gets high enough, wind energy can ramp up fairly quickly. As I understand it there’s a lot of wind projects that are consented but shelved due to low demand.
giving out NZ permanent residency and citizenship like lollies while saying we can’t afford to pay super
One of the big benefits of immigration is that it makes our superannuation more affordable. New Zealand has a demographic bubble which will mean super costs will continue to increase for the next couple of decades. Increasing the ‘working age’ population and enlarging the economy means more tax revenue to fund our over 65 UBI.
Clearly not working when the migrants can bring their aged relatives over and they have full health benefits straight away and super within 10 years. So the average age of retirement is 65 and the average age of life is now over 80 years. Plus the last 3 years cost the most.
“Mr Woodhouse said another factor in closing the parent category was the strain being put on the health system.
“Information that I’ve been given about the burden … on the health services that are considerably higher than other people of that age who are eligible for New Zealand public health services.”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has been a relentless critic of the parent category.
He said after years of denying there was a problem, the government was now finally admitting something was wrong.
“You’ve got 87,000 people now who have arrived in the last 15 years, who are able to access our health service immediately and our superannuation within ten years, which other country in the world allows that?
Is it fair to allow migrants to bring aged relatives over to access our health care, while Kiwis who worked for years and paid taxes wait months and years for health access to operations and then have to compete on the waiting lists for more and more people???
Likewise they have already found the migrant parents cost far more in health care than equivalent aged Kiwis according to the links above.
Even in OZ they wait 15 years but it is not long enough when the burden is on the young who are getting poorer and poorer in their own countries.
Yep, they should just have 2 year visas for visiting when the parents have to have private health insurance and pay a fee to cover all the infrastructure they will use that the exisiting tax payers pay for and certainly not buy up housing!
I’m not against migrant parents visiting their kids and grandkids, but the present system is having a laugh, and grossly unfair on existing residents who are told pay more, get less while somehow someone’s aged parent can rock up, pay no taxes, get a gold card with free transport, super, free medical and their 20yo kids are on $20 p/h and qualify for WFF and free education, including one year free tertiary while the existing tax payers are paying of $50k student loans from the 1990’s and going to food banks in Auckland while they are both working.
It’s not a fair deal for those that have been taxed to death already from neoliberalism, when the government is happy to give hand outs to new comers who in many cases are far wealthier than the local tax payers.
In addition recent migrants, having babies which is only to be expected for 20 and 30 year olds so they ain’t working and paying taxes for that long in NZ and will never cover the taxes if they are on low wages, so maybe that is why our productivity is flat and we need to borrow more government and council money to pay for bad decisions while our public service are groaning under the load?
Certain people like Solka seem to think that’s fair on existing people to help new mostly richer people get even richer while poorer people pay for their care as those on $90k apparently are keen to abandon and not even bother looking after their own kin when NZ taxpayers will do if for them. It’s insane!
I believe our economy has been growing roughly at the same rate as net immigration and our productivity is almost flat.
Not all immigrants are ‘workers’ and certainly not all will contribute to diversifying the economy and make it more innovative and sustained & resilient to future shocks (of any kind).
One of the big benefits of immigration is that it makes our superannuation more affordable.
No it doesn’t.
Increasing the ‘working age’ population and enlarging the economy means more tax revenue to fund our over 65 UBI.
The government doesn’t actually need tax revenue. That’s a lie by the private sector that has helped them shift the power from the people into the hands of the rich.
The fact that you’re repeating that lie shows how you don’t understand why the demographic bulge is a problem and why immigration won’t fix it.
The demographic bulge is a physical problem. With so many leaving the workforce there won’t be enough people working to support both themselves, the retired and the bludging rich.
Immigration won’t fix that problem because it will cause other problems itself. Some will be social but mostly they’ll be economic (real economics not the delusional stuff based around money) and those will be to do with over-population. The government is trying to increase population growth to meet those retiring but to do that will push us well sustainability.
The government and NZ really would be better off spending huge amounts developing 3D printing factories and our extracting and processing our own resources. The problem the government has with that is that it will destroy jobs and cause an even faster collapse of our society as all the wealth created would simply go to the rich even fatser.
Unless a parent has an annual income of more than $60 000, and a spare $1 million that they’ll invest in NZ over four years and another $500 000 to live on, then they ain’t getting in.
And even satisfying the above only allows for an application for permanent residence after four years. During those four years it would appear that medical expenses must be covered by the patient.
I’m a citizen DTB. Just not a recognised New Zealand citizen.
Now, what’s your problem?
You’re concerned or agitated that I cannot hold a NZ passport, stand for public office, represent NZ in international sport…or are you in a fluster about the fact that I can be deported?
Oh. And as a permanent resident, bar any dependent children I may have, there is no easy pathway available for me to bring any family members into the country.
The stuff your railing against (it seems) is the benefits that accrue more readily to people accepted as and recognised as New Zealand citizens. That being the case, I fully expect the next sentence your piles mouth out for you to type will be calling for a ban on citizenship, yes?
Bill, when the right comes from all this lazy immigration, like Windrush they will be deporting the most vulnerable, after cutting all the benefits, and it will be people like you for the chop, while those who came here 5 years ago and got so much for free and have the money, will be sitting pretty.
That is the lesson from Windrush. They go after the venerable who don’t have access to lawyers, not those who came here last.
So migrants who think that defending lazy immigration is benefiting them, should check their paperwork is in order, because Auckland is ground zero and there’s been a massive change in demographic and they keep putting more taxes in to help the rich who don’t live here, while taxing the poor and existing residents.
Those coming in are voting for National and rights for the rich. Aka look at the recommendations from the select committee to give more rights to foreign investors in property and let bad lawyers off the hook.
As for not getting your parents in, you just don’t know the right immigration lawyers as 87,000 have arrived in the last 15 years, who are able to access our health service immediately and our superannuation within ten years.
Possibly that is why the lawyers apparently are trying not be responsible for their residency decisions in the select committees…
“Unless a parent has an annual income of more than $60 000, and a spare $1 million that they’ll invest in NZ over four years and another $500 000 to live on, then they ain’t getting in.”
Your comment makes it even worse that the poor long term resident Kiwi’s are expected to support new rich aged coming into NZ.
One million doesn’t even buy you much of a house in Auckland, and super and health is not means tested…so you get your 500k to live on while our laws allow new rich people to then get extremely generous benefits including free transport that beneficiaries who are disabled or very poor don’t get.
Surely the 1.5 million better spent of making the new aged migrant pay their own way via super and health care not expect the Kiwis to chip in for their affluent lifestyle? Apparently there are aged care issues as well as hospital issues, and many Kiwis who paid many taxes are on waiting lists for health care, but money apparently can just wave new people through.
Of course as well as all that, you can just convert that money into a trust once you gain citizenship and viola, you have no income!
+1 Draco. And you have to live here Permanently to achieve citizenship with provable taxes that are positive not negative and prove good character for 20 years! Unless you are a refugee. We are all living longer, yet our laws seem to think we all die at 70 years!
If we had a country without poor people it would be all well and good to be throwing money to the world’s rich and opportunistic migrants.
Sadly we have people living in cars and going to food banks and are shutting down our university libraries to save money and have mouldy hospitals. I’m not sure how the government can justify constant immigration hand outs to the world’s rich and working poor, until we can get our existing citizens problems under control
There is a test you can get when replacing mercury fillings called a serum compatibly test. This shows what material your system will react to vs what will be inert so when your fillings are replaced you know the new filling isn’t harming you. Its different for everyone and there are apparently over a thousand(!?) different types of materials that can be used in dentistry.
Q: Why would it not be the same for other foreign materials placed in the body?
“They were so cheap, they were only $3500, so I thought why not.”
“She spent the $15,000 she had saved to go travelling on the procedure.
“I had to choose my health or my happiness to go travelling.””
I cannot believe how somebody so moronic still breathes.
Well of course she nearly didn’t
What a fucking stupid brainless person
It’s no laughing matter. The guy I met was incredibly brave to keep going out in public. He faced his fears. I doubt I could have done it.
We are a community here, albeit an unusual one to be sure, and while it’s common for people to have the odd spat we all need to show a little more understanding and tolerance for each other IMO.
DH, I didn’t read the sign on the door, I was bantering under the belief I was in Open Mike.
Yes, I’m aware Tourettes is no joke, nor should it be taboo. Yeah me too, I’d turn hermit.
I agree DH, I think reasoned contrasting views is what makes this blog vibrant and we should be fostering an environment that induces more of it.
I wonder if the Germans are more open to immigration. The right leaning practical thinking executives at BMW realising they’re going to more retirement parties than apprentice inductions.
‘Labour commissioned Wellington lawyer Maria Berryman in March to investigate how it handled the affair, its general culture and any other incidents of sexual harassment or abuse within the party. She had three months to report back and her findings were not to be made public but go to key party leaders.’
I’m sure its a complete coincidence that its been three months and Andrew Kirton is leaving, not that we’ll know since the report isn’t being made public
Pleased to see that addiction support workers and mental health workers are getting equity. $3 to $5 dollars an hour back paid to July 1 2017. Let’s do this!!
ABs wins havnt been great for a long time and won’t be until they are representative of NZ community again. Winnng by any means #1 is at the detriment to NZ, sport is to bring together, not isolate.
Neo-liberal nitwittedness elitism pee poor excuse for a ruling class!
Q*A Michael Barnett is full of national propa-ganda pushing the doom and gloom to try and make labour look bad . Business have been Creaming it with all the business friendly changes to taxes and labour laws under national . The skill shortage well we know who to blame for that mess national did not invest in training tangata there cheap solution to this was to import foreign skilled workers and who gives a toss about the common tangata whom these foreign workers put on the couch.
Its not just multi national company’s that pay a low wage its a lot of big business who do this don’t be afraid of a wage rise take it as a challange to lift your productivity its not rocket science .The low wage society is the reason OUR productivity is low on the OECD list why bother to try and gain productivity efficiencys when one can just hire cheap labour efficient productivity is what we need to do to help save our environment No. Yes there is only one person in trumps world and thats himself he is trying to spread his dumb ass views around Papatuanuku Many thanks to the European Union and OUR Labour lead coalition goverment. ka kite ano P.S in the near future we are going to have a lot of Pacific Island environmental refugees and we need to plan for that
thehui the meth testing was a sham and look whom that bad behavior by the national government and there meth testing m8s affected mostly Maori there views on this is who cares . ka kite ano P.S $100 million flushed into the wealthy m8s of the national party’s pockets
Newshub Nation there you go the justices system is a big sham when the police can not get enough evidence to set up there fall person for a unsolved crime they bribe and manufacture evidence Lisa Arthur Taylor is letting everyone know how corrupt the jail house witness police bribed witnesses are the courts should be baned from using this bull—- evedince. tangata are just sheep in there reality . Ana to kai
Ka kite ano
Newshub did you know that tangata classes for learning te reo are in high demarned now ka pai Maori culture is a beautiful caring historic respectful culture .
Germany has won there game in the Russian football World cup ka pai.
Loyd that will be great if Peter Burling won the Volvo Ocean race around Papatuanuku I say you will have a couple of refreshments tonight to celebrate the team and Peters win Loyd and that will be the triple wins for Peter Burling .
Ka kite ano P.S I miss my days working on Tangaroa watching the wild life we have to get this poisons stuff plastic out of OUR environment asap
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It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
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. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
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Tasty!
https://i.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/104952405/rat-breaches-bank-atm-in-india-dines-out-on-27500-worth-of-cash
I guess Jacinda’s baby will not get to swim in the oceans around her house as by the time she grows up that will not be possible by the look of things.
“Opposition grows to pumping sewage into Waitemata Harbour near the harbour bridge”
http://trendingnowgh.com/opposition-grows-to-pumping-sewage-into-waitemata-harbour-near-the-harbour-bridge/
When Water care stared charging water separately from the Auckland rates it was supposed to transform Auckland’s water into 21 century with no sewerage going into the sea.
Instead Water care via Auckland council took the money, and have not separated the pipes and applying to keep polluting. Even if they do separate the pipes, there is growing pollution from the diesel and pollution of the wastewater due to the very poor planning in every area from Auckland council and the government.
In spite of all the growing problems local and central government stubbornly refuse to acknowledge they did this to make a short term buck out of immigration and leave the mess to the residents to clean up (or price them out as it seems to be turning out).
Like transport it is not just money that is needed. Watercare needs to be de corporatised into an organisation that answers to the people, has a clear mandate to stop pollution and does not have any salaries over $300k.
Less managers and a smaller more expert team to do the job instead of send out glossy pamphlets every month saying what a great job they do and asking for more money from ratepayers.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/350225/auckland-swimmers-unaware-of-contamination-on-beaches
I live right beside the sea in Ngataringa Bay and have done so for the last 17 years. I swim October through to May.
The water quality has been steadying improving during that time. The old Devonport tip (long since closed) does not leach out nearly as much as in the past. Watercare has spent a lot of money in the last 15 years upgrading pipes, so sewerage overflows basically no longer happen.
I certainly recall water quality being much worse than it is now at Narrow Neck and at Cheltenham.
Sure Watercare could do better, but so far they are doing a pretty good job. Probably the best of all the Council Controlled Organisations. It certainly does not need major reform.
Jacinda’s baby will still be swimming in the sea around Auckland well into her old age.
Lol my confidence is not increased based on those anecdotal musings.
I wonder how many beaches will close next summer in Auckland due to pollution – 10? 16? 30? Who knows but it ain’t going to be zero.
Now, now, marty. Just because he’s a Nat doesn’t mean Wayne is always wrong.
The Manukau harbour has massively improved in the 19 years I’ve been in Titirangi. Problems now generally occur after heavy rainfall in areas where the sewage infrastructure is newish. Which leads me to suspect the coliforms are probably from pets, rather than inadequate infrastructure.
Plenty of Do Not Swim signs around the Titirangi area still.
Some of the pipe and pumping stations that they put in place in the early 1980s seem to be wearing out.
There’s no doubt Watercare has done amazing and positive things to the Manukau by brining the entire treatment system onshore over the past 15 years.
But Piha, Muriwai, Wood Bay, Blockhouse Bay and others are still pretty bad.
Good the poos and weese going in has reduced. Localised sea water quality may indeed be slightly better, once the plastic is ignored, I spose.
@Wayne, we can’t all afford to live in Devonport, according to the article, “Auckland Council has red alerts in place at more than 60 of the city’s 84 beaches; red alert means a “moderate to high risk of infection” from swimming.”
I don’t see that as a good omen for Jacinda’s baby or anyone elses kids either, look at the damage they are doing down Long Bay with their developments, and they are thinking of pumping sewerage into St Mary’s Bay, when Cox is bay is permanently polluted!
Excellent – Wayne has just reported in from his dacha on the Black Sea that all is well. Fantastic – I am so relieved.
Watercare don’t deal with stormwater – Council’s Healthy Waters Department does that. It’s the storm water overflows at peak mixed with old sewer lines that Auckland Council failed to separate that do the most damage.
Watercare are separating most of this in the isthmus through the Central Interceptor project. That $900m+ job is preparing its bidders now.
Wayne & Ad overlook the fact that stormwater is not the polluter, wastewater is, and Watercare deceitfully opted out of the 3 waters concept when the greater Auckland City was formed they have been talking about a new Western interceptor for years and now they are involved with ACC in suggesting that money should be spent to ensure that wastewater can be discharged into the harbour above the bridge.
Watercare needs to be completely restructured it it no longer fit for purpose as far as handling wastewater is concerned except that they are keeping the North Shore Rosedale plant at the high standard that it had been brought up to before they acquired it from NSCC in the amalgamation ion process after many years of neglect.
With rising sea levels my guess is Jacinda’s baby may get to swim in the oceans around her house, whether she wants it or not.
Trump targeting of women and children, as criminals, rapists and murderers is so so sad. Dumb. Fake News.
More disappointment for affordable homes. Funny how when business and richer influential individuals consult they are listened too, but when the public consults they are ignored and called Nimby’s.
So first we had the Super city under the Natz, getting ready the assets for privatisation, next we had the unitary plan to sky rise the price of land and make instant profits out of thin air under the Natz, but now we have Labour believing the lie that it is the land that needs to be made affordable, and it is ok for NZ to open our land to the world to be speculated by foreign buyers driving up the prices?
Apparently that was so the ‘neoliberal mantra says’ foreigners put money in to build houses on the land.
But now backtrack, foreign buyers are actually now able to buy and speculate on the apartments as well as the land?
Surely we are worse off now than before because we just put another million low wage workers into Auckland to help keep the Ponzi housing and transport going and expect the residents to pay for it?????
“The select committee report, released today, recommends:
– allowing pre-selling up to 60 per cent of units in big housing projects to foreigners, without them having to on-sell once construction is finished, as long as the investors don’t live in the properties.
– Waiving the requirement to on-sell immediately for investors in big developments intended to be rented out or sold under a rent-to-buy model.
– Allowing all resident visa holders, not just those with permanent residents visas, to buy land without Overseas Investment Office consent.
– Putting the burden of proof on purchasers, not lawyers, to make sure they meet the residency criteria.
– Allowing foreigners to invest in major hotel developments as long as they lease the rooms they buy back to the hotel.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12073385
Yep, bloody stupid.
We need an outright ban on offshore ownership. Not excuses for them to keep pricing NZers out of living in NZ.
When David Parker is mates with John Darby you have to expect this kind of fudged policy.
You seem to be well out of date there with that remark/innuendo BG.
Go have a look at the threads under 8 (not 8 itself but further down the thread) and 11 in Open Mike yesterday. Parker made it very clear on Thursday in the House, and on RNZ Morning Report yesterday morning that he is not mates with Darby and has hardly seen him for many years.
As Anne remarked at 8.2.2 Parker “was obviously very angry and at one point politely advised Espiner that some of the claims he was making were bordering on defamation.”
Hooton’s original article in the Herald has apparently also disappeared off the website …
oops thanks veutoviper….it looked very damning at first glance and I have had dealings with John Darby in the environment court where, shall we say (being careful here) some of the evidence put forward was questionable.
Of course I should have realised it was Hooton=largely made up.
Apologies to you and Mr. Parker.
No need for apologies to me, BG. I was just warning you /watching your back!
Also there is now a frenetic post on TDB on the subject of Hooton’s missing Herald article:
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/06/22/wheres-matthew-hootons-claim-that-david-parker-is-corrupt-gone/
You may be interested in this other Herald article on the subject, if you have not already seen it.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12075267
From TDB article:
“Matthew Hooton is the Head of Slytherin House, the architect of the Death Star, the moral Shepard to the Right.”
Larf……I actually like The Daily Blog contrary to some Standardistas. It’s out there doing it, calling a spade a spade etc.
Love how the ‘poor’ lawyers can’t possibly be held accountable for residency criteria. Happy to take the money but not liable for any frauds I see.
It’s like John Key’s back in town.
How about electric buses and trucks being mandatory to reduce pollution, get the rail going to and out of the centre of Auckland, remove ports of Auckland somewhere else so freight is not going there and reducing congestion and putting the Vancouver tax on foreign sales ASAP!
Oh and actually have a 15 year period before giving out NZ permanent residency and citizenship like lollies while saying we can’t afford to pay super or care properly for our our residents hospital and educations and throwing up our arms and thinking a tax will stop the pollution of the oceans when they are pumping in more sewage and wastewater and forgetting about climate change and increased flooding in their haste to create more ‘tenants in our own country’ under a Labour government and NZ First government and Green government that campaigned on stopping foreign speculation!
Vancouver slaps 15% tax on foreign house buyers in effort to cool market
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/02/vancouver-real-estate-foreign-house-buyers-tax
People need to reduce their travel and rely mainly on local produce.
Electric isn’t going to cut it.
UPS is buying a fleet of 1,000 electric vans from Workhorse
https://electrek.co/2018/06/15/ups-fleet-1000-electric-vans-workhorse/
Tesla Semi will deliver beer – Budweiser orders 40 electric trucks
https://electrek.co/2017/12/07/tesla-semi-deliver-beer-budweiser-orders-40-electric-trucks/
Where they currently have charging stations in NZ or in the next 12 months.
https://charge.net.nz/map/
https://twitter.com/Tesla/status/1009470198896738305/video/1
Not to mention what the Chinese are doing – like changing entire city bus fleets to electric.
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/01/03/100-chinese-citys-record-smashing-16359-electric-bus-fleet/
Or the Chinese car market accounts for something 40% of the world sales of electric cars – supplied almost entirely by domestic production.
https://cleantechnica.com/2018/04/22/byd-steps-up-china-electric-car-sales-report/
It works a lot better for China, they have way cheaper electricity than say NZ… makes far more sense for them to do it. Our Solar is expensive (lack of cheap land and sun hours) so we rely on hydro but only enough for the local populace at this point. Any extra and the grid will be stretched.
Shut down Tiwai Point and there will be plenty of spare capacity.
After all, Australia’s bauxite mines are in the middle of one of the best solar resource areas in the world. Eventually it will make more sense to take advantage of that solar and refine it there rather than shipping alumina, which by weight is half oxygen that needs to be removed, to an island in the middle of nowhere to then be shipped back out again once it’s refined.
Once demand gets high enough, wind energy can ramp up fairly quickly. As I understand it there’s a lot of wind projects that are consented but shelved due to low demand.
giving out NZ permanent residency and citizenship like lollies while saying we can’t afford to pay super
One of the big benefits of immigration is that it makes our superannuation more affordable. New Zealand has a demographic bubble which will mean super costs will continue to increase for the next couple of decades. Increasing the ‘working age’ population and enlarging the economy means more tax revenue to fund our over 65 UBI.
Clearly not working when the migrants can bring their aged relatives over and they have full health benefits straight away and super within 10 years. So the average age of retirement is 65 and the average age of life is now over 80 years. Plus the last 3 years cost the most.
“Mr Woodhouse said another factor in closing the parent category was the strain being put on the health system.
“Information that I’ve been given about the burden … on the health services that are considerably higher than other people of that age who are eligible for New Zealand public health services.”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has been a relentless critic of the parent category.
He said after years of denying there was a problem, the government was now finally admitting something was wrong.
“You’ve got 87,000 people now who have arrived in the last 15 years, who are able to access our health service immediately and our superannuation within ten years, which other country in the world allows that?
“Well the answer is none – just New Zealand.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/315435/migrants'-parents-cost-nz-'tens-of-millions‘
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11635692
Is it fair to allow migrants to bring aged relatives over to access our health care, while Kiwis who worked for years and paid taxes wait months and years for health access to operations and then have to compete on the waiting lists for more and more people???
Likewise they have already found the migrant parents cost far more in health care than equivalent aged Kiwis according to the links above.
Even in OZ they wait 15 years but it is not long enough when the burden is on the young who are getting poorer and poorer in their own countries.
https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2017/06/22/migrants-wait-15-years-aged-pension
Shouldn’t be allowed to bring in the parents at all. Immigration should probably be banned for anyone over the age of 30.
Yep, they should just have 2 year visas for visiting when the parents have to have private health insurance and pay a fee to cover all the infrastructure they will use that the exisiting tax payers pay for and certainly not buy up housing!
I’m not against migrant parents visiting their kids and grandkids, but the present system is having a laugh, and grossly unfair on existing residents who are told pay more, get less while somehow someone’s aged parent can rock up, pay no taxes, get a gold card with free transport, super, free medical and their 20yo kids are on $20 p/h and qualify for WFF and free education, including one year free tertiary while the existing tax payers are paying of $50k student loans from the 1990’s and going to food banks in Auckland while they are both working.
It’s not a fair deal for those that have been taxed to death already from neoliberalism, when the government is happy to give hand outs to new comers who in many cases are far wealthier than the local tax payers.
In addition recent migrants, having babies which is only to be expected for 20 and 30 year olds so they ain’t working and paying taxes for that long in NZ and will never cover the taxes if they are on low wages, so maybe that is why our productivity is flat and we need to borrow more government and council money to pay for bad decisions while our public service are groaning under the load?
Certain people like Solka seem to think that’s fair on existing people to help new mostly richer people get even richer while poorer people pay for their care as those on $90k apparently are keen to abandon and not even bother looking after their own kin when NZ taxpayers will do if for them. It’s insane!
Can you please walk me through your argument?
I believe our economy has been growing roughly at the same rate as net immigration and our productivity is almost flat.
Not all immigrants are ‘workers’ and certainly not all will contribute to diversifying the economy and make it more innovative and sustained & resilient to future shocks (of any kind).
No it doesn’t.
The government doesn’t actually need tax revenue. That’s a lie by the private sector that has helped them shift the power from the people into the hands of the rich.
The fact that you’re repeating that lie shows how you don’t understand why the demographic bulge is a problem and why immigration won’t fix it.
The demographic bulge is a physical problem. With so many leaving the workforce there won’t be enough people working to support both themselves, the retired and the bludging rich.
Immigration won’t fix that problem because it will cause other problems itself. Some will be social but mostly they’ll be economic (real economics not the delusional stuff based around money) and those will be to do with over-population. The government is trying to increase population growth to meet those retiring but to do that will push us well sustainability.
The government and NZ really would be better off spending huge amounts developing 3D printing factories and our extracting and processing our own resources. The problem the government has with that is that it will destroy jobs and cause an even faster collapse of our society as all the wealth created would simply go to the rich even fatser.
Unless a parent has an annual income of more than $60 000, and a spare $1 million that they’ll invest in NZ over four years and another $500 000 to live on, then they ain’t getting in.
And even satisfying the above only allows for an application for permanent residence after four years. During those four years it would appear that medical expenses must be covered by the patient.
Permanent residency needs to be removed. You’re either a citizen or your out.
That would affect a lot of people – do you know the numbers?
I’m a citizen DTB. Just not a recognised New Zealand citizen.
Now, what’s your problem?
You’re concerned or agitated that I cannot hold a NZ passport, stand for public office, represent NZ in international sport…or are you in a fluster about the fact that I can be deported?
Oh. And as a permanent resident, bar any dependent children I may have, there is no easy pathway available for me to bring any family members into the country.
The stuff your railing against (it seems) is the benefits that accrue more readily to people accepted as and recognised as New Zealand citizens. That being the case, I fully expect the next sentence your piles mouth out for you to type will be calling for a ban on citizenship, yes?
Bill, when the right comes from all this lazy immigration, like Windrush they will be deporting the most vulnerable, after cutting all the benefits, and it will be people like you for the chop, while those who came here 5 years ago and got so much for free and have the money, will be sitting pretty.
That is the lesson from Windrush. They go after the venerable who don’t have access to lawyers, not those who came here last.
So migrants who think that defending lazy immigration is benefiting them, should check their paperwork is in order, because Auckland is ground zero and there’s been a massive change in demographic and they keep putting more taxes in to help the rich who don’t live here, while taxing the poor and existing residents.
Those coming in are voting for National and rights for the rich. Aka look at the recommendations from the select committee to give more rights to foreign investors in property and let bad lawyers off the hook.
As for not getting your parents in, you just don’t know the right immigration lawyers as 87,000 have arrived in the last 15 years, who are able to access our health service immediately and our superannuation within ten years.
Possibly that is why the lawyers apparently are trying not be responsible for their residency decisions in the select committees…
See my comment at 2.6.4. (or better, do some reading on immigration criteria before running off at the mouth)
“Unless a parent has an annual income of more than $60 000, and a spare $1 million that they’ll invest in NZ over four years and another $500 000 to live on, then they ain’t getting in.”
Your comment makes it even worse that the poor long term resident Kiwi’s are expected to support new rich aged coming into NZ.
One million doesn’t even buy you much of a house in Auckland, and super and health is not means tested…so you get your 500k to live on while our laws allow new rich people to then get extremely generous benefits including free transport that beneficiaries who are disabled or very poor don’t get.
Surely the 1.5 million better spent of making the new aged migrant pay their own way via super and health care not expect the Kiwis to chip in for their affluent lifestyle? Apparently there are aged care issues as well as hospital issues, and many Kiwis who paid many taxes are on waiting lists for health care, but money apparently can just wave new people through.
Of course as well as all that, you can just convert that money into a trust once you gain citizenship and viola, you have no income!
+1 Draco. And you have to live here Permanently to achieve citizenship with provable taxes that are positive not negative and prove good character for 20 years! Unless you are a refugee. We are all living longer, yet our laws seem to think we all die at 70 years!
If we had a country without poor people it would be all well and good to be throwing money to the world’s rich and opportunistic migrants.
Sadly we have people living in cars and going to food banks and are shutting down our university libraries to save money and have mouldy hospitals. I’m not sure how the government can justify constant immigration hand outs to the world’s rich and working poor, until we can get our existing citizens problems under control
I think this tits thing has legs.
There is a test you can get when replacing mercury fillings called a serum compatibly test. This shows what material your system will react to vs what will be inert so when your fillings are replaced you know the new filling isn’t harming you. Its different for everyone and there are apparently over a thousand(!?) different types of materials that can be used in dentistry.
Q: Why would it not be the same for other foreign materials placed in the body?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/360217/so-many-people-don-t-believe-what-we-re-saying
Ugly…
“They were so cheap, they were only $3500, so I thought why not.”
“She spent the $15,000 she had saved to go travelling on the procedure.
“I had to choose my health or my happiness to go travelling.””
I cannot believe how somebody so moronic still breathes.
Well of course she nearly didn’t
What a fucking stupid brainless person
Make of it what you like …
Hmmm…
What do you call the person who graduates bottom of the class in med school?
I used to having fucking Tourettes, now I just swear.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
It’s no laughing matter. The guy I met was incredibly brave to keep going out in public. He faced his fears. I doubt I could have done it.
We are a community here, albeit an unusual one to be sure, and while it’s common for people to have the odd spat we all need to show a little more understanding and tolerance for each other IMO.
DH, I didn’t read the sign on the door, I was bantering under the belief I was in Open Mike.
Yes, I’m aware Tourettes is no joke, nor should it be taboo. Yeah me too, I’d turn hermit.
I agree DH, I think reasoned contrasting views is what makes this blog vibrant and we should be fostering an environment that induces more of it.
I wonder if the Germans are more open to immigration. The right leaning practical thinking executives at BMW realising they’re going to more retirement parties than apprentice inductions.
For those that haven’t seen it and dig the Fab Four, car karaoke with Paul McCartney is a bit of a hoot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjvzCTqkBDQ
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Take this generic stuff over to Open Mike please.
This post is on immigration.
Oh blow, sorry Ad, I am in the wrong spot, my apologies, please bump it over.
David Mac, Norm and I say “Thanks!”
Fantastic Negrito, Love this video. Rock and Roll baby with a great chorus!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djWziMwFVWw&ab_channel=FantasticNegrito
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104936906/labours-general-secretary-understood-to-be-taking-new-job-with-air-nz
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/06/22/128569/labour#
‘Labour commissioned Wellington lawyer Maria Berryman in March to investigate how it handled the affair, its general culture and any other incidents of sexual harassment or abuse within the party. She had three months to report back and her findings were not to be made public but go to key party leaders.’
I’m sure its a complete coincidence that its been three months and Andrew Kirton is leaving, not that we’ll know since the report isn’t being made public
Rest in peace Koro Wetere.
All the way from Kirk to Lange, with a haul of policy wins and the great Tainui settlement.
A life well lived, in the service of others.
Pleased to see that addiction support workers and mental health workers are getting equity. $3 to $5 dollars an hour back paid to July 1 2017. Let’s do this!!
Great win for Abs and test debutants
ABs wins havnt been great for a long time and won’t be until they are representative of NZ community again. Winnng by any means #1 is at the detriment to NZ, sport is to bring together, not isolate.
Neo-liberal nitwittedness elitism pee poor excuse for a ruling class!
Q*A Michael Barnett is full of national propa-ganda pushing the doom and gloom to try and make labour look bad . Business have been Creaming it with all the business friendly changes to taxes and labour laws under national . The skill shortage well we know who to blame for that mess national did not invest in training tangata there cheap solution to this was to import foreign skilled workers and who gives a toss about the common tangata whom these foreign workers put on the couch.
Its not just multi national company’s that pay a low wage its a lot of big business who do this don’t be afraid of a wage rise take it as a challange to lift your productivity its not rocket science .The low wage society is the reason OUR productivity is low on the OECD list why bother to try and gain productivity efficiencys when one can just hire cheap labour efficient productivity is what we need to do to help save our environment No. Yes there is only one person in trumps world and thats himself he is trying to spread his dumb ass views around Papatuanuku Many thanks to the European Union and OUR Labour lead coalition goverment. ka kite ano P.S in the near future we are going to have a lot of Pacific Island environmental refugees and we need to plan for that
thehui the meth testing was a sham and look whom that bad behavior by the national government and there meth testing m8s affected mostly Maori there views on this is who cares . ka kite ano P.S $100 million flushed into the wealthy m8s of the national party’s pockets
Newshub Nation there you go the justices system is a big sham when the police can not get enough evidence to set up there fall person for a unsolved crime they bribe and manufacture evidence Lisa Arthur Taylor is letting everyone know how corrupt the jail house witness police bribed witnesses are the courts should be baned from using this bull—- evedince. tangata are just sheep in there reality . Ana to kai
Ka kite ano
Newshub did you know that tangata classes for learning te reo are in high demarned now ka pai Maori culture is a beautiful caring historic respectful culture .
Germany has won there game in the Russian football World cup ka pai.
Loyd that will be great if Peter Burling won the Volvo Ocean race around Papatuanuku I say you will have a couple of refreshments tonight to celebrate the team and Peters win Loyd and that will be the triple wins for Peter Burling .
Ka kite ano P.S I miss my days working on Tangaroa watching the wild life we have to get this poisons stuff plastic out of OUR environment asap