Key acknowledged that Trump campaigned against TPP but added: “The United States isn’t an island. It can’t just sit there and say it isn’t going to trade with the rest of the world so at some point they are going to have to give some consideration to that but naturally we are a bit disappointed.”
Actually, they can. They certainly have the resources and capabilities to keep their living standards high without trade.
Of course, without trade their rich people won’t get any richer. In fact, they’ll probably become very poor quite rapidly.
There will be trade. It’s just there won’t be a leader of the free world to bomb the fuck out of poor farming communities who don’t trade in US dollars
Real nice of the government to let quake stricken people use up their own retirement savings. This is transferring hardship from the present to the future.
I’m not sure this government even gets what Kiwisaver is about.
They understand exactly what KS is about. Even better when folks use their own rather than any govt assistance so you can promise more vapour tax trimming.
Wasn’t that another broken election promise that they wouldn’t touch it yet have several times making it less attractive to the punter and better for the ticket clipping fund managers and govt.
And then asking people to support charities so the government doesn’t have to pay.
Of course the simple way is to make corporations and the rich pay more tax, but it’s better, isn’t it Mr Key, to put the begging bowls out and rely on the generosity of the poor?
The rich need that money for their 15th property. larger boat, extension on the luxury beach house, third international holiday, school fees for King’s……
Yep – I thought that was on the nose, too. This bloddy govt will do anything it can to stop it having to help ordinary people in times of crisis ……. just shitty.
I do hope those ordinary people will wake up in time for the election – but these disasters are displacing so many people, disrupting so many of their lives, that they might not even be able to vote – if they don’t have a permanent address.
Has the Electoral Commission said anything about that, yet ?
Yep – I thought that was on the nose, too. This bloddy govt will do anything it can to stop it having to help ordinary people in times of crisis ……. just shitty.
Oh, they’re doing more than that with this move. They’re undercutting peoples retirement funds meaning that some people will have to keep working longer.
Killing trees to enhance the view and the $$$ – yuck.
“Thames-Coromandel District Council has reported a spike in native trees being vandalised and destroyed recently, including pohutukawa.
TCDC parks and reserves manager Derek Thompson believes people were poisoning the trees for better beach views from their holiday homes, and called it “selfish and disappointing”.
He believed the poisoning would only increase during the warmer months.”
About 30 odd years ago, Takapuna Beach (North Shore, Auckland) had a magnificent beach frontage lined with huge spreading pohutukawa. In the intervening years, non-notified resource consent has been given time after time to the rich dudes who have bought up the beachside properties, and those magnificent pohutukawas have dwindled down to a few skinny limbs per tree, and even entire trees have disappeared. Oh, and some of the trees were “accidentally damaged” during property re-build and were “too dangerous” to retain.
The selfish wealthy have no idea what they’re doing to the environment.
Yeah, but your standards are quite low James. Do people really enjoy being in the environment of big box stores and subdivisions like botany. They aren’t made for people to be outside, they’re made for you to be in your car as much as possible. Someone described our new subdivisions as a fenced in herd of grazing turtles. We could do far far better if we actually tried.
Our hero the unitary plan! Helping the rich do whatever the fuck they like as long as they pay some hefty fees to private planners and ‘environmental lawyers’ to produce 70 page reports that bury the effects. The council love giving out ratepayers money to private environmental lawyers to steal the harbour and take away people’s amenity and the council love to control all the separate COO’s to say all the same things in environmental court so it looks like they all agree.
Hey there were a lot of cheerleaders for the unitary plan – the fake news is alive and well in NZ. Environmental degradation and the average homeowners rights are gonna get a lot worse.
Still waiting to see the ‘affordable’ housing to spring up with the SHA and Unitary plan that were pushed through.
Trees hold the ground together against erosion. With sea level rise, the poisoners will be at high risk for losing land … and their neighbours will too.
Nats probably think that erosion doesn’t need to be a “thing” anymore because if one 7.8M quake can lift the seabed by 6+ metre in places, then no need to worry about erosion.
Just sit tight and wait for a few more quakes to keep lifting the seabed. Erosion problem sorted.
Such is the perspicacity of thought in those quarters.
Thanks James! Great to see into the mind of a Nat supporter. (sarc). So we need not worry about erosion because at the end of the day an earthquake could lift the seabed and correct it! What logic!
Actually James is correct. However he has a problem with his time scales. There is a pretty good probability that the current human species would be naturally extinct before geological uplift fixes the erosion.
Yes bring back the good old days when you’d drive SH1 and see dozens of men brastfeeding shovels on the side of the road. Those were real jobs, with dignity.
Ever noticed how many vehicles and workers are required to mow a strip of road verge now (have seen 10 men and five vehicles supporting one ride-on mower operator on the Johnsonville to Porirua stretch of SH1). Instead of paying to keep notional ‘shovel leaning’ labourers off the UB, the taxpayers/ratepayers are charged over the odds for private sector workers to lean on steering wheels. Guess who takes the cream off the contracts – isn’t likely to be the workers.
So you’re saying seize private assets without compensation? What would be the appropriate response if after a nationalisation was announced Fulton Hogan et al destroyed all their equipment, leaving nothing to seize?
Come on Richard, argue that for Maori, I’m sure they would appreciate you standing up for the good fight. No wait you in Aussie right. Stand up for our aboriginal brothers and sister, and work out what they should get for all the private assets that were taken from them without compensation.
Agree, better training and promotes a long term investment in what is good for New Zealand. Instead of maximum private profit and zero investment in the temporary and insecure staff from the local labour company.
I am putting this link up because I was listening to it without watching and I was amazed how much simon bridges sounds like john key – same smashing up of words and syntax and timing imo. He is obviously going all the way with these mimicry skills.
The thing is about investing, is you can repeat buzz words, but unless you have a proven track record implementing professional strategy, and make money, you will end up very untalented in very important positions.
I had to teach myself. I came from a fatherless background which forced me to learn in double quick time. I also experienced a life before the mother of all budgets so replicating my success has moved on like opening and closing doors and passing ships
yeah saw that – amazing how both likers and dislikers see trump as a hit1er type
““Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!”
That’s how Richard B. Spencer saluted more than 200 attendees on Saturday, gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., for the annual conference of the National Policy Institute, which describes itself as “an independent organization dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States, and around the world.”
Spencer has popularized the term “alt-right” to describe the movement he leads. Spencer has said his dream is “a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans,” and has called for “peaceful ethnic cleansing.””
well yes we gave the biggest MORAN trump (as did you minimoran) itself massive exposure as all his misogynist, racist hit1erish tendencies emerged during the campaign – don’t thank us we did it out of fairness cos that is the left.
The left fancies itself as being fair, but with regards to Trump that’s nothing but a conceit.
Millions of Trump voters decided that they had enough of left wing bullyshaming and intimidation, and decided to keep their preferred choice of candidate to themselves.
“Millions of Trump voters decided that they had enough of left wing bullyshaming and intimidation, and decided to keep their preferred choice of candidate to themselves.”
methodology, assumptions and all of the rest contributed to the trump election – one thing that didn’t is a nobody from dunners. You are yesterdays news nobby.
When did a the left become a lumpen grouping? There is no left as a homogeneous group. Least of all on this site, so it’s getting tiresome bro. Especially when it the same line trolls use!
And some of us critise trump for the 1%er he is, carries on being, and always has been. I know your under some delusion he is not, but then again you don’t want to admit his alt-right connection either. Nor the fact his appointments so far, have been very much in favour of the corporate elects.
We are talking about the country that produced capitalism. Taking capitalism out of the White House would be like Hollywood trying to make a movie whit out white people.
Said another way, you couldn’t make a movie in North Korea with out a glorious leader uniting country against hordes of white salesmen.
On the other hand we are seeing a dangerous move to unwind what ever hard work was left over from Martin Luther Kings days, if we are to have any shot at halting total fascist I think Bernie Sanders Has to win in 2020
Trump is a 0.1%’er thanks. Just like Hillary Clinton.
It’s the American system. It’s the only way you can win the White House. No one earning $100K per year has a chance.
I know your under some delusion he is not, but then again you don’t want to admit his alt-right connection (1) either. Nor the fact his appointments so far, have been very much in favour of the corporate elects. (2)
1) Trump isn’t “alt-right”. He is the new radical working class focussed centre. And it is going to gut the Democratic Party.
2) Trump doesn’t owe a single thing to the corporates, the corporate media or to Wall St. Reince Priebus is not a corporate lackey. Bannon is former Goldman Sachs but as far as I can tell he despises his old Wall St/Investment banking set. Ben Carson who is likely to be the new HHS head is a neurosurgeon. Lt Gen Flynn is a career military intelligence guy as NSA. Probable SecDef Marine Corp Gen Mattis is a career military leader. SecState could be Giuliani or Romney. Both are entrepreneurs with their own successful businesses.
Further Trump is implementing rules which say that no executive in his Administration will be able to work as a corporate lobbyist for 5 years after leaving his White House, or EVER work lobbying for a foreign govt.
When have I said h.r.c was not? You know it’s the lies, that hurt.
Just one, Lt Gen Flynn thinks Islam is a cancer, I know he spins it to say Islamism, but he thinks Islam is a cancer. If that not the voice of the 1% then someone hand me a cottontail.
Do I need to remind you that the nazi party put socialist into their title to be the ” new radical working class focussed centre” Following the example of the Italian fascists.
Good to see you have not given up your fawning over the 1% Richard. But lets go through your juvenile response line by line shall we.
How can a religion be a cancer, unless you are some sort of unreconstructed Marxist still in the throws of “opium of the people” argument.
“A death cult”, you what, never heard of the Sufi revival, nor I’m guessing the 5 pillars.
“A blight on the civilised world” OK now just don’t use any maths which uses the symbols 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, ok as you seem to think your better than that. Actually I could go on for hours what scientific contributions Muslims have given the world. But I’ll leave it at one more , Richard don’t bother going to a hospital ever again, as it was a pesky idea from Islam.
“a barbaric misogynistic relic” So the right to own property, get an education, and rights in relation to children. Rights for widows. Yeah we have slowly adopted those ides in the west, took a while though.
“Dark Ages”, That term just sums you up there Richard.
You could say exactly the same about Christians – leaving aside the vast majority of them who aren’t in killing and maiming for their religious beliefs. Just like you could with Muslims like the guy who sits next to me in prayer everyday – right opposite the fundie christian that does in the same way. We respect each other right to be wrong. Ity makes for interesting discussions.
Of course I’d be hard put to say the same about the misogynist bigots known as the type of “liberals” who take a set of economic principles and make it a religous experience. Where were they when compassion and intelligence were being handed out. People who really couldn’t understand the word ethics because they think it means that they can’t screw others without consequence in the way that they prefer.
You appear to be one of those semi-intelligent animals.. Buts that’s ok. We understand you are evil and fuck yourself up the belly button each day (to get back at your mother) like all good conservatives whilst praying to Mammon to release your from your torment. Provided you don’t preach to us, we can tolerate you being a fuckwit…
That is a very good manifesto, but in our current political climate it has two chances of getting off the ground…. fat chance or no chance.
I would love to see it get some traction . But how?
Thanks Paul, very interesting, much better than I was expecting – especially the rise of the careerist and the cartel mentality.
“Since the first MMP election 20 years ago, not a single new party has broken into Parliament. From New Zealand First to the Maori Party every group was either already in Parliament, or created by a party-hopping MP”
Good article, I think he may have hit on one of the main reasons for Labour’s recent poor showing at the elections too:
“All political parties focus more these days on the easier answers of posing as bicultural, more politically correct, or culturally sensitive. This usually has minimal impact on improving life for those in poverty and hardship, but makes the coterie of liberal politicians feel superior.
There is a place for this cultural approach – highlighting sexism, racism, or transphobia – but an overwhelming focus on this can lead to a larger disconnect between politicians and the public. An anti-establishment movement would not simply mimic the parliamentary parties’ increasingly metropolitan, socially agenda. Instead, the primary focus would be on material wellbeing, economics and class politics.”
Ministry of Health publicly admits the P testing of Housing NZ properties is wrong. Someone has been making money. Many of us knew it was a bogus scam, this better not get swept under the carpet by media. Thanks Labour for your attention to this matter.
Personally, I wouldn’t put civil defence in to the armed defence forces as a primary goal. I’d ramp up civil defence and get better coordination between the two going.
I’d ramp up our defence forces so that they’re capable of actually defending us. That $20 billion over the next 10+ years is chump change. I’d be ramping it up to around $5 billion per year – most of which would be R&D. As I don’t believe weapons of war should give a profit that would be all government department spending.
Partially back your comments on a much stronger and better resourced NZDF but we have no need to do our own weapons research. Just license weapons and munitions manufacture here in NZ.
No, we really actually need to do our own research. It’s what develops our economy.
Much of what’s developed for military use crosses into civilian use as well. Manufacturing techniques are an essential area of research as well as looking into better resource extraction and processing.
And then there’s the simple fact that, as far as military tech goes, we should not be dependent upon other nations. Being so dependent decreases both our ability to defend ourselves and our resilience economically and socially.
In terms of pure weapons research into high tech weapons NZ is an advanced first world economy which has already developed what is effectively a lightweight ICBM in the rocket labs satellite launch project. We could, if the funding was available, probably develop our own high tech missiles and precision guided munitions in a matter of several years. Such armament development though should only be undertaken if we identify a potential direct military threat to us within a decade. Otherwise, to develop such an industry would require we export the weapons to pay for them and I do not ever want NZ to become that sort of country.
When I say direct threat to us I mean exactly that – someone who is hostile to our freedoms, and/or attempts unwelcome interventions in our internal affairs and/or violates our sovereignty and is a credible invasion threat. Which means, realistically, a future aggressive China in the absence of us having an alliance with a probably fascist United States – I can’t imagine any other situation that would lead us to end our US alliance.
This is still a long way away, although both China and the United States seemed determined to push us along the road to becoming a well armed ocean fortress.
This is still a long way away, although both China and the United States seemed determined to push us along the road to becoming a well armed ocean fortress.
Well John Key said he wanted NZ to become the Switzerland of the Pacific, perhaps he meant neutrality and armed to the teeth?
Such armament development though should only be undertaken if we identify a potential direct military threat to us within a decade.
Wrong. Such weapons development is needed at all times.
We may be peaceful – not everyone else is and they could attack at any time.
Otherwise, to develop such an industry would require we export the weapons to pay for them and I do not ever want NZ to become that sort of country.
Nope. Paid for through taxation and possible sales of civilian tech that has been developed through/from the military research.
Weapons of war should never have a profit motive to them.
Which means, realistically, a future aggressive China in the absence of us having an alliance with a probably fascist United States – I can’t imagine any other situation that would lead us to end our US alliance.
Things change and, despite the wars of the last century, humanity still hasn’t learned that war is nothing more than a waste.
This is still a long way away, although both China and the United States seemed determined to push us along the road to becoming a well armed ocean fortress.
And it’s still better to prepare now than finding ourselves being invaded and not being prepared at all which is where your logic will inevitably lead us.
And a lot of those profits come from what are, essentially, massive subsidies. Just think what the government could do without all those profits sucking out the money that they have available for things like healthcare.
Profits are an additional expense that’s simply not needed.
Quite apart from the risk of being electrocuted whenever you walk down the street in Dunedin, the Delta maintenance scandal has highlighted some failings of management culture. PR is seen as the solution to public perception problems, rather than actually fixing what is wrong in reality :
yet another staff member has come forward to slam management at Delta, which is tasked with maintaining Aurora’s network, saying staff were sick of the company’s “spin” downplaying the extent of the issues with the network.
An Aurora spokesman said the $15,926.35 spent on consultants in the second half of October went towards legal firm Chapman Tripp and public relations company SenateSHJ, which specialises in “crisis communication”…
Staff “knew damn well” the network was unsafe and in a badly damaged state and hearing the company say otherwise made them “furious”.
He was so concerned about the safety of the network and the risk of downed lines – as happened in Tainui last week – he was considering taking out an advertisement in the Otago Daily Times telling people how to avoid being electrocuted.
The short exchange on October 21 came only days after former Delta worker Richard Healey went public with his concerns, setting off a chain of events which culminated in multiple investigations and an accelerated plan to replace ageing poles…
”Give me a call if you need to talk it through or if you want info on the crisis PR people I have come to know very well.”…
34% of staff thought senior management were honest and straightforward in their dealings with staff. (Which is 19 percentage points below average)
That DCC holding company seems to be shielding Aurora from the worst of public backlash. It should get out of the way, and allow the Dunedin democratic leaders to give the full force of public pressure to bear on them.
The DCC has been milking its lines company cash cow for decades to pay for the stadium and other such cash-holes. It didn’t start under the current mayor, but with the incentives to look the other way hasn’t stopped either. As for the likelihood of Aurora’s CEO getting out of the way of an investigation that might end badly for Delta’s CEO:
Aurora Energy chief executive Grady Cameron was told to keep his head up and ”not get too stressed” as accusations mounted over rotten power poles… ”I rejected the claim that shareholder [Dunedin City Council] demands were impacting safety outcomes.”
Delta, which manages Aurora’s network and which Mr Cameron is also chief executive of…
But but this is a community owned business that is almost by definition good and pure and the model all businesses should emulate, not an evil corporate just bent on fleecing consumers. How can this be?
Why should my rates fund a power network that is much more efficiently run almost everywhere else since the introduction of electricity on a user pays model? Would ratepayers have to fund the 50k it would take to connect my distant country house?
It should be wholly nationalised therefore funded by tax. Except it wouldn’t cost taxpayers because the cost of power would be set according to the cost of production and the millions in profits currently going to the rich is simply transferred into much lower electricity charges. That’s what should bloody well happen.
Because you claim of efficiency is based on religious catechism and is not testable in reality.
Because for every jumped-up sociopath living in an isolated country mansion, there are thousands of normal people struggling to pay power bills that are set to provide a return to shareholders rather than simply deliver electricity.
It’s very testable. You can see it in nz. The overall cost of Power today is similar to the nationalised 70s yet reliability is up overall. Maybe not the neoliberal nightmare you think.
In Japan, women are finally finding that it is easier to deal with digital men on smartphone programmes than real ones. They email you on your birthday, set up chats at night, and wonder of wonders they remember every name and every anniversary and every friend you have and make sure they are all connected in as well.
It’s a fairly intensive article that delves deep into the world of women choosing apps that focus on their romantic needs and ideals – and also the clubs that really focus on those needs as well:
I can’t yet figure if this is a useful resistance against a kind of patriarchy, or against loneliness in general. Do not bother calling it porn – it’s far too nuanced for that smear. From the market share indicated, it sure ain’t unique to Japan, and growing quickly in the US.
Guaranteed it’s going to put Tinder in its place good and smart once it hits our shores.
An interesting article about how different electricity markets in the US deal with distributed generation and storage. A bit of a contrast to New Zealand’s situation, where the retailers do whatever they feel like.
Thanks Andre. Back here of course Lines Companies are looking to penalise home units like solar energy, rather than investigate cooperative units as described in your link.
And spare a thought for those unfortunate enough to fully insulate their house and install many other energy savers. You will be penalised! How dare you reduce your usage . Go on leave your windows open. Have 20 minute showers on 25 litre a minute shower heads. And so on. Companies must pay the Shareholders!
The USA is at least a decade behind nz on this. I’m not sure why you think this is in any way special.
Aggregation is a long established part of Nz’s energy market. Plenty do it on the load side. I suspect few do it on the home solar/wind supply side because there’s no reliable supply, volumes are tiny and so no money in it.
How can it be that the Union and workers can sign an agreement in good faith, while the third party, the employer, can sit there knowing full well that the agreement is meaningless.
Great (sarc.) to see that for every 10,500 cheap migrant worker visas bought in to pick fruit, 500 unemployed Kiwis will be trained to do the work….
source Granny Herald
“The cap on foreigners who can work seasonally in horticulture and viticulture will increase from 9500 to 10,500 for the 2016/17 season.
Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the horticulture and viticulture industries had estimated they needed an additional 2500 workers for the upcoming season.
“The increase of 1000 recognised seasonal employer (RSE) workers shows the Government is committed to enabling the industry to continue to grow and maximise export returns, while ensuring jobs aren’t being taken from New Zealanders.”
He said the increase was agreed to on the understanding the industry “continues to maximise opportunities for New Zealanders, particularly in regions with relatively high unemployment”.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said about 500 beneficiaries were taking part in a seasonal work scheme, and further initiatives were being developed.”
“The concrete company contracted to undertake the sealing of the Pike River mine shaft has pulled out of the job.
Allied Concrete decided not to supply the concrete required to seal the mine at the request of families of the victims, who are fighting to get a mines rescue team into the drift to find any evidence and bodies.”
Good on Allied. we need to encourage this kind of ethical behaviour. lets all send Allied a short email congratulating them and saying next time you need concrete youll use them.
Good on Allied. we need to encourage this kind of ethical behaviour. lets all send Allied a short email congratulating them and saying next time you need concrete youll use them. the CEO is scott.odonnel@hwr.co.nz .. all underscored.
Good on Allied. we need to encourage this kind of ethical behaviour. lets all send Allied a short email congratulating them and saying next time you need concrete youll use them. the CEO is scott.odonnel@hwr.co.nz .. all underscored.
I see that we are already being softened up for the mass importation of labourers from overseas due to not having the expertise in NZ for the fixing of SH1 from Picton southward.
If only this short sighted government had put in place proper training and apprenticeship programs after the Christchurch earthquakes to enable young New Zealanders to develop much needed roading and engineering skills, we probably wouldn’t be in this position.
Why can’t the MSM put 2 + 2 together and ask these critical questions?
Ooops!
Just 55,000 votes could swing the election – and where else would you hack a voting system with a few votes for your best mate in those swing states using online voting!
The time lines for appeals finishes in the next few days. Will the Democrats lift a finger?
Maybe the Clinton campaign shouldn’t have taken all those voters for granted. They never even bothered to turn up in Wisconsin during the entire campaign.
I have to laugh because before the election, it was the Clinton camp accusing the Trump camp of being reluctant to accept election results. Democratic Party hypocrisy at its best.
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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 ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
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 Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
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 ...
Health NZ's CEO has resigned, but frontline healthworkers are sceptical that installing new leadership will make any difference to a system grappling with problems. ...
Gail Duncan, Chairperson of the St Peter’s on Willis Social Justice Group, one of the organisations invited to submit on the Bill, says the Government’s actions are unprecedented. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amani Kasherwa, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland In late January, a rebel group that has long caused mayhem in the sprawling African nation of Democratic Republic of Congo took control of Goma, a major city of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yee-Fui Ng, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Monash University An ad falsely depicting independent candidate Alex Dyson as a Greens member.ABC News/Supplied The highly pertinent case of a little-known independent candidate in the Victorian seat of Wannon has exposed a gaping ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Nik/Unsplash You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health. Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and ...
Everything you missed from the third day of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard four hours of oral submission. Read our recaps of day one of the hearings here, and day two here. Parliament was quiet on Friday for the third day of hearings on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Tijana Simic/Shutterstock The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jens Blotevogel, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader for Remediation Technologies, CSIRO Mino Surkala, Shutterstock Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edith Jennifer Hill, Associate Lecturer, Learning & Teaching Innovation, Flinders University Netflix Netflix’s new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson. The first episode opens with Gibson’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart. The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample ...
She’s back behind the wheel, and this time, she wants to find out what it is that makes us tick. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. After a prolific career on stage and screen, 83-year-old Miriam Margolyes is on the road again. ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel. Real Poet Every word earned its place and so did he, so should you. Real poet lives in the capital but writes himself into the Mackenzie country golden hour, man of the paper land, he neglects to mention his pollen ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Press, $25) No better time to get ...
The committee has published this list to inform the public about its work, and to give clarity to submitters who have contacted the committee asking if they will be invited to make an oral submission. ...
Alex Casey and Gabi Lardies dissect their Laneway 2025 experience. Gabi Lardies: Hi Alex :))))))) Congratulations on not getting sunburnt. Everyone I talked to at Laneway yesterday was braving the sun for one thing. Charli XCX. How was your brat experience?Alex Casey: We will talk about the rest of ...
The US President's suggestion, which sparked enormous debate globally, has been labelled as a threat, not a proposal, by the Federation of Islamic Associations. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison.Getty Images Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, ...
FICTION1Tree of Nourishment (Kāwai 2) by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Interesting to note that the author of the biggest-selling New Zealand novel in Waitangi Week is Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai, and Ngāti Kahungunu).2 Kāwai: For Such a Time as This (Kāwai 1) by Monty Soutar (David ...
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Poor wee Audrey and her hero John are upset the TPP is dead in the water.
Diddums.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11752970
Actually, they can. They certainly have the resources and capabilities to keep their living standards high without trade.
Of course, without trade their rich people won’t get any richer. In fact, they’ll probably become very poor quite rapidly.
There will be trade. It’s just there won’t be a leader of the free world to bomb the fuck out of poor farming communities who don’t trade in US dollars
Real nice of the government to let quake stricken people use up their own retirement savings. This is transferring hardship from the present to the future.
I’m not sure this government even gets what Kiwisaver is about.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/government-announces-kiwisaver-quake-withdrawal-scheme-2016112221
They understand exactly what KS is about. Even better when folks use their own rather than any govt assistance so you can promise more vapour tax trimming.
Wasn’t that another broken election promise that they wouldn’t touch it yet have several times making it less attractive to the punter and better for the ticket clipping fund managers and govt.
Yep, no wonder Mary Holm loves the idea of people using Kiwisaver as an emergency fund. More invoice opportunities for her.
Making victims pay.
And then asking people to support charities so the government doesn’t have to pay.
Of course the simple way is to make corporations and the rich pay more tax, but it’s better, isn’t it Mr Key, to put the begging bowls out and rely on the generosity of the poor?
The rich need that money for their 15th property. larger boat, extension on the luxury beach house, third international holiday, school fees for King’s……
As db says, we can’t afford the rich.
Yep – I thought that was on the nose, too. This bloddy govt will do anything it can to stop it having to help ordinary people in times of crisis ……. just shitty.
I do hope those ordinary people will wake up in time for the election – but these disasters are displacing so many people, disrupting so many of their lives, that they might not even be able to vote – if they don’t have a permanent address.
Has the Electoral Commission said anything about that, yet ?
Oh, they’re doing more than that with this move. They’re undercutting peoples retirement funds meaning that some people will have to keep working longer.
No surprises about the Nasty Nats and this latest cruel attack on innocent bystanders.
Its always the same when they are in government and yet kiwis must be masochists because they keep voting for the same abuse every three years.
They are a business party and act accordingly and have never had most New Zealanders welfare and long term security as a priority.
It makes John Key and his compassionate conservative (brighter future) routine just that much more absurd.
Good point raised there Jenny (2.3). Well said. Hope opposition parties jump pn this one and keep it alive.
They can try Mary but the media monster wont let them.
Killing trees to enhance the view and the $$$ – yuck.
“Thames-Coromandel District Council has reported a spike in native trees being vandalised and destroyed recently, including pohutukawa.
TCDC parks and reserves manager Derek Thompson believes people were poisoning the trees for better beach views from their holiday homes, and called it “selfish and disappointing”.
He believed the poisoning would only increase during the warmer months.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/86679898/surge-in-trees-poisoned-and-damaged-in-coromandel
30 years of neoliberalism’s poison and you get that mentLity from some Randist cult members.
About 30 odd years ago, Takapuna Beach (North Shore, Auckland) had a magnificent beach frontage lined with huge spreading pohutukawa. In the intervening years, non-notified resource consent has been given time after time to the rich dudes who have bought up the beachside properties, and those magnificent pohutukawas have dwindled down to a few skinny limbs per tree, and even entire trees have disappeared. Oh, and some of the trees were “accidentally damaged” during property re-build and were “too dangerous” to retain.
The selfish wealthy have no idea what they’re doing to the environment.
If they were granted resource consents then it’s perfectly legal for them to do the work on their own property.
As they were non- notified then it means that others were not impacted (of if they were it was less than minor).
So what’s the issue – places change – everywhere. Pokeneo used to be countryside – now it’s housing.
Don’t be a hater just because its takapuna beach front.
Yeah, but your standards are quite low James. Do people really enjoy being in the environment of big box stores and subdivisions like botany. They aren’t made for people to be outside, they’re made for you to be in your car as much as possible. Someone described our new subdivisions as a fenced in herd of grazing turtles. We could do far far better if we actually tried.
Our hero the unitary plan! Helping the rich do whatever the fuck they like as long as they pay some hefty fees to private planners and ‘environmental lawyers’ to produce 70 page reports that bury the effects. The council love giving out ratepayers money to private environmental lawyers to steal the harbour and take away people’s amenity and the council love to control all the separate COO’s to say all the same things in environmental court so it looks like they all agree.
Hey there were a lot of cheerleaders for the unitary plan – the fake news is alive and well in NZ. Environmental degradation and the average homeowners rights are gonna get a lot worse.
Still waiting to see the ‘affordable’ housing to spring up with the SHA and Unitary plan that were pushed through.
Trees hold the ground together against erosion. With sea level rise, the poisoners will be at high risk for losing land … and their neighbours will too.
+1
Not in the unitary plan mpledger. Trees have near zero protection. Erosion is not an issue under the Natz.
Nats probably think that erosion doesn’t need to be a “thing” anymore because if one 7.8M quake can lift the seabed by 6+ metre in places, then no need to worry about erosion.
Just sit tight and wait for a few more quakes to keep lifting the seabed. Erosion problem sorted.
Such is the perspicacity of thought in those quarters.
Thanks James! Great to see into the mind of a Nat supporter. (sarc). So we need not worry about erosion because at the end of the day an earthquake could lift the seabed and correct it! What logic!
Actually James is correct. However he has a problem with his time scales. There is a pretty good probability that the current human species would be naturally extinct before geological uplift fixes the erosion.
I probably should have appended the /sarc tag to my comment in hindsight.
How ever sharing concerns trump research degrees
If that’s the case, the “poisoners” will get their just desserts then, won’t they?
Just because it was legal doesn’t mean to say that it was right.
Destroying the environment is a serious issue.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/86696197/chris-trotter-bring-back-the-ministry-of-works
Makes sense to me , jobs and no profit margin required.
And it would be fairly easy to do. Just buy Downer,Fulton Hogan, Fletchers, etc.
Nah – nationalise them. The parasites have already done well out of the taxpayers – probably without paying much in tax themselves.
I agree with this, Labour and the Greens should announce this as one of their shared key policies
Yes bring back the good old days when you’d drive SH1 and see dozens of men brastfeeding shovels on the side of the road. Those were real jobs, with dignity.
http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/312/563/05d.jpg
It’s so much better today when we have armies of consultants nourishing chairs with their gin-scented farts.
Ever noticed how many vehicles and workers are required to mow a strip of road verge now (have seen 10 men and five vehicles supporting one ride-on mower operator on the Johnsonville to Porirua stretch of SH1). Instead of paying to keep notional ‘shovel leaning’ labourers off the UB, the taxpayers/ratepayers are charged over the odds for private sector workers to lean on steering wheels. Guess who takes the cream off the contracts – isn’t likely to be the workers.
^ +1 PR. Love to see Labour coming out and saying that.
So you’re saying seize private assets without compensation? What would be the appropriate response if after a nationalisation was announced Fulton Hogan et al destroyed all their equipment, leaving nothing to seize?
Come on Richard, argue that for Maori, I’m sure they would appreciate you standing up for the good fight. No wait you in Aussie right. Stand up for our aboriginal brothers and sister, and work out what they should get for all the private assets that were taken from them without compensation.
Agree, better training and promotes a long term investment in what is good for New Zealand. Instead of maximum private profit and zero investment in the temporary and insecure staff from the local labour company.
I am putting this link up because I was listening to it without watching and I was amazed how much simon bridges sounds like john key – same smashing up of words and syntax and timing imo. He is obviously going all the way with these mimicry skills.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11753009
meanwhile kia kaha to all those affected by the quakes
Yes you are right mm. It also appears that Bellamys has been ‘agreeing’ with him too!
There’s no need for personal attacks on a persons weight.
Bollocks. It is the duty of every citizen to stand up and shout, “Enough is enough!” thereby decrying the forces of decadence and self-indulgence.
The thing is about investing, is you can repeat buzz words, but unless you have a proven track record implementing professional strategy, and make money, you will end up very untalented in very important positions.
Sounds good – I wish I could do that!
I had to teach myself. I came from a fatherless background which forced me to learn in double quick time. I also experienced a life before the mother of all budgets so replicating my success has moved on like opening and closing doors and passing ships
“He is obviously going all the way with these mimicry skills.”
Him, Key and Coleman….virtually indistinguishable. Bridges does a better job of mangling Maori though.
yep, Kaikōura was particularly shocking – it is not that hard…
It could very well be that he had recently undergone some dental procedure.
I have sounded like that with the residue of xylocaine and a socket packed with cotton wool impeding enunciation.
Extrapolating….their teeth may well be as rotten as their politics.
Exactly marty, especially as Simon Bridges has Maori heritage on his father’s side. https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj-rKPY6b3QAhXDp5QKHS7oAQIQFggZMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSimon_Bridges&usg=AFQjCNE7jBea99WQS9Z9QpE2tXmUhe8d-g&sig2=bGQtd5BaukqeKx87xvbcbg&bvm=bv.139782543,d.dGo
Agree. He sounds like a 10 yr old trying hard to make it in the annual speech competition.
Nah, more sixteen year old.
https://www.facebook.com/sydneymorningherald/videos/10154906262231264/
Colonial Vipers fellow travellers and fast new friends introduce themselves to the world.
yeah saw that – amazing how both likers and dislikers see trump as a hit1er type
““Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!”
That’s how Richard B. Spencer saluted more than 200 attendees on Saturday, gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., for the annual conference of the National Policy Institute, which describes itself as “an independent organization dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent in the United States, and around the world.”
Spencer has popularized the term “alt-right” to describe the movement he leads. Spencer has said his dream is “a new society, an ethno-state that would be a gathering point for all Europeans,” and has called for “peaceful ethnic cleansing.””
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/richard-spencer-speech-npi/508379/?utm_source=atlfbcomment
also good to have alt-right out too.
I suppose “peaceful” in this context means that the dead are very quiet.
Awesome how lefty media are giving groups like this and the KKK and David Duke prime time exposure.
MOrans.
well yes we gave the biggest MORAN trump (as did you minimoran) itself massive exposure as all his misogynist, racist hit1erish tendencies emerged during the campaign – don’t thank us we did it out of fairness cos that is the left.
The left fancies itself as being fair, but with regards to Trump that’s nothing but a conceit.
Millions of Trump voters decided that they had enough of left wing bullyshaming and intimidation, and decided to keep their preferred choice of candidate to themselves.
So y’all got a nice election surprise.
“Millions of Trump voters decided that they had enough of left wing bullyshaming and intimidation, and decided to keep their preferred choice of candidate to themselves.”
methodology, assumptions and all of the rest contributed to the trump election – one thing that didn’t is a nobody from dunners. You are yesterdays news nobby.
No idea what you are on about, but I think it’s more bullyshaming, at a guess.
When did a the left become a lumpen grouping? There is no left as a homogeneous group. Least of all on this site, so it’s getting tiresome bro. Especially when it the same line trolls use!
And some of us critise trump for the 1%er he is, carries on being, and always has been. I know your under some delusion he is not, but then again you don’t want to admit his alt-right connection either. Nor the fact his appointments so far, have been very much in favour of the corporate elects.
We are talking about the country that produced capitalism. Taking capitalism out of the White House would be like Hollywood trying to make a movie whit out white people.
Said another way, you couldn’t make a movie in North Korea with out a glorious leader uniting country against hordes of white salesmen.
On the other hand we are seeing a dangerous move to unwind what ever hard work was left over from Martin Luther Kings days, if we are to have any shot at halting total fascist I think Bernie Sanders Has to win in 2020
Bernie Sanders is too old to run again.
Ride or die bro, ride or die
Very true dat
Trump is a 0.1%’er thanks. Just like Hillary Clinton.
It’s the American system. It’s the only way you can win the White House. No one earning $100K per year has a chance.
1) Trump isn’t “alt-right”. He is the new radical working class focussed centre. And it is going to gut the Democratic Party.
2) Trump doesn’t owe a single thing to the corporates, the corporate media or to Wall St. Reince Priebus is not a corporate lackey. Bannon is former Goldman Sachs but as far as I can tell he despises his old Wall St/Investment banking set. Ben Carson who is likely to be the new HHS head is a neurosurgeon. Lt Gen Flynn is a career military intelligence guy as NSA. Probable SecDef Marine Corp Gen Mattis is a career military leader. SecState could be Giuliani or Romney. Both are entrepreneurs with their own successful businesses.
Further Trump is implementing rules which say that no executive in his Administration will be able to work as a corporate lobbyist for 5 years after leaving his White House, or EVER work lobbying for a foreign govt.
That’s totally paradigm changing.
When have I said h.r.c was not? You know it’s the lies, that hurt.
Just one, Lt Gen Flynn thinks Islam is a cancer, I know he spins it to say Islamism, but he thinks Islam is a cancer. If that not the voice of the 1% then someone hand me a cottontail.
Do I need to remind you that the nazi party put socialist into their title to be the ” new radical working class focussed centre” Following the example of the Italian fascists.
Flynn is right – Islam is a cancer, a death cult, a blight on the civilised world, a barbaric misogynistic relic from the Dark Ages
Good to see you have not given up your fawning over the 1% Richard. But lets go through your juvenile response line by line shall we.
How can a religion be a cancer, unless you are some sort of unreconstructed Marxist still in the throws of “opium of the people” argument.
“A death cult”, you what, never heard of the Sufi revival, nor I’m guessing the 5 pillars.
“A blight on the civilised world” OK now just don’t use any maths which uses the symbols 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, ok as you seem to think your better than that. Actually I could go on for hours what scientific contributions Muslims have given the world. But I’ll leave it at one more , Richard don’t bother going to a hospital ever again, as it was a pesky idea from Islam.
“a barbaric misogynistic relic” So the right to own property, get an education, and rights in relation to children. Rights for widows. Yeah we have slowly adopted those ides in the west, took a while though.
“Dark Ages”, That term just sums you up there Richard.
You could say exactly the same about Christians – leaving aside the vast majority of them who aren’t in killing and maiming for their religious beliefs. Just like you could with Muslims like the guy who sits next to me in prayer everyday – right opposite the fundie christian that does in the same way. We respect each other right to be wrong. Ity makes for interesting discussions.
Of course I’d be hard put to say the same about the misogynist bigots known as the type of “liberals” who take a set of economic principles and make it a religous experience. Where were they when compassion and intelligence were being handed out. People who really couldn’t understand the word ethics because they think it means that they can’t screw others without consequence in the way that they prefer.
You appear to be one of those semi-intelligent animals.. Buts that’s ok. We understand you are evil and fuck yourself up the belly button each day (to get back at your mother) like all good conservatives whilst praying to Mammon to release your from your torment. Provided you don’t preach to us, we can tolerate you being a fuckwit…
Political science lecturer and commentator Bryce Edwards has put forward a 10-point manifesto for change in New Zealand.
Its content is worth a thread on this site.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11749955
That is a very good manifesto, but in our current political climate it has two chances of getting off the ground…. fat chance or no chance.
I would love to see it get some traction . But how?
Yes. 10 out of 10 for Bryce’s Manifesto. If only…
Thanks Paul, very interesting, much better than I was expecting – especially the rise of the careerist and the cartel mentality.
“Since the first MMP election 20 years ago, not a single new party has broken into Parliament. From New Zealand First to the Maori Party every group was either already in Parliament, or created by a party-hopping MP”
Good article, I think he may have hit on one of the main reasons for Labour’s recent poor showing at the elections too:
“All political parties focus more these days on the easier answers of posing as bicultural, more politically correct, or culturally sensitive. This usually has minimal impact on improving life for those in poverty and hardship, but makes the coterie of liberal politicians feel superior.
There is a place for this cultural approach – highlighting sexism, racism, or transphobia – but an overwhelming focus on this can lead to a larger disconnect between politicians and the public. An anti-establishment movement would not simply mimic the parliamentary parties’ increasingly metropolitan, socially agenda. Instead, the primary focus would be on material wellbeing, economics and class politics.”
Ministry of Health publicly admits the P testing of Housing NZ properties is wrong. Someone has been making money. Many of us knew it was a bogus scam, this better not get swept under the carpet by media. Thanks Labour for your attention to this matter.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/86233216/phil-twyford-housing-new-zealand-breaking-bad
Found this on the FYI website – the left and right hand do not know what they’re doing at all.
https://fyi.org.nz/request/4859/response/15916/attach/html/3/Letter%2025%20November%202016%20Alec%20The%20Lawyer.pdf.html
O.O thanks for the link James will have a good read later, much appreciated.
Rudman highlights how woefully under-prepared for an increase in disaster threats this government is.
What had just two operational NH90s assisting last week – this is an effort praised by Ad on this very forum, remember.
It’s worrying that six years after Christchurch, reference to natural disasters in defence planning had to be added at the last minute.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11752831
Personally, I wouldn’t put civil defence in to the armed defence forces as a primary goal. I’d ramp up civil defence and get better coordination between the two going.
I’d ramp up our defence forces so that they’re capable of actually defending us. That $20 billion over the next 10+ years is chump change. I’d be ramping it up to around $5 billion per year – most of which would be R&D. As I don’t believe weapons of war should give a profit that would be all government department spending.
Partially back your comments on a much stronger and better resourced NZDF but we have no need to do our own weapons research. Just license weapons and munitions manufacture here in NZ.
No, we really actually need to do our own research. It’s what develops our economy.
Much of what’s developed for military use crosses into civilian use as well. Manufacturing techniques are an essential area of research as well as looking into better resource extraction and processing.
And then there’s the simple fact that, as far as military tech goes, we should not be dependent upon other nations. Being so dependent decreases both our ability to defend ourselves and our resilience economically and socially.
In terms of pure weapons research into high tech weapons NZ is an advanced first world economy which has already developed what is effectively a lightweight ICBM in the rocket labs satellite launch project. We could, if the funding was available, probably develop our own high tech missiles and precision guided munitions in a matter of several years. Such armament development though should only be undertaken if we identify a potential direct military threat to us within a decade. Otherwise, to develop such an industry would require we export the weapons to pay for them and I do not ever want NZ to become that sort of country.
When I say direct threat to us I mean exactly that – someone who is hostile to our freedoms, and/or attempts unwelcome interventions in our internal affairs and/or violates our sovereignty and is a credible invasion threat. Which means, realistically, a future aggressive China in the absence of us having an alliance with a probably fascist United States – I can’t imagine any other situation that would lead us to end our US alliance.
This is still a long way away, although both China and the United States seemed determined to push us along the road to becoming a well armed ocean fortress.
Well John Key said he wanted NZ to become the Switzerland of the Pacific, perhaps he meant neutrality and armed to the teeth?
IMO, that is actually where we should be.
Wrong. Such weapons development is needed at all times.
We may be peaceful – not everyone else is and they could attack at any time.
Nope. Paid for through taxation and possible sales of civilian tech that has been developed through/from the military research.
Weapons of war should never have a profit motive to them.
Things change and, despite the wars of the last century, humanity still hasn’t learned that war is nothing more than a waste.
And it’s still better to prepare now than finding ourselves being invaded and not being prepared at all which is where your logic will inevitably lead us.
Why not? All the largest and most successful arms exporters and manufacturers in the world run on the profit motive.
That doesn’t make it right.
And a lot of those profits come from what are, essentially, massive subsidies. Just think what the government could do without all those profits sucking out the money that they have available for things like healthcare.
Profits are an additional expense that’s simply not needed.
Quite apart from the risk of being electrocuted whenever you walk down the street in Dunedin, the Delta maintenance scandal has highlighted some failings of management culture. PR is seen as the solution to public perception problems, rather than actually fixing what is wrong in reality :
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/16000-spent-consultants
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/deltaaurora-good-hands-advisers
That DCC holding company seems to be shielding Aurora from the worst of public backlash. It should get out of the way, and allow the Dunedin democratic leaders to give the full force of public pressure to bear on them.
The DCC has been milking its lines company cash cow for decades to pay for the stadium and other such cash-holes. It didn’t start under the current mayor, but with the incentives to look the other way hasn’t stopped either. As for the likelihood of Aurora’s CEO getting out of the way of an investigation that might end badly for Delta’s CEO:
But but this is a community owned business that is almost by definition good and pure and the model all businesses should emulate, not an evil corporate just bent on fleecing consumers. How can this be?
Because as a natural monopoly it shouldn’t be a “business” at all, but a council department funded by rates.
Why should my rates fund a power network that is much more efficiently run almost everywhere else since the introduction of electricity on a user pays model? Would ratepayers have to fund the 50k it would take to connect my distant country house?
It should be wholly nationalised therefore funded by tax. Except it wouldn’t cost taxpayers because the cost of power would be set according to the cost of production and the millions in profits currently going to the rich is simply transferred into much lower electricity charges. That’s what should bloody well happen.
Because you claim of efficiency is based on religious catechism and is not testable in reality.
Because for every jumped-up sociopath living in an isolated country mansion, there are thousands of normal people struggling to pay power bills that are set to provide a return to shareholders rather than simply deliver electricity.
It’s very testable. You can see it in nz. The overall cost of Power today is similar to the nationalised 70s yet reliability is up overall. Maybe not the neoliberal nightmare you think.
Okay I will bite.
Give me a link to show that is so.
What was the kwhr price in the 70s
Average price of power was about 20ckwh and is about the same today http://tinyurl.com/h3w8swr
Figure ten was very interesting, thanks.
So, the average price for domestic electricity in 1974 wasn’t 1.141c/kwh and didn’t rise to 15.545c/kwh in 2003.
To be fair, Joe, those are nominal prices – inflation-adjusted it went from 9c to 15c
Justify that assertion against the median wage, thanks.
Except now retail customers pay through the nose, to subsidise discounts to large corporate users.
Another tax swap if you like.
And power prices are double what they were, in real terms, before the Bradford “reforms”/privatisation.
Yeah, no doubt the cost of producing it is the same, that’s about it. There’s the neo-liberal nightmare.
In Japan, women are finally finding that it is easier to deal with digital men on smartphone programmes than real ones. They email you on your birthday, set up chats at night, and wonder of wonders they remember every name and every anniversary and every friend you have and make sure they are all connected in as well.
It’s a fairly intensive article that delves deep into the world of women choosing apps that focus on their romantic needs and ideals – and also the clubs that really focus on those needs as well:
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/21/asia/romance-gaming-japan/index.html
I can’t yet figure if this is a useful resistance against a kind of patriarchy, or against loneliness in general. Do not bother calling it porn – it’s far too nuanced for that smear. From the market share indicated, it sure ain’t unique to Japan, and growing quickly in the US.
Guaranteed it’s going to put Tinder in its place good and smart once it hits our shores.
Population structure in Japan is collapsing nice and fast.
Looks like a pretty good model for the rest of the world to follow.
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/japan-population-pyramid
An interesting article about how different electricity markets in the US deal with distributed generation and storage. A bit of a contrast to New Zealand’s situation, where the retailers do whatever they feel like.
http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/11/22/13703348/ferc-distributed-energy-wholesale-power-markets
Thanks Andre. Back here of course Lines Companies are looking to penalise home units like solar energy, rather than investigate cooperative units as described in your link.
We all know companies have a higher level of need that people ianmac.
I mean, think of the profit loss from solar.
Think of the Shareholders!!
And spare a thought for those unfortunate enough to fully insulate their house and install many other energy savers. You will be penalised! How dare you reduce your usage . Go on leave your windows open. Have 20 minute showers on 25 litre a minute shower heads. And so on. Companies must pay the Shareholders!
The USA is at least a decade behind nz on this. I’m not sure why you think this is in any way special.
Aggregation is a long established part of Nz’s energy market. Plenty do it on the load side. I suspect few do it on the home solar/wind supply side because there’s no reliable supply, volumes are tiny and so no money in it.
testing
Pumpkin Patch….http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/316612/pumpkin-patch-staff-to-miss-out-on-redundancy-pay
How can it be that the Union and workers can sign an agreement in good faith, while the third party, the employer, can sit there knowing full well that the agreement is meaningless.
Where is Labour in all this??
OH, THAT’S RIGHT…http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/83656652/Chris-Trotter-Do-unions-have-a-place-in-the-future-of-work
Great (sarc.) to see that for every 10,500 cheap migrant worker visas bought in to pick fruit, 500 unemployed Kiwis will be trained to do the work….
source Granny Herald
“The cap on foreigners who can work seasonally in horticulture and viticulture will increase from 9500 to 10,500 for the 2016/17 season.
Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the horticulture and viticulture industries had estimated they needed an additional 2500 workers for the upcoming season.
“The increase of 1000 recognised seasonal employer (RSE) workers shows the Government is committed to enabling the industry to continue to grow and maximise export returns, while ensuring jobs aren’t being taken from New Zealanders.”
He said the increase was agreed to on the understanding the industry “continues to maximise opportunities for New Zealanders, particularly in regions with relatively high unemployment”.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley said about 500 beneficiaries were taking part in a seasonal work scheme, and further initiatives were being developed.”
Good news for families and justice!
“The concrete company contracted to undertake the sealing of the Pike River mine shaft has pulled out of the job.
Allied Concrete decided not to supply the concrete required to seal the mine at the request of families of the victims, who are fighting to get a mines rescue team into the drift to find any evidence and bodies.”
good
That’s a relief. Thank you Allied Concrete.
Morality in a private company? I’m shocked. People before Profit?
Quick review of their website indicates they’re 100% kiwi owned company? If this is correct, well done Allied.
Yes by one nz’s richest men/ families – the Richardsons.
If there’s one part of NZ you don’t want to take on, its probably the coast. Good news.
Great News, Hopefully this will buy some time for Nigel Hampton’s application for review of “WorkSafe” closure plans…
Just sent a thank you to Allied CEO Brent Esler
http://alliedconcrete.co.nz/contact-us/our-team
What a relief. Thank you Allied Concrete for showing such decency.
*I made a similar comment on few hours ago, on a different computer than the one I normally use, and it disappeared into the ether.
Good on Allied. we need to encourage this kind of ethical behaviour. lets all send Allied a short email congratulating them and saying next time you need concrete youll use them.
Good on Allied. we need to encourage this kind of ethical behaviour. lets all send Allied a short email congratulating them and saying next time you need concrete youll use them. the CEO is scott.odonnel@hwr.co.nz .. all underscored.
Good on Allied. we need to encourage this kind of ethical behaviour. lets all send Allied a short email congratulating them and saying next time you need concrete youll use them. the CEO is scott.odonnel@hwr.co.nz .. all underscored.
I see that we are already being softened up for the mass importation of labourers from overseas due to not having the expertise in NZ for the fixing of SH1 from Picton southward.
If only this short sighted government had put in place proper training and apprenticeship programs after the Christchurch earthquakes to enable young New Zealanders to develop much needed roading and engineering skills, we probably wouldn’t be in this position.
Why can’t the MSM put 2 + 2 together and ask these critical questions?
National: Short changing NZ since 1990.
Build a wall and keep these low wage immigrants out.
Ooops!
Just 55,000 votes could swing the election – and where else would you hack a voting system with a few votes for your best mate in those swing states using online voting!
Seems unlikely.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/11/22/claims_of_vote_manipulation_in_swing_states_could_prompt_recount_or_be_totally.html
The latest vote counts I’ve seen have Trump ahead by 68k in PA, 27k in WI, and 11k in MI. So over 100k votes ahead in those three states.
This fleshes out a little bit more why it’s unlikely.
http://www.vox.com/2016/11/22/13721426/election-hacked-stolen-trump-russia
Well at least 102 Academics are concerned enough with the voting discrepancies to sign an Open Letter to Congress and Jill Stein is also considering seeking a recount
thats around 110,000 votes – so 55,000 of those votes going the other way…
The time lines for appeals finishes in the next few days. Will the Democrats lift a finger?
Maybe the Clinton campaign shouldn’t have taken all those voters for granted. They never even bothered to turn up in Wisconsin during the entire campaign.
I have to laugh because before the election, it was the Clinton camp accusing the Trump camp of being reluctant to accept election results. Democratic Party hypocrisy at its best.