ive always found it supprizing that campervans dont seem to be equiped with something as basic as a spade , perhaps there might need to be instructions on how to use one also ?
No, freeloader camping needs to be banned fullstop. The parks and reserves end up like a dirty person’s backyard.
Freeloader camping is not the freedom camping New Zealanders have enjoyed in the past – nothing like it. Freeloader camping is living (not camping) in public parks, which is against the law. Also makes the public parks unuseable.
where I live the pop increases at least 10 fold for summer – lots for fcampers, lots of cityfolk, and the locals make the tourism $ so they can relax over winter a bit.
and I also think this fcampng is out of control – I really struggle to see any benefits tbh
If you’re talking about people squatting in national parks, rather than shitting at the side of the road, that’d be more DOC than Tourism, wouldn’t it? Of course, they’re likely to have the same do-nothing response. But then again, there are quite a few homeless New Zealanders who live much of the year in parks too (and increasing numbers sleeping in cars and under bridges).
Have seen the same thing in Europe at the TdF a couple of years ago. Pop up tents on the road shoulder and shitting on the side of the road only 50m away. Should be banned. End of story. They are just doing what they do back home. They contribute next to nothing to the local economy other than the 2 minute noodle and alcohol department of the local supermarket.
Would love to see some controls around “freeloader” camping (I like that).
Here in Wellington they like to camp over night by the beaches or in parks. There was an article in the local paper about residents complaining about the mess the campers leave behind at Owhiro Bay. Some campers were interviewed and actually complained about the lack of free facilities for them to use. The audacity! The sense of entitlement!
I don’t really want to pay for other peoples holiday facilities through my rates when I haven’t been able to afford to go on a holiday myself since 2007. And not when our council are too mean to build public loo’s that local residents request for their beaches. We have a real public loo shortage as it is so summer is a bad time to get caught short as you’ll find the loo’s in an appalling state, blocked up and unable to be flushed.
I live close to a local tourist attraction, and even tour bus passengers have been known to take a dump in people’s gardens due to the lack of public toilets.
When I get onto the occasional rant about tourists, the response is sometimes “tourists bring $800million into the local economy annually”. So fair enough, put some bloody bogs in then.
Freedom camping is the same: they do local attractions, buy food from local shops. Toilets at the popular spots are hardly too much to ask.
Maybe instead of landing the responsibility for providing public loo’s on to local councils we should have Ministry of Tourism funded loo’s built the vicinity of tourist attractions – like the one near you. You don’t want your front yard to be next………..
We really do have Freudian level councils around the country, expecting us to keep it in, (I know this from my former life as a sales rep) so help from central government would be really useful.
When I get onto the occasional rant about tourists, the response is sometimes “tourists bring $800million into the local economy annually”. So fair enough, put some bloody bogs in then.
Yep. A few thousand to install and maintain decent facilities would be worth it then.
“Toilets at the popular spots are hardly too much to ask.”
In a city or town, sure. But not in the wilderness/undevelopped country. The problem isn’t people needing to poo, it’s the numbers. Build it and they will come. NZ has yet to have a decent conversation about how many tourists it can sustain without fucking everything up. Myself, I think we are past that point. If we want to make money from tourists we should be focussing on low number high return tourism, not selling our soul for the cheapest buck tourism we have now.
Wee spade. Dig hole. Bury shit. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but at least it’s not shit and bog-paper lying around. I’d venture that it’s a better option than the chemical laden ‘toilets’ in self contained vehicles.
No, he was saying that burying human waste was reasonable. Which it is if you don’t have too many people. That’s completely different than throwing raw sewerage in the street.
Full treatment or sending down long pipes to be ‘out of sight and out of mind’?
Plenty of places where ‘we’ still just pump raw sewerage a half mile or so off-shore. Plenty other places where more obvious solids are removed first. Some places where a bit of ulta-violet is used.
Not so common to use it as fertilser … a forestry option was explored in Dunedin – vetoed.
Plenty of places where ‘we’ still just pump raw sewerage a half mile or so off-shore. Plenty other places where more obvious solids are removed first. Some places where a bit of ulta-violet is used.
[citation needed]
Not so common to use it as fertilser … a forestry option was explored in Dunedin – vetoed.
Would still need to be treated first and we would also need enough forest to complete the transformation from simple shit to fertiliser.
I’m in favour of the idea but it needs to be done properly.
I dunno how long shit takes to decompose in given varieties of environment, therefore can’t really say anything about any ‘carrying capacity’ of a given area.
I do know that long-drops are no answer.
And I know that removing solids and pumping out to sea is no answer.
I admit to just being downright suspicious of those chemical fucking loos.
Bill, you don’t have to know much about decomposition rates, so much as imagining an area of land and how many holes you could dig in it. If you fill the whole area with holes and then have to start again you are now digging up someone else’s shit. Humanure, a system that composts excrement above ground, is left to sit for 12 months after the final addition. That’s a system that uses heat to kill pathogens, which you don’t have in a hole in the ground.
I agree that digging a hole is a good way to dispose of poo providing one isn’t near water, or somewhere that floods, and if there aren’t too many people using the same site. But there are too many tourists, no doubt about that any more.
i live in town, next to a cycleway and park, no public facilities. And as I don’t have a separate toilet in my business I can’t allow people to use my restroom.
So where do people go, especially those with kids? In the bushes. Yes thats where they go.
And yes there should be more public facilities, but I guess we don’t have money for that.
Maybe we should hand over adult depends to tourists arriving in our lovely green clean country? Or tell them to poops in the waterways like our cows do.
I’ve always seen this as much an infrastructure problem as a tourist one. There needs to be a lot more public toilets and waste disposal sites, especially at rest stops. Before we start going on about; “Stinky euro trash”, it might be wise to consider the behaviour of kiwi travelers overseas (and within the country for that matter).
Provision of toilets is basic and there should be enough toilets – sheesh, I thought we were a first world banana country…..
I was actually referring not to a lack of infrastructure to allow the inhabitants of these lands to go to the toilet, but to an excess of freeloader camping which is a different issue, though same smells.
Freeloader camping is a complete bludge and shitmess. It has to stop. Simple.
The great tourism industry 20 billion a year and nobody talks about the real cost to the country of ecological devastation from all these never before seen environmental diseases
Scaling back of the EPA
If you’re rich you can dump your shit anywhere in NZ
John ConKEYstadore our PM
We now have a chance to elect someone capable of fixing structural issues pertaining to Wall Street, foreign policy, and American politics.
There’s a reason Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War and “blasted” Alan Greenspan in 2003, five years before the Wall Street collapse.
There’s also a reason Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War and won’t disclose transcripts that earned her and her husband $153 million from Wall Street.
Finally, Clinton’s issues with transparency are highlighted by Carl Bernstein in this CNN interview. As for why 67% of voters distrust Clinton, nothing exemplifies this dilemma better than a Washington Post article titled Hillary Clinton’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad answer on whether she’s ever lied:
PELLEY: You talk about leveling with the American people. Have you always told the truth?
CLINTON: I’ve always tried to. Always. Always.
PELLEY: Some people are gonna call that wiggle room that you just gave yourself.
CLINTON: Well, no, I’ve always tried —
PELLEY: I mean, Jimmy Carter said, “I will never lie to you.”
CLINTON: Well, but, you know, you’re asking me to say, “Have I ever?” I don’t believe I ever have. I don’t believe I ever have. I don’t believe I ever will. I’m gonna do the best I can to level with the American people.
……..
_____________________________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 2.1
For those of us who are not US citizens, how do you suggest we use this chance to elect someone capable of fixing structural issues pertaining to Wall Street, foreign policy, and American politics?
We could start up an “adopt an American family” campaign and send them links to news items they might not have read, and helpful emails & facebook messages telling them who they should vote for because they may be too busy taking selfies and tweeting and stuff to actually know what the real issues are.
Americans like being told what’s good for them by other countries. They pay a lot of attention to world opinion from the UK PM.
Just like here a different colour of the same thing witha few tweaks but who can be bothered the blueprint the same for everyone now
Multinational corporate thuggery runs the world
Capitalism doesnt like democracy its awkward to get around with all those people voting and standing against our right to rule as we use to back at the turn of the last century
Really we only want to be left to run the world our way and keep the poor powerless and our dynasties intact ,you know we are all related us 1% of the richest somewhere and we want to keep it that way
Lets hope the genetic bomb explodes before theres nothing left of the planet
Do tell us the Gnat approved method of making corrupt cabinet members do their jobs PR. Napier was rebuilt in two years from a much worse quake – but they didn’t have crooks like Brownlee profiting from the delay. If it were really worth a couple of points to National you’d be flinging the shit yourself.
The real problem is this, first a dildo, then a glitter bomb now this then what happens next time some looney decides they’re justified in throwing something…a brick maybe or someone uses a bat possibly
All this does is tighten security around our politicians so we have even less access and makes the left look even more unelectable to swing or soft voters
the stretch has stretched and when it cannot stretch anymore it breaks – you’d blame it for breaking rather than blame those pulling and pulling and stretching it too much and that is a rightie way of thinking, so well done.
Actually I’d like to know why he acted the way he did, does he have a legit claim or just didn’t get the deal he wanted? who knows but doing what he did takes it from a legitimate form of protest to assault
Bollix I’m from Christchurch myself and I know that there are a lot of people that haven’t had the best time of it and I also know there are those that aren’t telling the whole story as well
Perhaps he should consult the mental health services provided by the health board.
No, wait a minute; haven’t they had their funding slashed leading to long delays in getting treatment? Who could have foreseen that such penny-pinching to grub up cash for an election year taxcut bribe would have negative consequences? I guess his chosen method of commemorating the dead differs from the government’s one of exploiting them.
“In this case there is no offending against any individuals within the New Zealand community.
“Therefore publicity in my view is not required to flush out any potential offenders or to enable members of the community to keep themselves safe from you.
[…]
He had also begun therapy to treat his paraphilia.
The court accepts a prominent professional with a fragile state of mind and convicted criminal deserves name suppression because he has no offending against any individuals within the New Zealand community and allows him to characterise his offending as paraphilia.
Doesn’t a sad sorry sack of shit like Howland deserve the same treatment?.
I happened to be in Parliament in the Gallery late last year when three protesters threw a bag of pamphlets over the side of the gallery all over the government benches. The only upshot that I can predict is that there will be a glass wall fronting the visitors’ galleries, large, very physical ushers, and increased security screening measures to detect non-metal objects of protest, or worse.
One thing is for sure. People are getting angrier and more frustrated with this government.
PR, the pity is, though, that MPs are not making enough moves to alleviate the concerns of these angrier and more frustrated citizens.
A citizenry generally contented with its MPs would act differently.
Inequality is growing. Our society is becoming polarised again. Political polls indicate a high level support for the government at 47%.
It also indicates an opposition of about the same level, representing some very discontented people. A million did not vote last election. Did they stay away because of contentment, or disenchantment.
Angry, frustrated, sick, desperate people don’t make for a harmonious society, and our MPs who need protection are being shielded from this reality, and either are in denial, don’t care, or think that it is acceptable.
Party politics and protectionism funded by Natcorps corporate buddies is the problem
How do you institute wartime powers when there is no war and don’t give me that looting crap and all the other BS reasons given by the govt if there’s one of those right wing justifiers out there
Really this is Natcorp screwing democracy and nothing more and protecting the US govt and the multinational interests and we haven’t even made TPPA law yet It appears to be working well without all that legal shit to answer to the voters or the sovereignty issues or Canterburys right to control there own problems
I’m liking unmarried women drove turnout in practically every demographic.
Single women are also becoming more and more powerful as a voting demographic. In 2012, unmarried women made up a remarkable 23 percent of the electorate. Almost a quarter of votes in the last presidential election were cast by women without spouses, up three points from just four years earlier. According to Page Gardner, founder of the Voter Participation Center, in the 2012 presidential election, unmarried women drove turnout in practically every demographic, making up “almost 40 percent of the African-American population, close to 30 percent of the Latino population, and about a third of all young voters.”
Perhaps more dramatically than any other voting block, unmarried women — comprising as they do other liberal-voting groups including young women and women of color — lean left. Way left. Single women voted for Barack Obama by a wide margin in 2012 — 67 to 31 percent — while married women (who tend to be older and whiter) voted for Romney. And unmarried women’s political leanings are not, as has been surmised in some quarters, attributable solely to racial diversity. According to polling firm Lake Research Partners, while white women as a whole voted for Romney over Obama, unmarried white women chose Obama over Romney by a margin of 49.4 percent to 38.9 percent. In 2013, columnist Jonathan Last wrote about a study of how women ages 25 to 30 voted in the 2000 election. “It turned out,” Last wrote in The Weekly Standard, “that the marriage rate for these women was a greater influence on vote choice than any other variable.”
reproductive rights.
that is what a lot of women compels to vote democratic rather then republican.
A women without reproductive rights, access to birth control and abortion, without access to gender specific health care (prenatal care is just one of these gender specific health care programme) is not in control of her life, unless she lives abstinence only or has a partner who is happy to control his fertility instead.
And in the states, reproductive rights for women are nothing to be taken granted.
That is to be expected. You say “young” voters.
Have you not heard the old quote which goes
“If you are not a Liberal at 25, you have no heart. If you are not a Conservative at 35 you have no brain”.
You, like the gentleman you are quoting, are probably dreaming if you think it will persist. After all, look at what happened to the 60’s generation.
Yep, … heard it … read it … kicked it to the curb.
This remarkably amusing little Right-friendly bon mot has emanated over the last couple of centuries from various Tories, crypto-Tories, debauched decadent dandies, devious dilettantes and sundry Swedish Royalty (King Oscar II for one).
They were talking of and to the wealthy elite – upper class youthful revolt (usually as much about wresting power from older elites than anything truly progressive/egalitarian/altruistic) followed by a rapid return to mater and pater’s staunch Conservatism by the age of 30 and a slap-up meal at Mrs Miggins’ Pie Shop.
You do realise that the bloke I’m quoting is the Republican Party pollster – not the sort usually associated with dreamy flower power idealism I’d suggest.
Budget cuts, so that Mr. Awesome Finance Man Double Dipper from Dipton Mr. English can enlarge or embiggen the surplus. Or maybe he is just aiming to privatise our Police Force, like state housing and hospital meals. 🙂
National Party, no money for public safety, but plenty for Dish Rags with the wrong colour.
Quote: “Thirty police stations have closed to the public as police struggle to balance the books.
The force has quietly been reviewing its 400 “public facing” properties – which includes stations and community policing centres – as a Budget freeze continues to bite. And with resources thinly-stretched, response times to 111 calls are rising.
Since 2009, the shutters have come down in 28 stations and another two are to be closed, which means the public must go elsewhere to report crime.” Quote End
the alarming facts of one section of mismanagement by this govt
Maybe the incidents of assault on the Natcorp ministers should sink in that people are getting sick of the PR BS
“Wonder what the Police could do with the 26 million …”.
You are going to join the back of a very, very long queue. I must have seen at least 20 variations of that plaintive cry. Everyone appears to forget that there is only one lot of money and it couldn’t have been spent 20 or more times.
The above post reminded me of something,
whenever a budget surplus is mentioned in the media,
Labour needs to ensure the media also includes the government borrowing and national debt.
There needs to be public education on New Zealand’s level of debt,
Labour needs to explain that a budget is arbitrary and any surplus is bullshit until you actual stop borrowing.
The govt in NZ can run a budget deficit indefinitely. This follows from the one and only institution able to create NZ $ being effectively a govt department (the RBNZ accounts are consolidated into the govt accounts). The only consideration is the economic consequences of running a budget deficit on unemployment, growth, inequality and inflation.
The opposition should explain this to the public while focusing on the actual consequences of the govt actions on the economy.
Treasury and the NZDMO do not lend directly to the government,
all borrowing is via issuing securities, bond etc.
Borrowing.
If the mechanism for currency expansion (based on GDP) was to introduce currency via financing government services that would be wonderful.
Then government debt would be directly tied to GDP and a balanced budget would be guarantied.
Alas new money printed is lent to banks at OCR -official cash rate
government borrows money from the selling of securities just above OCR
(transactions managed by the independent NZDMO, who also manage government accounts)
treasury issues new currency but only to non government entities, government borrows money from those same entities, remember the issued currency is required to circulate, the life blood of the economy,
once you understand the convoluted way it has been setup you’ll begin to see behind the curtain.
The big question about govt spending is can parliament instruct its central bank. In being able to do so its always possible to setup transactions where the central bank is lending as required for the govt to spend. In NZ i believe the RBNZ legislation already allows for this anyway. As long as this is feasible the deficit or govt debt becomes a non issue and parliament can spend as desired.
A system where the govt spends new currency directly will however behave in a similar way to the present day settlement system. The reason for this is when new currency is spent it becomes reserves for NZ banks to use as settlement. When a surplus of reserves is in the banking system then the inter bank rate can fall below the official cash rate as banks lend reserves to each other at a discount to the OCR. So the reserve bank or treasury need to borrow the surplus spending to keep the central bank in control. This has the same result as if the govt borrows first and then spends ultimately.
Cheers the astounding facts about how real accounting works not the PR BS show called the budget
Gareth Hughes said it in plain terms that even a problem gambler would grasp to his road to recovery
120 BILLION IN DEBT no ifs buts or maybes
Very true words from a UK Labor MP penned after a visit to Auschwitz and easy to see the same thing happening in NZ. (1st time I’ve submitted a partial article with link, apologies if I’ve included too much of the article)
‘Some people matter and some people don’t.
“The Selection” process is writ large at the memorial. A single decision made in seconds determined if you would turn left for hard labour or right for imminent death. It took years of drip drip drip feeding to convince nations of people to turn away and ignore the horror. Jewish people didn’t lose their identity as humans overnight. The people who turned away and did nothing, didn’t lose their sense of justice in a heartbeat or at the simple say so of a foolishly moustached maniac. Drip drip drip… whisper it quietly… some people matter some people don’t. Drip drip drip… they are getting something you can’t have. Drip drip drip they don’t like you, they think they are better than you… drip, drip, drip. They, they, they, us, us, us.
Working with victims of domestic violence and sexual exploitation, you learn pretty quick how grooming a person to your way of thinking is the most dangerous weapon, mankind possesses.
At Auschwitz we light a candle, we remember, this is past, this is in novels, films history books. This isn’t us anymore. Isn’t it? Everyday we receive our daily intravenous drip, of who matters and who doesn’t and recently someone increased the dosage.
Now a new row has broken out at Oxford University, where I’m ashamed to say that some in the Labour Party society appear to be tolerating the intolerable. Everyday we hear stories of otherness, Islamophobia and antisemitism, in full swing. People pitched one against the other, taxpayers pitched against benefit claimants, women against men. Refugees versus migrants. Everyday we receive our dose of “us” versus “them”. Drip, drip, drip.
For many the Holocaust is best summed up in numbers. Six million Jews murdered. Still today it’s all a numbers game. Hundreds of thousands of people washed up on beaches, fleeing for their lives. Thousands of women, raped and murdered all around the world. So many x thousands living on some benefit or other, while y thousands of people go out to work. There is safety in numbers, we can be shocked by all the big numbers and then go back to watching the Bake Off. In every number is a person just like you. While we can keep seeing people as “them” we have learned nothing from a gruesome past.’ http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jess-phillips/lets-stop-drip-drip-drip-of-otherness_b_9274840.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
Your car broke down, and you are forced to push the car outf the way of traffic. Do you stop at the red amd lose all the momentum or push through when there is no traffic.
Yes, another day another reporter manufacturing hate speach against pedestrians on bikes. No, bike riders do not have to obey the road rules, any more than pedestrians.
Motorized vehicles obey the road rules, as cyclists cannot get to forty kms an hour duh, they are incapable of safety obey road rules in the second lane of a 100kmh dual carriageway. Road rules dont need the complication of regulating pedestrians, skate borders, moterized wheel chairs, etc, all of whuch could not reach seventy kmh.
So please stop the hate. Only motor vehicles obey road rules to regulate them.
Oh, and i see cars driving on foot paths (late night 2am paper deliever), i see car driver breaking road rules when its safe to do so and necessary i.e accidents. So whose the prig journalist making new laws up.
When a person can get off their bike and safely push their bike through a red light, i have no problem with a cyclists riding through one. Safely, since cyclists have much greater view. Now sure there are always idiots who ride like idiots and thats called jay walking, and should be covered under some nuisance law, as the idiot cyclist who cycles unsafely past a red and into hospital will always be punnished more than the state ever could. So near scrapes should be hauled before courts. But safe cyclling is just like a broke down car, momentum saving.
I’m really puzzled with what’s happening to some pages on this site for me, Lprent.
Yesterday I couldn’t open the General Lord Dannatt: UK should work with Assad in Syria page, and I reported that in Open Mike 22/02/16. (Much later on it did open ok.)
Pages showing a red flag icon (instead of the grey square one) in the chrome tab, but just not opening, has been an intermittent problem for me for a couple of months now. Most often it’s been Open Mike pages that don’t open for some reason.
I think at least one other person reported similar problems in a reply. You were going to look into it, and suggested it might perhaps have been a problem with my ISP’s (Spark) caching? I don’t have this problem on any other forums or websites.
Anywaaaay…I just went to the Open Mike 22/06/16 page to see if there was any update. But I can’t find out cos that page won’t bloody open for me today 🙂 . (You suggested I try shift+f5, or shift+refresh if it happened again, but no joy.)
I also couldn’t open today’s Open Mike about two hours ago, but I can now?? I’m using Win 7 & Chrome Version 48.0.2564.116 m, but firefox and IE have the same problem.
I dunno whether I’ll be able to open this page later to check for any reply but I’ll try.
“McCully not contesting East Coast Bays seat….Quite when that will be, and whether I seek election as a List Member of Parliament in 2017, are decisions for the Prime Minister in the first instance.”
Make way for a Conservative candidate?
Thieving employers should be prosectuted And as if that is not enough!
It seems to me that employers need to be licensed in order to be allowed to hire staff. If they cannot follow the rules for the fair employment of people, or if they rob or steal from them, then they should be subject to the full force of the law – as they would expect if the employees stole from them!
Furthermore some of these employers are repeat offenders, and have continuously shown that they cannot be trusted to treat employees fairly. In such cases they should never be given the responsibility of being allowed to hire people again and their license should be withdrawn.
Chris Darby has become the latest councillor to have second thoughts about dramatic housing density plans in Auckland suburbs.
The North Shore councillor told the Herald he was “undecided” and that natural justice and opportunity for public participation by those affected were key issues for him.
Mr Darby and Whau councillor, Ross Clow, have indicated in the past 24 hours that they could vote with 11 councillors who want to dump a proposal to rezone thousands of homes for more intensive housing without consulting affected property owners.
……….
_______________________________
FYI – don’t know about any of the other 2016 Auckland Mayoral candidates, but I have been given speaking rights at the Special Governing Body meeting to be held on the Auckland Council’s Unitary Plan Committee above-mentioned ‘out of scope’ changes to the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.
Wednesday 24 February 2016
2pm
Auckland Town Hall.
An analysis of Federal Election Commission records, by TIME, which was published on 23 October 2015, showed that the 2012 donors to Romney’s campaign were already donating more to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign than they had been donating to any one of the 2016 campaigns of (listed here in declining order below Clinton) Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, or Jim Gilmore.
Those major Romney donors also gave a little to two Democrats (other than to Hillary — who, as mentioned, received a lot of donations from these Republican donors): Martin O’Malley, Jim Web, and Lawrence Lessig.
(Romney’s donors gave nothing to Bernie Sanders, and nothing to Elizabeth Warren. They don’t want either of those people to become President.)
Clinton is the only Democratic candidate who is even moderately attractive to big Republican donors.
…….
_______________________________
better the devil you know it would appear , Clinton, than one that is a socialist speaking to get accountability by the financiers -the new untouchables that never have to pay the billions they have swindled out of ordinary believers in the value of what they’ve worked for
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A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
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Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
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Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacinta Humphrey, Research Fellow in Urban Ecology, RMIT University Golf courses are sometimes seen as harmful to the environment. According to the popular notion, the grass soaks up too much water, is cut too short and sprayed with dangerous chemicals. But in ...
The poll, conducted between 02 and 04 February, shows National up 2.3 points to 31.9 percent, while Labour has risen 0.4 points from last month to 31.3 percent. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Creative Arts and Music Therapy Research Unit; Director of Researcher Development Unit, The University of Melbourne New York Public Library Many of us take pleasure in listening to music. Music accompanies important life events and ...
The Cook Islands finds itself in a precarious dance — one between the promises of foreign investments and the integrity of our own sovereignty. As the country sways between partners China and Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands News asks: “Do we continue to haka with the Taniwha, our constitutional ...
A diplomatic scuffle with the Cook Islands. Plus: What went down at Waitangi. The Cook Islands prime minister, Mark Brown, has provoked the wrath of the New Zealand foreign minister with his decision to head to China to sign a new strategic deal. By failing to consult on the ...
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Not only do we in the south island have to put up with extreme dangerous life-threatening driving by tourists…
… we also have to put up with freeloader camping all over the place.
What a complete waste of space these bludgers are. They ruin our local parks and reserves. Stinky euro trash.
You think you have it bad!
The permanent population of of the Coromandel is around 30,000. Over summer that swells to 130,000.
ive always found it supprizing that campervans dont seem to be equiped with something as basic as a spade , perhaps there might need to be instructions on how to use one also ?
No, freeloader camping needs to be banned fullstop. The parks and reserves end up like a dirty person’s backyard.
Freeloader camping is not the freedom camping New Zealanders have enjoyed in the past – nothing like it. Freeloader camping is living (not camping) in public parks, which is against the law. Also makes the public parks unuseable.
It is all going to end in tears
where I live the pop increases at least 10 fold for summer – lots for fcampers, lots of cityfolk, and the locals make the tourism $ so they can relax over winter a bit.
and I also think this fcampng is out of control – I really struggle to see any benefits tbh
Maybe our Minister of Tourism could do something about it ……..
yeah right
If you’re talking about people squatting in national parks, rather than shitting at the side of the road, that’d be more DOC than Tourism, wouldn’t it? Of course, they’re likely to have the same do-nothing response. But then again, there are quite a few homeless New Zealanders who live much of the year in parks too (and increasing numbers sleeping in cars and under bridges).
I agree
Have seen the same thing in Europe at the TdF a couple of years ago. Pop up tents on the road shoulder and shitting on the side of the road only 50m away. Should be banned. End of story. They are just doing what they do back home. They contribute next to nothing to the local economy other than the 2 minute noodle and alcohol department of the local supermarket.
Would love to see some controls around “freeloader” camping (I like that).
Here in Wellington they like to camp over night by the beaches or in parks. There was an article in the local paper about residents complaining about the mess the campers leave behind at Owhiro Bay. Some campers were interviewed and actually complained about the lack of free facilities for them to use. The audacity! The sense of entitlement!
I don’t really want to pay for other peoples holiday facilities through my rates when I haven’t been able to afford to go on a holiday myself since 2007. And not when our council are too mean to build public loo’s that local residents request for their beaches. We have a real public loo shortage as it is so summer is a bad time to get caught short as you’ll find the loo’s in an appalling state, blocked up and unable to be flushed.
WCC won’t pay for public toilets, but won’t ban freedom campers, won’t pay for bus shelters http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/76977054/wellington-short-of-162-covered-bus-stops-report-finds but will find the money to build a convention centre nobody wants.
I live close to a local tourist attraction, and even tour bus passengers have been known to take a dump in people’s gardens due to the lack of public toilets.
When I get onto the occasional rant about tourists, the response is sometimes “tourists bring $800million into the local economy annually”. So fair enough, put some bloody bogs in then.
Freedom camping is the same: they do local attractions, buy food from local shops. Toilets at the popular spots are hardly too much to ask.
I thought those tour buses had loo’s on board?
Maybe instead of landing the responsibility for providing public loo’s on to local councils we should have Ministry of Tourism funded loo’s built the vicinity of tourist attractions – like the one near you. You don’t want your front yard to be next………..
We really do have Freudian level councils around the country, expecting us to keep it in, (I know this from my former life as a sales rep) so help from central government would be really useful.
Yep. A few thousand to install and maintain decent facilities would be worth it then.
“Toilets at the popular spots are hardly too much to ask.”
In a city or town, sure. But not in the wilderness/undevelopped country. The problem isn’t people needing to poo, it’s the numbers. Build it and they will come. NZ has yet to have a decent conversation about how many tourists it can sustain without fucking everything up. Myself, I think we are past that point. If we want to make money from tourists we should be focussing on low number high return tourism, not selling our soul for the cheapest buck tourism we have now.
I avoid the wilderness, so can’t comment on that.
I think Dunedin’s water supply comes from the wildnerness, you’re not that far away 😉
lol
so the occasional whiff of chlorine is due to tourists?
Wee spade. Dig hole. Bury shit. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but at least it’s not shit and bog-paper lying around. I’d venture that it’s a better option than the chemical laden ‘toilets’ in self contained vehicles.
Seems like NZ has chosen its biggest industries based on shitting all over our environment.
It’s not. There’s a very good reason why we changed to full treatment of human waste over the centuries.
Yeah, because citified Europeans used to throw their shit in the street and create epidemics.
And that is what Bill was saying was better than chemical toilets.
No, he was saying that burying human waste was reasonable. Which it is if you don’t have too many people. That’s completely different than throwing raw sewerage in the street.
Full treatment or sending down long pipes to be ‘out of sight and out of mind’?
Plenty of places where ‘we’ still just pump raw sewerage a half mile or so off-shore. Plenty other places where more obvious solids are removed first. Some places where a bit of ulta-violet is used.
Not so common to use it as fertilser … a forestry option was explored in Dunedin – vetoed.
[citation needed]
Would still need to be treated first and we would also need enough forest to complete the transformation from simple shit to fertiliser.
I’m in favour of the idea but it needs to be done properly.
“Wee spade. Dig hole. Bury shit. I know it’s not a perfect solution, but at least it’s not shit and bog-paper lying around”
10 people a night, 150 nights a year, in an area the size of a small supermarket car park.
I dunno how long shit takes to decompose in given varieties of environment, therefore can’t really say anything about any ‘carrying capacity’ of a given area.
I do know that long-drops are no answer.
And I know that removing solids and pumping out to sea is no answer.
I admit to just being downright suspicious of those chemical fucking loos.
“Chemical Fucking Loo”
hmmm not much of a nickname that
lol @ CV.
Bill, you don’t have to know much about decomposition rates, so much as imagining an area of land and how many holes you could dig in it. If you fill the whole area with holes and then have to start again you are now digging up someone else’s shit. Humanure, a system that composts excrement above ground, is left to sit for 12 months after the final addition. That’s a system that uses heat to kill pathogens, which you don’t have in a hole in the ground.
I agree that digging a hole is a good way to dispose of poo providing one isn’t near water, or somewhere that floods, and if there aren’t too many people using the same site. But there are too many tourists, no doubt about that any more.
i live in town, next to a cycleway and park, no public facilities. And as I don’t have a separate toilet in my business I can’t allow people to use my restroom.
So where do people go, especially those with kids? In the bushes. Yes thats where they go.
And yes there should be more public facilities, but I guess we don’t have money for that.
Maybe we should hand over adult depends to tourists arriving in our lovely green clean country? Or tell them to poops in the waterways like our cows do.
“but will find the money to build a convention centre nobody wants.”
How are you going to have conferences to talk about all the big problems if you don’t have a new convention centre?
Damn straight. Can’t use the Cake Tin for everything.
I was being sarcastic.
vto
I take it you mean this story?
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/374063/tourists-defecating-tekapo-church
I’ve always seen this as much an infrastructure problem as a tourist one. There needs to be a lot more public toilets and waste disposal sites, especially at rest stops. Before we start going on about; “Stinky euro trash”, it might be wise to consider the behaviour of kiwi travelers overseas (and within the country for that matter).
yup totally agree, this is something the minister of tourism needs to address, don’t hold your breath though
Too busy in Hawaii to worry about here.
Not on his radar – there are no toilets on Planet Key.
Pasupial, no I wasn’t referring to that one.
Provision of toilets is basic and there should be enough toilets – sheesh, I thought we were a first world banana country…..
I was actually referring not to a lack of infrastructure to allow the inhabitants of these lands to go to the toilet, but to an excess of freeloader camping which is a different issue, though same smells.
Freeloader camping is a complete bludge and shitmess. It has to stop. Simple.
The great tourism industry 20 billion a year and nobody talks about the real cost to the country of ecological devastation from all these never before seen environmental diseases
Scaling back of the EPA
If you’re rich you can dump your shit anywhere in NZ
John ConKEYstadore our PM
Still less crap than cows.
Tourism is predicted to overtake dairy as export number 1.
Easier to get upside value-add in tourism than dairy, with the Fonterra dominance.
Hillary Clinton is not my ‘sister’.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/bernie-sanders-will-becom_b_9289066.html
We now have a chance to elect someone capable of fixing structural issues pertaining to Wall Street, foreign policy, and American politics.
There’s a reason Bernie Sanders voted against the Iraq War and “blasted” Alan Greenspan in 2003, five years before the Wall Street collapse.
There’s also a reason Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq War and won’t disclose transcripts that earned her and her husband $153 million from Wall Street.
Finally, Clinton’s issues with transparency are highlighted by Carl Bernstein in this CNN interview. As for why 67% of voters distrust Clinton, nothing exemplifies this dilemma better than a Washington Post article titled Hillary Clinton’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad answer on whether she’s ever lied:
PELLEY: You talk about leveling with the American people. Have you always told the truth?
CLINTON: I’ve always tried to. Always. Always.
PELLEY: Some people are gonna call that wiggle room that you just gave yourself.
CLINTON: Well, no, I’ve always tried —
PELLEY: I mean, Jimmy Carter said, “I will never lie to you.”
CLINTON: Well, but, you know, you’re asking me to say, “Have I ever?” I don’t believe I ever have. I don’t believe I ever have. I don’t believe I ever will. I’m gonna do the best I can to level with the American people.
……..
_____________________________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
For those of us who are not US citizens, how do you suggest we use this chance to elect someone capable of fixing structural issues pertaining to Wall Street, foreign policy, and American politics?
Having a good rant on here helps
I am going to refuse to pay my rates until the US elects Bernie Sanders.
Foolish troll!!!
Venting ones spleen is good for your health.
We could start up an “adopt an American family” campaign and send them links to news items they might not have read, and helpful emails & facebook messages telling them who they should vote for because they may be too busy taking selfies and tweeting and stuff to actually know what the real issues are.
Americans like being told what’s good for them by other countries. They pay a lot of attention to world opinion from the UK PM.
Just like here a different colour of the same thing witha few tweaks but who can be bothered the blueprint the same for everyone now
Multinational corporate thuggery runs the world
Capitalism doesnt like democracy its awkward to get around with all those people voting and standing against our right to rule as we use to back at the turn of the last century
Really we only want to be left to run the world our way and keep the poor powerless and our dynasties intact ,you know we are all related us 1% of the richest somewhere and we want to keep it that way
Lets hope the genetic bomb explodes before theres nothing left of the planet
Hilary Clinton is my sister.
Who’s yours?
equipping campervans with spades and instructions on how to use one might help maybe
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/77147819/arrest-after-brown-substance-poured-on-gerry-brownlee-at-service
Hope it made the guy happy because its probably worth a point or two to National
Do tell us the Gnat approved method of making corrupt cabinet members do their jobs PR. Napier was rebuilt in two years from a much worse quake – but they didn’t have crooks like Brownlee profiting from the delay. If it were really worth a couple of points to National you’d be flinging the shit yourself.
The real problem is this, first a dildo, then a glitter bomb now this then what happens next time some looney decides they’re justified in throwing something…a brick maybe or someone uses a bat possibly
All this does is tighten security around our politicians so we have even less access and makes the left look even more unelectable to swing or soft voters
the stretch has stretched and when it cannot stretch anymore it breaks – you’d blame it for breaking rather than blame those pulling and pulling and stretching it too much and that is a rightie way of thinking, so well done.
Actually I’d like to know why he acted the way he did, does he have a legit claim or just didn’t get the deal he wanted? who knows but doing what he did takes it from a legitimate form of protest to assault
I find our concern for this person illusory – I’d say you just want more sticks to hit him with.
Bollix I’m from Christchurch myself and I know that there are a lot of people that haven’t had the best time of it and I also know there are those that aren’t telling the whole story as well
you may have “been” from ChCH but your comments show you know F all about whats going on here
His son died in the earthquake. His protest, as naive as it was, is pretty widely supported in the East of Christchurch.
I think he needs to speak to someone because its not healthy carrying that around for so long
PR
Perhaps he should consult the mental health services provided by the health board.
No, wait a minute; haven’t they had their funding slashed leading to long delays in getting treatment? Who could have foreseen that such penny-pinching to grub up cash for an election year taxcut bribe would have negative consequences? I guess his chosen method of commemorating the dead differs from the government’s one of exploiting them.
I agree. He should just get over his son, and be resilient. Otherwise he’s just another moaner, standing in the way of reconstruction. (sarc).
Yeah, he sounds like a great guy.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8192821/Child-sex-acts-were-on-computer
Yeah, dude wasn’t prominent enough to maintain his anonymity.
Kinda hard to remain anonymous when you’re a paedophile with a criminal record who attacks a Minister of the Crown at a memorial service.
But not if you’re prominent professional with a fragile state of mind.
or a “prominent new zealander”…
special peeps
The court accepts a prominent professional with a fragile state of mind and convicted criminal deserves name suppression because he has no offending against any individuals within the New Zealand community and allows him to characterise his offending as paraphilia.
Doesn’t a sad sorry sack of shit like Howland deserve the same treatment?.
So you agree, Howland is a paedophile with a criminal record.
Has he been convicted for offences against children?.
.
Jesus, are you really going there? Have you no shame?
Escalation. A bit like this pyramid of violence?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10101566814489992&set=a.553686228192.2122674.199104866&type=3&theater
I happened to be in Parliament in the Gallery late last year when three protesters threw a bag of pamphlets over the side of the gallery all over the government benches. The only upshot that I can predict is that there will be a glass wall fronting the visitors’ galleries, large, very physical ushers, and increased security screening measures to detect non-metal objects of protest, or worse.
One thing is for sure. People are getting angrier and more frustrated with this government.
One thing is for sure. People are getting angrier and more frustrated with this government.
Which means we can expect an increase in security around MPs
PR, the pity is, though, that MPs are not making enough moves to alleviate the concerns of these angrier and more frustrated citizens.
A citizenry generally contented with its MPs would act differently.
Inequality is growing. Our society is becoming polarised again. Political polls indicate a high level support for the government at 47%.
It also indicates an opposition of about the same level, representing some very discontented people. A million did not vote last election. Did they stay away because of contentment, or disenchantment.
Angry, frustrated, sick, desperate people don’t make for a harmonious society, and our MPs who need protection are being shielded from this reality, and either are in denial, don’t care, or think that it is acceptable.
Well, well with 28 Police Station closed since 2009 and two more scheduled to be closed soon, there is a surplus of Cops in need of work. 🙂
They can all be security guards (private company of course) to the guys that got them unemployed 🙂
Feeling safer yet?
Party politics and protectionism funded by Natcorps corporate buddies is the problem
How do you institute wartime powers when there is no war and don’t give me that looting crap and all the other BS reasons given by the govt if there’s one of those right wing justifiers out there
Really this is Natcorp screwing democracy and nothing more and protecting the US govt and the multinational interests and we haven’t even made TPPA law yet It appears to be working well without all that legal shit to answer to the voters or the sovereignty issues or Canterburys right to control there own problems
How is Brownlee profiting from the delay?
They didn’t have an RMA either.
Basically they had two dictators who had no real constraint on what they could do.
There was very little red tape at that time and no legal challenges to anything they decided.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/4811992/What-Napier-can-teach-Christchurch-about-earthquake-recovery
That puts it all into perspective doesn’t it
and a population of 18,000 people, versus 370,000 in Christchurch. It’s basic lunacy to compare the rebuild of Napier with Christchurch.
Utter bullshit – Dictator Brownlee didn’t have to abide by any of that
Yeah well said and thanks for the reminder about how real work was done
Hah! Inside job…!!! 🙂
I’m liking unmarried women drove turnout in practically every demographic.
http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/02/political-power-single-women-c-v-r.html
reproductive rights.
that is what a lot of women compels to vote democratic rather then republican.
A women without reproductive rights, access to birth control and abortion, without access to gender specific health care (prenatal care is just one of these gender specific health care programme) is not in control of her life, unless she lives abstinence only or has a partner who is happy to control his fertility instead.
And in the states, reproductive rights for women are nothing to be taken granted.
The Times They are a-Changing
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2016/02/20/the-times-they-are-a-changing-2/
Survey of young American voters by Republican pollster, Frank Luntz, finds:
Most compassionate system
Socialism 58%
Capitalism 33%
Corporate America embodies …
Everything Wrong with US 66%
Everything Right with US 34%
Presidential Election
Sanders 45%
Clinton 19%
Trump 10%
(all others sub-10%)
Broad Political Alignment
Democrats 44%
Independents 42%
Republicans 15%
“Make no mistake”, Luntz said in a memo to reporters, “This is the stuff of serious sea change for America”
Similar generational divide in UK over Corbyn and Labour.
That is to be expected. You say “young” voters.
Have you not heard the old quote which goes
“If you are not a Liberal at 25, you have no heart. If you are not a Conservative at 35 you have no brain”.
You, like the gentleman you are quoting, are probably dreaming if you think it will persist. After all, look at what happened to the 60’s generation.
Yep, … heard it … read it … kicked it to the curb.
This remarkably amusing little Right-friendly bon mot has emanated over the last couple of centuries from various Tories, crypto-Tories, debauched decadent dandies, devious dilettantes and sundry Swedish Royalty (King Oscar II for one).
They were talking of and to the wealthy elite – upper class youthful revolt (usually as much about wresting power from older elites than anything truly progressive/egalitarian/altruistic) followed by a rapid return to mater and pater’s staunch Conservatism by the age of 30 and a slap-up meal at Mrs Miggins’ Pie Shop.
You do realise that the bloke I’m quoting is the Republican Party pollster – not the sort usually associated with dreamy flower power idealism I’d suggest.
Wonder what the Police could do with the 26 million spend on the Flag referendum. ?
One could aks Mrs. Judith Collins, MP National Party, who holds the Police Portfolio in the National led Government.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/67617030/police-shut-30-stations-in-effort-to-combat-budget-cuts
Budget cuts, so that Mr. Awesome Finance Man Double Dipper from Dipton Mr. English can enlarge or embiggen the surplus. Or maybe he is just aiming to privatise our Police Force, like state housing and hospital meals. 🙂
National Party, no money for public safety, but plenty for Dish Rags with the wrong colour.
Quote: “Thirty police stations have closed to the public as police struggle to balance the books.
The force has quietly been reviewing its 400 “public facing” properties – which includes stations and community policing centres – as a Budget freeze continues to bite. And with resources thinly-stretched, response times to 111 calls are rising.
Since 2009, the shutters have come down in 28 stations and another two are to be closed, which means the public must go elsewhere to report crime.” Quote End
God Help !!!
the alarming facts of one section of mismanagement by this govt
Maybe the incidents of assault on the Natcorp ministers should sink in that people are getting sick of the PR BS
National: Tough on crime – as long as doing so is cheap and doesn’t cut in to anticipated tax cuts for the rich.
“Wonder what the Police could do with the 26 million …”.
You are going to join the back of a very, very long queue. I must have seen at least 20 variations of that plaintive cry. Everyone appears to forget that there is only one lot of money and it couldn’t have been spent 20 or more times.
The above post reminded me of something,
whenever a budget surplus is mentioned in the media,
Labour needs to ensure the media also includes the government borrowing and national debt.
There needs to be public education on New Zealand’s level of debt,
Labour needs to explain that a budget is arbitrary and any surplus is bullshit until you actual stop borrowing.
QFT
The govt in NZ can run a budget deficit indefinitely. This follows from the one and only institution able to create NZ $ being effectively a govt department (the RBNZ accounts are consolidated into the govt accounts). The only consideration is the economic consequences of running a budget deficit on unemployment, growth, inequality and inflation.
The opposition should explain this to the public while focusing on the actual consequences of the govt actions on the economy.
sorry only just saw this reply,
http://www.budget.govt.nz/budget/pdfs/pit/pit-ch6.pdf
Treasury and the NZDMO do not lend directly to the government,
all borrowing is via issuing securities, bond etc.
Borrowing.
If the mechanism for currency expansion (based on GDP) was to introduce currency via financing government services that would be wonderful.
Then government debt would be directly tied to GDP and a balanced budget would be guarantied.
Alas new money printed is lent to banks at OCR -official cash rate
government borrows money from the selling of securities just above OCR
(transactions managed by the independent NZDMO, who also manage government accounts)
treasury issues new currency but only to non government entities, government borrows money from those same entities, remember the issued currency is required to circulate, the life blood of the economy,
once you understand the convoluted way it has been setup you’ll begin to see behind the curtain.
The big question about govt spending is can parliament instruct its central bank. In being able to do so its always possible to setup transactions where the central bank is lending as required for the govt to spend. In NZ i believe the RBNZ legislation already allows for this anyway. As long as this is feasible the deficit or govt debt becomes a non issue and parliament can spend as desired.
A system where the govt spends new currency directly will however behave in a similar way to the present day settlement system. The reason for this is when new currency is spent it becomes reserves for NZ banks to use as settlement. When a surplus of reserves is in the banking system then the inter bank rate can fall below the official cash rate as banks lend reserves to each other at a discount to the OCR. So the reserve bank or treasury need to borrow the surplus spending to keep the central bank in control. This has the same result as if the govt borrows first and then spends ultimately.
Cheers the astounding facts about how real accounting works not the PR BS show called the budget
Gareth Hughes said it in plain terms that even a problem gambler would grasp to his road to recovery
120 BILLION IN DEBT no ifs buts or maybes
Very true words from a UK Labor MP penned after a visit to Auschwitz and easy to see the same thing happening in NZ. (1st time I’ve submitted a partial article with link, apologies if I’ve included too much of the article)
‘Some people matter and some people don’t.
“The Selection” process is writ large at the memorial. A single decision made in seconds determined if you would turn left for hard labour or right for imminent death. It took years of drip drip drip feeding to convince nations of people to turn away and ignore the horror. Jewish people didn’t lose their identity as humans overnight. The people who turned away and did nothing, didn’t lose their sense of justice in a heartbeat or at the simple say so of a foolishly moustached maniac. Drip drip drip… whisper it quietly… some people matter some people don’t. Drip drip drip… they are getting something you can’t have. Drip drip drip they don’t like you, they think they are better than you… drip, drip, drip. They, they, they, us, us, us.
Working with victims of domestic violence and sexual exploitation, you learn pretty quick how grooming a person to your way of thinking is the most dangerous weapon, mankind possesses.
At Auschwitz we light a candle, we remember, this is past, this is in novels, films history books. This isn’t us anymore. Isn’t it? Everyday we receive our daily intravenous drip, of who matters and who doesn’t and recently someone increased the dosage.
Now a new row has broken out at Oxford University, where I’m ashamed to say that some in the Labour Party society appear to be tolerating the intolerable. Everyday we hear stories of otherness, Islamophobia and antisemitism, in full swing. People pitched one against the other, taxpayers pitched against benefit claimants, women against men. Refugees versus migrants. Everyday we receive our dose of “us” versus “them”. Drip, drip, drip.
For many the Holocaust is best summed up in numbers. Six million Jews murdered. Still today it’s all a numbers game. Hundreds of thousands of people washed up on beaches, fleeing for their lives. Thousands of women, raped and murdered all around the world. So many x thousands living on some benefit or other, while y thousands of people go out to work. There is safety in numbers, we can be shocked by all the big numbers and then go back to watching the Bake Off. In every number is a person just like you. While we can keep seeing people as “them” we have learned nothing from a gruesome past.’
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jess-phillips/lets-stop-drip-drip-drip-of-otherness_b_9274840.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
+1
In bed with the media.
(Scroll down – 21:25 Found Objects: are Joe & Mika tilted toward Trump?)
http://harryshearer.com/le-shows/february-21-2016/
Your car broke down, and you are forced to push the car outf the way of traffic. Do you stop at the red amd lose all the momentum or push through when there is no traffic.
Yes, another day another reporter manufacturing hate speach against pedestrians on bikes. No, bike riders do not have to obey the road rules, any more than pedestrians.
Motorized vehicles obey the road rules, as cyclists cannot get to forty kms an hour duh, they are incapable of safety obey road rules in the second lane of a 100kmh dual carriageway. Road rules dont need the complication of regulating pedestrians, skate borders, moterized wheel chairs, etc, all of whuch could not reach seventy kmh.
So please stop the hate. Only motor vehicles obey road rules to regulate them.
Oh, and i see cars driving on foot paths (late night 2am paper deliever), i see car driver breaking road rules when its safe to do so and necessary i.e accidents. So whose the prig journalist making new laws up.
When a person can get off their bike and safely push their bike through a red light, i have no problem with a cyclists riding through one. Safely, since cyclists have much greater view. Now sure there are always idiots who ride like idiots and thats called jay walking, and should be covered under some nuisance law, as the idiot cyclist who cycles unsafely past a red and into hospital will always be punnished more than the state ever could. So near scrapes should be hauled before courts. But safe cyclling is just like a broke down car, momentum saving.
I’m really puzzled with what’s happening to some pages on this site for me, Lprent.
Yesterday I couldn’t open the General Lord Dannatt: UK should work with Assad in Syria page, and I reported that in Open Mike 22/02/16. (Much later on it did open ok.)
Pages showing a red flag icon (instead of the grey square one) in the chrome tab, but just not opening, has been an intermittent problem for me for a couple of months now. Most often it’s been Open Mike pages that don’t open for some reason.
I think at least one other person reported similar problems in a reply. You were going to look into it, and suggested it might perhaps have been a problem with my ISP’s (Spark) caching? I don’t have this problem on any other forums or websites.
Anywaaaay…I just went to the Open Mike 22/06/16 page to see if there was any update. But I can’t find out cos that page won’t bloody open for me today 🙂 . (You suggested I try shift+f5, or shift+refresh if it happened again, but no joy.)
I also couldn’t open today’s Open Mike about two hours ago, but I can now?? I’m using Win 7 & Chrome Version 48.0.2564.116 m, but firefox and IE have the same problem.
I dunno whether I’ll be able to open this page later to check for any reply but I’ll try.
Update: Now, suddenly, yesterday’s Open Mike page is opening!!
William yesterday provided more info on the some problem he’s been having on various different machines. Don’t know it this helps isolate what my problem is?
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22022016/#comment-1137481
I’m using a Compaq Presario CQ61 32 bit OS.
May need to clear the browsers cache through settings.
I have been experiencing this too for a number of weeks now. It is sporadic but quite inconvenient nevertheless.
“McCully not contesting East Coast Bays seat….Quite when that will be, and whether I seek election as a List Member of Parliament in 2017, are decisions for the Prime Minister in the first instance.”
Make way for a Conservative candidate?
Thieving employers should be prosectuted
And as if that is not enough!
It seems to me that employers need to be licensed in order to be allowed to hire staff. If they cannot follow the rules for the fair employment of people, or if they rob or steal from them, then they should be subject to the full force of the law – as they would expect if the employees stole from them!
Furthermore some of these employers are repeat offenders, and have continuously shown that they cannot be trusted to treat employees fairly. In such cases they should never be given the responsibility of being allowed to hire people again and their license should be withdrawn.
I hold that if a business breaks the law consistently then it needs to be nationalised and all the debts held to the previous owners.
And, yes, licensing of the managers and business owners would probably help as well.
Going Interstellar
The full version is here.
Seen this?
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11593820
Chris Darby has become the latest councillor to have second thoughts about dramatic housing density plans in Auckland suburbs.
The North Shore councillor told the Herald he was “undecided” and that natural justice and opportunity for public participation by those affected were key issues for him.
Mr Darby and Whau councillor, Ross Clow, have indicated in the past 24 hours that they could vote with 11 councillors who want to dump a proposal to rezone thousands of homes for more intensive housing without consulting affected property owners.
……….
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FYI – don’t know about any of the other 2016 Auckland Mayoral candidates, but I have been given speaking rights at the Special Governing Body meeting to be held on the Auckland Council’s Unitary Plan Committee above-mentioned ‘out of scope’ changes to the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan.
Wednesday 24 February 2016
2pm
Auckland Town Hall.
Penny Bright
Another angle on tomrrow’s special meeting about the future shape of Auckland:
http://www.metromag.co.nz/city-life/simon-wilsons-auckland/an-open-letter-to-the-auckland-council/
and a really clear explanation of the whole messy Ak Unitary Plan process so far by Metro’s Simon Wilson: http://www.metromag.co.nz/current-affairs/revolt-of-the-nimbys/
The councillor in charge of the process thinks it will turn to custard tomorrow – and she is astute: https://twitter.com/PennyHulseWest/status/702051964675162113
“Councillors plan to remove council submissions from UnitaryPanel hearings on zonings. Good move guys, leave it to Govt to rezone. # owngoal”
Major stouch in Democrat land. Mainstream economic models appear to favour the Sanders proposals over the Clinton proposals.
http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2016/02/krugman-gang-4-need-apologize-smearing-gerald-friedman.html
If big Republican donors support Hillary Clinton – should ‘everyday’ Americans?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-22/hillary-clinton-backed-major-republican-donors
Authored by Eric Zuesse,
An analysis of Federal Election Commission records, by TIME, which was published on 23 October 2015, showed that the 2012 donors to Romney’s campaign were already donating more to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign than they had been donating to any one of the 2016 campaigns of (listed here in declining order below Clinton) Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie, Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, or Jim Gilmore.
Those major Romney donors also gave a little to two Democrats (other than to Hillary — who, as mentioned, received a lot of donations from these Republican donors): Martin O’Malley, Jim Web, and Lawrence Lessig.
(Romney’s donors gave nothing to Bernie Sanders, and nothing to Elizabeth Warren. They don’t want either of those people to become President.)
Clinton is the only Democratic candidate who is even moderately attractive to big Republican donors.
…….
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Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
better the devil you know it would appear , Clinton, than one that is a socialist speaking to get accountability by the financiers -the new untouchables that never have to pay the billions they have swindled out of ordinary believers in the value of what they’ve worked for
NZ 1984 16 BILLION IN DEBT 2016 120 BILLION
Same here as in the states
“Natcorp pullin the wool since 1936”