Those attendance figures would have been even more humiliating if the campaign hadn't arranged travel ban waivers and flown in lots of people from outside the country. Including the man in possession of the world's most punchable face.
Greens vs Govt. Green parliamentarians will have to stand on the sidelines and applaud both sides.
The first application from Oceana Gold to turn 178 hectares of farm land into a toxic dump was refused by the Eugenie Sage, the minister of land information, but then the Cabinet took her off the case. They handed it to Robertson and Parker who rubber stamped it. Sage had considered the loss of productive land, the increase in fossil fuels, risks of toxic dam failure and a range of social and economic issues. The second Crown decision only focused on its export potential and the jobs it would maintain.
I wouldn't put it past Robertson to think like that, but if Parker did too then he's not as smart as he seems. Jobs & money is an insufficient basis for such a decision. I'd be surprised if the court doesn't decide on that rationale.
Good on Catherine for her leadership initiative – I hope her analysis is correct. Just cos there's gold in them thar hills doesn't mean anyone has the right to destroy them to get it. Authorising foreign companies to do so seems even more loopy.
Oceana Gold, a large multinational, wants to expand both within Waihi and into the coastal and conservation lands on the eastern side of the peninsula. This land includes beautiful forests, endangered species classified as taonga, and places people visit and revere.
Oceana wants to buy the food producing land at Waihi to build a huge waste dump for the toxic tailings which would come out of these new mines. The toxic waste in mine tailings includes mercury, arsenic, zinc, cadmium, lead and many other persistent heavy metals. The proposed expansion puts so much at risk for so little benefit, except to this foreign company. The tailings dams, or “impoundments” as the industry like to call them, are earth dams with some rock reinforcing and they are legendary globally for leaking or collapsing. The long list of dam failures in a range of countries over the last few decades makes interesting reading.
You bet. I've read about some of them in the past. Hard to believe these neoliberal buggers in the coalition remain determined not to learn the lessons…
It is not neo-liberalism to oppose what would have been the closure of the mine, with the loss of hundreds of jobs and the rapid decline of Waihi and Waihi beach. I recall what both these places were like before the mine.
The issues considered by the Ministers would have been considered any time in the last 100 years had the issue come up, so neoliberalism (a favourite prerogative of the far left) can't be a factor.
Well it would be good to be able to read the govt's justification, eh? I wonder if anyone ever did a poll of the locals. Similar situation as on the West Coast down south, no doubt: a majority who think jobs beat the environment and a minority with the opposite view. Perhaps there's a suitable compromise, but the court case seems evidence that it hasn't happened yet.
The issues considered by the Ministers would have been considered any time in the last 100 years had the issue come up, so neoliberalism (a favourite prerogative of the far left) can't be a factor.
The justification of these things is capitalism – how to make rich people richer. They then sell that destruction to the people by saying that it will create jobs and the people buy it because, by and large, they're living in poverty and only have one way to get an income which is to go along with the destruction.
Wayne I lived in Waihi. We had Gadabouts shoe factory, Akrad Radio and TV factory, the school of mines became a mine museum,We had a helmet factory a cheese and milk factory, A large Ministry of works Depot etc. Waihi was full of work and life, including Farming and Kiwi fruit nearby. Blueberry farms and products, a Retirement home, a Retirement Village and hospital and good local shopping.
The mine was an important employer, but not the only one. The problems started in Roger Douglas's days, and were multiplied by Ruth Richardsons' actions. Finally Waihi was made poorer by the open cast mining and royalties going to the Hauraki Council mainly, rather than to the locals initially. Waihi suffered lowered water tables dust and noise/vibrations, and a good deal of anxiety about the tailings earth dam.. growing and growing.
Now there is anxiety about this being multiplied. Some homes have fallen in holes, or been bought to avoid court cases. The Gorge is shaky now, and an increase in road traffic won't improve that. So this decision is sadly employment and overseas earnings over communities and environment.
Work needed will overide all aspects
In fact mining heritage is the only reason anyone outside of Waihi goes to Waihi. They go cycling through mining stuff, and ride the Waihi-Waikno railway – a mining railway.
Waihi is one of the founding centres of New Zealand's Labour Party and union movement.
The company contributes about $200,000 per your to local schools and preschools, and as a snapshot paid $255,000 in donations to local charities. Ain't no one replacing that if it goes.
22% of their staff identify as Maori. Probably worth having a chat with the Ngai Tuwharetoa marae if you wanted to shut it down.
So to be sure I like Minister Sage would object to mining on DoC land. I marched against it on Great Barrier under the previous government.
But stopping mining in Waihi would simply kill the town. Within five years it would be as much a ghost town as Blackball or Waiuta.
And of course in normal times you would expect the economy to absorb that. This isn't normal times, and they aren't coming back.
It's not like they're gong to bring back the Pye Television factory either.
Or Nambassa.
This isn't a government that's going to kill this mine when we're heading for 10% unemployed, economy tanking, no local job alternatives, an average population age of almost 50, and no other life known.
Hm, okay, I see their thinking. Well done. It'll be interesting to see how the court handles the case anyway. Sometimes Greenies do get rather purist on an issue where compromise makes more sense, and that could be the situation here.
Incidentally I checked out Blackball in my brand-new motorhome three years ago and was surprised to get a sense of it as developing place. Dunno why, but it was a definite impression. Maybe just folks renovating all over the place, rather than derelict…
Have you seen the streams of lycra-cyclists from Auckland coursing through the joint in summer? Mining trails the lot of them. Heritage is a weird thing.
Ah, but do the locals make money off them? If not, could be a viable alternative income stream. Wealthy Aucklanders supporting regional towns would be setting a good example to all…
But stopping mining in Waihi would simply kill the town.
The problem with basing an entire town/society on an extractive industry is that, eventually, there is no longer anything to extract and the town/society dies anyway. See Nauru:
The story of tiny Nauru, once one of the wealthiest states per capita in the world, is a tale of rapacious colonialism, epic mismanagement, and avarice.
Australia, New Zealand and Britain had nearly exhausted the viable deposits of phosphate by 1968 when Australia granted Nauru sovereignty, leaving behind one of the world’s worst environmental disasters.
It might look like a Pacific island paradise but, thanks to phosphate mining, its interior is a moonscape of jagged limestone pinnacles unfit for agriculture or even building.
We really seem to be determined not to learn the lessons of the past so as to maintain our failed socio-economic system.
It’s not like they’re gong to bring back the Pye Television factory either.
No I didn't. Ad implied that that was so through making ' the very best of its mining heritage.'
My point all along is that, once all the gold runs out, the town will die. Their little touristy thing may keep a family going afterwards but that'd be about it. It won't save the town.
So, if they want to save the town then they need to do something other than gold extraction.
When a Fox News poll paints a right-wing candidate as a loser, he ought to know he's in deep shit, right? Is Trump capable of figuring it out? And taking the next step: "Hey, I'm a real cool leopard – I can change these spots!"
In the head-to-head matchup, the poll finds Biden leads Trump by a 50-38 percent margin. That 12-point advantage is statistically significant, and up from Biden’s 8-point lead last month (48-40 percent).
He’s gonna have to pull finger to earn his second term. Winning from that far behind can't be done via complacency. Sure, it made sense to assume Biden would fail due to his innate inability, but the hotshot hasn't yet realised the same logic applies to him too – as long as he keeps misreading situations and ignoring his advisers.
Wouldn't surprise me one bit. Delusion, reality, what's the difference? The guy has a track record of assuming he can persuade others to accept his view. Trouble is, the poll conforms to the usual polsci standard, so the stats basis represents reality sufficiently to persuade informed observers. He really does need such people on board to secure a second term. Faced with a choice between two flakes, voters will go for the lesser evil. He'll get the second term only by seeming the lesser evil – sufficiently.
Blumenthal's enthusiasm for attacking those trying to actually achieve realistic progressive politics and hold Drongo Unbrained accountable is very difficult to distinguish from enthusiasm for Wussolini himself.
The point being that you have to actually get elected before you can then go on and do anything. Then when you do get elected, effective politics is a team activity – it's all about figuring out the compromises that turn a widely disparate collection of views and ideas into a workable package. Those are the points that seem to be missed or completely denied by anyone with a problem with the idea of "realistic progressive".
Sure – but undeniably that does tend to mean that tomorrow never arrives. It's maybe more productive to look at how (whether?) mass shifts in public consciousness are possible outside the domain of electoral politics, so that electoral politics is chasing to catch up, rather vainly trying to summon followers.
You really haven't got a grasp of the very simple arithmetic involved in electoral politics, have you?
Every single voter that Blumenthal and his fellow travelers persuade to not vote for Biden or Clinton or whomever is the closest to actually being progressive is effectively a vote for Donasaurus Wrecks (or whoever else is the reactionary-du-jour). And every time one of the reactionaries gets in, the possibility of achieving anything remotely progressive slips ever further away, because of the need to undo the damage done before attempting to build anything.
Sure you can whine about lesser evil voting all you want in your displays of public political masturbation. But the simple electoral arithmetic is that refusing to vote for the lesser evil is explicitly choosing to enable the greater evil.
So external pressure in politics means nothing to you…
I see it does, as you went on to bag Ralph Nader.
What a silly one dimensional puppet you are. If only politics worked like you hoped then the world would be all rainbows and unicorns.
In the real world politicians have to earn votes, not act like they deserve them. They also have to put up policy which counts.. And, here the real kicker it means nothing, unless there is ongoing pressure from the public. But baby wants to tell us political parties are the only answer – sad.
As for your strawman about lesser evil – yawn. You can lie to yourself all you like. That politics is broken, it only enables the right – that's it, now I see why you support it.
The right are enabled bacause they'll vote for anyone under the Republican ticket. The left disempower themselves by pretending that "external pressure" can change the dems, so work against the dems every chance they get.
Sanders achieved more change in his 2016 campaign than any third party candidate because he applied internal pressure. He got people to join the dems and run in 2018, and that changed the game in 2020.
Being too left to support anyone will never make anyone try to get your vote. Politicians go for votes they might actually get. They tailor their policies and statements to those voters. If you're a lost cause for them, they won't travel an inch in your direction.
I have seen this suggested before, or it may have been me, why don't we have a special post for the USA and that becomes separate and NZ politics is the default subject. It seems that there is more interest at watching the Tangerine Terror than our own peculiar brand of sweet and sour saucy.
We need to watch our own eggs to see if they are hatching, all wise birds do this. The greywarblers have never got the hang of this and often enable a wotsisname (shining cuckoo I think) to come into the world, which then boots the other eggs and babies too I think, out of the nest. Damned interloper. So let's do better than greywarblers here, and look after our own pollies, and make sure the right ones get the crackers.
Love how when you got nothing Andre it's always with the personal attacks.
Mind you when your such a parody of what constitutes a person on the left like yourself, it must be hard to go beyond you usual of spin, bullshit, gaslighting and lies.
You could actually try socialism, hell I'd even take a dose of social democracy from you – as it would actually mean improvement in people's lives.
"… it's always with the personal attacks." – who was/were the target(s) of Andre’s “personal attacks“?
you['ve] got nothing
your [sic] such a parody of what constitutes a person on the left you[r] usual of spin, bullshit, gaslighting and lies
Vehement objections to perceived personal attacks carry more weight when you don’t decend to ‘their’ level. And, for what it’s worth, I agree with Andre’s entertaining alternative labels for Trump.
The FBI are investigating the noose that was left in Bubba Wallaces locker, Nascar bans the racist confederate flag, and someone leaves a noose in a black drivers locker room. Once probably have been written off as a "joke", this shows how things have changed. Just saw footage of all the other car drivers and mechanics walking behind Wallaces car down the track, very powerful.
Things must really being changed in the South for a good ol boy like Richard Petty to be so supportive. Petty is almost certainly the greatest NASCAR Driver of all time. It is a very hard discipline to do well in, numerous Formula 1 drivers and their like have tried their luck and with the exception of a few road race wins have all come up short.
Some journalists should take a chill pill, which is a more than reasonable verdict. However, it fails to address the motivation of (some) journos to over-egg things. Still a good read though.
Wow! Now that's a journalist! And he's right, I'd go nuts stuck in a room all day, we should have more sympathy. And I thought that there obviously a crap load of people sticking to the rules, only a few breaking them. Did I hear right on the radio that there are 20,000 people currently in quarantine? If so, then wow.
It is just over 4,000 people in quarantine/isolation at present but they’re increasing capacity.
I think the 20,000 is the total number of arrivals who have gone through the quarantine/isolation process, give or take a few. I’m sure the exact number is somewhere …
Yeah, Jack is right to advise a more balanced view, and he makes the significant point that journos function as opinion leaders in the community. Thus they do have a moral responsibility to be fair in their analysis and commentary.
Ardern is brilliant at the dancing part of political management, but needs to get onto deliberating and designing ASAP, then convince us she is the best leader to discharge her new ideas and plans. If she doesn’t, she risks leaving herself and Labour open to attacks from National
I agree with this analysis. She ought to try and take time out to meditate on how to display leadership more comprehensively during the campaign. Design of the recovery plan remains the essential missing component. I suspect brainstorming of that is already happening, but a shift toward more strategic thinking is needed, then a timeline to enact implementation.
Yeah, meanwhile she's having to cope with and counter the relentless stories in the media still slamming her Covid response implementation .Less time having to be wasted on reassuring a public constantly alarmed by misleading media stories would be good
From that piece: "she still hasn’t defined what her vision for New Zealand is."
John Key won 3 elections without ever articulating anything resembling a "vision". It's something that pundits pontificate on, and ordinary voters don't care about.
Key won 3 elections without ever articulating anything resembling a "vision"
A typical view from the leftist bubble. Rightists would have taken note every time he restated the necessity for continuance of business as usual. Mainstreamers were captivated by that vision after the gfc. It worked. Even amongst centrists.
The reason corporates went global with vision statements in the early '90s was the effective social psychology outcomes they produce. I remember when TVNZ workshopped all that stuff. I was working in their newsroom, attended some. I even recall the framing: Vision 2020. Just a coincidence we're in that year now?
I recall one suggestion that got traction: video on demand. Now a reality. Never discount how futures are generated via collective envisioning…
"Key says the test of any prime minister is whether he or she leaves the country in better shape than when he or she inherited it.
It is a somewhat higher test than the one Sir Robert Muldoon invoked before his tenure – that he hoped to leave the country no worse off than he found it."
Key did have a vision and a vision is always based in the values of the visionary. So a vision can be malevolent, self-centred, or even boring. And Key's vision was a mixture of those three – to be fair, the malevolence was more the result of the unthinking insouciance of the wealthy, rather than an active desire to cause harm.
Indeed. When observer grows up he/she'll learn how collective visions create political cultures. Or fail to learn that. In the interim that person does correctly diagnose pragmatism & blokeism as the other two operational strands of Key's political praxis. So a youngster with some promise…
Yes Incognito! The essential point should be that there have been no community spreading for weeks. Every appearance of infection has been contained. What a great success – and yet there is a huge welling of denial from journalists. Piffle we say!
Last weekend the Press published several columns asking for moderation yet Bryce Edwards ignored them and collated all the worst columns and only Bowalley Road for the positives scraped in.
Jack Vowels, ianmac? Is that spelling of his name an example of the Great Vowel Shift?
Jim Flynn on RNZ yesterday said that people today don't read like they used to, and therefore opinions are affected by this paucity of knowledge and experience that reading affords.
These journalists obviously haven't read the story of the boy who called wolf.
So, those of us who still read newspaper journalism might be affected by their alarms, but many of us also hear the cry of 'wolf' and dismiss their alarmist, attention-seeking shallowness as a minor form of conspiracist doom-saying.
I don't think Bwyce is very nice. My teddy bear Edward thought he's a relative (Ted for short) but now doesn't and thinks he isn't nice either. Why does he seem to only like pointing out our faults. I think we need to be told once, and then get a pat on the head for the good things. (Ted thinks so too.)
So I need to tell Ted that Bwyce is paid to find faults with Labour and everyone? That is a shame that he can't be fair and frank at the same time. Is that what they call buy-us?
Words of wisdom. But will the tabloid journos (which means most of them) take any notice? Course not. They operate like a pack of baying wolves and they have no intention of changing.
Yes great article. I am one of the people who have slammed NZders who are self isolating for not keeping to the rules of social distancing.
So an acknowledgement to all those who did the self isolating thing as they were meant too, my sincere thanks to you. It would have been very hard staying isolated for two weeks in a small room.
Yeah – good article at 6.0. if the media really wanted to help they could quit the sensationalist headline and just short form the list of complaints by hotel which would be a great help to identify those residences not performing up to standard. Set up a snitch line so that the passengers could supervise each other? Those following the rules and desperate to leave could be right into that.
Observer, LOL re the breakfast……and what about the water for the bus ride!
Naughty for me to join in this humour, but as I posted above, my sincere thanks to Kiwis and there will be many of them who did the right thing with little or no complaint
Be a little careful with those polls. Respondents are recruited off social media so all the non social media types are missed. In fact the group may be quite select – remember 20% of people don't have a phone suitable for an app and 50% have never downloaded one so the social media space may only be a little less limited.
I agree that it's less reliable than "traditional" polls. However, on this issue the results have been both internally consistent (a series since March, all 80% plus) and were also in line with the Colamr-Brunton/Reid research polls.
In general terms, I'd rank the measures of public opinion as …
1) TV1/TV3 polls, and the private polls by UMR and Curia
2) Roy Morgan
3) Horizon and Spinoff
4 – 99) daylight
100) spam non-polls for AM show, and all the other meaningless "my mates on Facebook", "brother-in-law at BBQ" etc.
The NZ initiative ie Business round table ACT party super pac now claiming almighty stuff up. 6 weeks ago were saying we should have overseas students here by July, level 1 ,3 weeks earlier open borders with Australia by July.National Winston Peter's etc were pushing the same line.
Now on a related topic. Why is the MOH still saying that risks around air crew are low? Haven't they got the public message that we expect the risk to be managed as close to zero as possible. Do they need another breakout to be convinced or are they simply idiots? Or RW sympathisers trying to make trouble.
Why is Airnz not being leaned all over to improve the crewing standards. and rosters.even if it results in extra manning on rosters and fewer hours worked. Quite frankly some extra crew costs are a great deal cheaper then either quarantine or a more widespread outbreak. Sharing crews between Australia, NZ domestic and the Pacific Islands (!) and MOH saying Australia is low risk has to be "stupid of the year". Have they not realised that passengers are coming through Australia from other destinations? Can't they read?
And why is the plague ridden Airline not implementing stricter standards than they appear to be. And I saw somewhere that they were going to use China based crew for some flights to NZ. How on earth are they going to keep them separate from local employees when they arrive? That should go well.
These gaps all appear to be so obvious but these top managers simply seem to be unable to register that actions have consequences.
So
-MOH should tighten the rules and stop going "low risk" and defending that position. Much as they defended the "distress" of the road trippers rather than focusing on the risk to the community.
– Airnz needs to get ahead of the curve and go for stronger safety. Get some of those Singapore airline Hazmat crew suits as well
A South Auckland crane driver has been denied a $100,000 payout for his gastric cancer after a government-owned finance company switched his policy….
His wife is furious that on the basis of what she says is a salesperson's garbled pitch – and despite recent official warnings to the insurance industry about its practice of "churning", or replacing old policies with new ones – her family of three children has now been pushed to financial breaking point.
"That could have helped raising my children," said Shirley Farani, 40, who kept her job in finance and accounts throughout the pandemic levels, working from home while also looking after Ailepata Ailepata, who's 43, who has been off work for four months.
"It's very distressing and very frustrating," she said, adding paying school expenses had been hard.
The family, who live in Māngere Bridge, had paid for life and trauma insurance cover from Westpac since 2013.
When, in 2018, they inquired about a mortgage with government-owned New Zealand Home Loans, an agent visited their home. He suggested changing insurers. They did, but ended up with less cover.
This should come under our laws governing not getting something fit for purpose, when relying on someone who 'holds themselves out' as having complete understanding of his or her product and recommended it as right for matching the client's requirements.
It should have been pointed out to them if there was any difference between the two products/policies and thoroughly explained.
Additionally there is the contra proferentem position. That the policies differed in very important points affecting their cover should be noted against the party that introduced the idea of the change, and who should have known that they were receiving lesser cover; this would have been ambiguous to the clients.
The Contra Proferentem Rule Explained
Contracts can be complex documents created after long periods of protracted negotiations. Each party in the contract is ostensibly looking out for its own best interests and will want the contract language to be to each party's favor. This can create scenarios in which the contract language is ambiguous or unclear, leading one party to interpret the contract differently from the other party.
I see we are going up to around 4000 immigration places. If these remain full then we are looking at some 50,000 returnees before then end of the year. plus potentially a million more if all the ones in Australia return.
The government is going to have to make some hard decisions fast otherwise there will be insufficent housing, health services etc or they will be completely overrun..
First up the visa holders who expired but were extended till sept need to be nudged on their way – they can't all leave at once on the last day so perhaps they need to start shifting expiry dates forward in groups.
Cut all inwards applications even at the higher salary levels. We will be getting back some well qualified individuals in the higher brackets.
Cease overseas work permit exemptions with "economic benefit" – only admit those who are needed for something special in the very short term.
Deprioritise permanent resident visa holders that have not been ordinarily resident here.
Trying to get some Kenyan connections in, all planned and now confused young people. So I hope that more than just NZs for numbers entering. They went away for the good times, and some could no doubt wait and work for a while and not rush home immediately to claim a place in the 'sleepy hollow'.
How lucky are we to live in NZ, we live in the only economically advanced country in the world to have eradicated Covid 19 from the community, the virus, globally, is now out of control, the WHO has warned of the impending global disaster about to happen.
The relentless negative OPINIONS from a range of news sources for the minor errors made by individuals is extremely disappointing, it really indicates their desire to put the Govt down without any relativity to reality its self. The media seem to be in a bubble of make believe, it seems their preference is to harm the very people that have introduced regulations and rules that have made NZ the safest place in the world today, something WE should all be extremely proud of.
Ex pat Kiwis are flooding back to NZ for the very same reason, we are pretty well the safest developed country in the world at this point of time, the virus is now spreading exponentially as too many countries just have not accepted the the relative harm that will occur.
All returning Kiwis should have a negative test result 24 hrs prior to boarding a plane, this doesn't mean they're clear, but at least it raises the bar, too many returnees would be prepared to return carrying the virus so they can come to a safe haven in the knowledge our Health system will take care of them.
Y'know, it's starting to stretch the limits of my willingness to believe that we really didn't have infected cases come into the country before those two women that caused the big kerfluffle.
Consider – pretty much every day since those two were detected, we've detected more new cases. But none before? I don't recall any announcements before that of cases detected in quarantine or managed isolation. The step change in detection frequency is overloading my "really?" detector.
What I really want to know is whether those in charge are also seeing that anomaly, and if they're taking steps to backcheck on those that made it through their two weeks and then released without testing. The good news is that the behavioural changes we've all made over the last few months are likely enough on their own to reduce R) below 1, so even if infectious new entrants made it out, they're still kinda unlikely to create new hotspots.
Yep I'd like to see them back checking too. Just in case – so we can get onto any community breakouts fast.
And I hate to say this but with the current flights in from highly infected places – do we need to pressure the airlines to ensure there is more PPE used on the planes – or that there is social distancing in the seating so people are not being infected in the air.And the bus trips from the airport too? And that the aircrews are kept strictly contained. And when they arrive even if it is only isolation they have to stay in the room for a number of days. Do we insist on some pre embarkation quarantine or testing? Or do we just close our borders again to some countries. Frankly if Spain is going to let in unchecked british tourists and with lockdowns easing in a number of countries the disease is starting to really take off overseas again
Plus I have real doubts about spreading quarantine too far and wide. It means any cases needing to be hospitalised will also be spread around rather then being concentrated in one hospital with the appropriate resources.
I can see plenty of local appetite for the tightest border controls possible
It would also help for the airlines to reduce the alcohol available on the flights to just one or two. Then just water, or low sweetened concentrate like lime juice. There is bound to be an ugly argument start some time with the stress that everyone is under, and particularly those that rarely are prevented from doing what they want. The entitled don't take to that.
Then when they arrive they should get their temp taken before going to isolation. A body with too much alcohol wouldn't give a good reading and could be fractious too.
Hopefully the quarantine period did its job, even if we didn't test the ones who came in with it because they were asymptomatic. But also we have increasing numbers of returnees?
Nobody random has presented to hospital yet, so after a month from the start of the dotballs that's a good sign.
edit: there was a tweet on testing the logistics of everyone at the airport, which is understandable. But a test in the first five days and another in the last few days would probably be a more achievable goal.
AFAIK the numbers are something like 20,000 returnees total gone through the system, of which 4000 are still in quarantine/isolation. So, 11 cases among the 4k still within the system, and 0 among the 16k that have passed all the way through? I struggle with that, even allowing for the idea that more of the returnees now are from places where infections are rampant and increasing (UK, India, US) and earlier returnees were biased more towards places with low infection rates (Australia).
In terms of testing numbers, lets say we get 500 returnees a day, two tests each. That means just doing the mandated testing on returnees accounts for 1000 tests a day, out of total testing capacity somewhere around 6k a day. And returnees have to be considered the highest testing priority. Looks to me like there's zero excuse for returnees to not ave been tested.
Shocking and even worse it seems true. Great rant. USA version of Jonathan Pie?
This goes with it on youtube:
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A group of fearless protesters were invited to stay in the Venezuelan Embassy the other day to protect it from US interference. The government wanted to put them in jail for a year for helping to stop the US-backed coup. The worst of their charges were recently dropped. Yay.
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National, the party of no regulations and freeeedom. All of a sudden they want it so they can swing it around and bash Labour with it. Pathetic.
Who are the sour looking journos or hangers on in the background of the pic interviewing PM Jacinda? ( I haven't watched the vid yet, have to do some useful stuff at home.)
The press gallery these days seem to behave as a pack of surly “nag bags”, living for their next leak from some duplicitous Ministerial toady, or Nat staff member.
Some of them, surely, must experience a little self loathing at what they have become. Journalists have to hold the powerful to account, but most of this rather joyless lot can’t separate that legitimate function from the Paparazzi like “gotchas” and “scalp taking”.
Just watched in full today's Bloomfield news conference. (I haven't watched any since level 3)
He was as good as usual, and journalists as bad as listening as usual. I think his answers were complex – they had to be to cover the myriad of events happening at the border – and it's clear that many at that presser just didn't understand them. His finish was superb after being asked about how events 'undermine confidence'. To paraphrase he said
….what should inspire confidence is that I'm fronting up and explaining whats going on, and what it taking place at the border and steps being taken to improve the border. What would undermine confidence is if I wasn't here talking to you
He should be savaged for this by the media but it won't happen.
I see also the Covid-Karens had another visitor when they got to Chris Bishop's house Lower Hutt. They really are the pits those two. Wanted special treatment then abused the process. No wonder someone ratted on them.
Also confused about why the media continues the line that Bloomfield and the MoH have been dishonest about the sisters' movements. Clearly Bloomfield and the MoH were getting their info from the Covid Karens, and they have been lying through their teeth since they landed!
I'm glad to see Woods hit back with a strongly worded letter. The misinformation spread by the National Party in these times must be countered, otherwise it becomes part of the narrative.
Though, it would be a massive coup for Woodhouse if he produced said homeless person…
The sixth in a series of demographically weighted polls by Stickybeak for The Spinoff conducted over recent months sees overall support for the government response fall just shy of 75%. That’s a drop of 10% from our previous poll, which was completed at the start of last week. Across five previous polls, beginning in late March, the average total backing for the government response was 84%, and this is the first time it has dropped under 80%. A week ago, we reported 74% of respondents judging the response “excellent”; today that number is 53%.
Don't you reckon it's about time Putin called in the debt and insisted Donny O Jnr and Melania have the Hydroxy Clorax Queen committed to the Tallahassee Home for the Bewildered?
If they hold out much longer, they could lose everything and its all going to look a bit too obvious – the Tangerine Turkey's disciples seem to be dropping off like flies on paper soaked in pyrethrin
Tangerine – the colour of the age. Hope it goes out of fashion soon. A very 'colourful' comment OwT. The news here aims to be factual, but it isn't boring.
Well as a parent @ Grey, I'm clutching me stolen pearls and just thinking of the children! And it's just as well I disposed of all my worldly goods to them before I actually kark it and I now live at their pleasure. I'm just a bit worried that Donny Jnr and Melania – if they don't get the timing right – they could be left with nothing! (And won't that be a sad day).
Still, no doubt Donny Jnr and Melania have devised an alternate escape hatch and I really shouldn't be tearing my hair out worrying about their future.
I'll get back to my darning socks and knitting in front of CNN, Aunty Beeb and BobJazeera
Clearly the smart move for Tweetyturd right now would be to negotiate his pardon from Pence in return for resigning while he's still got good negotiating leverage because he's giving Pence time to have a good go at making his own case for the preznitzy. Leave it too late, and there's not enough in it for Pence, unless he's so desperate the getting the title of Mr President for however briefly is enough. The only conversation that might possibly persuade him to do that would end with "don't forget to give us our pardons before actually resigning, OK daddy?".
As for Pootee, I'm struggling to see how he can leverage the situation to his own benefit out of this. Releasing any pee-pee tapes and financial juicy details he may have won't get him anything useful. Except more division and turmoil within the US (which may have been the objective all along). So maybe Genghis Con lucked into the same play with Pootee that he pulled on regulators and banks in his earlier career – make sure that those who can bring you down will also come crashing down with you if they do pull the pin.
There's certainly no way he can be involuntarily removed If he chooses to fight, the 25th Amendment is a tougher route than impeachment, in that it needs the veep, half of cabinet, 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate to remove him. As opposed to just half the House and 2/3 of the Senate for impeachment.
The S&P report underscores that the entire economy is now propped up by government policy and government cash:
"A contracting economy, rising unemployment, and weak consumer and business sentiment will affect the asset quality of banks in New Zealand, in our view," S&P said.
"However, we consider that the substantial fiscal and policy support from the New Zealand authorities and a strong economic rebound during fiscal 2021 (year ending June 2021) should help to limit the rise in credit losses."
We have a 1 in 3 chance that this is going to get really, really dark.
Curious to see the pharmaceutical industry do a full hit on pharmac this close to an election and with the Simpson health review still cooling off the printer:
We need to wake up to ourselves, The person in charge of who passes over our borders is incapable of regulating the calories that pass over their palette. Thankfully she is also looking after Trainsmash. (Kiwibuild)
Geez it must be tough to be Jacinda. She has to play lead guitar, drums and bass at the same time. Her team need to have a jolly good look at themselves.
The Minister of Health can't stick to the rules the 5 million of us comprehend. I can't listen to the guy without thinking 'Fuck You idiot.' His credibility is a black hole.
I'm so very sorry Jacinda, you are surrounded by people that don't live up to their handles.
Grant Robertson spent months looking at 'The Future of Work in NZ.' Superb timing. We should be all set. Unfortunately the guy calculating the future of work in NZ has never worked in the private sector in his entire life.
We love you Jacinda but you need to start placing people around you that can actually make things happen.
Wasn't it amusing to watch the politicians in the weekend Current Affairs shows ever so backhandedly drop any Covid shortfall call-outs over into Ashley's lap.
I was surprised that they could be so tone deaf. When you say Ashley did it, it's the same as saying my Mum did it. We take a knee wid da Bloom.
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
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 ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?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 ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
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 ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam G. Arian, Lecturer (Accounting & Finance), Australian Catholic University Loic Manegarium/Pexels Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
Acting Chief Human Rights Commissioner Saunoamaali’i Dr Karanina Sumeo says, “Addressing violence and abuse remains New Zealand’s most significant human rights issue affecting women. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Symons, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University Michael Schiffer / Unsplash Life has transformed our world over billions of years, turning a dead rock into the lush, fertile planet we know today. But human activity is currently transforming Earth ...
One woman’s quest to watch Challengers without ruining her body clock. Every Saturday morning, I wake up with a screaming demon inside my head urging me to “Do. Something. This. Weekend.” I run through the possibilities in my head in a defensive mental crouch, reminiscent of that one time I ...
The PSA is alarmed that ACC is proposing to shed 309 jobs including 29 dedicated injury prevention jobs at a time when the number and cost of injuries is rising. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tom Baker, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images As local and regional councils struggle with inadequate infrastructure and unsustainable costs, New Zealand will be hearing a lot more about the potential solution offered by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Sacks, Professor of Public Health Policy, Deakin University Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock In recent years, there’s been increasinghype about the potential health risks associated with so-called “ultra-processed” foods. But new evidence published this week found not all “ultra-processed” foods are linked ...
Fears that New Zealand is relying too heavily on low-cost forests to absorb its carbon dioxide emissions have been reignited by a report from the OECD. ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed the total dollar savings target from public sector cuts has been met, but the reductions have not been felt evenly across public agencies. Government departments were told to make savings set at 6.5 percent or 7.5 percent where headcount had grown by more than ...
She doesn’t have a single kind word for me and it’s getting under my skin.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,I have two amazing friends that I absolutely adore. Grace (all names have been changed) and I lived together across 2023 and Olivia moved in with us this ...
Can Western science and Māori science work together to support our well-being? The Te Ohu Mō Papatūānuku (TOMP) Trials Project was a landmark case for healing the land and people with the guidance of Māori science and leadership. This is what happened when Papatūānuku (Earth) was contaminated by toxic discharge, ...
The District Plan is a blueprint for a bigger, better Wellington, through tens of thousands of new apartments and townhouses and a new approach to urban growth. Joel MacManus lays out the vision. The process of putting together Wellington’s new District Plan has been long and excruciating. As a city, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Williams Veazey, ARC DECRA Research Fellow, University of Sydney DavideAngelini/Shutterstock In the 2007 film The Bucket List Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two main characters who respond to their terminal cancer diagnoses by rejecting experimental treatment. Instead, they go ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohan Singh, Professor of Agri-Food Biotechnology, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne., The University of Melbourne Tanja Esser/Shutterstock Australia’s vital agriculture sector will be hit hard by steadily rising global temperatures. Our climate is already ...
The Acumen Edelman Trust barometer reported that New Zealand’s political trust score now sits below the global average, a topic explored in a recent discussion paper by Maxim Institute. ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Russel Norman says, "The Fast-Track Bill is the most damaging piece of environmental legislation any Government has introduced in living memory. People are angry, and it’s time to march." ...
The school lunches programme has been retained – and will be extended to some preschoolers. So how is it going to cost $107 million less? To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. The minister with many hats David Seymour wears a number of hats, but this week ...
“Show us the bird,” I found myself muttering at times while reading Hard by the Cloud House by Peter Walker, a deeply thoughtful, often hilarious, at times rambling – but somehow delightfully so – search for the story of a big bird. But not just any bird: the bird. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Marley, Environment + Energy Editor, UK edition DPVUE .images/Shutterstock Your home was probably designed for a climate that no longer exists. As long as humanity continues to burn fossil fuel, padding the heat-trapping blanket of gases in Earth’s atmosphere, the ...
A senior lawyer has filed a complaint about tikanga becoming a required law school module. Law lecturer Carwyn Jones explains what he’s getting wrong. “…the first law of Aotearoa, a law that served the needs of tangata whenua for a thousand years before the arrival of tauiwi.”– Ani Mikaere ...
In 2019, an Auckland woman woke up from surgery to find that she had undergone a treatment she didn’t consent to. She tells Alex Casey about her experience. From her very first period at the age of 14, Laura experienced “debilitating” levels of pain that forced her to withdraw from ...
One of th e country’s top litigation lawyers says New Zealand is seeing a lift in court action between companies. Chapman Tripp partner Justin Graham, who oversees a team of around 80 litigation specialists, says the courts are now so log-jammed that it’s taking over two years to get cases ...
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Comment: Concerns about the state of the economy are creeping up to the top of firms’ list of challenges. That’s evident in both surveys and the tone of our recent client discussions. Skimming the past few weeks of eco-news, it’s not hard to see why. – Retail card spending fell ...
Opinion: Could former co-leader James Shaw still make a difference to working with National? The post How the Greens could be contenders appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: What if we got rid of our existing drug laws and replaced them with a new law that legalised and carefully regulated all psychoactive substances, from cannabis to MDMA, methamphetamine and LSD to magic mushrooms? And which also included legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. “Wow,” you might ...
In the gloom following director-general Al Morrison’s job cuts in 2013, the Department of Conservation restructured its operations arm. Eleven conservancy districts were whittled into six new “conservation delivery” regions, under which the Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands area, comprising 40 scattered islands more than 800km east of Christchurch, was tethered to the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel “through to 2050 and beyond”. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuel’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
Absolutely savage 🔥
You ain't seen savage..
The Dotard of Doltistan thinks he's running against Pelosi? Or are you, as our apparent resident deplorable Dotard enthusiast, under that delusion?
Either, good luck with that strategy.
What a difference a day makes
https://twitter.com/sarahcpr/status/1275160183598186496
Sarah Cooper
say's the narrator. That cracked me up, no doubt all the women who he has taken advantage of have uttered the same words.
Isn't she great
I'm kinda disappointed nobody has done a "Hitler in his bunker" version of his return to the White House. Yet.
I found a caption generator and had some time to kill.
edit buggered if I can embed it though
https://captiongenerator.com/1888802/BOK-Centre-Downfall
Not bad. Several actual lolz. Needs a bunkerbaby and the caption to say Stalin when he does.
Guess it has to go on youtube for any chance of going viral.
lol typos and all.
😆
Oh wow.
Those attendance figures would have been even more humiliating if the campaign hadn't arranged travel ban waivers and flown in lots of people from outside the country. Including the man in possession of the world's most punchable face.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-farage-private-jets_n_5ef12513c5b6b30610066938
Best of luck to Coromandel Watchdog: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/22-06-2020/why-were-taking-the-government-to-court-over-mining-in-the-coromandel/
Greens vs Govt. Green parliamentarians will have to stand on the sidelines and applaud both sides.
I wouldn't put it past Robertson to think like that, but if Parker did too then he's not as smart as he seems. Jobs & money is an insufficient basis for such a decision. I'd be surprised if the court doesn't decide on that rationale.
Good on Catherine for her leadership initiative – I hope her analysis is correct. Just cos there's gold in them thar hills doesn't mean anyone has the right to destroy them to get it. Authorising foreign companies to do so seems even more loopy.
You bet. I've read about some of them in the past. Hard to believe these neoliberal buggers in the coalition remain determined not to learn the lessons…
It is not neo-liberalism to oppose what would have been the closure of the mine, with the loss of hundreds of jobs and the rapid decline of Waihi and Waihi beach. I recall what both these places were like before the mine.
The issues considered by the Ministers would have been considered any time in the last 100 years had the issue come up, so neoliberalism (a favourite prerogative of the far left) can't be a factor.
Well it would be good to be able to read the govt's justification, eh? I wonder if anyone ever did a poll of the locals. Similar situation as on the West Coast down south, no doubt: a majority who think jobs beat the environment and a minority with the opposite view. Perhaps there's a suitable compromise, but the court case seems evidence that it hasn't happened yet.
The justification of these things is capitalism – how to make rich people richer. They then sell that destruction to the people by saying that it will create jobs and the people buy it because, by and large, they're living in poverty and only have one way to get an income which is to go along with the destruction.
Wayne I lived in Waihi. We had Gadabouts shoe factory, Akrad Radio and TV factory, the school of mines became a mine museum,We had a helmet factory a cheese and milk factory, A large Ministry of works Depot etc. Waihi was full of work and life, including Farming and Kiwi fruit nearby. Blueberry farms and products, a Retirement home, a Retirement Village and hospital and good local shopping.
The mine was an important employer, but not the only one. The problems started in Roger Douglas's days, and were multiplied by Ruth Richardsons' actions. Finally Waihi was made poorer by the open cast mining and royalties going to the Hauraki Council mainly, rather than to the locals initially. Waihi suffered lowered water tables dust and noise/vibrations, and a good deal of anxiety about the tailings earth dam.. growing and growing.
Now there is anxiety about this being multiplied. Some homes have fallen in holes, or been bought to avoid court cases. The Gorge is shaky now, and an increase in road traffic won't improve that. So this decision is sadly employment and overseas earnings over communities and environment.
Work needed will overide all aspects
That mine employs about 400 direct Waihi people, and about another 400 local subcontractors.
That's in a town with a total population of 4,500 people.
Coromandel tourism features the mine as a place to tour through, like all the other mines that have featured in Waihi's past:
https://www.thecoromandel.com/towns/waihi/activities/culture-and-heritage/
In fact mining heritage is the only reason anyone outside of Waihi goes to Waihi. They go cycling through mining stuff, and ride the Waihi-Waikno railway – a mining railway.
Waihi is one of the founding centres of New Zealand's Labour Party and union movement.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/black-tuesday/the-1912-waihi-strike
The company contributes about $200,000 per your to local schools and preschools, and as a snapshot paid $255,000 in donations to local charities. Ain't no one replacing that if it goes.
22% of their staff identify as Maori. Probably worth having a chat with the Ngai Tuwharetoa marae if you wanted to shut it down.
So to be sure I like Minister Sage would object to mining on DoC land. I marched against it on Great Barrier under the previous government.
But stopping mining in Waihi would simply kill the town. Within five years it would be as much a ghost town as Blackball or Waiuta.
And of course in normal times you would expect the economy to absorb that. This isn't normal times, and they aren't coming back.
It's not like they're gong to bring back the Pye Television factory either.
Or Nambassa.
This isn't a government that's going to kill this mine when we're heading for 10% unemployed, economy tanking, no local job alternatives, an average population age of almost 50, and no other life known.
Hm, okay, I see their thinking. Well done. It'll be interesting to see how the court handles the case anyway. Sometimes Greenies do get rather purist on an issue where compromise makes more sense, and that could be the situation here.
Incidentally I checked out Blackball in my brand-new motorhome three years ago and was surprised to get a sense of it as developing place. Dunno why, but it was a definite impression. Maybe just folks renovating all over the place, rather than derelict…
Have you seen the streams of lycra-cyclists from Auckland coursing through the joint in summer? Mining trails the lot of them. Heritage is a weird thing.
Ah, but do the locals make money off them? If not, could be a viable alternative income stream. Wealthy Aucklanders supporting regional towns would be setting a good example to all…
The problem with basing an entire town/society on an extractive industry is that, eventually, there is no longer anything to extract and the town/society dies anyway. See Nauru:
We really seem to be determined not to learn the lessons of the past so as to maintain our failed socio-economic system.
It would be better if they did.
As you can see however Waihi is a town that has made the very best of its mining heritage. You should try those trails.
New Zealand isn't Nauru. Nauru decided to turn itself into Australia's jail, and is one of the most corrupt nations on earth.
Whereas Blackball learnt to make locally-sourced gourmet sausages.
https://www.blackballsalami.co.nz/sausages.php
Really?
Hmmm…. But, you said:
So, which is it?
If they've made the most of their mining heritage then stopping the mining won't kill the town.
That’s a pretty dumb comment. You’ve assumed that Waihi makes as much money from presenting its mining heritage as it does from the mining itself.
No I didn't. Ad implied that that was so through making ' the very best of its mining heritage.'
My point all along is that, once all the gold runs out, the town will die. Their little touristy thing may keep a family going afterwards but that'd be about it. It won't save the town.
So, if they want to save the town then they need to do something other than gold extraction.
No not really, many who worked there died of cancer caused by the work conditions of the day.
When a Fox News poll paints a right-wing candidate as a loser, he ought to know he's in deep shit, right? Is Trump capable of figuring it out? And taking the next step: "Hey, I'm a real cool leopard – I can change these spots!"
He’s gonna have to pull finger to earn his second term. Winning from that far behind can't be done via complacency. Sure, it made sense to assume Biden would fail due to his innate inability, but the hotshot hasn't yet realised the same logic applies to him too – as long as he keeps misreading situations and ignoring his advisers.
Trump is capable of working it out. He's worked out it's a fake poll. He doesn't need advisers to tell him that.
Wouldn't surprise me one bit. Delusion, reality, what's the difference? The guy has a track record of assuming he can persuade others to accept his view. Trouble is, the poll conforms to the usual polsci standard, so the stats basis represents reality sufficiently to persuade informed observers. He really does need such people on board to secure a second term. Faced with a choice between two flakes, voters will go for the lesser evil. He'll get the second term only by seeming the lesser evil – sufficiently.
Any advisor that tells him the truth he fires
Sleazy, racist, nutty old Biden, or Sleazy, racist, misogynist old Trump?
How great must it be to be a US voter.
Choices choices
So funny, trump retweets Max Blumenthal.
Easy mistake to make.
Blumenthal's enthusiasm for attacking those trying to actually achieve realistic progressive politics and hold Drongo Unbrained accountable is very difficult to distinguish from enthusiasm for Wussolini himself.
"realistic progressive"
A lifetime of disagreement and conflict is bound up in that little phrase….
The point being that you have to actually get elected before you can then go on and do anything. Then when you do get elected, effective politics is a team activity – it's all about figuring out the compromises that turn a widely disparate collection of views and ideas into a workable package. Those are the points that seem to be missed or completely denied by anyone with a problem with the idea of "realistic progressive".
Sure – but undeniably that does tend to mean that tomorrow never arrives. It's maybe more productive to look at how (whether?) mass shifts in public consciousness are possible outside the domain of electoral politics, so that electoral politics is chasing to catch up, rather vainly trying to summon followers.
It may be that there is an effective path to progressive change outside electoral politics.
But the path followed by Blumenthal and his ilk certainly isn't it – they are much more acting as enablers of anti-progressive politics and action.
More lies and bs from you andre.
No proof of course, that the best thing about your approach – you just make up any old bullshit about anyone you disagree with.
You really haven't got a grasp of the very simple arithmetic involved in electoral politics, have you?
Every single voter that Blumenthal and his fellow travelers persuade to not vote for Biden or Clinton or whomever is the closest to actually being progressive is effectively a vote for Donasaurus Wrecks (or whoever else is the reactionary-du-jour). And every time one of the reactionaries gets in, the possibility of achieving anything remotely progressive slips ever further away, because of the need to undo the damage done before attempting to build anything.
Sure you can whine about lesser evil voting all you want in your displays of public political masturbation. But the simple electoral arithmetic is that refusing to vote for the lesser evil is explicitly choosing to enable the greater evil.
Jill Stein 2016
Ralph fucking Nader 2000
Horse shit Ad, a fucking conspiracy theory at best. At worst a bad joke.
So external pressure in politics means nothing to you…
I see it does, as you went on to bag Ralph Nader.
What a silly one dimensional puppet you are. If only politics worked like you hoped then the world would be all rainbows and unicorns.
In the real world politicians have to earn votes, not act like they deserve them. They also have to put up policy which counts.. And, here the real kicker it means nothing, unless there is ongoing pressure from the public. But baby wants to tell us political parties are the only answer – sad.
As for your strawman about lesser evil – yawn. You can lie to yourself all you like. That politics is broken, it only enables the right – that's it, now I see why you support it.
The right are enabled bacause they'll vote for anyone under the Republican ticket. The left disempower themselves by pretending that "external pressure" can change the dems, so work against the dems every chance they get.
Sanders achieved more change in his 2016 campaign than any third party candidate because he applied internal pressure. He got people to join the dems and run in 2018, and that changed the game in 2020.
Being too left to support anyone will never make anyone try to get your vote. Politicians go for votes they might actually get. They tailor their policies and statements to those voters. If you're a lost cause for them, they won't travel an inch in your direction.
I have seen this suggested before, or it may have been me, why don't we have a special post for the USA and that becomes separate and NZ politics is the default subject. It seems that there is more interest at watching the Tangerine Terror than our own peculiar brand of sweet and sour saucy.
We need to watch our own eggs to see if they are hatching, all wise birds do this. The greywarblers have never got the hang of this and often enable a wotsisname (shining cuckoo I think) to come into the world, which then boots the other eggs and babies too I think, out of the nest. Damned interloper. So let's do better than greywarblers here, and look after our own pollies, and make sure the right ones get the crackers.
Love how when you got nothing Andre it's always with the personal attacks.
Mind you when your such a parody of what constitutes a person on the left like yourself, it must be hard to go beyond you usual of spin, bullshit, gaslighting and lies.
You could actually try socialism, hell I'd even take a dose of social democracy from you – as it would actually mean improvement in people's lives.
But alas no, just more centrist bs gaslighting.
"… it's always with the personal attacks." – who was/were the target(s) of Andre’s “personal attacks“?
Vehement objections to perceived personal attacks carry more weight when you don’t decend to ‘their’ level. And, for what it’s worth, I agree with Andre’s entertaining alternative labels for Trump.
who was/were the target(s) of Andre’s “personal attacks
Max Blumenthal I thought that was clear – sorry if was not.
The FBI are investigating the noose that was left in Bubba Wallaces locker, Nascar bans the racist confederate flag, and someone leaves a noose in a black drivers locker room. Once probably have been written off as a "joke", this shows how things have changed. Just saw footage of all the other car drivers and mechanics walking behind Wallaces car down the track, very powerful.
They've redone the graphics on his car. Giving up all that advertising space to send a message is quite powerful, too.
https://www.driven.co.nz/motorsport/nascar-driver-to-run-black-lives-matter-livery-in-upcoming-race/
Stunning.
Things must really being changed in the South for a good ol boy like Richard Petty to be so supportive. Petty is almost certainly the greatest NASCAR Driver of all time. It is a very hard discipline to do well in, numerous Formula 1 drivers and their like have tried their luck and with the exception of a few road race wins have all come up short.
Some journalists should take a chill pill, which is a more than reasonable verdict. However, it fails to address the motivation of (some) journos to over-egg things. Still a good read though.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/2020/06/23/1243845/the-media-needs-to-calm-down
Wow! Now that's a journalist! And he's right, I'd go nuts stuck in a room all day, we should have more sympathy. And I thought that there obviously a crap load of people sticking to the rules, only a few breaking them. Did I hear right on the radio that there are 20,000 people currently in quarantine? If so, then wow.
It is just over 4,000 people in quarantine/isolation at present but they’re increasing capacity.
I think the 20,000 is the total number of arrivals who have gone through the quarantine/isolation process, give or take a few. I’m sure the exact number is somewhere …
4k is a big number of ppl.
Yeah, Jack is right to advise a more balanced view, and he makes the significant point that journos function as opinion leaders in the community. Thus they do have a moral responsibility to be fair in their analysis and commentary.
I noticed there's also a worthwhile appraisal of the PM on Newsroom, from a marketing expert: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/2020/06/19/1238761/can-ardern-dance-her-way-to-a-second-term
I agree with this analysis. She ought to try and take time out to meditate on how to display leadership more comprehensively during the campaign. Design of the recovery plan remains the essential missing component. I suspect brainstorming of that is already happening, but a shift toward more strategic thinking is needed, then a timeline to enact implementation.
Yeah, meanwhile she's having to cope with and counter the relentless stories in the media still slamming her Covid response implementation .Less time having to be wasted on reassuring a public constantly alarmed by misleading media stories would be good
Good opposition tactic, that. Expect months of it.
From that piece: "she still hasn’t defined what her vision for New Zealand is."
John Key won 3 elections without ever articulating anything resembling a "vision". It's something that pundits pontificate on, and ordinary voters don't care about.
Key won 3 elections without ever articulating anything resembling a "vision"
A typical view from the leftist bubble. Rightists would have taken note every time he restated the necessity for continuance of business as usual. Mainstreamers were captivated by that vision after the gfc. It worked. Even amongst centrists.
The reason corporates went global with vision statements in the early '90s was the effective social psychology outcomes they produce. I remember when TVNZ workshopped all that stuff. I was working in their newsroom, attended some. I even recall the framing: Vision 2020. Just a coincidence we're in that year now?
I recall one suggestion that got traction: video on demand. Now a reality. Never discount how futures are generated via collective envisioning…
If you think "business as usual" is a vision then you need a better dictionary. Key's whole shtick was pragmatism, management and being a good bloke.
John Armstrong (a fan) summed it up:
John Key, Holyoake and Muldoon
"Key says the test of any prime minister is whether he or she leaves the country in better shape than when he or she inherited it.
It is a somewhat higher test than the one Sir Robert Muldoon invoked before his tenure – that he hoped to leave the country no worse off than he found it."
Keys vision was "a brighter future", wtf that meant.
He was "ambitious for New Zealand" as well. Vision!
Oh, and
"A typical view from the leftist bubble."
Bubble? From the guy who has been in a bubble so long, he thinks "chink" is just fine. Your lack of self-awareness is breathtaking.
"Chink" was just a joke, like a noose in a black mans locker, us bubble leftists just have no sense of humour.
Zealots are noted for their humourless disposition as a rule.
And those making racist jokes are?
Sneering and humour aren't really the same thing.
Religious zealots included – interesting origins.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealots
Key did have a vision and a vision is always based in the values of the visionary. So a vision can be malevolent, self-centred, or even boring. And Key's vision was a mixture of those three – to be fair, the malevolence was more the result of the unthinking insouciance of the wealthy, rather than an active desire to cause harm.
Indeed. When observer grows up he/she'll learn how collective visions create political cultures. Or fail to learn that. In the interim that person does correctly diagnose pragmatism & blokeism as the other two operational strands of Key's political praxis. So a youngster with some promise…
And the contest for Most Condescending Comment of the month has now been won.
Aw, I thought I was patronising. Bother! Must try to get it right next time. 😉
You could aim to be both – such a small step in praxis
Another walk & chew gum thing? Well-spotted! 😀
Yes Incognito! The essential point should be that there have been no community spreading for weeks. Every appearance of infection has been contained. What a great success – and yet there is a huge welling of denial from journalists. Piffle we say!
Last weekend the Press published several columns asking for moderation yet Bryce Edwards ignored them and collated all the worst columns and only Bowalley Road for the positives scraped in.
So hooray for Jack Vowels!
Jack Vowels, ianmac? Is that spelling of his name an example of the Great Vowel Shift?
Jim Flynn on RNZ yesterday said that people today don't read like they used to, and therefore opinions are affected by this paucity of knowledge and experience that reading affords.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018751710/understanding-intelligence-professor-james-flynn
These journalists obviously haven't read the story of the boy who called wolf.
So, those of us who still read newspaper journalism might be affected by their alarms, but many of us also hear the cry of 'wolf' and dismiss their alarmist, attention-seeking shallowness as a minor form of conspiracist doom-saying.
Piffle indeed.
I don't think Bwyce is very nice. My teddy bear Edward thought he's a relative (Ted for short) but now doesn't and thinks he isn't nice either. Why does he seem to only like pointing out our faults. I think we need to be told once, and then get a pat on the head for the good things. (Ted thinks so too.)
The boy will keep calling wolf as long as he is rewarded for it.
So I need to tell Ted that Bwyce is paid to find faults with Labour and everyone? That is a shame that he can't be fair and frank at the same time. Is that what they call buy-us?
Very sorry Jack for misspelling Vowles. Respect for your realistic comments deserve better.
Words of wisdom. But will the tabloid journos (which means most of them) take any notice? Course not. They operate like a pack of baying wolves and they have no intention of changing.
Yes great article. I am one of the people who have slammed NZders who are self isolating for not keeping to the rules of social distancing.
So an acknowledgement to all those who did the self isolating thing as they were meant too, my sincere thanks to you. It would have been very hard staying isolated for two weeks in a small room.
anker Yes indeed.
That is sensible and balanced. Thanks incognito.
Yeah – good article at 6.0. if the media really wanted to help they could quit the sensationalist headline and just short form the list of complaints by hotel which would be a great help to identify those residences not performing up to standard. Set up a snitch line so that the passengers could supervise each other? Those following the rules and desperate to leave could be right into that.
It's 9.45 a.m.
Has the breakfast arrived? We NEED to know …
Lolz!
Observer, LOL re the breakfast……and what about the water for the bus ride!
Naughty for me to join in this humour, but as I posted above, my sincere thanks to Kiwis and there will be many of them who did the right thing with little or no complaint
A late breakfast is far worse than the tacit geronticide being practiced in many of the countries these people have returned from. It's unacceptable.
Cheers observer
Commentators: The public will totally turn against the government!
Public: Well, 13% of us will …
So it's as any reasonable person would have expected. People annoyed with quarantine stuff-ups? Yes. And fair enough too.
People losing the plot and demanding Ardern's head? No. Not even close.
Be a little careful with those polls. Respondents are recruited off social media so all the non social media types are missed. In fact the group may be quite select – remember 20% of people don't have a phone suitable for an app and 50% have never downloaded one so the social media space may only be a little less limited.
I agree that it's less reliable than "traditional" polls. However, on this issue the results have been both internally consistent (a series since March, all 80% plus) and were also in line with the Colamr-Brunton/Reid research polls.
In general terms, I'd rank the measures of public opinion as …
1) TV1/TV3 polls, and the private polls by UMR and Curia
2) Roy Morgan
3) Horizon and Spinoff
4 – 99) daylight
100) spam non-polls for AM show, and all the other meaningless "my mates on Facebook", "brother-in-law at BBQ" etc.
Only 7.5% think dealing with the virus "Terrible." Is that all? Some would say terrible regardless of anything at all.
The NZ initiative ie Business round table ACT party super pac now claiming almighty stuff up. 6 weeks ago were saying we should have overseas students here by July, level 1 ,3 weeks earlier open borders with Australia by July.National Winston Peter's etc were pushing the same line.
Aus are shutting up, rest of year they reckon.
Now on a related topic. Why is the MOH still saying that risks around air crew are low? Haven't they got the public message that we expect the risk to be managed as close to zero as possible. Do they need another breakout to be convinced or are they simply idiots? Or RW sympathisers trying to make trouble.
Why is Airnz not being leaned all over to improve the crewing standards. and rosters.even if it results in extra manning on rosters and fewer hours worked. Quite frankly some extra crew costs are a great deal cheaper then either quarantine or a more widespread outbreak. Sharing crews between Australia, NZ domestic and the Pacific Islands (!) and MOH saying Australia is low risk has to be "stupid of the year". Have they not realised that passengers are coming through Australia from other destinations? Can't they read?
And why is the plague ridden Airline not implementing stricter standards than they appear to be. And I saw somewhere that they were going to use China based crew for some flights to NZ. How on earth are they going to keep them separate from local employees when they arrive? That should go well.
These gaps all appear to be so obvious but these top managers simply seem to be unable to register that actions have consequences.
So
-MOH should tighten the rules and stop going "low risk" and defending that position. Much as they defended the "distress" of the road trippers rather than focusing on the risk to the community.
– Airnz needs to get ahead of the curve and go for stronger safety. Get some of those Singapore airline Hazmat crew suits as well
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121902230/health-ministry-defends-covid-rules-for-air-crew-saying-australia-low-risk
RedBCV +100
Yet the latter costs fall on the public, not airline execs and shareholders. Need to fix those misaligned incentives.
The market will deal with it.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/419617/family-feels-betrayed-after-insurance-switch-leaves-them-short
A South Auckland crane driver has been denied a $100,000 payout for his gastric cancer after a government-owned finance company switched his policy….
His wife is furious that on the basis of what she says is a salesperson's garbled pitch – and despite recent official warnings to the insurance industry about its practice of "churning", or replacing old policies with new ones – her family of three children has now been pushed to financial breaking point.
"That could have helped raising my children," said Shirley Farani, 40, who kept her job in finance and accounts throughout the pandemic levels, working from home while also looking after Ailepata Ailepata, who's 43, who has been off work for four months.
"It's very distressing and very frustrating," she said, adding paying school expenses had been hard.
The family, who live in Māngere Bridge, had paid for life and trauma insurance cover from Westpac since 2013.
When, in 2018, they inquired about a mortgage with government-owned New Zealand Home Loans, an agent visited their home. He suggested changing insurers. They did, but ended up with less cover.
This should come under our laws governing not getting something fit for purpose, when relying on someone who 'holds themselves out' as having complete understanding of his or her product and recommended it as right for matching the client's requirements.
It should have been pointed out to them if there was any difference between the two products/policies and thoroughly explained.
Additionally there is the contra proferentem position. That the policies differed in very important points affecting their cover should be noted against the party that introduced the idea of the change, and who should have known that they were receiving lesser cover; this would have been ambiguous to the clients.
The Contra Proferentem Rule Explained
Contracts can be complex documents created after long periods of protracted negotiations. Each party in the contract is ostensibly looking out for its own best interests and will want the contract language to be to each party's favor. This can create scenarios in which the contract language is ambiguous or unclear, leading one party to interpret the contract differently from the other party.
I see we are going up to around 4000 immigration places. If these remain full then we are looking at some 50,000 returnees before then end of the year. plus potentially a million more if all the ones in Australia return.
The government is going to have to make some hard decisions fast otherwise there will be insufficent housing, health services etc or they will be completely overrun..
First up the visa holders who expired but were extended till sept need to be nudged on their way – they can't all leave at once on the last day so perhaps they need to start shifting expiry dates forward in groups.
Cut all inwards applications even at the higher salary levels. We will be getting back some well qualified individuals in the higher brackets.
Cease overseas work permit exemptions with "economic benefit" – only admit those who are needed for something special in the very short term.
Deprioritise permanent resident visa holders that have not been ordinarily resident here.
Maybe let NZ First front foot this ?
Trying to get some Kenyan connections in, all planned and now confused young people. So I hope that more than just NZs for numbers entering. They went away for the good times, and some could no doubt wait and work for a while and not rush home immediately to claim a place in the 'sleepy hollow'.
How lucky are we to live in NZ, we live in the only economically advanced country in the world to have eradicated Covid 19 from the community, the virus, globally, is now out of control, the WHO has warned of the impending global disaster about to happen.
The relentless negative OPINIONS from a range of news sources for the minor errors made by individuals is extremely disappointing, it really indicates their desire to put the Govt down without any relativity to reality its self. The media seem to be in a bubble of make believe, it seems their preference is to harm the very people that have introduced regulations and rules that have made NZ the safest place in the world today, something WE should all be extremely proud of.
Ex pat Kiwis are flooding back to NZ for the very same reason, we are pretty well the safest developed country in the world at this point of time, the virus is now spreading exponentially as too many countries just have not accepted the the relative harm that will occur.
All returning Kiwis should have a negative test result 24 hrs prior to boarding a plane, this doesn't mean they're clear, but at least it raises the bar, too many returnees would be prepared to return carrying the virus so they can come to a safe haven in the knowledge our Health system will take care of them.
Y'know, it's starting to stretch the limits of my willingness to believe that we really didn't have infected cases come into the country before those two women that caused the big kerfluffle.
Consider – pretty much every day since those two were detected, we've detected more new cases. But none before? I don't recall any announcements before that of cases detected in quarantine or managed isolation. The step change in detection frequency is overloading my "really?" detector.
What I really want to know is whether those in charge are also seeing that anomaly, and if they're taking steps to backcheck on those that made it through their two weeks and then released without testing. The good news is that the behavioural changes we've all made over the last few months are likely enough on their own to reduce R) below 1, so even if infectious new entrants made it out, they're still kinda unlikely to create new hotspots.
Yep I'd like to see them back checking too. Just in case – so we can get onto any community breakouts fast.
And I hate to say this but with the current flights in from highly infected places – do we need to pressure the airlines to ensure there is more PPE used on the planes – or that there is social distancing in the seating so people are not being infected in the air.And the bus trips from the airport too? And that the aircrews are kept strictly contained. And when they arrive even if it is only isolation they have to stay in the room for a number of days. Do we insist on some pre embarkation quarantine or testing? Or do we just close our borders again to some countries. Frankly if Spain is going to let in unchecked british tourists and with lockdowns easing in a number of countries the disease is starting to really take off overseas again
Plus I have real doubts about spreading quarantine too far and wide. It means any cases needing to be hospitalised will also be spread around rather then being concentrated in one hospital with the appropriate resources.
I can see plenty of local appetite for the tightest border controls possible
It would also help for the airlines to reduce the alcohol available on the flights to just one or two. Then just water, or low sweetened concentrate like lime juice. There is bound to be an ugly argument start some time with the stress that everyone is under, and particularly those that rarely are prevented from doing what they want. The entitled don't take to that.
Then when they arrive they should get their temp taken before going to isolation. A body with too much alcohol wouldn't give a good reading and could be fractious too.
Hopefully the quarantine period did its job, even if we didn't test the ones who came in with it because they were asymptomatic. But also we have increasing numbers of returnees?
Nobody random has presented to hospital yet, so after a month from the start of the dotballs that's a good sign.
edit: there was a tweet on testing the logistics of everyone at the airport, which is understandable. But a test in the first five days and another in the last few days would probably be a more achievable goal.
AFAIK the numbers are something like 20,000 returnees total gone through the system, of which 4000 are still in quarantine/isolation. So, 11 cases among the 4k still within the system, and 0 among the 16k that have passed all the way through? I struggle with that, even allowing for the idea that more of the returnees now are from places where infections are rampant and increasing (UK, India, US) and earlier returnees were biased more towards places with low infection rates (Australia).
In terms of testing numbers, lets say we get 500 returnees a day, two tests each. That means just doing the mandated testing on returnees accounts for 1000 tests a day, out of total testing capacity somewhere around 6k a day. And returnees have to be considered the highest testing priority. Looks to me like there's zero excuse for returnees to not ave been tested.
"Stupid Awesome People"
Shocking and even worse it seems true. Great rant. USA version of Jonathan Pie?
This goes with it on youtube:
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Full episodes will still be available at RT.com.
A group of fearless protesters were invited to stay in the Venezuelan Embassy the other day to protect it from US interference. The government wanted to put them in jail for a year for helping to stop the US-backed coup. The worst of their charges were recently dropped. Yay.
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https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/419646/covid-19-national-party-demands-answers-on-covid-19-testing-in-isolation
National, the party of no regulations and freeeedom. All of a sudden they want it so they can swing it around and bash Labour with it. Pathetic.
Who are the sour looking journos or hangers on in the background of the pic interviewing PM Jacinda? ( I haven't watched the vid yet, have to do some useful stuff at home.)
The press gallery these days seem to behave as a pack of surly “nag bags”, living for their next leak from some duplicitous Ministerial toady, or Nat staff member.
Some of them, surely, must experience a little self loathing at what they have become. Journalists have to hold the powerful to account, but most of this rather joyless lot can’t separate that legitimate function from the Paparazzi like “gotchas” and “scalp taking”.
Just watched in full today's Bloomfield news conference. (I haven't watched any since level 3)
He was as good as usual, and journalists as bad as listening as usual. I think his answers were complex – they had to be to cover the myriad of events happening at the border – and it's clear that many at that presser just didn't understand them. His finish was superb after being asked about how events 'undermine confidence'. To paraphrase he said
Woodhouse spreading fake news. I suspected this might be the case.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/06/coronavirus-homeless-man-who-allegedly-stayed-in-auckland-quarantine-facility-cannot-be-verified.html
He should be savaged for this by the media but it won't happen.
I see also the Covid-Karens had another visitor when they got to
Chris Bishop's houseLower Hutt. They really are the pits those two. Wanted special treatment then abused the process. No wonder someone ratted on them.Also confused about why the media continues the line that Bloomfield and the MoH have been dishonest about the sisters' movements. Clearly Bloomfield and the MoH were getting their info from the Covid Karens, and they have been lying through their teeth since they landed!
Bugger. Oh well, I s'pose the idea of a homeless dude blagging a two week stay in a luxury hotel was always too funny to be true.
AND what is the proof that he was homeless any way.
oh it was an "unverified", it came from a "reliable source"
GEEZ
Woodlouse thinks his arse is reliable so it's all ok.
I'm glad to see Woods hit back with a strongly worded letter. The misinformation spread by the National Party in these times must be countered, otherwise it becomes part of the narrative.
Though, it would be a massive coup for Woodhouse if he produced said homeless person…
Spinoff polling covers a variety of issues to assess the public mood re govt handling of the pandemic, and the latest report puts it in context with the trend over recent months. One of the essay writers here ought to post a comprehensive analysis, perhaps with a look at the election campaign relevance: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/23-06-2020/exclusive-poll-reveals-public-impact-of-failures-in-nz-covid-quarantine-system/
A question for @Andre
Don't you reckon it's about time Putin called in the debt and insisted Donny O Jnr and Melania have the Hydroxy Clorax Queen committed to the Tallahassee Home for the Bewildered?
If they hold out much longer, they could lose everything and its all going to look a bit too obvious – the Tangerine Turkey's disciples seem to be dropping off like flies on paper soaked in pyrethrin
Tangerine – the colour of the age. Hope it goes out of fashion soon. A very 'colourful' comment OwT. The news here aims to be factual, but it isn't boring.
Well as a parent @ Grey, I'm clutching me stolen pearls and just thinking of the children! And it's just as well I disposed of all my worldly goods to them before I actually kark it and I now live at their pleasure. I'm just a bit worried that Donny Jnr and Melania – if they don't get the timing right – they could be left with nothing! (And won't that be a sad day).
Still, no doubt Donny Jnr and Melania have devised an alternate escape hatch and I really shouldn't be tearing my hair out worrying about their future.
I'll get back to my darning socks and knitting in front of CNN, Aunty Beeb and BobJazeera
I dunno.
Clearly the smart move for Tweetyturd right now would be to negotiate his pardon from Pence in return for resigning while he's still got good negotiating leverage because he's giving Pence time to have a good go at making his own case for the preznitzy. Leave it too late, and there's not enough in it for Pence, unless he's so desperate the getting the title of Mr President for however briefly is enough. The only conversation that might possibly persuade him to do that would end with "don't forget to give us our pardons before actually resigning, OK daddy?".
As for Pootee, I'm struggling to see how he can leverage the situation to his own benefit out of this. Releasing any pee-pee tapes and financial juicy details he may have won't get him anything useful. Except more division and turmoil within the US (which may have been the objective all along). So maybe Genghis Con lucked into the same play with Pootee that he pulled on regulators and banks in his earlier career – make sure that those who can bring you down will also come crashing down with you if they do pull the pin.
There's certainly no way he can be involuntarily removed If he chooses to fight, the 25th Amendment is a tougher route than impeachment, in that it needs the veep, half of cabinet, 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate to remove him. As opposed to just half the House and 2/3 of the Senate for impeachment.
OK, yes I see the logic in all that.
We are in a serious property market correction, which is happening now, of 10-12% down:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12342272
The S&P report underscores that the entire economy is now propped up by government policy and government cash:
"A contracting economy, rising unemployment, and weak consumer and business sentiment will affect the asset quality of banks in New Zealand, in our view," S&P said.
"However, we consider that the substantial fiscal and policy support from the New Zealand authorities and a strong economic rebound during fiscal 2021 (year ending June 2021) should help to limit the rise in credit losses."
We have a 1 in 3 chance that this is going to get really, really dark.
Curious to see the pharmaceutical industry do a full hit on pharmac this close to an election and with the Simpson health review still cooling off the printer:
https://www.fairnessinfocus.co.nz/
A big Youtube launch, new website, substantial backers.
Let's see how National responds to this entreaty.
National need to sack Hooton looks like Woodhouse may be in the outhouse.
Looks like Hooton channeling Trump.
The Media wolf pack will hunt down Woodhouse and blow his house down and expose his lying ass.
We need to wake up to ourselves, The person in charge of who passes over our borders is incapable of regulating the calories that pass over their palette. Thankfully she is also looking after Trainsmash. (Kiwibuild)
Geez it must be tough to be Jacinda. She has to play lead guitar, drums and bass at the same time. Her team need to have a jolly good look at themselves.
The Minister of Health can't stick to the rules the 5 million of us comprehend. I can't listen to the guy without thinking 'Fuck You idiot.' His credibility is a black hole.
I'm so very sorry Jacinda, you are surrounded by people that don't live up to their handles.
Grant Robertson spent months looking at 'The Future of Work in NZ.' Superb timing. We should be all set. Unfortunately the guy calculating the future of work in NZ has never worked in the private sector in his entire life.
We love you Jacinda but you need to start placing people around you that can actually make things happen.
It's an ideal time to seize the day and we ain't.
PM Ardern could poach some opposition National party 'talent' – building Bridges
Wasn't it amusing to watch the politicians in the weekend Current Affairs shows ever so backhandedly drop any Covid shortfall call-outs over into Ashley's lap.
I was surprised that they could be so tone deaf. When you say Ashley did it, it's the same as saying my Mum did it. We take a knee wid da Bloom.