[Please note, we are trialling something new for Open Mike and Daily Review.
In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted.
“The California prison system made $58m profit from the work of prison inmates in the financial year 2014-15, according to a study by the Solidarity Research Center, which also found that 4,000 incarcerated workers earn $2 a day fighting California wildfires.”
And on the NZ front – for those concerned about democracy… and considering that Maori are over represented in prisons, maybe think about why National has taken away prisoner voting rights.
Next week – 26 & 27 October, a Full Bench of 5 judges of the Court of Appeal will hear the Crown’s appeal against Justice Heath’s Decision on 24 July 2015 to grant a Declaration of Inconsistency on the Act of Parliament which bans prisoner voting. Top silk Victoria Casey QC represents the Speaker.
[All US election comments and links need to go in the dedicate threads. See the note at top and bottom of OM. Please repost this in a US election dedicated thread and then I will delete the one here – weka]
“I think Jenny is more interested in why there hasn’t been a single direct question about the climate change to the would be presidents…” save nz
Well actually no.
While this is a concern and disgrace, my comment was aimed at our upcoming election cycle.
[I’ve removed the link. If you post in OM again about the US election, or ignore a moderator, expect a ban. It will probably be lengthy because of the amount of time having to be spend moderating you and putting in short bans – weka]
“Another experienced building industry source, who asked not to be named, said the defective repair issue was “huge”.
“The way I summarise it is, at probably no time in history, in European history, has so many private individuals been screwed over by a Government who said they were going to fix their asset and instead ruined their asset.
“You and I, the taxpayer, are paying for it to be done and done again, and sometimes again, and again,” they said.
“It’s huge. It’s so big, it’s bigger than the leaky home crisis – thousands and thousands of homes have been ruined.”
Leaky buildings on steroids…..this Governments gift to NZ taxpayers…..enjoy
A nice metaphor for the way National have been running things, fast & shoddy, then when you get down to see the foundations you see that they are cracked & will take years to fix. Nice one Joyce, Brownlee & Key.
Leaky building all over again. The government ‘fast track’, ‘low regulation’ and ‘importing low cost labour’ model for everything and then leaving it to the homeowners to sort out.
In Auckland anyone can do plans for a resource consent without any qualifications and you don’t need any engineering either a lot of the time. Qualifications if at all come AFTER the resource consent is granted where the building consent people have to hobble together all the mess to try to make it work and you can change the resource consent anyway by putting different materials i.e. cladding in, post consent as long as you find a ‘friendly’ ear at council.
One of the biggest leaky building cases going to court at present at 40 million the Victopia building in Auckland. What is interesting is that the developer had numerous names and companies over the years (KNZ International Co Ltd, formerly named Ganada Development Co Ltd and Dae Ju Developments Co Ltd) and that the architect which also has other leaky buildings in litigation such as the Spencer On Byron building, is ex Mainzeal another bankrupt company.
The design alone should have alerted anyone well before it leaked, that there were going to be big problems. The victims are the poor owners who bought them and those who also bought around the monstrosity – and have to both view it and then live through the remedial work which looks like lasting for years. And if the other parties go bust, then I think the Auckland council aka the Auckland ratepayers have to pick up the rebuild tab.
Win win for the incompetent all round. sarc. If you can be put in prison for a WINZ benefit fraud of a few thousand dollars by the testimony of some angry boyfriend, I’m not sure why more of these developers are not going to prison after years of litigation, that cost owners and taxpayers millions of dollars.
No, that isn’t the case. All building work, including plans and specifications must be approved by a Certified Building Professional. Each trade being approved by a CBP for that trade.
This legislation was brought in in 2009
The concept is of limited use in the real world and has put a huge amount of risk onto small contractors.
The common factor is that the CFP prefer to go belly up rather than face litigation. This leaves you either having a go at the insurance company (if applicable) or the product manufacturer (if you can prove that it was inherent to the product rather than faulty installation) or the council (if you can prove faulty inspection).
Notice how many contractors will have tools and plant owned by one entity that leases these to the building company. Notice how many of these companies go under leaving sub-contractors unpaid. Notice how sub-contractors never get paid a decent percentage of the retentions, so end up building it into the first 90% of the contract.
@Bridget. I’m talking about the Resource consent, not the building consent. It’s crazy you don’t need to be qualified to put the plans in. Also that is why so many developers just go to the resource consent and then sell. They leave all the problems for someone else as you can pretty much put anything thing onto the resource consent and 99% are approved no matter how crappy and unworkable the design.
As the world witnesses a desperate dictator bombing his country’s cities with the help of his foreign allies, many wonder what is happening? Is Syria the same a Iraq where the US is trying to invade and take over another Arab country?
The act of liberation can only be an act of the people themselves.
My thoughts on the Syrian revolution and civil war.
The difference between Iraq and Syria, is the Arab Spring.
The people of the Middle East have for a long time been cursed to be ruled by a plethora of oppressive dictatorships and autocracies. Most of these regimes are a holdover from the division of the Middle East by the rival global empirialists of the 19th and 20 century, who set their borders, and have backed and installed the long line of despotic strongmen and autocrats we see ruling the region today.
Most of these regimes are armed to the teeth and have a whole apparatus of oppression to maintain their rule. With massive armies and brutal internal security forces, supplied with arms and money in the form of military aid by The their superpower sponsors, who in return gain concessions to exploit the mineral wealth and people of the region.
Eventually, it was inevitable, that there would be a region wide uprising against this state of affairs.
It had been my opinion for a long time, even before the term “Arab Spring” had been coined, that the place for this outbreak to start would have been Iraq. Unfortunately the US war and invasion, aborted this potential.
(Maybe this is what the US feared most).
Democracy and independence, in Iraq, in Egypt, in Syria, in Saudi Arabia, in Jordan would mean the end of imperial domination and subjection of the region. It would also mean the end of the apartheid colonial state of Israel.
The Arab Spring was/is the biggest democratic uprising in human history dwarfing in sheer scale and size of the numbers involved, and who took to the streets across the region, any other grass roots political movement in human history.
Those who support the Regime of Basha Assad that I have debated with, and who can be (reluctantly), drawn to comment on the Arab Spring, and who more commonly refuse to acknowledge it all, dismiss the Arab Spring as a CIA, US, Saudi plot.
But though it is hardly mentioned any more, it is through gaining a real understanding of the Arab Spring that we can understand the dispute in Syria.
Jenny, your rambling and confused words, and your absurd spelling errors, show you have done no serious reading or thinking about Syria. And, no, watching television and reading blog sites does not constitute serious reading or thinking.
Could I suggest you actually invest some time in educating yourself? The following would be a good beginning for you….
[Gday, Morrissey. Spelling mistakes happen regularly here, particularly if people are using smart phones or autocorrect or dictionaries that default to American English. Sneering about minor inaccuracies is poor form and discourages people for whom writing doesn’t come naturally from contributing. And, as someone who is notoriously inaccurate, I would have though you’d be the last person to go down the pedantry route. Petard, hoist etc. Concentrate on the ideas, not the expression of them, OK? TRP]
Patrick Cockburn has a lot more insight than many and he highlights the bias of the reporting of western media by comparing the reports of the sieges of Aleppo and Mosul.
I recommend Jenny reads him as well as watch Adam Curtis’s recent film ‘Hypernormalisation’ which looks at perception management.
The colour revolutions and the Arab spring are not exactly what they seem….
Ignore the ad hominems Morrissey.
Your work is appreciated by many.
As is your work, my friend. I do very much appreciate your support, Paul, as well as that of “reason” and “fender”.
Interestingly, this business of intensely scrutinizing every tiny inaccuracy in my transcripts—or transcrapts, as our friend Te Reo sometimes calls them—first started when the venerable Standardista Lanthanide objected to a post I had made in August 2011, targeting…. Hekia Parata.
Yes I did Paul! As always, Dita Di Boni was excellent.
I’ve also just watched Robert Reid reducing a regular Mora guest, poor old Michelle Boag, to an incoherent, spluttering puddle of anger on Q+A. Unfortunately, however, just as she was about to be mopped up permanently, the affable gorgeous emptiness that is Greg Boyed saved her by laughingly intervening and insisting they go to a commercial break.
‘Poor output’ clearly refers to the inaccuracy of the transcripts. TRP is hardly the first person on ts to say that. It’s not abuse of you personally, it’s a characterisation of that part of your work, which you can dispute if you think it’s an unfair or inaccurate characterisation.
There are many instances in the archives where your transcripts have been roundly dismissed for being nothing like the events they were portraying to advance your own pointed agenda.
And whilst that is a clear abuse of free speech, TRP’s is simply not.
Reporting fact can never be personal abuse.
These posts where you have been called out for falsely interpretating for your own gain are all in the archives. Regular readers will know this to be true. You also know this as truth as you’ve counter argued in them.
Do you really not remember? Or is it convenient to forget?
Or are you just playing at dumb?
As you say, I’ve counter-argued in them, in fact, I’ve refuted their quibbles, which are almost entirely indignant claims that someone like Chris Trotter did not speak in a certain tone of voice, or that the long silences that often follow an inane Jim Mora statement are not “awkward”.
Once again, I ask: who are you?
[not sure what you are asking there Morrissey, but as you know it’s a site rule that no-one has to say who they are. This is to protect people who need that for RL ID reasons, and to focus the debate on the content of what people say rather than say trying to get personal about it – weka]
So that’s an acceptance your transcript reporting and impartiality have, on numerous occasions, been taken to task and rejected as self serving.
As far as ‘output’ goes, that’s definitely poor.
Peter Swift is a troll ……………… trolls are internet enabled self-sending dic pics …
presumptuous little dic pic swift peter has some balls ….. thinking a dic pic should have a decent humane like Morrissey justify themselves to a repeated & offensive……… prick.
I have appreciated reading Morrissey high grade posts which I generally find educating and interesting ….
trp, weka …… and peter swift couldn’t have done a better trolls job at derailing Morrisseys accurate calling out of Jennys hard core and disturbing war propaganda ….than if all three were trolls.
Looked like a pretty wanky three way handshake to me …..
Jennys posting …… which I would describe as a patchwork of war propaganda ….. is some seriously sick confused rubbish that is offensive to read.
batshit crazy war propaganda …. delivered like a sick sunday service.
Ouch, Reason, you’re a sharp one. You totally cut me up and sliced me real good. A dic (sic), with balls, well I never did.
With wit like that, you should come with a safety warning attached. lol
I suppose that someone who can’t transcribe for shit can’t be expected to correctly remember the arguments they had about the accuracy (lack thereof) of those “transcripts”.
I didn’t see the failed guess, which would have been wrong who ever it was, but thanks to Weka for protecting and enforcing my shared right to post anonymously in the face of unmerited intrusion.
Weka, “fender” is not my identity. [deleted] was not an identity either. I believe the term is a moniker? I admire your enthusiasm but you might be getting a little carried away.
Don’t worry “Peter Swift”, no one was trying to guess your real life identity.
[I didn’t say real life identity. People have all sorts of reasons for using the pseudonyms they do, including changing them if they need to for reasons that might not be visible to you but are nevertheless important. You have no way of knowing if the name you are guessing is outing someone or not. I have no idea if you are right about your guess, but it’s against the rules here to do so. I take this very seriously. Because you have reused the name after a moderator asked you not to, I’m going to put you in premod until you acknowledge this second moderation, thanks – weka]
“Jenny, your rambling and confused words, and your absurd spelling errors, show you have done no serious reading or thinking about Syria.” Morrissey
That my absurd spelling errors gave you some amusement, is all for the good.
About my rambling I make no apology. I was indulging in a stream of consciousness trying to figure out how The Standard Authors like Colonial Viper and Bill can support a mass murdering dictator, who slaughters his people from the air.
Morrissey, in thinking that I have done no serious reading or thinking about Syria, you are seriously mistaken. After having been in Syria in late 2010, I have followed subsequent events there very closely.
From my time in Syria I can tell you, that I know an oppressive and grotesque police state when I see one.
It is those who peddle the narrative of a foreign CIA conspiracy to topple the dictator who have a very shallow understanding of Syria or indeed of the Arab people. That the Arab people don’t have the wit or the courage to try and overthrough their oppressors, and are not dupes in a big foreign conspiracy, is patronising and dare I say it racist.
Here is a video report by New Zealand’s own Anita McNaught inside Syria at the start of the genocidal aerial bombardment of the liberated areas by the dictator. I think it destroys the stupid and shallow narrative of a foreign CIA/US/Saudi plot.
About my rambling I make no apology. I was indulging in a stream of consciousness…
What this issue needs more than ever is honest, intelligent discussion. Please leave the rambling and stream-of-consciousness nonsense to the likes of Mike Hosking, Leighton Smith, and Paul Henry—all of whom, by the way, share your support for the Al Qaeda insurrection in Syria.
… trying to figure out how The Standard Authors like Colonial Viper and Bill can support a mass murdering dictator, who slaughters his people from the air.
Neither of those two Standard regulars do that. You are willfully misrepresenting them.
Morrissey, in thinking that I have done no serious reading or thinking about Syria, you are seriously mistaken.
Really? Your views, which seem to be nothing more than automatic acceptance of the State Department’s brutal propaganda, are dangerously naïve.
After having been in Syria in late 2010, I have followed subsequent events there very closely. From my time in Syria I can tell you,
Who did you talk to in Syria? Just going there is no guarantee that you learned anything or had a serious look at the situation.
…that I know an oppressive and grotesque police state when I see one.
The United States is being revealed every day to be an oppressive and grotesque police state, at least in regard to poor blacks and Latinos and native Americans. Would you support a bloody insurrection in the U.S., led by religious fanatics and funded by a foreign state, as is happening in Syria?
It is those who peddle the narrative of a foreign CIA conspiracy to topple the dictator who have a very shallow understanding of Syria or indeed of the Arab people.
“Peddle the narrative”? You’re pretending that there is NOT a U.S./U.K./Saudi/Turkish conspiracy to topple Assad? Are you serious?
That the Arab people don’t have the wit or the courage to try and overthrough [sic] their oppressors, and are not dupes in a big foreign conspiracy, is patronising and dare I say it racist.
It is not “the Arab people” that is behind this bloody insurrection, it is Al Qaeda, and its state supporters—the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
Here is a video report by New Zealand’s own Anita McNaught inside Syria at the start of the genocidal aerial bombardment of the liberated areas by the dictator. I think it destroys the stupid and shallow narrative of a foreign CIA/US/Saudi plot.
Anita McNaught is hardly a credible journalist. As I said yesterday, you need to read something other than propaganda. I suggest you start sooner rather than later.
Ever since the protest and occupation of the drill ship in New Plymouth by Lucy Lawless and other climate activists the continuing fight against extreme fossil fuel technologies like deep sea oil and arctic oil drillling the links between New Zealand and Norway are being drawn again.
Tomorrow, the President of the native Sami People of Norway is joining a gathering of Maori and locals on the Marae Aripara in the far north at 1pm to celebrate a victory over deep sea oil drilling in this country.
Meantime James Hansen has penned a letter to the Prime Minister of Norway asking for a halt in Artic oil drilling.
Dear Prime Minister Solberg
by Web Team | October 19, 2016
Category: Blog
October 18th, 2016
Dear Prime Minister Solberg,
A year ago I wrote an open letter urging you to carry out an act of transformational climate leadership. I held the faint hope that your government might yet waken to the realities of climate change, heed the call of thousands of Norwegians and rescind the 23rd licensing round, which allows oil companies to exploit massive fossil resources in the Barents Sea. That act of responsible stewardship – pulling out of an Arctic oil race that puts all of humanity at risk – would have salvaged Norway’s reputation as an environmental champion and set a bold example for the rest of the world. It would also have secured your legacy as one of a handful of political leaders reacting decisively to the greatest threat civilization has ever faced……
The wit and wisdom of Michelle Boag Q+A, TV1, Sunday 23 October 2016
The embarrassingly inept Hekia Parata will soon be gone, no doubt having been “encouraged” strongly to leave by the brains of the National Party, Mr Joyce, who has more than once been required to move in and clean up after her. Despite her embarrassingly substandard performance, there are some people who will do their duty and stick up up for her. People like Michelle Boag, who delivered the following eulogy this morning….
“Hekia is a change agent. She is totally dedicated to education. The children in New Zealand could not be in better hands….”
Thanks Morrissey.
I, for one, really enjoy your transcripts, particularly those that parody the trite nonsense and platitudes of Mora’s Panel.
On that matter, any chance you could produce one of your masterpieces on the public shaming of ‘gentleman Jim’ by Dita da Boni?
It can often be very challenging for the children of those who suicide. They often need a lot of support immediately after and access to it when they need it down the track. Of course they are a subset of all children who need help. They are all waiting too long for support – this MUST be improved. Kia kaha to all.
Here in Australia it’s finally getting some attention. Six men are killing themselves every day and almost nothing was being said about it. Yes you read that right … six every day.
Many of these men were employed in manufacturing, construction, farming and mining, Hickie said, fields which over the past few years have experienced high levels of redundancies and uncertainty.
“Those with better employment prospects in these fields a decade ago are now experiencing a downturn, they often have families to support and mortgages to pay and they are then losing their jobs and losing their connection to friends and financial security. They become disconnected.
“Sometimes their families fall apart as a result and they find themselves going through a divorce and personal upheaval too.”
It is now the leading cause of pre-mature death in middle-aged men in Australia, almost 18% of deaths. An absolute epidemic that until very recently nobody wanted to talk about.
And this is without even considering the impact on all the families, friends and co-workers left behind. That’s a whole other story as well.
I wondered when I heard n the rad that police were visiting women who’d been at the meeting, if they or any of their neighbours were waiting for visits from the police because they’d been burgled. Waiting but not getting attention because the police were busy with important stuff.
The legal people have their views, and expressed them in the article, “may have over-stepped the mark” and “unusual for those details (name and addresses) to be requested ahead of a breath-test”.
“As the commission doubtless knows, no government would impose such charges, or shut down northern airports to allow Heathrow to grow. Having approved the extra capacity, the government will discover that it’s incompatible with our commitments under the climate change act, mull the consequences for a minute or two, then quietly abandon the commitments. It’s this simple: a third runway at Heathrow means that the UK will not meet its carbon targets. Hold me to that in 2050.”
[In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted – weka]
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For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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[Please note, we are trialling something new for Open Mike and Daily Review.
In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted.
Have fun folks – weka]
Growth industry in US – slavery
“The California prison system made $58m profit from the work of prison inmates in the financial year 2014-15, according to a study by the Solidarity Research Center, which also found that 4,000 incarcerated workers earn $2 a day fighting California wildfires.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/22/inside-us-prison-strike-labor-protest
And on the NZ front – for those concerned about democracy… and considering that Maori are over represented in prisons, maybe think about why National has taken away prisoner voting rights.
Next week – 26 & 27 October, a Full Bench of 5 judges of the Court of Appeal will hear the Crown’s appeal against Justice Heath’s Decision on 24 July 2015 to grant a Declaration of Inconsistency on the Act of Parliament which bans prisoner voting. Top silk Victoria Casey QC represents the Speaker.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/10/18/guest-blog-arthur-taylor-the-most-important-constitutional-law-hearing-to-be-held-in-over-25-years/
Let us hope that we can do better.
[deleted]
[All US election comments and links need to go in the dedicate threads. See the note at top and bottom of OM. Please repost this in a US election dedicated thread and then I will delete the one here – weka]
Are you blind?
Could you expand on that BM?
Ahem, look at #1 above.
I think Jenny is more interested in why there hasn’t been a single direct question about the climate change to the would be presidents…
And she is welcome to ask that on the dedicated thread, lest this one degenerates rapidly as earlier ones did.
Well actually no.
While this is a concern and disgrace, my comment was aimed at our upcoming election cycle.
[I’ve removed the link. If you post in OM again about the US election, or ignore a moderator, expect a ban. It will probably be lengthy because of the amount of time having to be spend moderating you and putting in short bans – weka]
“Another experienced building industry source, who asked not to be named, said the defective repair issue was “huge”.
“The way I summarise it is, at probably no time in history, in European history, has so many private individuals been screwed over by a Government who said they were going to fix their asset and instead ruined their asset.
“You and I, the taxpayer, are paying for it to be done and done again, and sometimes again, and again,” they said.
“It’s huge. It’s so big, it’s bigger than the leaky home crisis – thousands and thousands of homes have been ruined.”
Leaky buildings on steroids…..this Governments gift to NZ taxpayers…..enjoy
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/84610272/vetting-problems-poor-repair-strategies-create-backlog-of-defective-repairs-in-canterbury
A nice metaphor for the way National have been running things, fast & shoddy, then when you get down to see the foundations you see that they are cracked & will take years to fix. Nice one Joyce, Brownlee & Key.
+1
yes could serve as a very apt metaphor for their whole approach to the economy….short term. no logical basis and only for appearances.
Leaky building all over again. The government ‘fast track’, ‘low regulation’ and ‘importing low cost labour’ model for everything and then leaving it to the homeowners to sort out.
In Auckland anyone can do plans for a resource consent without any qualifications and you don’t need any engineering either a lot of the time. Qualifications if at all come AFTER the resource consent is granted where the building consent people have to hobble together all the mess to try to make it work and you can change the resource consent anyway by putting different materials i.e. cladding in, post consent as long as you find a ‘friendly’ ear at council.
One of the biggest leaky building cases going to court at present at 40 million the Victopia building in Auckland. What is interesting is that the developer had numerous names and companies over the years (KNZ International Co Ltd, formerly named Ganada Development Co Ltd and Dae Ju Developments Co Ltd) and that the architect which also has other leaky buildings in litigation such as the Spencer On Byron building, is ex Mainzeal another bankrupt company.
The design alone should have alerted anyone well before it leaked, that there were going to be big problems. The victims are the poor owners who bought them and those who also bought around the monstrosity – and have to both view it and then live through the remedial work which looks like lasting for years. And if the other parties go bust, then I think the Auckland council aka the Auckland ratepayers have to pick up the rebuild tab.
Win win for the incompetent all round. sarc. If you can be put in prison for a WINZ benefit fraud of a few thousand dollars by the testimony of some angry boyfriend, I’m not sure why more of these developers are not going to prison after years of litigation, that cost owners and taxpayers millions of dollars.
No, that isn’t the case. All building work, including plans and specifications must be approved by a Certified Building Professional. Each trade being approved by a CBP for that trade.
This legislation was brought in in 2009
The concept is of limited use in the real world and has put a huge amount of risk onto small contractors.
The common factor is that the CFP prefer to go belly up rather than face litigation. This leaves you either having a go at the insurance company (if applicable) or the product manufacturer (if you can prove that it was inherent to the product rather than faulty installation) or the council (if you can prove faulty inspection).
Notice how many contractors will have tools and plant owned by one entity that leases these to the building company. Notice how many of these companies go under leaving sub-contractors unpaid. Notice how sub-contractors never get paid a decent percentage of the retentions, so end up building it into the first 90% of the contract.
@Bridget. I’m talking about the Resource consent, not the building consent. It’s crazy you don’t need to be qualified to put the plans in. Also that is why so many developers just go to the resource consent and then sell. They leave all the problems for someone else as you can pretty much put anything thing onto the resource consent and 99% are approved no matter how crappy and unworkable the design.
As the world witnesses a desperate dictator bombing his country’s cities with the help of his foreign allies, many wonder what is happening? Is Syria the same a Iraq where the US is trying to invade and take over another Arab country?
The act of liberation can only be an act of the people themselves.
My thoughts on the Syrian revolution and civil war.
The difference between Iraq and Syria, is the Arab Spring.
The people of the Middle East have for a long time been cursed to be ruled by a plethora of oppressive dictatorships and autocracies. Most of these regimes are a holdover from the division of the Middle East by the rival global empirialists of the 19th and 20 century, who set their borders, and have backed and installed the long line of despotic strongmen and autocrats we see ruling the region today.
Most of these regimes are armed to the teeth and have a whole apparatus of oppression to maintain their rule. With massive armies and brutal internal security forces, supplied with arms and money in the form of military aid by The their superpower sponsors, who in return gain concessions to exploit the mineral wealth and people of the region.
Eventually, it was inevitable, that there would be a region wide uprising against this state of affairs.
It had been my opinion for a long time, even before the term “Arab Spring” had been coined, that the place for this outbreak to start would have been Iraq. Unfortunately the US war and invasion, aborted this potential.
(Maybe this is what the US feared most).
Democracy and independence, in Iraq, in Egypt, in Syria, in Saudi Arabia, in Jordan would mean the end of imperial domination and subjection of the region. It would also mean the end of the apartheid colonial state of Israel.
The Arab Spring was/is the biggest democratic uprising in human history dwarfing in sheer scale and size of the numbers involved, and who took to the streets across the region, any other grass roots political movement in human history.
Those who support the Regime of Basha Assad that I have debated with, and who can be (reluctantly), drawn to comment on the Arab Spring, and who more commonly refuse to acknowledge it all, dismiss the Arab Spring as a CIA, US, Saudi plot.
But though it is hardly mentioned any more, it is through gaining a real understanding of the Arab Spring that we can understand the dispute in Syria.
http://peacetour.org/Egypt-revolution
Jenny, your rambling and confused words, and your absurd spelling errors, show you have done no serious reading or thinking about Syria. And, no, watching television and reading blog sites does not constitute serious reading or thinking.
Could I suggest you actually invest some time in educating yourself? The following would be a good beginning for you….
http://www.medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2016/825-propagandising-for-war-the-bbc-today-programme-on-syria.html
[Gday, Morrissey. Spelling mistakes happen regularly here, particularly if people are using smart phones or autocorrect or dictionaries that default to American English. Sneering about minor inaccuracies is poor form and discourages people for whom writing doesn’t come naturally from contributing. And, as someone who is notoriously inaccurate, I would have though you’d be the last person to go down the pedantry route. Petard, hoist etc. Concentrate on the ideas, not the expression of them, OK? TRP]
Patrick Cockburn has a lot more insight than many and he highlights the bias of the reporting of western media by comparing the reports of the sieges of Aleppo and Mosul.
I recommend Jenny reads him as well as watch Adam Curtis’s recent film ‘Hypernormalisation’ which looks at perception management.
The colour revolutions and the Arab spring are not exactly what they seem….
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/iraq-syria-aleppo-mosul-patrick-cockburn-propaganda-we-consume-a7373951.html
Ignore the ad hominems Morrissey.
Your work is appreciated by many.
As is your work, my friend. I do very much appreciate your support, Paul, as well as that of “reason” and “fender”.
Interestingly, this business of intensely scrutinizing every tiny inaccuracy in my transcripts—or transcrapts, as our friend Te Reo sometimes calls them—first started when the venerable Standardista Lanthanide objected to a post I had made in August 2011, targeting…. Hekia Parata.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30082011/#comment-369467
Did you see how Dita da Boni showed up how right wing and reactionary ‘gentle and liberal’ Jim Mora is?
Yes I did Paul! As always, Dita Di Boni was excellent.
I’ve also just watched Robert Reid reducing a regular Mora guest, poor old Michelle Boag, to an incoherent, spluttering puddle of anger on Q+A. Unfortunately, however, just as she was about to be mopped up permanently, the affable gorgeous emptiness that is Greg Boyed saved her by laughingly intervening and insisting they go to a commercial break.
Saw that (Robert Reid reducing Michelle Boag into an incoherent, spluttering puddle of anger on Q+A).
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/our-billion-dollar-forestry-industry-panel-video-6498866
Some very good advice there, my friend; my post was largely un-gallant and I apologize to Jenny and the wider Standard family.
I have just one quibble: you claim, without posting any evidence, that I am “someone who is notoriously inaccurate”. Could you back that up please?
(I don’t think you can.)
I refer you to your many previous transcrapts, whose tenuous relationship to their claimed subject matter put the awe into awful 😉
That’s simply personal abuse, Te Reo. You have nothing substantial to back up your claim.
No, it’s not. The comment refers to your poor output not you personally. I’m shocked you don’t know the difference. Shocked, I tell ya.
My “poor output”? That is personal abuse, and inaccurate. I don’t think even my enemies would describe my oeuvre in such terms.
As you are well aware, Te Reo, I work extremely hard at writing good, presentable items for this site.
‘Poor output’ clearly refers to the inaccuracy of the transcripts. TRP is hardly the first person on ts to say that. It’s not abuse of you personally, it’s a characterisation of that part of your work, which you can dispute if you think it’s an unfair or inaccurate characterisation.
Thanks for that, weka. As always, I appreciate your frank and well considered criticism.
There are many instances in the archives where your transcripts have been roundly dismissed for being nothing like the events they were portraying to advance your own pointed agenda.
And whilst that is a clear abuse of free speech, TRP’s is simply not.
Reporting fact can never be personal abuse.
Could you give one example of this? And, by the way, who ARE you?
These posts where you have been called out for falsely interpretating for your own gain are all in the archives. Regular readers will know this to be true. You also know this as truth as you’ve counter argued in them.
Do you really not remember? Or is it convenient to forget?
Or are you just playing at dumb?
As you say, I’ve counter-argued in them, in fact, I’ve refuted their quibbles, which are almost entirely indignant claims that someone like Chris Trotter did not speak in a certain tone of voice, or that the long silences that often follow an inane Jim Mora statement are not “awkward”.
Once again, I ask: who are you?
[not sure what you are asking there Morrissey, but as you know it’s a site rule that no-one has to say who they are. This is to protect people who need that for RL ID reasons, and to focus the debate on the content of what people say rather than say trying to get personal about it – weka]
So that’s an acceptance your transcript reporting and impartiality have, on numerous occasions, been taken to task and rejected as self serving.
As far as ‘output’ goes, that’s definitely poor.
Ignore the ad hominems Morrissey.
Your work is appreciated by many.
Peter Swift is a troll ……………… trolls are internet enabled self-sending dic pics …
presumptuous little dic pic swift peter has some balls ….. thinking a dic pic should have a decent humane like Morrissey justify themselves to a repeated & offensive……… prick.
I have appreciated reading Morrissey high grade posts which I generally find educating and interesting ….
trp, weka …… and peter swift couldn’t have done a better trolls job at derailing Morrisseys accurate calling out of Jennys hard core and disturbing war propaganda ….than if all three were trolls.
Looked like a pretty wanky three way handshake to me …..
Jennys posting …… which I would describe as a patchwork of war propaganda ….. is some seriously sick confused rubbish that is offensive to read.
batshit crazy war propaganda …. delivered like a sick sunday service.
Bullshit & bad behavior …………
Shit house
Ouch, Reason, you’re a sharp one. You totally cut me up and sliced me real good. A dic (sic), with balls, well I never did.
With wit like that, you should come with a safety warning attached. lol
lol
I suppose that someone who can’t transcribe for shit can’t be expected to correctly remember the arguments they had about the accuracy (lack thereof) of those “transcripts”.
[deleted]
[trying to guess someone’s identity is not on – weka]
I didn’t see the failed guess, which would have been wrong who ever it was, but thanks to Weka for protecting and enforcing my shared right to post anonymously in the face of unmerited intrusion.
Weka, “fender” is not my identity. [deleted] was not an identity either. I believe the term is a moniker? I admire your enthusiasm but you might be getting a little carried away.
Don’t worry “Peter Swift”, no one was trying to guess your real life identity.
[I didn’t say real life identity. People have all sorts of reasons for using the pseudonyms they do, including changing them if they need to for reasons that might not be visible to you but are nevertheless important. You have no way of knowing if the name you are guessing is outing someone or not. I have no idea if you are right about your guess, but it’s against the rules here to do so. I take this very seriously. Because you have reused the name after a moderator asked you not to, I’m going to put you in premod until you acknowledge this second moderation, thanks – weka]
oh yes my mistake weka, I’ll change my name on a regular basis too
That my absurd spelling errors gave you some amusement, is all for the good.
About my rambling I make no apology. I was indulging in a stream of consciousness trying to figure out how The Standard Authors like Colonial Viper and Bill can support a mass murdering dictator, who slaughters his people from the air.
Morrissey, in thinking that I have done no serious reading or thinking about Syria, you are seriously mistaken. After having been in Syria in late 2010, I have followed subsequent events there very closely.
From my time in Syria I can tell you, that I know an oppressive and grotesque police state when I see one.
It is those who peddle the narrative of a foreign CIA conspiracy to topple the dictator who have a very shallow understanding of Syria or indeed of the Arab people. That the Arab people don’t have the wit or the courage to try and overthrough their oppressors, and are not dupes in a big foreign conspiracy, is patronising and dare I say it racist.
Here is a video report by New Zealand’s own Anita McNaught inside Syria at the start of the genocidal aerial bombardment of the liberated areas by the dictator. I think it destroys the stupid and shallow narrative of a foreign CIA/US/Saudi plot.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=captured+syrian+pilot+you+tube&view=detail&mid=DFD73E031467791E0C66DFD73E031467791E0C66&FORM=VIRE
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/08/20128213363370291.html
About my rambling I make no apology. I was indulging in a stream of consciousness…
What this issue needs more than ever is honest, intelligent discussion. Please leave the rambling and stream-of-consciousness nonsense to the likes of Mike Hosking, Leighton Smith, and Paul Henry—all of whom, by the way, share your support for the Al Qaeda insurrection in Syria.
… trying to figure out how The Standard Authors like Colonial Viper and Bill can support a mass murdering dictator, who slaughters his people from the air.
Neither of those two Standard regulars do that. You are willfully misrepresenting them.
Morrissey, in thinking that I have done no serious reading or thinking about Syria, you are seriously mistaken.
Really? Your views, which seem to be nothing more than automatic acceptance of the State Department’s brutal propaganda, are dangerously naïve.
After having been in Syria in late 2010, I have followed subsequent events there very closely. From my time in Syria I can tell you,
Who did you talk to in Syria? Just going there is no guarantee that you learned anything or had a serious look at the situation.
…that I know an oppressive and grotesque police state when I see one.
The United States is being revealed every day to be an oppressive and grotesque police state, at least in regard to poor blacks and Latinos and native Americans. Would you support a bloody insurrection in the U.S., led by religious fanatics and funded by a foreign state, as is happening in Syria?
It is those who peddle the narrative of a foreign CIA conspiracy to topple the dictator who have a very shallow understanding of Syria or indeed of the Arab people.
“Peddle the narrative”? You’re pretending that there is NOT a U.S./U.K./Saudi/Turkish conspiracy to topple Assad? Are you serious?
That the Arab people don’t have the wit or the courage to try and overthrough [sic] their oppressors, and are not dupes in a big foreign conspiracy, is patronising and dare I say it racist.
It is not “the Arab people” that is behind this bloody insurrection, it is Al Qaeda, and its state supporters—the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
Here is a video report by New Zealand’s own Anita McNaught inside Syria at the start of the genocidal aerial bombardment of the liberated areas by the dictator. I think it destroys the stupid and shallow narrative of a foreign CIA/US/Saudi plot.
Anita McNaught is hardly a credible journalist. As I said yesterday, you need to read something other than propaganda. I suggest you start sooner rather than later.
Ever since the protest and occupation of the drill ship in New Plymouth by Lucy Lawless and other climate activists the continuing fight against extreme fossil fuel technologies like deep sea oil and arctic oil drillling the links between New Zealand and Norway are being drawn again.
Tomorrow, the President of the native Sami People of Norway is joining a gathering of Maori and locals on the Marae Aripara in the far north at 1pm to celebrate a victory over deep sea oil drilling in this country.
https://tehiku.nz/te-hiku-radio/kuaka-marangaranga/4432/mike-smith-on-the-president-of-sami-visiting-te-taitokerau
Meantime James Hansen has penned a letter to the Prime Minister of Norway asking for a halt in Artic oil drilling.
Correction: The President of the Sami People will be in Ahipara on Tuesday, not Monday.
All welcome to join the celebrations.
The wit and wisdom of Michelle Boag
Q+A, TV1, Sunday 23 October 2016
The embarrassingly inept Hekia Parata will soon be gone, no doubt having been “encouraged” strongly to leave by the brains of the National Party, Mr Joyce, who has more than once been required to move in and clean up after her. Despite her embarrassingly substandard performance, there are some people who will do their duty and stick up up for her. People like Michelle Boag, who delivered the following eulogy this morning….
incoherent rambling continues….
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/superfund-s-move-away-fossil-fuels-panel-video-6498859
Thanks Morrissey.
I, for one, really enjoy your transcripts, particularly those that parody the trite nonsense and platitudes of Mora’s Panel.
On that matter, any chance you could produce one of your masterpieces on the public shaming of ‘gentleman Jim’ by Dita da Boni?
Has anyone got a link to the Mora/Dita de Boni exchange?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thepanel/audio/201820768/the-panel-with-barry-corbett-and-dita-de-boni-part-2
from min 19 I’m guessing
It can often be very challenging for the children of those who suicide. They often need a lot of support immediately after and access to it when they need it down the track. Of course they are a subset of all children who need help. They are all waiting too long for support – this MUST be improved. Kia kaha to all.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/85509692/thousand-of-kiwi-kids-waiting-for-mental-health-treatment
Here in Australia it’s finally getting some attention. Six men are killing themselves every day and almost nothing was being said about it. Yes you read that right … six every day.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/suicide-rate-we-need-to-stop-the-scourge-killing-our-men-20160309-gnf7un.html
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/09/highest-australian-suicide-rate-in-13-years-driven-by-men-aged-40-to-44
It is now the leading cause of pre-mature death in middle-aged men in Australia, almost 18% of deaths. An absolute epidemic that until very recently nobody wanted to talk about.
And this is without even considering the impact on all the families, friends and co-workers left behind. That’s a whole other story as well.
Gavin MacFadyen, founder and director of the Centre for Investigative Journalism and associate of Julian Assange, has died.
Standing by for the Clinton death pool nonsense……
http://tcij.org/gavin-macfadyen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_MacFadyen
“Did police use booze checkpoint to target elderly women at euthanasia meeting?”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/85652982/did-police-use-booze-checkpoint-to-targets-elderly-women-at-euthanasia-meeting
I wondered when I heard n the rad that police were visiting women who’d been at the meeting, if they or any of their neighbours were waiting for visits from the police because they’d been burgled. Waiting but not getting attention because the police were busy with important stuff.
The legal people have their views, and expressed them in the article, “may have over-stepped the mark” and “unusual for those details (name and addresses) to be requested ahead of a breath-test”.
To me it sounds like the stuff of a Police state.
“As the commission doubtless knows, no government would impose such charges, or shut down northern airports to allow Heathrow to grow. Having approved the extra capacity, the government will discover that it’s incompatible with our commitments under the climate change act, mull the consequences for a minute or two, then quietly abandon the commitments. It’s this simple: a third runway at Heathrow means that the UK will not meet its carbon targets. Hold me to that in 2050.”
http://www.monbiot.com/2016/10/19/the-flight-of-reason/
a reaction I suspect we will see imitated here…
[In order to keep OM and DR free for other conversations, all comments, link postings etc about the US election now need to go in the dedicated US election discussion here.
If you are unsure, post in that thread rather than here. It’s not possible for moderators to shift comments from OM to there, so any comments here may get deleted – weka]
There was some discussion of the Philippines the other day after CV’s post. This is the Economist’s take on it:
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21708984-philippines-until-now-staunch-american-ally-falling-chinese-camp-dutertes-pivot