New Zealand was at the forefront of the last great economic paradigm shift – neoliberalism. Can it do it again with whatever follows the shock of coronavirus?
A recent Stuff-Massey University survey suggested a surprising number of Kiwis – more than 60 per cent of those asked – agree now is a time to be thinking differently.
Labour, thinking itself clever, is pitching its campaign to the 40% minority who are slow learners: "Because they're just like us. Identity politics works."
The big picture view of history says things always swing like a pendulum because society first course corrects, then over-corrects, and so has to start heading back the other way.
Hegel, in the 19th century, deduced his dialectic principle from this. Applying it to politics, we get a synthesis of whichever key elements of left & right remain valid.
The Millennial and Zoomer generation might all be on McWages, but they haven’t been rioting in the streets.
Not desperate yet. Plus street protests hardly ever get the desired result nowadays.
National debts, especially in the US and Europe, have blown out with programmes of quantitative easing (QE) that have proved hard to bring to an end. Analysts say that all the “stimulus” hasn’t reached the real economy because the system is stagnant.
So Labour masterminds decide more of the same is the best prescription. If it is a total failure, let's do it! Dinosaur-brain Labour.
The fixes on offer are also in fact easy enough to identify. There is plenty of talk about them. The question is just whether they are starting to form a sufficiently compelling package. The main plank of many reforms is Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) – the giddy idea that money printing isn’t actually a problem.
The logic is that capital has changed from being wealth that actually exists – physical wealth like land, resources, gold – to being an ability to draw down on a better future.
Looks like social credit updated for the new millennium, huh?
In May, New Zealand’s own Reserve Bank announced $60b in QE to carry the country through the crisis. The next day, the Government rolled out its $50b Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund on the back of that move. So completely new possibilities are revealed once you change the conversation from viewing debt as a problem rather than a solution
So here's where a Labour apologist can say "Look, we're already doing social credit!! But we can't tell the truth to the public because nobody would vote for us! Voters are morons, right?"
To introduce MMT they first need to burst the bubble, break up the banks and deal with the resulting chaos…..no politician is willing to propose that even if enough would vote for it which is highly unlikely.
MMT is an economic theory which includes how money functions into its understanding of the economy. It describes how the economy works today.
Your probably claiming the government would need to do something before implementing Overt Monetary Financing. But in practice this is very similar to reversing the order of borrow and spend steps of QE (which its already doing today of course). Its also true that New Zealand has historically implemented OMF during the Savage era.
This strongly indicates your own economic theory doesn't fit the real world.
MMT as you well know is a description of how (some think) the political economy COULD operate as opposed to how it currently operates.
Leaving the assets with the private banks and liabilities with the debtors and retaining the private (offshore) banks with the ability to create credit does little to solve the problem aggregate spending capacity within the economy even with the availability of currency from the issuer….that simply provides the private banks with the opportunity to extract even more from the economy, and does nothing for the debtors in the short term.
QE without addressing these issues leaves exactly where we are right now….waiting for the whole house of cards to collapse and the assets to fall into the hands of the few solvent entities left standing.
This claim is incorrect. MMT purports to describe how public spending works with QE and without QE and in a lot of other circumstances such as the Eurozone.
To contrast one MMT prediction to parts of the mainstream, MMT describes why QE (e.g building bank reserves) has not caused inflation.
Of course there are some possibilities also described by MMT which are more or less untested, such as OMF. So how does MMT describe that? Well its understood to be basically similar to QE but with a slightly different order of steps, but basically ending up with the central bank owning a large part of the govt debt itself. However if thats true then we already have plenty of evidence that this is also not inflationary, contrary to mainstream claims. Such things are the testable hypotheses of macro-economics and if your paying attention then MMT is getting these things right, where the economics mainstream is getting them wrong.
As for the rest of your comment, you appear to be describing some final economic collapse, worse than both the GFC and lockdowns impacts and with govt having no ability to counteract it. I wouldn't go holding my breath waiting for this to manifest.
As I understand it, Socred advocated depriving private banks of the right to create money. That was certainly the case in Bruce Betham's day, though I'm not sure whether it still is. Their current policy seems to be to limit that right by making greater use of the reserve ratio tool.
I don't think the idea of Banks being unable to create money can be operationalised.
Initially (as in the Chicago plan) this was tied into the notion of a bank reserve constraint on bank lending. But reserve constraints don't limit bank lending unless your nation is willing to forego payment stability (which none are).
But the kind of money banks create resides on their balance sheets (its a record of owing a customer their deposit balance) and so if you need every doller created to be govt backed at the central bank (in the interbank accounts) then you are just signing the govt up to create reserve balances to back every payment. If the central bank fails to create the reserves needed to back bank lending then payment or reserve constraint failures occur. So this must be an acceptable outcome in operationalising such a policy.
Additionally bank credit and trade credit (where you pay for work, or even a meal, after its completed) doesn't look very different so I don't see much ability to legislate against banks ability to extend credit anyway.
This bit makes the RBA seem defender of the (neoliberal) faith:
the RBA has already purchased $A45,250 million worth of Australian Government bonds under its so-called – Long-dated Open Market Operations… The Government has not been saying much about this program for obvious reasons.
They don’t want the public to know that one arm of the currency-issuing government is accumulating a large proportion of the liabilities issued by another arm (Treasury) to follow the rise in the fiscal deficit.
If they explained what was going on in the real world to the public, it would become very clear that the central bank is effectively ‘funding’ a significant proportion of the increase in the fiscal deficit… It would also disabuse the public of notions that such coordination between the central bank and the treasury, which is at the heart of the understanding you get from learning about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), is dangerously inflationary.
Conservative authorities always try to prevent progress, but adherence to a paradigm past the use-by date prevents govts adjusting to the real world. ScoMo will have to get real sometime soon & pull whatever strings are required to produce an RBA head willing to create a future-based strategy for steering the economy.
He may even be brainstorming the options as we write. I hope he initiates some kind of liaison to the RBNZ gov plus JA/GR since regional coherence would be best for future economic steering, eh?
Its possible, I don't think that is something which will necessarily occur.
Japan has been running QE for decades now. Recently MMT was discussed in their parliament and most factions denied that MMT provided a cogent description of their economy. Obviously a better description could increase the level of public discourse on economic policy and is desirable but I don't see any force actually mandating this occurs.
Its possible that discourse could continue with central banks and treasury running QE and still insisting that at some point they will have to wind it back due to building inflationary pressures. The public may or may not believe the narrative being presented to them.
For better public discourse it would help if the process was simplified with the reserve bank directly funding the treasury spending. Making this clear would help to show the public how public finance is working in practice and would make it difficult to oppose deficits and public spending programs politically with an invalid public debt narrative.
Of course in both New Zealand and Australia to a reasonable extent the shift towards fiscal policy was automatic. Across the lock-down the shift in spending from consumption to saving happened, as did the growth in deficits required to compensate for this. And it must have become obvious that the RBNZ had to fund the deficit more or less directly to the tune of $60 billion because that happened as well and in a timely fashion. If the long run outcome is that the forecast inflation never occurs and the governments self owned debt is not unwound as a result, well I don't see any important difference between that outcome and another where the inflation and public finance forecast was more realistic in the first place.
Your comment implies that the mainstream economic theory has had a period of validity, but this has never been the case. There has not been a period where a model of a barter economy was valid (which is the mainstream model, it literally attempts to model an economy with an impossible financial system). There has not been a period where there was a mandatory minimum unemployment rate (above 0) below which inflation accelerated (the NAIRU rate), so the model of unemployment is completely broken. And there has never been a period where the central bank can target the inflation rate by targeting official cash rates (and our RBNZ was never good at limiting house price increases even with the OCR about 10-12%). Monetary policy not working out as an inflation theory was as true prior to the GFC as it has been since the GFC (where its supposed to be able to increase inflation rates).
For better public discourse it would help if the process was simplified with the reserve bank directly funding the treasury spending. Making this clear would help to show the public how public finance is working in practice and would make it difficult to oppose deficits and public spending programs politically with an invalid public debt narrative.
This strikes me as helpful & sensible. I wonder if Reddell would agree. I get the impression you may be an economist by profession &/or someone with close prof experience of public finances. In the USA such people access political leverage via institutionalised think-tanks – do we have one such relevant here? If so, your suggestion ought to be examined collegially to crowd-source consensus in that context, with a view to lobbying the next govt to make the desired change.
Your comment implies that the mainstream economic theory has had a period of validity, but this has never been the case.
Maybe so – yet it was sufficiently plausible to win the adherence of both Labour and National for 35 years.
In my limited interactions with Reddell I would expect some kind of triangulation to occur. Basically when pushed MMT is all correct, nothing surprising and not any different to the present, but also we should not do away with the concept of central bank independence and should maintain the practice of needing an authority figure to tell us which kind of deficit will be inflationary rather than making it so obvious even joe public could understand it for themselves.
I think that equates to making the system "simple enough and no simpler" when your a PHD grade policy economist.
Expecting a mind to get made up is realistic in some limited contexts – as in using a recipe for baking a cake. When social & political contexts are ever-changing, a mind will view those as ever-movable feasts. 😋
The logic is that capital has changed from being wealth that actually exists – physical wealth like land, resources, gold – to being an ability to draw down on a better future.
Got that bit wrong didn't he.
MMT doesn't ignore resources. What it does is recognise that a nation's money is backed by that nation's economy and, as long as their is slack in the economy, then printing money is non-inflationary. Under such a system taxes become a form inflation control as interest rates are now (and don't which don't actually work as super-inflated house pricing shows).
So here's where a Labour apologist can say "Look, we're already doing social credit!! But we can't tell the truth to the public because nobody would vote for us! Voters are morons, right?"
The reason why Labour, National and ACT don't like MMT is because it proves that capitalists are bludgers.
Once the government becomes the sole supplier of money in the system the need for interest rates, shareholders and profits disappears. And where then would the Cullen Fund and our self-proclaimed VIP of business be?
MMT still uses a market economy – it just gets rid of capitalism.
MMT still uses a market economy – it just gets rid of capitalism
Seems like an insight worth recycling! I can't claim to comment from any perspective of expertise – my involvement with Greens economic policy development was always that of a radical heretic who had a partial grasp of establishment economics.
I suspect that others may quibble somewhat. Unless you have a design mechanism for eliminating held capital, those who hold it are alway likely to be players in the game, regardless of govt making radical rule changes.
Perhaps you are implying the incentive-structure of the game is sufficiently changed by govts using MMT that capitalist players will see no way to profit from playing?
Perhaps you are implying the incentive-structure of the game is sufficiently changed by govts using MMT that capitalist players will see no way to profit from playing?
With MMT properly put in place having money will no longer grant more money. No interest rates to charge workers for the privilege of borrowing
Existing owners will still be able to bludge but the economy will shift around them until they can’t. Its not an immediate fix but will come about over time.
With the government creating money openly the private will need to be stopped from doing so and thus will end the private banks and their bludging.
Always worthwhile to read Why we can't afford the rich to get a better understanding of how they bludge so much off of the rest of us and how getting rid of them will make the economy perform better and make the rest of us better off.
Capitalists are bludgers and they cost us billions every year. And that's just in NZ.
If the Labour Party were to suddenly grow a brain & a spine, what would they campaign on? A plan for the post-covid economy.
That's been true since Rogergnomics. But NZ politics has reached the point of decay where not releasing policies is more likely to win or retain votes. As it stands they're more like that song from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying:
Finch: Is there anything you're against?
Twimble: Unemployment
Finch: When they want brilliant thinking from employees
Twimble: That is no concern of mine
Finch: Suppose a man of genius makes suggestions?
Twimble: Watch that genius get suggested to resign
Releasing policy would just give the floundering Gnats and their media sycophants something to focus their malice upon – better to let them stew in their febrile resentment – it doesn't resonate with voters.
It has proven infinitely safer for Labour to try to deliver some desirable outcome, like building houses, than it is to promise to do so. Pretty dysfunctional from a democratic perspective, but the media that ought long since to have pilloried and driven out epic non-performers like Brownlee and Smith is MIA on that front.
The only reason they are keeping the experts hidden must be because they are not credible. Reti's reason for not naming them was weak.
("They work for for other governments and organisations")
This epidemic is the most important issue facing the country and I think the public are entitled to know where National’s advice is coming from so we can judge the soundness of advice for ourselves. The whole thing smacks of ‘we know best’
When does Jacinda Ardern get a break? Not for her the games of golf with other Leaders or celebrities. Her few days off are spent with Clarke and Neve out of the spotlight.
I hope she is getting affirmations for her unrelenting positivity genuine mahi and care for all citizens.
I have been accused of being a Jacinda fan. Well, yes I am, as she is remarkable.
Yes, I worry about her too Patrica. She looks too thin to me. Not surprising given the huge load she is currently carrying. Yet I get the impression that if she dares to let up and have a short break she will be loudly criticised by her opponents – notwithstanding her predecessors were known to have good sized breaks from time to time.
Patricia Brenner. I heartily endorse your comment on Jacinda. She is thrown to the wolves every day but counters everything with grace, good manners, non confrontation in reply and is unfailingly unflappable. I would say the same of the frontline team. I am in awe of their ability to front up to lower level reporters who seem to be there mainly to force them into *owning up* to supposed cock ups, debacles, shambles etc and stay calm in the face of such unmitigated jackalism. New word. Just invented it. They are indeed the dream team and nobody expects them to get everything right first up. They are human. And their ability to accept and then reset immediately is in my book amazing and calming. Go the dream team. My opinion only.
Agree Patricia. There was a rumour on #hellholeNZ that Jacinda, C lark and Neve were at Oriental Bay yesterday. Hope it was true……..
I am concerned labour are in a precarious position now due to the outbreak. There is unrelentingly negative publicity about it. Donald Trump is inadvertently the only one bringing some perspective (unintended of course).
People are not commenting on the remarkable response to the outbreak and how effective it has been. Gorman etc are getting air time saying how poor the contract tracing has been which is laughable. UK got private firm doing contract tracing, rates of 50%
i read the first two sentences of what you wrote Denis “if Labour would grow a spine and a brain”………………..wow man where have you been the last six months? What the fuck do you think labour has been doing? Brain and spine more than evident in covid response, so wake the fuck up. Right now covid and it’s immediate aftermath is all that matters.
This election we either vote in a labour led govt or a National led govt. if you have bleated on here about labour and spines etc, don’t come crying when Collins is running the show
Look at this poll, shows how out of step the TV1 & Herald & Stuff & National Party etc … are, they don't represent the public mood at all, how ever much they try to rile people up. Maybe the constant attacks are making the public like the present Govt more, it seems no one expects perfection, unlike some commentators even here, the Govt are competent. I for one can't be bothered reading many journalists anymore, the disconnect with reality is getting more & more telling, I can see with my own eyes that NZ is not a hellhole, even the anti lockdown 'protest' was just pathetic, more people go watch Sat morning sport & the field up the road.
The chosen approach gets another month to rub over the electorate and now Reti has to dance on the head of a pin. How good will those dance moves be.
That internet thing means folk don't just consume the duplicity/tawdrey/hosk spin. Also kiwis abroad keep whanau in the real picture they live each day outside the pacifica zone.
aj I agree. Vote as if your life depended on it but it likely does actually. Who do you trust to lead us through Covid. That will be the task of the next Govt.
This election we either vote in a labour led govt or a National led govt – Whilst National is lacking Labour still IMO still be subjected to critical review of what they are proposing. Otherwise we have what the USA had in their last election – Voting for the 2nd worst option
If the boarder issues regarding testing had not been questioned, would the current testing regime of frontline staff have been ramped up and so promptly ?
Herodotus, I don't see Labour as the 2nd worst option and I don't believe they are. They are the best option.
The Govt had understood from the MoH that border staff were being tested. They ramped it up when they found out it wasn't. Turns out the tardiness of implementing the border checks hasn't lead to wide spread community outbreak. It has lead to one matanance man getting Covid and I fully sympathize with him………
We still don't know the origin of the Auckland cluster………its possible that a returnee tested negative on 12th day and took it into the community as the virus is tricky and the tests not 100% reliable.
Perhaps I poorly constructed the comment. With a poor opposition all the current govt has to do is out perform a crap performing National party. There is no challenge to have a coherent and well planned out implementation of policy. Need I detail The Kiwi Build, and Labour decided to increase the build from 50k to 100k ??
"Turns out the tardiness of implementing the border checks hasn't lead to wide spread community outbreak" – How many fortunate outcomes can we hope for ? We shouldn't he hoping for chance to help us out. We should expect mistakes and see modification/evolving of policy to reduce the risk.
Herodotus our Govt has outperformed nearly every govt in the world. Just in terms of Covid nos everyday I check the figures and NZ has just gone down the order we are now 140.
We have to hope for all the lucky breaks we can get with this virus while doing absolutely everything to the highest standard possible. To date Labour have had an inquiry into contract tracing sometime in April? and found it wanting and so ramped it up. This has clearly paid dividends in this latest outbreak. Outstanding response. Then there were the issues around testing returnees uncovered in June and since then testing regime up and running….then the idiot people absconding from quarantine, they fixed it. And now they have ramped up the testing of staff..
We also have to hope for chance or good luck because despite all our best effort we can get unlucky e.g. the worker who tested positive likely after touching a lift button.
Grow a spine, what a line,
From some Trumped up fellow,
Do you mean like NAT cold blue,
Or perhaps like ACT of yellow.
Red is a warm and friendly colour,
Green is quite soothing too,
But to grow a spine, a stupid line,
Is just a pile of poo.
I usually don't bother to read Denis. Too long and so gave him a shot this morning and he opened with the brain/spine comment, which I thought was ignorant beyond belief and that sort of commentary both angers and scares me (in Covid times). I am not too bothered where Denis sits on the left/right continuum slating a govt that has managed the hardest crisis NZ has had in lifetimes when they have done an outstanding job is a plain ignorant. They have saved 100s/1000s of lives by exercising their brain and spine.
why? It is because he is left to labour that he raises some questions that are fair imo.
Raising question about the long term planning is fair. It is election time, so please Labour talk. I read the speech at the campaing release, and to be honest i am underwhelmed in the parts that i expect to be the big issues in the next years. Unemployment, future investment into employment and the current issue of women losing their jobs at a higher rate then men, older more then younger, etc. IF labour thinks that promising to double the flexi scheme invented by Paula Benefit will get me or others hot n bothered, they need to think again. Promising a few dollars to those that have lost their jobs to maybe start their own business? Lol, and then they get a phone call and they are in Level 3 and can't work. lol.
The government's existing Flexi-wage scheme – a wage subsidy to help employers hire those on a benefit at risk of long-term unemployment – would be revamped and expanded under a re-elected Labour Party, with the average amount a business can access to hire a worker more than doubling.
The party believes scaling up the scheme could enable 40,000 people to be employed.
Jacinda Ardern, speaking at the launch today, said $30 million will also be ring-fenced to help unemployed people start a business through an expanded Flexi-wage self employment programme, which will provide the equivalent of the minimum wage for up to 30 hours a week.
not wanting to say anything, but that undermines the min wage like big time if you only offer wages for 30 hours while someone ends up working double or more. Nevermind tho, its the thought that counts? Right? Also anyone not being able to work from home and or in roading/heavy infrastructure/shovel ready government investment is at risk of long term unemployment in the current global situation. Any government that fools itself in believing that 7500 $ is an attractive amount to hire people is deluding themselves, but then maybe earning several thousand of dollars per week might just have an impact on that thinking when it comes the poor.
he main elements of the scheme:
Business subsidy of on average $7500, and up to $22,000, to hire unemployed New Zealanders
Up to 40,000 jobs to be supported by $311 million investment in keeping people off the unemployment benefit
Ring-fenced fund to help unemployed people start their own business
The scheme would be paid for out of the underspend from the targeted wage subsidy extension.
Just take the 'underspend' and distribute it fairly among the unemployed so that they can eat and have a roof, and chances are that would help the community and create employment….but then we don't actually want to increase unemployment and social welfare. And i don't count the extra 25 per covid level week an increase, even tho its tacked to the main benefit, as it is temporary and can be cancelled at any moment.
She said the wage subsidy scheme – due to finish on 1 September – had prevented a spike in unemployment.
"We need to keep moving with our plan. The Flexi-wage is just the latest addition to the raft of jobs initiatives and business support we have already put in place to drive our economic recovery," Ardern said.
The wage subsidy did effectively that, flatten the curve of unemployment, and the Covid unemployement rate (cause unequal is us (TM) ) will expire 12 weeks after that.
Mind this article was from 8.8. and thus before the new outbreak showed up, but i do hope that they consider what they actually expect from people ….to start up a business, to rehire people, while at the same time not being able to have any stability at all. All it takes is a bullhorn at 8 am in the morning and you are in Level 2 – 4 and can't work.
Yes, Labour needs to do better, personally i would rather see some ideas of early retirement, a proper increase in base benefits to the level of the wage subsidy as this is now a proven amount in regards to let people have a roof and eat.
Not all questions are put downs, and it is jarring that there seems to be a reflex reaction to shout down those that dare ask.
The government's existing Flexi-wage scheme – a wage subsidy to help employers hire those on a benefit at risk of long-term unemployment – would be revamped and expanded under a re-elected Labour Party, with the average amount a business can access to hire a worker more than doubling.
Which is fully against the standard economic theory (or any market based theory really). If the business could afford to employ more people to expand then they would already be doing it. They're not which means that that business has already reached its limits and throwing money at it probably won't help.
Better for the government to help create some new businesses and actually develop our economy. That would probably employ more people and the businesses would be more likely to be sustainable.
She said the wage subsidy scheme – due to finish on 1 September – had prevented a spike in unemployment.
Yep, that worked well but it's not a viable long term plan. Short term and even mid term to allow businesses to adjust to the new paradigm but we're going to need something beyond that and that is mean developing new businesses and it can't be left to the bludging rich. They just don't get it nor do they care.
The government needs to look at what needs to be done to develop the economy across a range of industries that presently aren't here. Then, and only then, will we have a viable plan.
personally i would rather see some ideas of early retirement
Yeah, that's going to happen. Too many people retiring and not enough workers to support them. That's why governments have been raising the retirement age for the last few decades and importing lots and lots of people.
Well, the other option is to increase unemployment level and instruct the Winz drones that part of kinder and gentler means to not harrass people into applying for jobs that don't exist and will need to be created first.
And i have total confidence that new businesses will be created, people are good like that. But unless we have a hang on the covid crisis, and are no longer a phone alert away from a total lockdownm it is cynical in my books to expect people to actually do that.
Sabine have you read the budget? There is a long term plan along with short term covid beating ideas.
I note how scathingly you write. Do you think the Government has not done enough? Covid is our present danger and our poor are not being left to fend for themselves, neither are they being blamed or vilified by their leaders as has happened elsewhere.
The actual election has not started yet. Those things you want are fine in normal times, but life has changed, it will never be what it was, as we are running to dodge this evil but still may be overtaken by the larger problem of climate change.
By putting wellbeing at the centre of planning we have a new social contract with this Government. People again see the Public Service as being there for their good. All of this takes time and clever balanced planning.
In spite of the naysayers, much has been achieved, and we are doing an exceptional job in containing this virus once again. There will be great struggle to overcome the effects of the virus on the world. We are lucky to be doing that without the ongoing deaths associated with that.
I am fearful that those who want "instant solutions to complex problems" may whittle support 'till we end up with the "bullying parent". That would be grim.
I have read the budget, i have linked to the the article outlining the budget and used Jacindas words. Nothing scathingly about, unless now the only opinion that is allowed is that of flowery positive humbug. Sorry, but i find that hard to believe, and again, some of us have a different perspective about certain things.
No the government has not done enough just yet – not because i say so, but because they know that they have not done enough yet, themselves. Hence the increase in the flexi wage system and the rolling out of a few dollars to some hapless unemployed people now so that they can start their business so as to not clutter the unemployemnt queues more then that. Hence the extra 2 weeks wage subsidy. Without it Labour by now would be dead in the water and way more people would be unemployed. So Labour looks good because it did the easiest and fastest things, re-fund us some of the taxes we pay via the wage subsidy. The shovel ready jobs, nice, helped get men of the unemployment queue, now do something for the women for whom unemployment has increased.
The actuall election started on 08.08 with the start of the election campaign, and the roll out of the budget and the promises of things to come. I personally am happy that it got extended and if only for the Government – which btw is more then just Labour, as it is also Green and NZF, to revisit some of their ideas and maybe adjust them to the new reality of Covid in the community from a as of now unknown source.
And no a well being app is nothing worse to be proud of. So far no societal contract has been established that looks after the poorest, the homeless, the beneficiaires etc, they are still on their starvation rations via Winz and no changes in the air. (that much vounted $ 25 per week is a Covid benefits – mind any day they would like to they could just make that permanent – after all they will claw it back with the decrease of fringe benefits to the same amount).
And if you state that much has been achieved as a Yes sayer, please link to all the things that have been achieved for those that need it the most. That is my litmus test. Will the changes benefit those that have it the hardest in our society and frankly no they have done the bare minimum as of yet.
I don't want instant solutions nor have i ever asked for them, i have been for years now very much asking for the same things. Better housing, better benefits for those that need it, better public transport and cheaper, less cutting down of trees to build garages and such.
As of the election, it is Labours and the Coalitions to lose, it always was. And for those that want to see Labor go it alone or only with the Greens, well it is your job to give reasons to those that a. sit on the sidelines, b. can't be arsed to vote because non of the party cares for them (1 million last time around, and c. might actually have to live with the fact that again they need NZfirst. The supporters of the No mates party will do what they want, and personally i don't care, as i will never in my life time consider voting for them.
And personally i would very much enjoy a good write about by some of our less scathingly writing peeps, detailing us all the good things Labour has in place for us, specially the unemployed.
it is used commonly against others. And Ardern may be the leader of the Labour Party and the PM of the country but she is not 'alone' labour. There are other members in this party that are in government and some could benefit from a brain and a spine.
Not everything is about Jacinda Ardern. Some is literally just about the Party and like Aunty Helen, we will have to live with the Party longer then with Aunty Jancinda.
Fair enough – in my experience "grow a brain & a spine" jibes are unhelpful, but maybe now is the hour as NZ fumbles & bumbles along. Still, could be worse, eh?
So if things are looking really bad
you're thinking of givin' it away
Remember New Zealand's a cracker
and I reckon come what may
If things get appallingly bad
and we all get atrociously poor
If we stand in the queue with our hats on
we can borrow a few million more.
We don't know how lucky we are, mate
We don't know how lucky we are.
It can always be worse, but that is not the matter at hand , the matter is can we ask more from the Labour Party without being accused of being negative, bitter, or against the current leader of the party.
And yes, most people don't know how lucky they are or they know it and want to do their best to keep it that way often at the expense of others. We already have quite a few people in the country for whom things are appallingly bad and who are atrociously poor. It might just not be you or me atm, but these things can change fast.
Sabine of course you can ask for more. People are entitled to post whatever (within moderator reason) they want.
One of the many reasons I like the Standard is because right now since the outbreak it gets me away from the unrelenting negativity of the msm. No perspective, only blame. F..k if I was Ashleigh Bloomfield fielding what are mostly ridiculous gotcha type questions from the media, I would be very tempted to say "Right that's it. I have f..king had enough, the job is hard enough without you pack of wankers with your gotcha ill informed questions. None of you do a job that is worth much, unlike my poor staff who actually do something useful for a living and may earn nowhere near as much as you. I suspect most of you couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, but too bad, if you think you could do better, f…king take over"
Agreed anker. 'Shock jock' jibes along the lines of "grow a brain & a spine" are unpleasant, unnecessary and, most importantly, detract from otherwise constructive criticism. Just my opinion (and choice of reaction), of course.
If some feel they are "accused of being negative, bitter, or against the current leader of the [Labour] party" to the extent that it is inhibiting their commenting, then that would be cause for concern. Otoh, instances of negatively and bitterness occasionally come across as purely vindictive – intent is so easy to misread, depending on one's perspective.
"Right that's it. I have f..king had enough, the job is hard enough without you pack of wankers with your gotcha ill informed questions. None of you do a job that is worth much, unlike my poor staff who actually do something useful for a living and may earn nowhere near as much as you. I suspect most of you couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, but too bad, if you think you could do better, f…king take over"
I suggest that you stay away from the telly, radio and news print for a while, as you seem to not be managing the vitriol coming from it, i know i could not and thus did so years ago.
As for you having 'fucking had enough'? the same counts for the people that have lost their jobs, their homes, and those that will in the near future.
There are a lot of people in this country and elsewhere who have had fucking had enough. And you know what? It seems that no one cares. Go figure.
When you write "It seems that no one cares.", are you referring to politicians and bureaucrats, or to NZers in general?
"The first thing we did was scale up school and community programmes with an additional 100,000 fruit and vegetable boxes to children over 10 weeks. We also met the cost of processing and distributing surplus pork meat to families in need to help resolve an oversupply of New Zealand pork, while providing high-quality nutrition. The Government also provided $32 million for funding foodbanks and food rescue."
"We are the envy of the world. We seem to want to beat ourselves up for every infringement, and as a citizen I find that surprising," Roche told Newstalk ZB's Mike H*****g.
Asked by H*****g. why tests on border workers hadn't been happening, as expected, Roche said that was the "very elusive" question.
"Everyone's acknowledged that what they thought was happening, didn't. So there has to be an intervention to remedy that and I'm part of the intervention."
He urged perspective. "A mistake was made, there's a lot of moving parts, a lot of risk. No one goes to work to make a mistake; we shouldn't overstate it. There have been mistakes made. There have been some mis-communications – let's just simplify it, sort it out and move on."
Asked if there were far too many people and departments involved, Roche said: "I think that sums up the public sector but at one level it's a cheap shot. They all work together very well. This is a cross Government thing – it's led by health, the health voice is very loud but it requires a collective effort. Not everybody works as easily in that environment as you would hope."
Leadership was important at a political and administrative level. "I have had the privilege of lifting the hood at public health units. I was humbled by what I saw. The work they are doing on our behalf is unbelievable – and we have lost just a sense of perspective. Yes, this has come back, we have deployed hundreds and hundreds of people to safeguard the community. They have done it in an incredibly professional and sensitive way."
So pleased Sir Brian Roche took ignorant Hosking on regarding what is really happening. A decent sensible man talking to a jumped up self-opinionated unpleasant person.
Q and A this morning had a short story on Taiwans experience with Sars and Covid, they already had a dedicated organization for dealing with pandemics after Sars had taken so many lives, they developed a system to eradicate the virus.
The interesting thing was that the strategy was predominantly around prevention through having systems in place to to prevent and trace infections.
Taiwan has a population of around 25million, their Rate of Testing is way below ours, testing only catches infections after the fact, where as prevention prevents the infection in the first place.
The main prevention tools are Masks, Social Distancing and an excellent tracing process.
Today Taiwan has six new cases of Covid, the same number as NZ.
Testing after the fact is TOO LATE, the prevention is Far more important.
The NZs srtategy by any standard is Gold Plated, any politician critising it should be held to account, as do some members of the media that harped on about the testing regime that existed, yet, Not a Single Case was detected due to the "Failed Testing Regime".
That is the evidence that proves that testing is Not the Primary response, it's simply a backstop to prove the existing preventitive sytems are working.
Testing of boarder workers for the Covid Virus alone is a waste of time, that will only show an individual currently infectuous, we need to also be blood sampling for antibodies to see who has previously been infected, that may show the cause of current infections.This may have been happening but who would know ?.
I'm just repeating what the Taiwanese Pandemic Expert had indicated given they had a specicialised Pandemic Response Organisation all ready set up.
Taiwan was hammered by the SARS virus and learnt a lot about how to minimise the Human and Financial costs of a Pandemic, they have already gone through the "Learning Curve", and one of those lessons was that Prevention is where the majority of effort should be focused.
Focusing on just one aspect, which, thus far hasn't been proven to be a contributing factor in the current outbreak (or any other issue) is time wasting and an unnecessary use of resources.
In Manufacturing the same applies, there is an old saying, "you cannot inspect quality into a product, no matter how much time you spend inspecting it", it has to made to a standard through a process that ensures the required outcome.
I've been looking at our tax system in NZ for ordinary folks. Not terribly much info from IRD specifying percentages of tax charged for each code, and they are many. Their main message is you need to pay tax and then give a few chosen examples. I found what I wanted to know eventually looking at all the sites, public and private. Not straightforward, need more figures less generalisation and explanation.
Accommodation supplement is murky. Yet just about everyone can get it if you are ordinary people, probably the wealthy have their own channels. This was written in June 2019 and quoted this from Treasury in 2017:
In 2017, even Treasury agreed "AS [accommodation supplement] does not adequately alleviate housing stress" and New Zealand's existing housing subsidy structure is "not fit-for-purpose".
That doesn't mean they want something better for the citizen, it may be that there is a hole in its efficiency that they want to stop up. When we are finally allowed to have our election and the party that tries to be good is returned to the bouncy castle, from each office in the Beehive there will be such a buzz and rush they will turn up the cool air conditioning. Please, please vote and see if anyone around you needs a lift to a polling booth, provided of course it's not a lockdown area.
For all these reasons, the Child Poverty Action Group's just released report, The Accommodation Supplement: the wrong tool to fix the house, calls for the Government to remove the AS for most recipients while significantly raising incomes of all benefit recipients and low-wage workers. We authored this report with Alan Johnson, co-convenor of the CPAG.
Bad design of the Accommodation Supplement fuels NZ's housing crisis
– This story was originally published on Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.
The Q&A this morning had the best summary of how Taiwan manages so well. Having a health system set up to operate well. ($10 doctors visit.) Having an understood/trusted pandemic process already in place. (I don't think masks are mandatory? but widely worn.) Absence of public undermining. Can't find the Taiwan on Q&A but worth a look.
Fortunately, we're not heading toward a brutal winter.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea is banning large gatherings, closing beaches, shutting nightspots and churches and removing fans from professional sports in strict new measures announced Saturday as it battles the spread of the coronavirus.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo announced the steps shortly after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 332 new cases — the ninth straight day of triple-digit increases. The national caseload is now at 17,002, including 309 deaths.
While most of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, which has been at the center of the viral surge in recent weeks, infections were also reported in practically every major city and town, raising concerns that transmissions are slipping out of control.
[…]
As of Saturday afternoon, nearly 800 infections have been linked to a Seoul church led by a vocal critic of the country’s president. Sarang Jeil Church pastor Jun Kwang-hun was hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday after participating in an anti-government protest last week where he shared a microphone on stage with other activists. More than 100 infections have been tied to protesters.
Police raided the church late Friday while trying to secure a more comprehensive list of its members who remain out of contact. Health workers have used cellphone location data to identify some 50,000 people who spent more than 30 minutes on the street during the protest last Saturday and have been alerting them to get tested. Around 18,000 of them have been tested, said Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Korea’s National Health Institute.
Morrah on Mediawatch, 'we aren't here to make friends' regarding the way he's treating Bloomfield, my memory goes back to when that is exactly how he treated Peter fucking Whittall https://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/peter-whittall-it-is-personal-2010120217 or maybe Morrah has learned since then. I just remember the media back then wanting to Knight Peter fucking Whittall, so Morrah, I don't believe your weasel words.
Siouxie Wiles, the biochemist who has contributed a lot of easy to understand material throughout the pandemic so far, has written another useful and cogent article in the Spinoff on how to improve the Covid response, including an analysis of National's proposals. Worth a read.
The Wiles piece in discussing the National’s Border Protection Agency misses the main point. "It seems to me this policy runs the very real risk of stranding New Zealanders overseas while doing nothing to actually increase the security of our border."
The policy is not about actually increasing the security of our border, t's about the election and making out you have somehow come up with a magic formula. Will people understand or realise the logistical stuff, the reality that Wiles mentions?
"It will certainly stop some people who may be infectious from being able to travel. But given how far some New Zealanders have to travel to get home, it won’t stop people getting infected on the way."
You get a test, it comes back negative and somehow, before you get on a plane, however long that is, in whichever part of the world you're in with all the local circumstances, you know, we know, Judith Collins knows, you haven't got Covid-19 when you board your plane?
I'd like to hear how those who think that Collins is Wonder Woman can be certain no-one getting on a plane has the virus given the way the world works.
He's right out of view as is Tiffany! – when I posted I tied a width of 500 thinking that would shrink the image enough but it seems that that wasn't enough. I tried to edit it but the process was beyond my capabilities 🙁
They just don't get no respect, those two. Even dumb algorithms diss them.
(I haven't yet found a way to get the image size right on first go, but what works for me with the images is posting it without trying to change anything the image button does, then immediately go back in and edit the comment and add width="500" just before the /> )
Yes I have done that too in the past. Now Lynn has given us an image qualities button/option that lets you define the width before submitting; but it didn't seem to work in this case – and when I went back to edit, it came up with a lot of html script I wasn't confident in playing with.
As for the line up at the RNC – obviously they are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
BTW if you missed Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC – no worries – you can hear it again when Melania gives her speech.
Maryanne Trump Barry was serving as a federal judge when she heard her brother, President Trump, suggest on Fox News, “maybe I’ll have to put her at the border” amid a wave of refugees entering the United States. At the time, children were being separated from their parents and put in cramped quarters while court hearings dragged on.
“All he wants to do is appeal to his base,” Barry said in a conversation secretly recorded by her niece, Mary L. Trump. “He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this.”
Barry, 83, was aghast at how her 74-year-old brother operated as president. “His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God,” she said. “I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit.”
The Standard isn't working using my Android Smartphone.
The mobile version won't start/load sometimes today and the reply function hasn't worked for me since Friday evening. The desktop version will open, but when the reply function is clicked, I then can't type anything in the comment box.
Everything worked earlier last week, so maybe The Standard IT gurus can investigate.
There’s no denying we live in deeply partisan times and a new poll out of New Hampshire exemplifies this divide. Its results say a majority of New Hampshire Democrats said they’d rather “a giant meteor strikes the earth, extinguishing all human life” than President Donald Trump win re-election. Yikes.
Every now and then I get a blissful moment when I forget that Kim Jong Orange possesses a tremendous bigly and more powerfully button that actually works. If he feels too much that nobody likes him, he might just choose to show us all. That would indeed be a pretty close facsimile of SMoD.
Do you really want the White House, or are you actually more interested in the grossly swollen head (housing a remarkably small brain) of the current occupant? The latter is a somewhat larger target with correspondingly larger chances.
Thousands of Aucklanders are desperately turning to food banks as increasing job losses wipe out family incomes.
There are now 29 registered food banks serving the city. Prior to Covid-19 there were fewer than five, and one long-standing emergency food provider believes too many food banks could be counterproductive.
In Takanini yesterday, cars formed queues kilometres long for food parcels from the local Sikh temple, Takanini Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib.
Benny was among them, having lost his job with Air New Zealand during the last lockdown.
"Tons of people have been laid off. You know, we've gone through a hard time finding a job … but because of this kind of charity's donations it's really helped."
Bradley Taylor works as a landscaper, but the work has dried up so he and his young family have turned to the food bank.
"At the moment we're not getting a lot of jobs due to the second wave – people are really taking a step back now and trying to save their money," he said.
“If we think this is just Covid-related, we’re missing the point.”
Before the pandemic, research by the Mission estimated that 10 per cent of Kiwis were living in food poverty.
That group has now doubled, Farrelly said.
The upside is that the pandemic has shone a light on food insecurity. There is growing awareness of the scale of the problem and the Mission is receiving proactive offers of help from the Government, Auckland Council and community groups, he said.
As well as distributing food parcels to families, the Mission has been handing out 250 takeaway bags of food daily to homeless and vulnerably housed people who do not have access to cooking facilities.
Not shits and giggles for all in #NZHellhole. #PrettyfuckingshitbeforeCovid
It's a worry 9 are in hospital but hasn't New Zealand done stunningly well? Middle of winter, second outbreak, zero deaths so far, and community cases coming back to zero.
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
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We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
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It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
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Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
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Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
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Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
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Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
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Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
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Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
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If the Labour Party were to suddenly grow a brain & a spine, what would they campaign on? A plan for the post-covid economy.
John McCrone compiles an overview: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122379921/a-kinder-greener-fairer-economics-to-replace-neoliberalism-questioning-new-zealands-chances-of-making-the-move
Labour, thinking itself clever, is pitching its campaign to the 40% minority who are slow learners: "Because they're just like us. Identity politics works."
Hegel, in the 19th century, deduced his dialectic principle from this. Applying it to politics, we get a synthesis of whichever key elements of left & right remain valid.
Not desperate yet. Plus street protests hardly ever get the desired result nowadays.
So Labour masterminds decide more of the same is the best prescription. If it is a total failure, let's do it! Dinosaur-brain Labour.
Looks like social credit updated for the new millennium, huh?
So here's where a Labour apologist can say "Look, we're already doing social credit!! But we can't tell the truth to the public because nobody would vote for us! Voters are morons, right?"
To introduce MMT they first need to burst the bubble, break up the banks and deal with the resulting chaos…..no politician is willing to propose that even if enough would vote for it which is highly unlikely.
MMT is an economic theory which includes how money functions into its understanding of the economy. It describes how the economy works today.
Your probably claiming the government would need to do something before implementing Overt Monetary Financing. But in practice this is very similar to reversing the order of borrow and spend steps of QE (which its already doing today of course). Its also true that New Zealand has historically implemented OMF during the Savage era.
This strongly indicates your own economic theory doesn't fit the real world.
MMT as you well know is a description of how (some think) the political economy COULD operate as opposed to how it currently operates.
Leaving the assets with the private banks and liabilities with the debtors and retaining the private (offshore) banks with the ability to create credit does little to solve the problem aggregate spending capacity within the economy even with the availability of currency from the issuer….that simply provides the private banks with the opportunity to extract even more from the economy, and does nothing for the debtors in the short term.
QE without addressing these issues leaves exactly where we are right now….waiting for the whole house of cards to collapse and the assets to fall into the hands of the few solvent entities left standing.
This claim is incorrect. MMT purports to describe how public spending works with QE and without QE and in a lot of other circumstances such as the Eurozone.
To contrast one MMT prediction to parts of the mainstream, MMT describes why QE (e.g building bank reserves) has not caused inflation.
Of course there are some possibilities also described by MMT which are more or less untested, such as OMF. So how does MMT describe that? Well its understood to be basically similar to QE but with a slightly different order of steps, but basically ending up with the central bank owning a large part of the govt debt itself. However if thats true then we already have plenty of evidence that this is also not inflationary, contrary to mainstream claims. Such things are the testable hypotheses of macro-economics and if your paying attention then MMT is getting these things right, where the economics mainstream is getting them wrong.
As for the rest of your comment, you appear to be describing some final economic collapse, worse than both the GFC and lockdowns impacts and with govt having no ability to counteract it. I wouldn't go holding my breath waiting for this to manifest.
As I understand it, Socred advocated depriving private banks of the right to create money. That was certainly the case in Bruce Betham's day, though I'm not sure whether it still is. Their current policy seems to be to limit that right by making greater use of the reserve ratio tool.
I don't think the idea of Banks being unable to create money can be operationalised.
Initially (as in the Chicago plan) this was tied into the notion of a bank reserve constraint on bank lending. But reserve constraints don't limit bank lending unless your nation is willing to forego payment stability (which none are).
But the kind of money banks create resides on their balance sheets (its a record of owing a customer their deposit balance) and so if you need every doller created to be govt backed at the central bank (in the interbank accounts) then you are just signing the govt up to create reserve balances to back every payment. If the central bank fails to create the reserves needed to back bank lending then payment or reserve constraint failures occur. So this must be an acceptable outcome in operationalising such a policy.
Additionally bank credit and trade credit (where you pay for work, or even a meal, after its completed) doesn't look very different so I don't see much ability to legislate against banks ability to extend credit anyway.
McCrone undermined himself unfortunately by not knowing what an Overton Window is. Interesting read otherwise.
There is a similar discussion going on in Australia at present.
http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=45630
The public seems to think the whole national debt malarky is getting tiresome, but the government economists are pretty attached to it.
This bit makes the RBA seem defender of the (neoliberal) faith:
Conservative authorities always try to prevent progress, but adherence to a paradigm past the use-by date prevents govts adjusting to the real world. ScoMo will have to get real sometime soon & pull whatever strings are required to produce an RBA head willing to create a future-based strategy for steering the economy.
He may even be brainstorming the options as we write. I hope he initiates some kind of liaison to the RBNZ gov plus JA/GR since regional coherence would be best for future economic steering, eh?
Its possible, I don't think that is something which will necessarily occur.
Japan has been running QE for decades now. Recently MMT was discussed in their parliament and most factions denied that MMT provided a cogent description of their economy. Obviously a better description could increase the level of public discourse on economic policy and is desirable but I don't see any force actually mandating this occurs.
Its possible that discourse could continue with central banks and treasury running QE and still insisting that at some point they will have to wind it back due to building inflationary pressures. The public may or may not believe the narrative being presented to them.
For better public discourse it would help if the process was simplified with the reserve bank directly funding the treasury spending. Making this clear would help to show the public how public finance is working in practice and would make it difficult to oppose deficits and public spending programs politically with an invalid public debt narrative.
Of course in both New Zealand and Australia to a reasonable extent the shift towards fiscal policy was automatic. Across the lock-down the shift in spending from consumption to saving happened, as did the growth in deficits required to compensate for this. And it must have become obvious that the RBNZ had to fund the deficit more or less directly to the tune of $60 billion because that happened as well and in a timely fashion. If the long run outcome is that the forecast inflation never occurs and the governments self owned debt is not unwound as a result, well I don't see any important difference between that outcome and another where the inflation and public finance forecast was more realistic in the first place.
Your comment implies that the mainstream economic theory has had a period of validity, but this has never been the case. There has not been a period where a model of a barter economy was valid (which is the mainstream model, it literally attempts to model an economy with an impossible financial system). There has not been a period where there was a mandatory minimum unemployment rate (above 0) below which inflation accelerated (the NAIRU rate), so the model of unemployment is completely broken. And there has never been a period where the central bank can target the inflation rate by targeting official cash rates (and our RBNZ was never good at limiting house price increases even with the OCR about 10-12%). Monetary policy not working out as an inflation theory was as true prior to the GFC as it has been since the GFC (where its supposed to be able to increase inflation rates).
For better public discourse it would help if the process was simplified with the reserve bank directly funding the treasury spending. Making this clear would help to show the public how public finance is working in practice and would make it difficult to oppose deficits and public spending programs politically with an invalid public debt narrative.
This strikes me as helpful & sensible. I wonder if Reddell would agree. I get the impression you may be an economist by profession &/or someone with close prof experience of public finances. In the USA such people access political leverage via institutionalised think-tanks – do we have one such relevant here? If so, your suggestion ought to be examined collegially to crowd-source consensus in that context, with a view to lobbying the next govt to make the desired change.
Your comment implies that the mainstream economic theory has had a period of validity, but this has never been the case.
Maybe so – yet it was sufficiently plausible to win the adherence of both Labour and National for 35 years.
In my limited interactions with Reddell I would expect some kind of triangulation to occur. Basically when pushed MMT is all correct, nothing surprising and not any different to the present, but also we should not do away with the concept of central bank independence and should maintain the practice of needing an authority figure to tell us which kind of deficit will be inflationary rather than making it so obvious even joe public could understand it for themselves.
I think that equates to making the system "simple enough and no simpler" when your a PHD grade policy economist.
jfc, make up your mind.
Expecting a mind to get made up is realistic in some limited contexts – as in using a recipe for baking a cake. When social & political contexts are ever-changing, a mind will view those as ever-movable feasts. 😋
Got that bit wrong didn't he.
MMT doesn't ignore resources. What it does is recognise that a nation's money is backed by that nation's economy and, as long as their is slack in the economy, then printing money is non-inflationary. Under such a system taxes become a form inflation control as interest rates are now (and don't which don't actually work as super-inflated house pricing shows).
The reason why Labour, National and ACT don't like MMT is because it proves that capitalists are bludgers.
Once the government becomes the sole supplier of money in the system the need for interest rates, shareholders and profits disappears. And where then would the Cullen Fund and our self-proclaimed VIP of business be?
MMT still uses a market economy – it just gets rid of capitalism.
MMT still uses a market economy – it just gets rid of capitalism
Seems like an insight worth recycling! I can't claim to comment from any perspective of expertise – my involvement with Greens economic policy development was always that of a radical heretic who had a partial grasp of establishment economics.
I suspect that others may quibble somewhat. Unless you have a design mechanism for eliminating held capital, those who hold it are alway likely to be players in the game, regardless of govt making radical rule changes.
Perhaps you are implying the incentive-structure of the game is sufficiently changed by govts using MMT that capitalist players will see no way to profit from playing?
With MMT properly put in place having money will no longer grant more money. No interest rates to charge workers for the privilege of borrowing
Existing owners will still be able to bludge but the economy will shift around them until they can’t. Its not an immediate fix but will come about over time.
With the government creating money openly the private will need to be stopped from doing so and thus will end the private banks and their bludging.
Always worthwhile to read Why we can't afford the rich to get a better understanding of how they bludge so much off of the rest of us and how getting rid of them will make the economy perform better and make the rest of us better off.
Capitalists are bludgers and they cost us billions every year. And that's just in NZ.
Hegel is the reason why Marx wrote a shit prescription even though he was a brilliant diagnostician.
Haven't they got enough on their plate right now?
If the Labour Party were to suddenly grow a brain & a spine, what would they campaign on? A plan for the post-covid economy.
That's been true since Rogergnomics. But NZ politics has reached the point of decay where not releasing policies is more likely to win or retain votes. As it stands they're more like that song from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying:
Finch: Is there anything you're against?
Twimble: Unemployment
Finch: When they want brilliant thinking from employees
Twimble: That is no concern of mine
Finch: Suppose a man of genius makes suggestions?
Twimble: Watch that genius get suggested to resign
Releasing policy would just give the floundering Gnats and their media sycophants something to focus their malice upon – better to let them stew in their febrile resentment – it doesn't resonate with voters.
It has proven infinitely safer for Labour to try to deliver some desirable outcome, like building houses, than it is to promise to do so. Pretty dysfunctional from a democratic perspective, but the media that ought long since to have pilloried and driven out epic non-performers like Brownlee and Smith is MIA on that front.
Reti, Q&A: Sunlight on our policies, but we'll keep our experts secret.
Way more lucid than his 'leader' though, eh.
The only reason they are keeping the experts hidden must be because they are not credible. Reti's reason for not naming them was weak.
("They work for for other governments and organisations")
This epidemic is the most important issue facing the country and I think the public are entitled to know where National’s advice is coming from so we can judge the soundness of advice for ourselves. The whole thing smacks of ‘we know best’
Yesterday, Reti invited his experts to present themselves if they wished.
So far, tumbleweeds.
Following National's devastation in October, it will be time for that hapless "Health spokesman" to RETIre, methinks.
.
.
.
Geddit?
Ah, National getting its instructions from their foreign owners.
When does Jacinda Ardern get a break? Not for her the games of golf with other Leaders or celebrities. Her few days off are spent with Clarke and Neve out of the spotlight.
I hope she is getting affirmations for her unrelenting positivity genuine mahi and care for all citizens.
I have been accused of being a Jacinda fan. Well, yes I am, as she is remarkable.
Yes, I worry about her too Patrica. She looks too thin to me. Not surprising given the huge load she is currently carrying. Yet I get the impression that if she dares to let up and have a short break she will be loudly criticised by her opponents – notwithstanding her predecessors were known to have good sized breaks from time to time.
She's the Churchill of the war on Covid.
Just keep on PM Jacinda and the time will fly. Then get a few things going and a quiet break in Cook Islands?
Think she had family connections in Nuie – though there are plenty of quiet local places who'd be glad to have her come to that.
I imagine such breaks depend on having talent holding the fort – Megan & Chippie seem to be growing into that role.
The first bloke might like a bit of time to hone his artistic response to the best fishing program of all time too.
Patricia Brenner. I heartily endorse your comment on Jacinda. She is thrown to the wolves every day but counters everything with grace, good manners, non confrontation in reply and is unfailingly unflappable. I would say the same of the frontline team. I am in awe of their ability to front up to lower level reporters who seem to be there mainly to force them into *owning up* to supposed cock ups, debacles, shambles etc and stay calm in the face of such unmitigated jackalism. New word. Just invented it. They are indeed the dream team and nobody expects them to get everything right first up. They are human. And their ability to accept and then reset immediately is in my book amazing and calming. Go the dream team. My opinion only.
" My opinion only."
A good opinion though.
Agree Patricia. There was a rumour on #hellholeNZ that Jacinda, C lark and Neve were at Oriental Bay yesterday. Hope it was true……..
I am concerned labour are in a precarious position now due to the outbreak. There is unrelentingly negative publicity about it. Donald Trump is inadvertently the only one bringing some perspective (unintended of course).
People are not commenting on the remarkable response to the outbreak and how effective it has been. Gorman etc are getting air time saying how poor the contract tracing has been which is laughable. UK got private firm doing contract tracing, rates of 50%
i read the first two sentences of what you wrote Denis “if Labour would grow a spine and a brain”………………..wow man where have you been the last six months? What the fuck do you think labour has been doing? Brain and spine more than evident in covid response, so wake the fuck up. Right now covid and it’s immediate aftermath is all that matters.
This election we either vote in a labour led govt or a National led govt. if you have bleated on here about labour and spines etc, don’t come crying when Collins is running the show
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/23-08-2020/exclusive-new-poll-how-have-testing-issues-and-the-new-outbreak-affected-public-confidence/
Look at this poll, shows how out of step the TV1 & Herald & Stuff & National Party etc … are, they don't represent the public mood at all, how ever much they try to rile people up. Maybe the constant attacks are making the public like the present Govt more, it seems no one expects perfection, unlike some commentators even here, the Govt are competent. I for one can't be bothered reading many journalists anymore, the disconnect with reality is getting more & more telling, I can see with my own eyes that NZ is not a hellhole, even the anti lockdown 'protest' was just pathetic, more people go watch Sat morning sport & the field up the road.
The chosen approach gets another month to rub over the electorate and now Reti has to dance on the head of a pin. How good will those dance moves be.
That internet thing means folk don't just consume the duplicity/tawdrey/hosk spin. Also kiwis abroad keep whanau in the real picture they live each day outside the pacifica zone.
Are we a miserable whining lot with a fair number only thinking of me, me.
I'm suggesting people vote as if their lives depend on it. Because it just might be that.
aj I agree. Vote as if your life depended on it but it likely does actually. Who do you trust to lead us through Covid. That will be the task of the next Govt.
This election we either vote in a labour led govt or a National led govt – Whilst National is lacking Labour still IMO still be subjected to critical review of what they are proposing. Otherwise we have what the USA had in their last election – Voting for the 2nd worst option
If the boarder issues regarding testing had not been questioned, would the current testing regime of frontline staff have been ramped up and so promptly ?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/08/covid-19-testing-for-border-workers-ramped-up-after-government-pulled-big-lever-to-make-it-compulsory-chris-hipkins.html
Herodotus, I don't see Labour as the 2nd worst option and I don't believe they are. They are the best option.
The Govt had understood from the MoH that border staff were being tested. They ramped it up when they found out it wasn't. Turns out the tardiness of implementing the border checks hasn't lead to wide spread community outbreak. It has lead to one matanance man getting Covid and I fully sympathize with him………
We still don't know the origin of the Auckland cluster………its possible that a returnee tested negative on 12th day and took it into the community as the virus is tricky and the tests not 100% reliable.
Perhaps I poorly constructed the comment. With a poor opposition all the current govt has to do is out perform a crap performing National party. There is no challenge to have a coherent and well planned out implementation of policy. Need I detail The Kiwi Build, and Labour decided to increase the build from 50k to 100k ??
"Turns out the tardiness of implementing the border checks hasn't lead to wide spread community outbreak" – How many fortunate outcomes can we hope for ? We shouldn't he hoping for chance to help us out. We should expect mistakes and see modification/evolving of policy to reduce the risk.
Herodotus our Govt has outperformed nearly every govt in the world. Just in terms of Covid nos everyday I check the figures and NZ has just gone down the order we are now 140.
We have to hope for all the lucky breaks we can get with this virus while doing absolutely everything to the highest standard possible. To date Labour have had an inquiry into contract tracing sometime in April? and found it wanting and so ramped it up. This has clearly paid dividends in this latest outbreak. Outstanding response. Then there were the issues around testing returnees uncovered in June and since then testing regime up and running….then the idiot people absconding from quarantine, they fixed it. And now they have ramped up the testing of staff..
We also have to hope for chance or good luck because despite all our best effort we can get unlucky e.g. the worker who tested positive likely after touching a lift button.
Grow a spine, what a line,
From some Trumped up fellow,
Do you mean like NAT cold blue,
Or perhaps like ACT of yellow.
Red is a warm and friendly colour,
Green is quite soothing too,
But to grow a spine, a stupid line,
Is just a pile of poo.
funny.
Dennis is left of Labour in case that matters.
it's a commenting style that doesn't suit everyone.
I usually don't bother to read Denis. Too long and so gave him a shot this morning and he opened with the brain/spine comment, which I thought was ignorant beyond belief and that sort of commentary both angers and scares me (in Covid times). I am not too bothered where Denis sits on the left/right continuum slating a govt that has managed the hardest crisis NZ has had in lifetimes when they have done an outstanding job is a plain ignorant. They have saved 100s/1000s of lives by exercising their brain and spine.
why? It is because he is left to labour that he raises some questions that are fair imo.
Raising question about the long term planning is fair. It is election time, so please Labour talk. I read the speech at the campaing release, and to be honest i am underwhelmed in the parts that i expect to be the big issues in the next years. Unemployment, future investment into employment and the current issue of women losing their jobs at a higher rate then men, older more then younger, etc. IF labour thinks that promising to double the flexi scheme invented by Paula Benefit will get me or others hot n bothered, they need to think again. Promising a few dollars to those that have lost their jobs to maybe start their own business? Lol, and then they get a phone call and they are in Level 3 and can't work. lol.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/423061/labour-launches-re-election-campaign-with-300m-plan-to-create-thousands-of-new-jobs
not wanting to say anything, but that undermines the min wage like big time if you only offer wages for 30 hours while someone ends up working double or more. Nevermind tho, its the thought that counts? Right? Also anyone not being able to work from home and or in roading/heavy infrastructure/shovel ready government investment is at risk of long term unemployment in the current global situation. Any government that fools itself in believing that 7500 $ is an attractive amount to hire people is deluding themselves, but then maybe earning several thousand of dollars per week might just have an impact on that thinking when it comes the poor.
Just take the 'underspend' and distribute it fairly among the unemployed so that they can eat and have a roof, and chances are that would help the community and create employment….but then we don't actually want to increase unemployment and social welfare. And i don't count the extra 25 per covid level week an increase, even tho its tacked to the main benefit, as it is temporary and can be cancelled at any moment.
The wage subsidy did effectively that, flatten the curve of unemployment, and the Covid unemployement rate (cause unequal is us (TM) ) will expire 12 weeks after that.
Mind this article was from 8.8. and thus before the new outbreak showed up, but i do hope that they consider what they actually expect from people ….to start up a business, to rehire people, while at the same time not being able to have any stability at all. All it takes is a bullhorn at 8 am in the morning and you are in Level 2 – 4 and can't work.
Yes, Labour needs to do better, personally i would rather see some ideas of early retirement, a proper increase in base benefits to the level of the wage subsidy as this is now a proven amount in regards to let people have a roof and eat.
Not all questions are put downs, and it is jarring that there seems to be a reflex reaction to shout down those that dare ask.
Which is fully against the standard economic theory (or any market based theory really). If the business could afford to employ more people to expand then they would already be doing it. They're not which means that that business has already reached its limits and throwing money at it probably won't help.
Better for the government to help create some new businesses and actually develop our economy. That would probably employ more people and the businesses would be more likely to be sustainable.
Yep, that worked well but it's not a viable long term plan. Short term and even mid term to allow businesses to adjust to the new paradigm but we're going to need something beyond that and that is mean developing new businesses and it can't be left to the bludging rich. They just don't get it nor do they care.
The government needs to look at what needs to be done to develop the economy across a range of industries that presently aren't here. Then, and only then, will we have a viable plan.
Yeah, that's going to happen. Too many people retiring and not enough workers to support them. That's why governments have been raising the retirement age for the last few decades and importing lots and lots of people.
Well, the other option is to increase unemployment level and instruct the Winz drones that part of kinder and gentler means to not harrass people into applying for jobs that don't exist and will need to be created first.
And i have total confidence that new businesses will be created, people are good like that. But unless we have a hang on the covid crisis, and are no longer a phone alert away from a total lockdownm it is cynical in my books to expect people to actually do that.
Sabine have you read the budget? There is a long term plan along with short term covid beating ideas.
I note how scathingly you write. Do you think the Government has not done enough? Covid is our present danger and our poor are not being left to fend for themselves, neither are they being blamed or vilified by their leaders as has happened elsewhere.
The actual election has not started yet. Those things you want are fine in normal times, but life has changed, it will never be what it was, as we are running to dodge this evil but still may be overtaken by the larger problem of climate change.
By putting wellbeing at the centre of planning we have a new social contract with this Government. People again see the Public Service as being there for their good. All of this takes time and clever balanced planning.
In spite of the naysayers, much has been achieved, and we are doing an exceptional job in containing this virus once again. There will be great struggle to overcome the effects of the virus on the world. We are lucky to be doing that without the ongoing deaths associated with that.
I am fearful that those who want "instant solutions to complex problems" may whittle support 'till we end up with the "bullying parent". That would be grim.
Well said Patricia
I have read the budget, i have linked to the the article outlining the budget and used Jacindas words. Nothing scathingly about, unless now the only opinion that is allowed is that of flowery positive humbug. Sorry, but i find that hard to believe, and again, some of us have a different perspective about certain things.
No the government has not done enough just yet – not because i say so, but because they know that they have not done enough yet, themselves. Hence the increase in the flexi wage system and the rolling out of a few dollars to some hapless unemployed people now so that they can start their business so as to not clutter the unemployemnt queues more then that. Hence the extra 2 weeks wage subsidy. Without it Labour by now would be dead in the water and way more people would be unemployed. So Labour looks good because it did the easiest and fastest things, re-fund us some of the taxes we pay via the wage subsidy. The shovel ready jobs, nice, helped get men of the unemployment queue, now do something for the women for whom unemployment has increased.
The actuall election started on 08.08 with the start of the election campaign, and the roll out of the budget and the promises of things to come. I personally am happy that it got extended and if only for the Government – which btw is more then just Labour, as it is also Green and NZF, to revisit some of their ideas and maybe adjust them to the new reality of Covid in the community from a as of now unknown source.
And no a well being app is nothing worse to be proud of. So far no societal contract has been established that looks after the poorest, the homeless, the beneficiaires etc, they are still on their starvation rations via Winz and no changes in the air. (that much vounted $ 25 per week is a Covid benefits – mind any day they would like to they could just make that permanent – after all they will claw it back with the decrease of fringe benefits to the same amount).
And if you state that much has been achieved as a Yes sayer, please link to all the things that have been achieved for those that need it the most. That is my litmus test. Will the changes benefit those that have it the hardest in our society and frankly no they have done the bare minimum as of yet.
I don't want instant solutions nor have i ever asked for them, i have been for years now very much asking for the same things. Better housing, better benefits for those that need it, better public transport and cheaper, less cutting down of trees to build garages and such.
As of the election, it is Labours and the Coalitions to lose, it always was. And for those that want to see Labor go it alone or only with the Greens, well it is your job to give reasons to those that a. sit on the sidelines, b. can't be arsed to vote because non of the party cares for them (1 million last time around, and c. might actually have to live with the fact that again they need NZfirst. The supporters of the No mates party will do what they want, and personally i don't care, as i will never in my life time consider voting for them.
And personally i would very much enjoy a good write about by some of our less scathingly writing peeps, detailing us all the good things Labour has in place for us, specially the unemployed.
And far above, clearly.
I saw the "grow a brain & a spine" line and read no further, so thanks to Dennis I guess for having the 'courage' to lead with it.
Ardern has brain, heart and courage in spades, IMHO, but she’s a hard road finding the perfect PM.
drowsy couldn't have put it better myself
it is used commonly against others. And Ardern may be the leader of the Labour Party and the PM of the country but she is not 'alone' labour. There are other members in this party that are in government and some could benefit from a brain and a spine.
Not everything is about Jacinda Ardern. Some is literally just about the Party and like Aunty Helen, we will have to live with the Party longer then with Aunty Jancinda.
Fair enough – in my experience "grow a brain & a spine" jibes are unhelpful, but maybe now is the hour as NZ fumbles & bumbles along. Still, could be worse, eh?
It can always be worse, but that is not the matter at hand , the matter is can we ask more from the Labour Party without being accused of being negative, bitter, or against the current leader of the party.
And yes, most people don't know how lucky they are or they know it and want to do their best to keep it that way often at the expense of others. We already have quite a few people in the country for whom things are appallingly bad and who are atrociously poor. It might just not be you or me atm, but these things can change fast.
Sabine of course you can ask for more. People are entitled to post whatever (within moderator reason) they want.
One of the many reasons I like the Standard is because right now since the outbreak it gets me away from the unrelenting negativity of the msm. No perspective, only blame. F..k if I was Ashleigh Bloomfield fielding what are mostly ridiculous gotcha type questions from the media, I would be very tempted to say "Right that's it. I have f..king had enough, the job is hard enough without you pack of wankers with your gotcha ill informed questions. None of you do a job that is worth much, unlike my poor staff who actually do something useful for a living and may earn nowhere near as much as you. I suspect most of you couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, but too bad, if you think you could do better, f…king take over"
[Fixed typo in user name]
Agreed anker. 'Shock jock' jibes along the lines of "grow a brain & a spine" are unpleasant, unnecessary and, most importantly, detract from otherwise constructive criticism. Just my opinion (and choice of reaction), of course.
If some feel they are "accused of being negative, bitter, or against the current leader of the [Labour] party" to the extent that it is inhibiting their commenting, then that would be cause for concern. Otoh, instances of negatively and bitterness occasionally come across as purely vindictive – intent is so easy to misread, depending on one's perspective.
Quote for the month. 😀
I suggest that you stay away from the telly, radio and news print for a while, as you seem to not be managing the vitriol coming from it, i know i could not and thus did so years ago.
As for you having 'fucking had enough'? the same counts for the people that have lost their jobs, their homes, and those that will in the near future.
There are a lot of people in this country and elsewhere who have had fucking had enough. And you know what? It seems that no one cares. Go figure.
When you write "It seems that no one cares.", are you referring to politicians and bureaucrats, or to NZers in general?
A drop in the bucket for sure, but better than nothing.
Sabine it is hard to defeat billionaires, they have marked the cards.
So now we have a chance to change aspects of the game. Hear the squawks
Got their colours sorted.
A diamond in the shit pile.
H*****gs and Sir Brian Roche
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/on-air/mike-h*****g-breakfast/audio/sir-brian-roche-on-nzs-covid-response-we-are-the-envy-of-the-world/
"We are the envy of the world. We seem to want to beat ourselves up for every infringement, and as a citizen I find that surprising," Roche told Newstalk ZB's Mike H*****g.
Asked by H*****g. why tests on border workers hadn't been happening, as expected, Roche said that was the "very elusive" question.
"Everyone's acknowledged that what they thought was happening, didn't. So there has to be an intervention to remedy that and I'm part of the intervention."
He urged perspective. "A mistake was made, there's a lot of moving parts, a lot of risk. No one goes to work to make a mistake; we shouldn't overstate it. There have been mistakes made. There have been some mis-communications – let's just simplify it, sort it out and move on."
Asked if there were far too many people and departments involved, Roche said: "I think that sums up the public sector but at one level it's a cheap shot. They all work together very well. This is a cross Government thing – it's led by health, the health voice is very loud but it requires a collective effort. Not everybody works as easily in that environment as you would hope."
Leadership was important at a political and administrative level. "I have had the privilege of lifting the hood at public health units. I was humbled by what I saw. The work they are doing on our behalf is unbelievable – and we have lost just a sense of perspective. Yes, this has come back, we have deployed hundreds and hundreds of people to safeguard the community. They have done it in an incredibly professional and sensitive way."
So pleased Sir Brian Roche took ignorant Hosking on regarding what is really happening. A decent sensible man talking to a jumped up self-opinionated unpleasant person.
Q and A this morning had a short story on Taiwans experience with Sars and Covid, they already had a dedicated organization for dealing with pandemics after Sars had taken so many lives, they developed a system to eradicate the virus.
The interesting thing was that the strategy was predominantly around prevention through having systems in place to to prevent and trace infections.
Taiwan has a population of around 25million, their Rate of Testing is way below ours, testing only catches infections after the fact, where as prevention prevents the infection in the first place.
The main prevention tools are Masks, Social Distancing and an excellent tracing process.
Today Taiwan has six new cases of Covid, the same number as NZ.
Testing after the fact is TOO LATE, the prevention is Far more important.
The NZs srtategy by any standard is Gold Plated, any politician critising it should be held to account, as do some members of the media that harped on about the testing regime that existed, yet, Not a Single Case was detected due to the "Failed Testing Regime".
That is the evidence that proves that testing is Not the Primary response, it's simply a backstop to prove the existing preventitive sytems are working.
Testing of boarder workers for the Covid Virus alone is a waste of time, that will only show an individual currently infectuous, we need to also be blood sampling for antibodies to see who has previously been infected, that may show the cause of current infections.This may have been happening but who would know ?.
Just is justice is about finding the Truth so you are claiming to be a health expert.
Its very easy to criticize but without the full array of facts it just helps fuel hysteria.
Trickledown
I'm just repeating what the Taiwanese Pandemic Expert had indicated given they had a specicialised Pandemic Response Organisation all ready set up.
Taiwan was hammered by the SARS virus and learnt a lot about how to minimise the Human and Financial costs of a Pandemic, they have already gone through the "Learning Curve", and one of those lessons was that Prevention is where the majority of effort should be focused.
Focusing on just one aspect, which, thus far hasn't been proven to be a contributing factor in the current outbreak (or any other issue) is time wasting and an unnecessary use of resources.
In Manufacturing the same applies, there is an old saying, "you cannot inspect quality into a product, no matter how much time you spend inspecting it", it has to made to a standard through a process that ensures the required outcome.
Inspection is the backup system
So if you don't know where or the size of the outbreak it doesn't matter.
Every country is different.
This disease can outsmart the best efforts.
I've been looking at our tax system in NZ for ordinary folks. Not terribly much info from IRD specifying percentages of tax charged for each code, and they are many. Their main message is you need to pay tax and then give a few chosen examples. I found what I wanted to know eventually looking at all the sites, public and private. Not straightforward, need more figures less generalisation and explanation.
Accommodation supplement is murky. Yet just about everyone can get it if you are ordinary people, probably the wealthy have their own channels. This was written in June 2019 and quoted this from Treasury in 2017:
In 2017, even Treasury agreed "AS [accommodation supplement] does not adequately alleviate housing stress" and New Zealand's existing housing subsidy structure is "not fit-for-purpose".
That doesn't mean they want something better for the citizen, it may be that there is a hole in its efficiency that they want to stop up. When we are finally allowed to have our election and the party that tries to be good is returned to the bouncy castle, from each office in the Beehive there will be such a buzz and rush they will turn up the cool air conditioning. Please, please vote and see if anyone around you needs a lift to a polling booth, provided of course it's not a lockdown area.
For all these reasons, the Child Poverty Action Group's just released report, The Accommodation Supplement: the wrong tool to fix the house, calls for the Government to remove the AS for most recipients while significantly raising incomes of all benefit recipients and low-wage workers. We authored this report with Alan Johnson, co-convenor of the CPAG.
Bad design of the Accommodation Supplement fuels NZ's housing crisis
– This story was originally published on Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.
Susan St John and Janet McAllister 13:01, Jun 03 2019
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/113200606/bad-design-of-the-accommodation-supplement-fuels-nzs-housing-crisis
Agreed Just is.
The Q&A this morning had the best summary of how Taiwan manages so well. Having a health system set up to operate well. ($10 doctors visit.) Having an understood/trusted pandemic process already in place. (I don't think masks are mandatory? but widely worn.) Absence of public undermining. Can't find the Taiwan on Q&A but worth a look.
ETTD
https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/status/1297174218552102918
https://twitter.com/RockyMountViews/status/1297184406277197830
Oh help -looks like the front garden of a good many Hernia Bay villas nowadays – boring!!!!!!!
Fortunately, we're not heading toward a brutal winter.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea is banning large gatherings, closing beaches, shutting nightspots and churches and removing fans from professional sports in strict new measures announced Saturday as it battles the spread of the coronavirus.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo announced the steps shortly after the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 332 new cases — the ninth straight day of triple-digit increases. The national caseload is now at 17,002, including 309 deaths.
While most of the new cases came from the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, which has been at the center of the viral surge in recent weeks, infections were also reported in practically every major city and town, raising concerns that transmissions are slipping out of control.
[…]
As of Saturday afternoon, nearly 800 infections have been linked to a Seoul church led by a vocal critic of the country’s president. Sarang Jeil Church pastor Jun Kwang-hun was hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday after participating in an anti-government protest last week where he shared a microphone on stage with other activists. More than 100 infections have been tied to protesters.
Police raided the church late Friday while trying to secure a more comprehensive list of its members who remain out of contact. Health workers have used cellphone location data to identify some 50,000 people who spent more than 30 minutes on the street during the protest last Saturday and have been alerting them to get tested. Around 18,000 of them have been tested, said Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Korea’s National Health Institute.
https://apnews.com/489bac2e4af8ddc0ea1a745dbf3529db?
Morrah on Mediawatch, 'we aren't here to make friends' regarding the way he's treating Bloomfield, my memory goes back to when that is exactly how he treated Peter fucking Whittall https://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/peter-whittall-it-is-personal-2010120217 or maybe Morrah has learned since then. I just remember the media back then wanting to Knight Peter fucking Whittall, so Morrah, I don't believe your weasel words.
I’m starting to wonder if there’s anyone left in the media to take potshots at the government this weekend?
Siouxie Wiles, the biochemist who has contributed a lot of easy to understand material throughout the pandemic so far, has written another useful and cogent article in the Spinoff on how to improve the Covid response, including an analysis of National's proposals. Worth a read.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/23-08-2020/siouxsie-wiles-what-does-a-robust-covid-response-look-like-for-new-zealand/
(Posted in yesterday's Open Mike by mistake!)
You ate right Koff. Wellworth a read.
The Wiles piece in discussing the National’s Border Protection Agency misses the main point. "It seems to me this policy runs the very real risk of stranding New Zealanders overseas while doing nothing to actually increase the security of our border."
The policy is not about actually increasing the security of our border, t's about the election and making out you have somehow come up with a magic formula. Will people understand or realise the logistical stuff, the reality that Wiles mentions?
"It will certainly stop some people who may be infectious from being able to travel. But given how far some New Zealanders have to travel to get home, it won’t stop people getting infected on the way."
You get a test, it comes back negative and somehow, before you get on a plane, however long that is, in whichever part of the world you're in with all the local circumstances, you know, we know, Judith Collins knows, you haven't got Covid-19 when you board your plane?
I'd like to hear how those who think that Collins is Wonder Woman can be certain no-one getting on a plane has the virus given the way the world works.
Thanks Koff. Siouxie is a gem.
50% of the speakers at the RNC are named Trump!!! 🙄
[Add width=”100%” before /> and she’ll be right – Incognito]
Where's Eric?
He's right out of view as is Tiffany! – when I posted I tied a width of 500 thinking that would shrink the image enough but it seems that that wasn't enough. I tried to edit it but the process was beyond my capabilities 🙁
They just don't get no respect, those two. Even dumb algorithms diss them.
(I haven't yet found a way to get the image size right on first go, but what works for me with the images is posting it without trying to change anything the image button does, then immediately go back in and edit the comment and add width="500" just before the /> )
Yes I have done that too in the past. Now Lynn has given us an image qualities button/option that lets you define the width before submitting; but it didn't seem to work in this case – and when I went back to edit, it came up with a lot of html script I wasn't confident in playing with.
As for the line up at the RNC – obviously they are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
BTW if you missed Michelle Obama's speech at the DNC – no worries – you can hear it again when Melania gives her speech.
Just the one new community case today. Well done, team Auckland.
Nobody likes me…
https://twitter.com/KaivanShroff/status/1297334117676261377
Maryanne Trump Barry was serving as a federal judge when she heard her brother, President Trump, suggest on Fox News, “maybe I’ll have to put her at the border” amid a wave of refugees entering the United States. At the time, children were being separated from their parents and put in cramped quarters while court hearings dragged on.
“All he wants to do is appeal to his base,” Barry said in a conversation secretly recorded by her niece, Mary L. Trump. “He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this.”
Barry, 83, was aghast at how her 74-year-old brother operated as president. “His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God,” she said. “I’m talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit.”
http://archive.li/SX2EB (wapo)
Ever day – a new WTF moment.
If there's only one … it counts as a peaceful low-stress day.
The Standard isn't working using my Android Smartphone.
The mobile version won't start/load sometimes today and the reply function hasn't worked for me since Friday evening. The desktop version will open, but when the reply function is clicked, I then can't type anything in the comment box.
Everything worked earlier last week, so maybe The Standard IT gurus can investigate.
SMoD 2020!
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/22/us/asteroid-earth-november-2020-scn-trnd/index.html
It's going to be a sucky disappointment though, like everything else about 2020. It's only about 2m diameter and only has a 0.41% chance of hitting.
Be careful about what you wish for..
There’s no denying we live in deeply partisan times and a new poll out of New Hampshire exemplifies this divide. Its results say a majority of New Hampshire Democrats said they’d rather “a giant meteor strikes the earth, extinguishing all human life” than President Donald Trump win re-election. Yikes.
https://time.com/5780556/meteor-poll-trump-new-hampshire/
True dat.
Every now and then I get a blissful moment when I forget that Kim Jong Orange possesses a tremendous bigly and more powerfully button that actually works. If he feels too much that nobody likes him, he might just choose to show us all. That would indeed be a pretty close facsimile of SMoD.
What are the chances of a direct hit on the White House? Show your working.
Do you really want the White House, or are you actually more interested in the grossly swollen head (housing a remarkably small brain) of the current occupant? The latter is a somewhat larger target with correspondingly larger chances.
went to the shops today to buy some trousers. I do that every six odd years, buy three pairs, be done with it.
No one wearing masks, literally no one. Felt a bit 'outstanding' but i needed new trousers for work.
Where are you Sabine? I went to my local supermarket today. Countdown Mt Eden and mask compliance would have been well north of 85-90%.
Rotorua. I think i saw maybe two people wearing them and they were security guys. The partner and I felt like aliens.
We really need some public education about wearing of masks, keeping distance and such.
Lmfao !!! #NZHellhole
https://twitter.com/MsMassage1/status/1297310871320842240
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12358058
Thousands of Aucklanders are desperately turning to food banks as increasing job losses wipe out family incomes.
There are now 29 registered food banks serving the city. Prior to Covid-19 there were fewer than five, and one long-standing emergency food provider believes too many food banks could be counterproductive.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/covid-19/423952/thousands-of-aucklanders-turning-to-food-banks
In Takanini yesterday, cars formed queues kilometres long for food parcels from the local Sikh temple, Takanini Gurdwara Sri Kalgidhar Sahib.
Benny was among them, having lost his job with Air New Zealand during the last lockdown.
"Tons of people have been laid off. You know, we've gone through a hard time finding a job … but because of this kind of charity's donations it's really helped."
Bradley Taylor works as a landscaper, but the work has dried up so he and his young family have turned to the food bank.
"At the moment we're not getting a lot of jobs due to the second wave – people are really taking a step back now and trying to save their money," he said.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122525430/coronavirus-food-bank-demand-triples-as-auckland-returns-to-alert-level-3
“If we think this is just Covid-related, we’re missing the point.”
Before the pandemic, research by the Mission estimated that 10 per cent of Kiwis were living in food poverty.
That group has now doubled, Farrelly said.
The upside is that the pandemic has shone a light on food insecurity. There is growing awareness of the scale of the problem and the Mission is receiving proactive offers of help from the Government, Auckland Council and community groups, he said.
As well as distributing food parcels to families, the Mission has been handing out 250 takeaway bags of food daily to homeless and vulnerably housed people who do not have access to cooking facilities.
Not shits and giggles for all in #NZHellhole. #PrettyfuckingshitbeforeCovid
#ActionWEAGrecommendations #Vote4atrueleftwinggovernment
It's a worry 9 are in hospital but hasn't New Zealand done stunningly well? Middle of winter, second outbreak, zero deaths so far, and community cases coming back to zero.
Well done team of 3.5 million.
test