This is the outcome when a pandemic becomes rampant in a country which has a very high population. The logistics of being prepared for Covid in heavily populated countries is massive.
It is a very worrying time for anyone who has family in India. International aid will probably be required. This can be said for Brazil as well.
I am watching to see what will happen in Melbourne as the infectious man in Perth flew to Melbourne. Probably a domino effect shutting state borders in Australia.
I have not been in favour of a trans – Tasman bubble at this stage in the Covid pandemic. Covid is such an unpredictable bastard on so many levels and to jeopardise hard won gains is/was foolish.
It's looking like the bubble is pretty much a fizzer from a tourism pov so far.
Most, as in pretty much all, users of the services into Queenstown are New Zealanders going to see the whanu, to and from the wider southern region. We haven't had an Australian through the gallery, or heard any in the street, but the town's quite busy with New Zealanders with the school holidays.
I was working above Queenstown airport yesterday and two flights came in from Australia that we so light they were able to slow and go off the taxiway 2/3 the way down the runway, and without much effort. Domestic flights were having to use the full length to stop and some were working hard to do so, it's a very short runway.
Also noticing a change in language around town about interest in travel. It's gone from "strong bookings", ie the best rooms have been grabbed for the peak times and wholesale bookings for resale the week before travel as ski packages, to " strong search interest" or even "oh, there's a bit of search interest". We'll see what happens come July and August.
It's looking that people in Australia and New Zealand are being very responsible with their travel and trying to keep their exposure within definable bubbles. The VFF category is easily contact traced, it's mostly within a family bubble rather than out in the wider community as individuals. VFF is also very good for our community and individual wellbeing, and with most New Zealanders having family or friends in Australia the ability to travel and meet with them is something we need to do as soon as we are able. The risks are no different to travel in/out of Auckland, or interstate in Aussie, during an out break and we can manage that fine.
Nearly all the statements / press releases I've seen from industry players pleading for, or praising, the bubble can be interpreted as efforts to kick the bank manager can as far down the road as is physically possible.
Quite possible all they are going to achieve is a sore toe. With a couple of local examples it might be a very sore toe.
we never expected any 'tourism' from the bubble expansion here in Rotorua, just maybe a few people coming home without having to go into quarantine or people coming to visit.
And to be honest, where would the money come from to travel also. Oz may be subsidizing people into travelling but here we say nah nah nah to that.
Were the border to close like it has in Western Australia, not having to pay for a bed needed to have been considered. Some people on trans – Tasman trips could be weighting up relocating closer to family.
Air New Zealand said customers were being given the option to rebook, put their flight into credit or receive a refund if they purchased a refundable ticket.
Further to my comments above about flight loadings into ZQN, this popped up on my FB feed, sums up the bubble very well. The flight is NZ264 from Melbourne to Queenstown yesterday.
Hopefully it works, edit, does if you click on the FB link
Well put.
In my opinion, your considered and insightful eyewitness account, coming as it does from an insider's point of view deserves, to be more widely published and read.
Could you forward it to the admin of this website for consideration as a post.
This aligns with the mood of the nation on opening borders. Most just do not want it. It's nice that some families can visit each other, but mostly this was done to shut up mouthy right wingers.
Again, most responsible people simply do not want to travel for leisure at this time.
Incredible the tourism industry and airlines got this so wrong.
Turns out yet another bit of anti-Russian cold war propaganda disseminated by the rabid war mongering Liberal press and their useful idiots is just another piece of fake news…anyone else see a pattern forming here?
Yes you are right, every year it seems that MSM, and sadly pretty much all so called Liberal MSM entrench themselves further as nothing more than voice boxes for war, conflict and division when called upon to do so.
When the most effective medium for whistle blowers in our life times in the shape of Julian Assange is publicly humiliated, tortured and imprisoned, our media remain almost silent..but then to illustrate just how effective their propaganda model is, MSM actually get the public worked up enough over the openly racist and super dodgy Navaldy to protest and cry foul about him, but not Assange..that is really saying something disturbing about the effectiveness of mass media manipulation, even after four years of Russia gate, conducted by the most powerful information gathering organizations ever to exist that led to absolutely nothing, you would think people would learn, however in many cases, apparently not.
The news was hot with tales of Russian doping dastardliness…oh those Russians ..
We were subjected to weeks of Russian depravity on the field, the cheating bastards !!
But when those athletes took their case to appeal, and had the opportunity to cross examine the "whistleblower" Rodchenkov…he didn't come out well..28 athletes had their ban overturned and 7 medals were returned .
Quietly forgotten .We are left instead with the initial outrage
Thanks francesca, I wasn't aware of those developments in that story. This state fueled propaganda is getting pretty out of control…I just had my official complaint to RNZ over their coverage of the Douma poisoning rejected because the stories are over ten weeks old. However as I said in my complaint, I wasn’t complaining about their coverage at the time, I am complaining that they haven’t covered any of the recent developments of that that story which debunk the original accusations.
"Returning to the United Nations, veteran German diplomat and former top UN official Hans von Sponeck calls for an end to the stonewalling of accountability for the OPCW's cover-up of its April 2018 Douma chemical weapons probe."
‘
“I just had my official complaint to RNZ over their coverage of the Douma poisoning rejected because the stories are over ten weeks old.”
Adrian Thornton
Kia ora Adrian, It is a shame that RNZ rejected your complaint on grounds that it was over ten theeks old, rather than over your dispute of the facts of the Douma poisoning.
It is a disapointment, because if RNZ had bothered to go into the substance of your complaint more deeply it would have been instructive for all of us.
However if you want to cut and paste a copy of your complaint to RNZ to this forum, I for one would be interested in reading it to decide for myself if it has any merit.
And while on the subject of Liberal fake news…here is a great piece from one of the very few remaining US journalists that is worth a damn..Matt Taibbi
Rachel Maddow is Bill O'Reilly
After hyping a fake story for a year, cable's leading anchor doesn't blink and moves on to the next fable
It's interesting to consider the New Zealand equivalents of these U.S. personalities. Our own versions of Matt Taibbi would be John Stephenson, Nicky Hager, Gordon Campbell, Paula Penfold. (John Campbell has been excellent in challenging the powerful, and has angered many politicians, including Helen Clark, Gerry Brownlee, and the Prime Minister of Samoa; however, his credulous acceptance of the Russiagate conspiracy theory would amuse and appal Matt Taibbi.)
Bill O'Reilly: sadly this country has far more replicas of that ill-informed but opinionated right winger than it does of Matt Taibbi. The list is long and depressing: Mike Hosking, Karl Du Fresne, David Farrar, Neil Miller, Sean Plunket, Richard Harman, Bill Ralston, Duncan Garner, Barry Soper, Heather Du Plessis-Allan, … ad nauseam.
Rachel Maddow: Who's a New Zealand woman who has earned a reputation as an intelligent and perceptive interviewer, but has done much to erode that reputation by uncritically aligning herself with the right wing of the Democratic Party and its glum bunch of ideological warriors? Step forward, Dame KIM HILL.
Speaking of Kim Hill, Adrian, did you hear Jennifer Robinson this morning politely but firmly telling her that her statements about Julian Assange were false? It was the most complete demolition job done on her since another Australian human rights champion, John Pilger, took her to task for retailing Pentagon talking points in 2003.
Hi Morrissey, yes I tuned in especially to see how Kim would handle that interview, it went pretty much as I expected, Kim knows enough to know when she is on the wrong side of history, so was never going to seriously tangle with Robinson on Assange, just like she quickly backed off her guest (sorry forgot their name) who was on her show to talk about conspiracy theories recently, when he used Russia gate as an example of a contemporary conspiracy theory…it has been obvious from the outset, if these liberals talking heads had any confidence in these things, they would be only happy to interview Greenwald, Taibbi, Mate' etc, but of course never did and never will…enough said.
I was still shocked to hear her repeat the lie about him irresponsibly releasing files on WikiLeaks. Judging by her hesitant tone, I don't think she actually believed a word of what she was saying, but she said it all the same.
It raises, yet again, serious questions about her judgement and her integrity. It also raises questions about the judgement and integrity of her producer, who must have been aware of the questions and allegations she had prepared.
Yes I noticed her half hearted tone during that exchange as well..I don't believe there is any question about RNZ's producers or management, they represent New Zealand's own version of The Guardian, who have proved that they are one of the greatest threats to any serious progressive Left Wing project ever getting traction.
They are just centrist free market liberals who defend that ideology just as much as every other ideologue defends theirs..myself included, the only difference is that I happen to be fighting for the right one and they are not.
Robinson had the best answer too, that when misinformation gets repeated enough in the mainstream press people start to believe it – a brilliant indirect jab at RNZ. Let me guess.. this will be Robinson's first and last interview on this rather odious station.
At the time it seemed the more pressing bounty for Trump to eliminate was the one out on the Venezuelan president. But that is still being put up by the Biden administration.
And for all the talk of New Zealand ‘sucking up” to China or being the “West’s woke weak link” from some British MPs and news outlets, it really reeks more of a long post-colonial confusion within the UK about what its role in the world is. It is still struggling to get used to its diminished importance as the structural power centre of the world moves east.
True yes. But the UK still over- estimates its place as a world power. My comment was more in relation to the patently stupid responses coming from sections of the UK media.
In short, NZ is once again showing its ability to be slightly ahead of the rest of the 5 – Eye countries. It happened in the mid 1980s when we moved on the insane escalation of nuclear weaponry. We stuck to our guns and eventually they fell into line and followed us… not the other way round.
My assessment would be the 'sections of UK media' are likely acting at the behest of the dominant 'partner' rather than any inflated sense of importance….and would contest the notion that any of the other 5 eyes members have followed our anti nuclear position….rather it is studiously ignored.
… would contest the notion that any of the other 5 eyes members have followed our anti nuclear position….rather it is studiously ignored.
They aren't as transparent as NZ, but both East and West did agree to limit the number of nuclear weapons they held which was an accomplishment of sorts – along with the world-wide anti-nuclear movement.
Of course since then the sabre rattling has restarted on both sides but I'm too old now to care much about it. Its all so puerile in my humble opinion.
I would say it is less their imperial power, than their status as a centre of culture. One cannot have a clown PM like Boris or a clown President like Trump and expect the world to take you seriously. The VRWC, in choosing populism over public interest policy, has, like the later Roman emperors, condemned their nations to decline and loss of influence.
"About a year ago the decision was made that the merger/takeover would proceed and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage outsourced the policy function to PwC, an accounting firm, to make a business case. (Note the term ‘business’. The framework is the commercialisation of RNZ – even had PwC much expertise in public policy, its advice will be trapped in a Rogernomic framework.)"
Our governments have abdicated the formation of public policy to the idealogues of neoliberalism for decades past so its unsurprising the same mistakes are being perpetuated….this wont change until we redevelop in house capability/capacity
This is the real locus and range of political choice and debate in the UK, i.e. what sort of Tory government are they going to get – Dodgy Dave, Clown Boris or Dry Stick Theresa – hard or soft Brexit, austerity or not so much austerity, etc. The Murdoch propaganda machine has done its job.
Get used to the Tories, AB. The Labour Party, which under Jeremy Corbyn became the biggest political party in Europe, has been reduced to a pile of ashes by the Blairite rump. We will never see another Labour government in Britain.
Kim couldve been a lot more demonstratedly ill informed i reckon morrissey T he corporate news talking points she did mention didnt extend to many of the familiar smears no mention of sweden etc didnt even repeat the one about him being mean to his cat !!Im not in love with lots of stuff the boss,s in rnz manage but at least they allowed kim to say assanges name a few times and have i think a quite pleasant interview with JR.
The things with legacy ………one does not really get to choose how people remember one, or what ones legacy is. I have seriously never come across anyone more detached from the reality of poverty than the current crew that runs this labour government. Out of touch, arrogant, useless.
Fears of an emerging "motel generation" are beginning to grow in Hawke's Bay as the number of children living in emergency accommodation spikes.
Ministry of Social Development data revealed to Hawke's Bay Today shows there are now 3888 children living in emergency housing nationwide – 225 in Hawke's Bay alone.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Hawke's Bay Today that while alternatives to emergency housing are sometimes worse, the Government is not satisfied with the current arrangements.
However, Ardern said she did not believe that a "motel generation" of children would be part of her legacy as Prime Minister.
Dear Leader, it is already your legacy. It will always be your legacy. No matter how much you protests to the contrary, if you want the good you need to also acknowledge your failures and when it comes to housing, poor people and their poor kids your legacy stinks to high heavens right next to the legacy of John Key. Two peas, one pod.
Sabine, if you're implying that there's really nothing of substance to choose between the two, then I respectfully disagree with your opinion. I know which ‘pea‘ I prefer.
I Eat My Peas with Honey (by Anonymous)
I eat my peas with honey;
I’ve done it all my life.
It makes the peas taste funny,
But it keeps them on the knife.
To some people, truffles, bonbons, pralines and Roses are just chocolates. Distinctions are useful or inconvenient, depending on the narrative (AKA wheel-barrow) one wants to push.
It seems to me that you don't know much about chocolate. Only that could explain you considering roses as 'just chocolate' while in effect it is 'just rubbish' as is the motel warehousing policy of this government. Chocolates would be the government stopping to continue to do what did not work under National, considering that they are so different. But then i hear there are people who consider Cadbury chocolate. Some just can't be helped.
I am a bit surprised that Davidson and Menendez have not been more vocal in having MSD pay the rent shortfall so people do not need to live in a motel.
The urgency of avoiding people living in a motel needs immediate attention and action. Introducing the old special benefit and having allowable costs worked in the past before temporary additional supplement replaced it apart from some still being paid a special benefit.
The Greens can do no more then Labour could when National warehoused people in motels and rundown properties for top dollar. Crow, from the back benches to no avail.
there is literally no difference between this under National in 2014
Winz will loan people money to rent out a motel room as emergency housing, when there is nowhere else to put them.
People then have to repay the debt, and many say that is just not possible.
Earlier this week, when asked what people living in cars or garages should do, Prime Minister John Key had a simple reply.
"My really strong advice is to go and see Work and Income," he said, "and we'll see what we can do, because I think people very often don't understand what's available to them.
2019
The government now spends more than $3 billion per year on housing assistance – with more and more of that money being spent on motels.
Emergency housing grants, which cover short term accommodation, were introduced in July 2016 as a stop gap measure but are increasingly being used for longer stays as the housing crisis bites.
There are 1899 households in private motels, with 381 of those in motels for more than three months at a cost of $1500 each a week.
Figures show it's big business for some motels, with five providers alone receiving $20m in the last three years to provide shelter for the homeless.
The top earner is an Auckland motelier, Auckland Astro Residences – it's been paid $6.1 million.
The Government is defending its decision to charge those staying in motels as emergency housing rent.
It announced Thursday, as part of a $300m homelessness package, that those who stayed in motels as a form of emergency housing longer than seven days would now be charged rent equivalent to 25 per cent of their income – the same amount charged for those in public and transitional housing.
Fears of an emerging "motel generation" are beginning to grow in Hawke's Bay as the number of children living in emergency accommodation spikes.
Ministry of Social Development data revealed to Hawke's Bay Today shows there are now 3888 children living in emergency housing nationwide – 225 in Hawke's Bay alone.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Hawke's Bay Today that while alternatives to emergency housing are sometimes worse, the Government is not satisfied with the current arrangements.
However, Ardern said she did not believe that a "motel generation" of children would be part of her legacy as Prime Minister.
i would like to know if the 25% that people in emergency housing have to pay of their benefits for the pleasure to be housed unsafely, over crowded, amongst gangs, drug, booze, abuse, violence are truly charged. I remember people here getting upset and writing posts about the dastardly nationalistas and paula benefit who charged emergency housed with the costs – refundable 5 NZD a week. I would really like to know if they went ahead with it, mind i would not put it past them. Callous is as callous does, and these guys are callous.
They truly are two peas in a pod. A blue pea, a red pea in the pod of NZ. And neither one of them consider the homeless their constituency unless its e lection time, or time to hug a baby for the cameras to show some ‘kindness’ and some ‘gentleness’ for the poor unfortunate people this country has no place and no use for.
There is a reason why the government do not want to bridge the gap by paying a shortfall in rent to prevent people needing to live in motels.
Menendez needs to do costings, once the accommodation supplement and temporary additional support caps are reached the shortfall would be $100 – $200 a week. Compare this to the cost of a motel.
I think the government do not want to send a signal to landlords that the government will subsidise a person's rent past a point. Government probably think this would slow an increase in market rents. Subsidising motel owners is preferred.
never mind asking an associate minister, there will be no answers.
In 2018, a parliamentary inquiry said introducing the new test should be done immediately. “Any delay in implementing primary HPV screening will have significant adverse effects and risks.”
It described unnecessary cervical cancer as a “serious threat”.
Ginny Niwa was eventually diagnosed with cervical cancer in the UK after having clear smear tests in NZ. In the UK, she was told her cancer would have been there for at least three years. She's advocating for a new test that the Government has failed to fund. She is pictured with her daughter Indi Niwa, 17 months.
Stuff asked Associate Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall what she thought of diagnoses being missed because of the delay, if she supports funding for primary HPV testing, and when a new programme should be implemented.
In a statement, spokeswoman Ranjani Ponnuchetty said: “The Minister is working hard on this issue. Regarding any funding decisions, they are matters for Government Budgets.”
She should have just said that at this stage she could not comment. Ask the minister. It would have had more value then "the minister is working 'hard''. That is a quote worthy of a Trumpian spokesperson.
In the future it is possible that some women will be able to take their own sample for HPV testing. There are still questions to address regarding how self-sampling would work in New Zealand and how women would be supported for any follow up testing or treatment required.
The Ministry of Health is funding further research about the acceptability and feasibility of self-sampling in New Zealand and is also investigating the effectiveness of different self-sampling devices.
Any self-sample test needs to be as safe and effective as a sample collected by a smear taker.
Māori doctors are urging the Ministry of Health to reconsider postponing a self-swabbing cervical cancer programme they say is more effective, less invasive and more affordable.
This here is the money quote that strikes right into the heart.
It was due to be rolled out in 2018, but the government put it on ice.
For those who prefer a self test, the method needs to be available. Those who want the current method they should be able to access it.
Cervical cancer screening reduces cervical cancer, especially when caught at the pre cancer stage or insitu stage. The HPV jab is also in the tool kit.
The below par up take of HPV vaccination needs to be looked into due to being effective for other cancers associated with HPV. I did not realise 2 injections were required.
"…But it was hated by landlords, real-estate investors and members of Germany’s conservative political parties. The lawsuit against the cap was filed by 284 parliamentary members of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP)."
"Last week’s ruling represents a defeat for Berlin’s housing movement, but it may yet prove to be a pyrrhic victory for the city’s landlords and speculators. Anger over the nullification of the rent cap is fuelling support for the expropriation and remunicipalisation of thousands of units of public housing that had been privatised. Some activists would like to go further and expropriate empty flats."
Rent controls are a political issue. When it comes to being homeless there are property investors who look the other way, a political party says no rent control and banks allow too much money to be loaned so high rent is required to pay the bank.
Having different interest rates, a high one for a property investor and a low one for a first home buyer.
Everything is a political issue….i find it curious that after 5 years of (presumably) a political decision, possibly at local level it has been legally challenged by the political class.
As noted in the piece, the victory(?) may well be pyrrhic…when something is unsustainable , one thing is certain….it wont continue.
That article illustrates very well how international and intractable the accomodation crisis is. When rental housing is the best, or only, investment with any sort of return and perceived lowish risk the shit's going to hit the fan for the poor bastards that have to rent.
We'll see if the imminent rise in interest rates, with a flow on to deposit rates will start to ease things for tenants.
Not so much ponzi, but the last reasonable investment with the perception of a manageable risk.
Housing will generally give you 5%, pretty risk free. Bank investments, the best my bank is offering is 0.90%. What are you going to do? The Share Market and Managed Funds offer better returns, comparable or maybe better than housing but require more knowledge and present more risk. Also most of the people putting their money into housing now were around when fortunes went down the gurgler in 1987 and 2008, often their fortunes, so are a tad wary of those sorts of investments now.
Agree 1% is a poor return (esp with bail in) but I suspect that many are due to find out that RE is no less susceptible to losses ….and ponzi is exactly what it is, increasing credit to sustain existing credit, and it all has to be underpinned by an (shrinking) economy with only one direction for servicing costs.
The folly will be obvious after the event…all too late.
Pat
That should be published as a poster! Could everyone of an activist nature, copy this message without name or other information to distract the eye, on half of an A4 sheet (a size easier to find a place for on a bulletin board etc), in about 14 font, clear and easily read, and pin, staple, bluetack – whatever is appropriate, somewhere in a public place. And repeat in about two weeks somewhere else etc. It could be a new way of breaking through the great disease of Plum Smugness (ie the boy with the pie who pulled out a plum. This was a sly rhyme about a trusted servant who stole the title to lands hidden in a pie!
Just these words – (under the heading of Financial Loss for Real Estate investors – a simple, striking and unwelcome message.)!
Financial Loss for Real Estate Investors ie Houses
Real Estate is susceptible to losses ….
and Ponzi is exactly what it is,
increasing credit to sustain existing credit, and
it all has to be underpinned by a (shrinking) economy
with only one direction for servicing costs.
The folly will be obvious after the event…all too late.
…Chris Roberts dissect the meaning of the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner." It's about a real estate swindle in 16th-century England. Roberts is the author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme.
You think the real estate market is treacherous today, try England in the late 1530s. That's what the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner" is really all about. ..
`Little Jack Horner sat in a corner eating his Christmas pie.
He stuck in a thumb and pulled out a plum and said,
"What a good boy am I."'
Where to begin with this? This is talking about the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII taking property from the Catholic Church. Jack, as we know, is actually called Thomas Horner. Now he was a steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury during the reign of Henry VIII. This is how the story goes: He was entrusted to take some title deeds of properties to Henry VIII as a bribe so the abbot could keep the main monastery, but was prepared to give away some of the lesser properties.
Now the title deeds were held and sealed in a pie, and Jack's off to London. But instead of delivering the bribe to Henry VIII, he helps himself to the pie, puts his hand in, pulls out a plum piece of real estate–in this case, a place called Mells Manor-
And the CDU/CSU – the federal german and bavarian state capitalists are neither Christian nor social.
As for the FDP – years ago they almost got taken over by students in a concerted effort to swamp membership for this party- so much fun, but sadly they found out too soon and stopped accepting membership request. This Party is useless on its own and can only get traction as part of a coalition and is usually considered a 'filler party' for the above mentioned Parties if they have to have a coalition partner that will be silent and roll over on demand.
And yes, while Germany is a federation we do have a Free State with its on set of laws – Bavaria, we have a free State City Hamburg with very much its own set of laws. Sadly Berlin – to new a town in terms of German history never got elevated to a 'free' status. And thus like in the eighties is still run by the same set of hostage takers it was in the 80s when we squatted due to no availablity of flats.
It should have done some some years ago to be honest.
this is a good rundown on the "Hafenstadt Occupation" in Hamburg that has been a thing now since the seventies. And interstingly enough it saved a lot of beautiful houses and complexes in Hamburg, one of them the 'Porttown' which is just stunning. One of the Oldest ones would be the "alte Flora' a building which has been occupied since 1986 🙂 (giggles with delight)
the beginning of the occupation of empty buidings in Berlin.
and this is repeated throughout Germany but these would be the most known towns for it. Ah, when the left was radical. Good times.
I am not sure how to convert these links into english language, but the first has a nice list of of occupied buildings and pictures to give an idea just what you can occupy if you put your heart to it. Some of these buildings are grandios.
Why do we privatise? It's the latest economic fashion. Unfortunately they don't change economic OS as fast as clothing fashions. You have to put up with obvious bad management even criminality for so many decades it turns into an era. When it should be seen to be a glitch in a good record and quickly abandoned when noticed.
The UK government had had a postal service since 1516. I see from Wikipedia that a directive came from the EU to privatise it and that was done in 2012. I am so ignorant, I didn't think that the EU did this sort of thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mail#Privatisation
There had been lots of complaints about it before that. Poor delivery service: Often a miserable, underpaid temp, who stuffs all the mail for six flats through the door in one torn and crumpled bundle because he or she is so frightened of being penalised by the manager for not meeting a preposterous delivery target that there is no time even to take the rubber bands off.
In beefing the delivery targets to unmanageable sizes per worker, then sacking postmen for failing to meet them, in axing the second post and generally thumping down the iron fist, the Royal Mail managed this year to make a £321m operating profit. They celebrated by imposing an immediate pay freeze on the workers.
2009/Oct.18 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/18/victoria-coren-royal-mail
Then they had started jailing the small subpostmasters for theft and hiding the fact that discrepancies were likely to be caused by faults in their tech caused by their Horizon operating system.
The Post Office ultimately settled the civil claim brought by more than 550 claimants for £57.75m, without admitting liability, in December 2019.
Justice Fraser found Horizon contained “bugs, errors and defects” and that there was a “material risk” shortfalls in branch accounts were caused by the system.
……Subpostmasters’ lives were “irreparably ruined”, as they lost their jobs, homes and marriages after they were prosecuted by the Post Office – which knew the Fujitsu-developed IT system had “faults and bugs from the earliest days of its operation”, the court of appeal heard last month.
A pregnant subpostmaster was jailed and said the baby stopped her from thinking about suicide. One man, imprisoned, found himself crying every day. Their names have been blackened, their ability to get work affected, they had to declare themselves criminals n forms at the airport etc. They felt forced to plead guilty as advised by their barristers, rather than take on the mighty power of the now unscrupulous Postal Service, once held in high esteem. These two people were both Indian. I just note that as of interest amongst all the disturbing facts of this dreadful business of the UKPost
Thanks Grey, disturbing info on UK Post. The idea of public service has been affected/infected by the pernicious profit motive pandemic. Too late for a vaccine?
No profit from the pandemic – vaccine for all!
Global Health Day 2021 Statement: On the 7th of April, we celebrate Global Health. The COVID-19 pandemic has showed us how vital health and care services are to our lives and our societies. The pandemic has also demonstrated that only publicly owned, not for profit health and social care services are able to efficiently cope with major health crises and, most importantly, ensure accessibility for all citizens, regardless of economic status. Finally, COVID-19 has shown that health and social care are public goods.
Public services can guarantee the right to care for all. They can ensure the preparedness and resilience of health and care services for future health emergencies. One of the main lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic is that, more than ever, we need to protect health and care from commercialisation and privatisation. No one should be making a profit from the pandemic.
Marketisation and Privatisation in Criminal Justice (2020) As privatisation, outsourcing and the impact of market cultures spread further across the system, the authors look ahead to future developments and signpost the way to reform in a ‘post-market’ criminal justice sphere.
Introduction Criminal justice used to be thought of as a field that ought to be autonomous from politics and the economy, with the management of crime and punishment being seen as essentially the responsibility of the state. Now, however, it is widely agreed that decades of marketisation and privatisation have blurred the institutional boundaries and functions of the public sector with those of for-profit and civil society interests in many parts of the penal/welfare complex. The ‘mixed market’ in criminal justice services, pursued by successive governments since the 1980s, accelerated sharply in the wake of the Austerity Agenda and the reconstruction of the social economy post the banking crisis of 2007. The ascendancy of market imaginaries is such that their influence on policing, prisons, probation, legal services and the courts, let alone numerous ancillary services from prisoner transport to interpretation services, is seemingly irreversible.
On Kneejerk Negativism, Cardi B, And Linda Manz (August 2020) Evidently, the government has looked at (a) the deadly role that incompetent private security firms have played in the deadly outbreak of community transmission in Melbourne and (b) at the role of private security staff in the latest privacy breach committed here. Serco and the private prisons fiasco had already shown that the profit motive is all but incompatible with maintaining high standards of security.
What Is a Capitalist Economy Example? New Zealand is a prime example of a capitalist economy. This wealthy country in the Asian Pacific region has systemically deregulated and privatized many industrial and professional sectors since the 1980s. Its judicial system recognizes and enforces private property interests and contracts. Government subsidies are low, and an open, liberal attitude to global trade and investment is well-established. Tariffs are low on imports and exports, which comprise around 50% of New Zealand's GDP. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/042215/what-difference-between-capitalist-system-and-free-market-system.asp
Unravelling + reMAKING the public good Part 2: Unravelling privatisation Unravelling and then reMAKING the public good is not something to be done alone or at high speed. In Part 1, we introduced the idea of the public good and what it might mean for helping us to achieve an Australia reMADE. In Part 2 we look at the way privatisation and marketisation threaten the public good.
Good reading there Drowsy – (you aren't!). That ReMADE approach, I’m thinking now about our new health project. Is Labour attempting this with the Health Project meant to give our health system a vaccine against poor management? It needs to go to the very source of the flow of medical services – the Ministry of Health (or as Rosemary McDonald has sarcastically described as the Misery of Health.)
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
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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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
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Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
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You thought lockdowns were bad
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/21/system-has-collapsed-india-descent-into-covid-hell?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1plYafJ-zVxWIYPIcVeuoU8mFGDC5uPNDyPK3BsjvrAXPoWTUePkwQlF4#Echobox=1619005174
This is the outcome when a pandemic becomes rampant in a country which has a very high population. The logistics of being prepared for Covid in heavily populated countries is massive.
It is a very worrying time for anyone who has family in India. International aid will probably be required. This can be said for Brazil as well.
Flight hesitancy, is it a thing?
Kiwis stuck in Perth might be giving people second thoughts.
And when they do come back, will they have to go into isolation hotels?
Probably.
Food for thought.
Travel paused between New Zealand and Western Australia due to Covid-19 outbreak
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/124940177/transtasman-bubble-travel-paused-between-new-zealand-and-western-australia-due-to-covid19-outbreak
I am watching to see what will happen in Melbourne as the infectious man in Perth flew to Melbourne. Probably a domino effect shutting state borders in Australia.
I have not been in favour of a trans – Tasman bubble at this stage in the Covid pandemic. Covid is such an unpredictable bastard on so many levels and to jeopardise hard won gains is/was foolish.
It's looking like the bubble is pretty much a fizzer from a tourism pov so far.
Most, as in pretty much all, users of the services into Queenstown are New Zealanders going to see the whanu, to and from the wider southern region. We haven't had an Australian through the gallery, or heard any in the street, but the town's quite busy with New Zealanders with the school holidays.
I was working above Queenstown airport yesterday and two flights came in from Australia that we so light they were able to slow and go off the taxiway 2/3 the way down the runway, and without much effort. Domestic flights were having to use the full length to stop and some were working hard to do so, it's a very short runway.
There's been a bit of flight cancellation by Air New Zealand in/out of ZQN but that's adjusting to an unknown demand. Also a bit in the media about low demand after the first few days as they picked up the slack from customers who delayed travel after the announcement to avoid MIQ. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2021/04/trans-tasman-travel-bubble-air-nz-cuts-flights-as-demand-lags-behind-expectations.html https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/transtasman-travel-bubble-the-big-difference-between-australia-and-new-zealand/RCSUOZZDR5CI2V6J6LVN66THAI/
Also noticing a change in language around town about interest in travel. It's gone from "strong bookings", ie the best rooms have been grabbed for the peak times and wholesale bookings for resale the week before travel as ski packages, to " strong search interest" or even "oh, there's a bit of search interest". We'll see what happens come July and August.
It's looking that people in Australia and New Zealand are being very responsible with their travel and trying to keep their exposure within definable bubbles. The VFF category is easily contact traced, it's mostly within a family bubble rather than out in the wider community as individuals. VFF is also very good for our community and individual wellbeing, and with most New Zealanders having family or friends in Australia the ability to travel and meet with them is something we need to do as soon as we are able. The risks are no different to travel in/out of Auckland, or interstate in Aussie, during an out break and we can manage that fine.
Independent leisure tourism is a bit trickier and people get that. Australian tourism has trouble getting Australians to travel to leisure destinations internally and has spent AUD 1.2 billion subsidising domestic airfares to try and get them traveling (and save their tourism industry) People don't want to travel and be around perceived strangers. We're seeing the same here with mainstream resorts doing a starve but less mainstream places just down the road having good trade because people feel they will be less crowded and less "tourist".
good post graeme. maybe the tourists are being more responsible than some in the tourist industry.
Nearly all the statements / press releases I've seen from industry players pleading for, or praising, the bubble can be interpreted as efforts to kick the bank manager can as far down the road as is physically possible.
Quite possible all they are going to achieve is a sore toe. With a couple of local examples it might be a very sore toe.
Looking forward to the Blanket Bay 5 night special coming down from $6k soon. Yeah nah sigh.
we never expected any 'tourism' from the bubble expansion here in Rotorua, just maybe a few people coming home without having to go into quarantine or people coming to visit.
And to be honest, where would the money come from to travel also. Oz may be subsidizing people into travelling but here we say nah nah nah to that.
Hearing about first hand observation is good.
Were the border to close like it has in Western Australia, not having to pay for a bed needed to have been considered. Some people on trans – Tasman trips could be weighting up relocating closer to family.
I expect a refundable ticket is also required.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/124940177/transtasman-bubble-travel-paused-between-new-zealand-and-western-australia-due-to-covid19-outbreak
In other words, caveat emptor.
When it comes to re booking or putting a flight into credit can this be done more than once?
No doubt a fee is involved.
Further to my comments above about flight loadings into ZQN, this popped up on my FB feed, sums up the bubble very well. The flight is NZ264 from Melbourne to Queenstown yesterday.
Hopefully it works, edit, does if you click on the FB link
https://www.facebook.com/788747364/videos/10159228270852365/
@ Graeme
Well put.
In my opinion, your considered and insightful eyewitness account, coming as it does from an insider's point of view deserves, to be more widely published and read.
Could you forward it to the admin of this website for consideration as a post.
Contact
This aligns with the mood of the nation on opening borders. Most just do not want it. It's nice that some families can visit each other, but mostly this was done to shut up mouthy right wingers.
Again, most responsible people simply do not want to travel for leisure at this time.
Incredible the tourism industry and airlines got this so wrong.
NZ cannot even manage cervical screening and to think a trans – Tasman bubble can be managed, give me a break.
Turns out yet another bit of anti-Russian cold war propaganda disseminated by the rabid war mongering Liberal press and their useful idiots is just another piece of fake news…anyone else see a pattern forming here?
U.S. Intel Walks Back Claim Russians Put Bounties on American Troops
https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-intel-walks-back-claim-russians-put-bounties-on-american-troops
Thank you.
But according to some any alt-media that doesn't agree with the MSM is by default working for the Ruskies.
Yes you are right, every year it seems that MSM, and sadly pretty much all so called Liberal MSM entrench themselves further as nothing more than voice boxes for war, conflict and division when called upon to do so.
When the most effective medium for whistle blowers in our life times in the shape of Julian Assange is publicly humiliated, tortured and imprisoned, our media remain almost silent..but then to illustrate just how effective their propaganda model is, MSM actually get the public worked up enough over the openly racist and super dodgy Navaldy to protest and cry foul about him, but not Assange..that is really saying something disturbing about the effectiveness of mass media manipulation, even after four years of Russia gate, conducted by the most powerful information gathering organizations ever to exist that led to absolutely nothing, you would think people would learn, however in many cases, apparently not.
Selective amnesia on display
The news was hot with tales of Russian doping dastardliness…oh those Russians ..
We were subjected to weeks of Russian depravity on the field, the cheating bastards !!
But when those athletes took their case to appeal, and had the opportunity to cross examine the "whistleblower" Rodchenkov…he didn't come out well..28 athletes had their ban overturned and 7 medals were returned .
Quietly forgotten .We are left instead with the initial outrage
Thanks francesca, I wasn't aware of those developments in that story. This state fueled propaganda is getting pretty out of control…I just had my official complaint to RNZ over their coverage of the Douma poisoning rejected because the stories are over ten weeks old. However as I said in my complaint, I wasn’t complaining about their coverage at the time, I am complaining that they haven’t covered any of the recent developments of that that story which debunk the original accusations.
"Returning to the United Nations, veteran German diplomat and former top UN official Hans von Sponeck calls for an end to the stonewalling of accountability for the OPCW's cover-up of its April 2018 Douma chemical weapons probe."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewGa4S5ZNh4
‘
“I just had my official complaint to RNZ over their coverage of the Douma poisoning rejected because the stories are over ten weeks old.”
Adrian Thornton
Kia ora Adrian, It is a shame that RNZ rejected your complaint on grounds that it was over ten theeks old, rather than over your dispute of the facts of the Douma poisoning.
It is a disapointment, because if RNZ had bothered to go into the substance of your complaint more deeply it would have been instructive for all of us.
However if you want to cut and paste a copy of your complaint to RNZ to this forum, I for one would be interested in reading it to decide for myself if it has any merit.
Cheers J.
And while on the subject of Liberal fake news…here is a great piece from one of the very few remaining US journalists that is worth a damn..Matt Taibbi
Rachel Maddow is Bill O'Reilly
After hyping a fake story for a year, cable's leading anchor doesn't blink and moves on to the next fable
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/rachel-maddow-is-bill-oreilly
Or if you can't be bothered reading his piece, a short clip…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFacHcf0ugM
It's interesting to consider the New Zealand equivalents of these U.S. personalities. Our own versions of Matt Taibbi would be John Stephenson, Nicky Hager, Gordon Campbell, Paula Penfold. (John Campbell has been excellent in challenging the powerful, and has angered many politicians, including Helen Clark, Gerry Brownlee, and the Prime Minister of Samoa; however, his credulous acceptance of the Russiagate conspiracy theory would amuse and appal Matt Taibbi.)
Bill O'Reilly: sadly this country has far more replicas of that ill-informed but opinionated right winger than it does of Matt Taibbi. The list is long and depressing: Mike Hosking, Karl Du Fresne, David Farrar, Neil Miller, Sean Plunket, Richard Harman, Bill Ralston, Duncan Garner, Barry Soper, Heather Du Plessis-Allan, … ad nauseam.
Rachel Maddow: Who's a New Zealand woman who has earned a reputation as an intelligent and perceptive interviewer, but has done much to erode that reputation by uncritically aligning herself with the right wing of the Democratic Party and its glum bunch of ideological warriors? Step forward, Dame KIM HILL.
Speaking of Kim Hill, Adrian, did you hear Jennifer Robinson this morning politely but firmly telling her that her statements about Julian Assange were false? It was the most complete demolition job done on her since another Australian human rights champion, John Pilger, took her to task for retailing Pentagon talking points in 2003.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018792915/jennifer-robinson-fighting-for-assange-west-papua-and-public-education
Hi Morrissey, yes I tuned in especially to see how Kim would handle that interview, it went pretty much as I expected, Kim knows enough to know when she is on the wrong side of history, so was never going to seriously tangle with Robinson on Assange, just like she quickly backed off her guest (sorry forgot their name) who was on her show to talk about conspiracy theories recently, when he used Russia gate as an example of a contemporary conspiracy theory…it has been obvious from the outset, if these liberals talking heads had any confidence in these things, they would be only happy to interview Greenwald, Taibbi, Mate' etc, but of course never did and never will…enough said.
I was still shocked to hear her repeat the lie about him irresponsibly releasing files on WikiLeaks. Judging by her hesitant tone, I don't think she actually believed a word of what she was saying, but she said it all the same.
It raises, yet again, serious questions about her judgement and her integrity. It also raises questions about the judgement and integrity of her producer, who must have been aware of the questions and allegations she had prepared.
Yes I noticed her half hearted tone during that exchange as well..I don't believe there is any question about RNZ's producers or management, they represent New Zealand's own version of The Guardian, who have proved that they are one of the greatest threats to any serious progressive Left Wing project ever getting traction.
They are just centrist free market liberals who defend that ideology just as much as every other ideologue defends theirs..myself included, the only difference is that I happen to be fighting for the right one and they are not.
And then Kim asked Jennifer Robinson why she thought dis-information was so readily taken up by people.
Perhaps Kim you could stop producing it.
I was most impressed with Robinson. She refused to be subdued by Kim's attempt to mollify her.
@ Brigid +1
"Perhaps Kim you could stop producing it."
That was exactly what thought.
Robinson had the best answer too, that when misinformation gets repeated enough in the mainstream press people start to believe it – a brilliant indirect jab at RNZ. Let me guess.. this will be Robinson's first and last interview on this rather odious station.
At the time it seemed the more pressing bounty for Trump to eliminate was the one out on the Venezuelan president. But that is still being put up by the Biden administration.
I think this is a good summing up of NZ's position re – China and Nanaia Mahuta's most recent comments re – 5 Eyes:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/124933898/new-zealand-isnt-sucking-up-to-china-by-learning-from-countries-mistakes
I say amen to that.
It is worth remembering that the dominant member of the 5 eyes alliance is the US….the UK is as subservient as the other 3
True yes. But the UK still over- estimates its place as a world power. My comment was more in relation to the patently stupid responses coming from sections of the UK media.
In short, NZ is once again showing its ability to be slightly ahead of the rest of the 5 – Eye countries. It happened in the mid 1980s when we moved on the insane escalation of nuclear weaponry. We stuck to our guns and eventually they fell into line and followed us… not the other way round.
My assessment would be the 'sections of UK media' are likely acting at the behest of the dominant 'partner' rather than any inflated sense of importance….and would contest the notion that any of the other 5 eyes members have followed our anti nuclear position….rather it is studiously ignored.
They aren't as transparent as NZ, but both East and West did agree to limit the number of nuclear weapons they held which was an accomplishment of sorts – along with the world-wide anti-nuclear movement.
Of course since then the sabre rattling has restarted on both sides but I'm too old now to care much about it. Its all so puerile in my humble opinion.
I would say it is less their imperial power, than their status as a centre of culture. One cannot have a clown PM like Boris or a clown President like Trump and expect the world to take you seriously. The VRWC, in choosing populism over public interest policy, has, like the later Roman emperors, condemned their nations to decline and loss of influence.
We don’t need no climate, let the mother fucker burn.
No Right Turn
Friday, April 23, 2021
Climate Change: Letting the world burn
http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2021/04/climate-change-letting-world-burn.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbAqWA-dxvw
Alluded to yesterday by Incognito and highlighted again in this piece by Brian Easton,
https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/destroying-public-service-broadcasting
"About a year ago the decision was made that the merger/takeover would proceed and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage outsourced the policy function to PwC, an accounting firm, to make a business case. (Note the term ‘business’. The framework is the commercialisation of RNZ – even had PwC much expertise in public policy, its advice will be trapped in a Rogernomic framework.)"
Our governments have abdicated the formation of public policy to the idealogues of neoliberalism for decades past so its unsurprising the same mistakes are being perpetuated….this wont change until we redevelop in house capability/capacity
I would like to see incognito's comment yesterday mentioned by Pat. Could you show me where, thanks.
23 April 2021 at 11:47 pm
and
23 April 2021 at 11:51 pm
Oh joy, they're eating each other.
https://twitter.com/MrHarryCole/status/1385341948484112385
This is the real locus and range of political choice and debate in the UK, i.e. what sort of Tory government are they going to get – Dodgy Dave, Clown Boris or Dry Stick Theresa – hard or soft Brexit, austerity or not so much austerity, etc. The Murdoch propaganda machine has done its job.
Get used to the Tories, AB. The Labour Party, which under Jeremy Corbyn became the biggest political party in Europe, has been reduced to a pile of ashes by the Blairite rump. We will never see another Labour government in Britain.
Jennifer Robinson: fighting for Assange, West Papua and public education. A number of commenters on this site should listen to this podcast.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018792915
Thanks aj. She politely but firmly refuted every one of Kim Hill's false statements about Assange.
Kim couldve been a lot more demonstratedly ill informed i reckon morrissey T he corporate news talking points she did mention didnt extend to many of the familiar smears no mention of sweden etc didnt even repeat the one about him being mean to his cat !!Im not in love with lots of stuff the boss,s in rnz manage but at least they allowed kim to say assanges name a few times and have i think a quite pleasant interview with JR.
That's a very fair point, weston. For all her faults, I still rate Kim Hill highly.
The things with legacy ………one does not really get to choose how people remember one, or what ones legacy is. I have seriously never come across anyone more detached from the reality of poverty than the current crew that runs this labour government. Out of touch, arrogant, useless.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/motel-generation-nearly-4000-kids-are-living-in-nz-motels/J475FISLJ6NTD43JUDF5ON4J5M/
Dear Leader, it is already your legacy. It will always be your legacy. No matter how much you protests to the contrary, if you want the good you need to also acknowledge your failures and when it comes to housing, poor people and their poor kids your legacy stinks to high heavens right next to the legacy of John Key. Two peas, one pod.
John Key and Jacinda Ardern.
Sabine, if you're implying that there's really nothing of substance to choose between the two, then I respectfully disagree with your opinion. I know which ‘pea‘ I prefer.
To some people, truffles, bonbons, pralines and Roses are just chocolates. Distinctions are useful or inconvenient, depending on the narrative (AKA wheel-barrow) one wants to push.
It seems to me that you don't know much about chocolate. Only that could explain you considering roses as 'just chocolate' while in effect it is 'just rubbish' as is the motel warehousing policy of this government. Chocolates would be the government stopping to continue to do what did not work under National, considering that they are so different. But then i hear there are people who consider Cadbury chocolate. Some just can't be helped.
Yeah. Everybody knows Hershey's Kisses are the only true chocolate.
Yeah, nah, life is like box of Roses chocolates, they’re all the same. With some people, you know exactly what you’re gonna get.
It is truly sad to me that you never in you life ate decent chocolate.
You should remedy this, but remember you always get what you pay for. And no one should pay for a box of Roses.
Life can and should be a box of good chocolates.
When I’m hangry, I have a Kit Kat. Now, that’s good chocolate!
Roses are for saying “thank you”, of course; you don’t buy them for yourself!
I am a bit surprised that Davidson and Menendez have not been more vocal in having MSD pay the rent shortfall so people do not need to live in a motel.
The urgency of avoiding people living in a motel needs immediate attention and action. Introducing the old special benefit and having allowable costs worked in the past before temporary additional supplement replaced it apart from some still being paid a special benefit.
The Greens can do no more then Labour could when National warehoused people in motels and rundown properties for top dollar. Crow, from the back benches to no avail.
there is literally no difference between this under National in 2014
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/76970605/homeless-in-motels-as-2m-for-emergency-housing-yet-to-be-released
to 2016
2019
Feb 2020
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119500326/government-defends-charging-rent-for-emergency-motelstays
today
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/motel-generation-nearly-4000-kids-are-living-in-nz-motels/J475FISLJ6NTD43JUDF5ON4J5M/
i would like to know if the 25% that people in emergency housing have to pay of their benefits for the pleasure to be housed unsafely, over crowded, amongst gangs, drug, booze, abuse, violence are truly charged. I remember people here getting upset and writing posts about the dastardly nationalistas and paula benefit who charged emergency housed with the costs – refundable 5 NZD a week. I would really like to know if they went ahead with it, mind i would not put it past them. Callous is as callous does, and these guys are callous.
They truly are two peas in a pod. A blue pea, a red pea in the pod of NZ. And neither one of them consider the homeless their constituency unless its e lection time, or time to hug a baby for the cameras to show some ‘kindness’ and some ‘gentleness’ for the poor unfortunate people this country has no place and no use for.
Not sure putting people further into debt with accommodation loans is the same as charging them rent as a proportion of their income.
The use of motels themselves is shit, but better than the streets until someone figures out how to fix the housing market.
Experts in dairy intensification no more:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124934463/first-farming-business-to-report-m-bovis-goes-under
Not remotely sad about this.
Reply to 10.2.1
There is a reason why the government do not want to bridge the gap by paying a shortfall in rent to prevent people needing to live in motels.
Menendez needs to do costings, once the accommodation supplement and temporary additional support caps are reached the shortfall would be $100 – $200 a week. Compare this to the cost of a motel.
Probably a reply not meant for my comment but I will chuck this in on the subject:
It is a poor indictment on the prevalent amateur landlord culture in this country that cheap motels are in better condition than most private rentals.
In some cases that would be the case.
I think the government do not want to send a signal to landlords that the government will subsidise a person's rent past a point. Government probably think this would slow an increase in market rents. Subsidising motel owners is preferred.
never mind asking an associate minister, there will be no answers.
She should have just said that at this stage she could not comment. Ask the minister. It would have had more value then "the minister is working 'hard''. That is a quote worthy of a Trumpian spokesperson.
this is from 2019
https://www.nsu.govt.nz/health-professionals/national-cervical-screening-programme/hpv-primary-screening/frequently-asked
This is from 2020
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422865/funding-for-self-screening-cervical-cancer-test-delayed-again
it was advocated for by Maori in Auc 2020
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/422894/maori-doctors-urge-self-swab-cervical-cancer-tests
This here is the money quote that strikes right into the heart.
three years. some 90 women affected per year, 270 women since one of them Kiri Allen. I guess we don't care enough.
For those who prefer a self test, the method needs to be available. Those who want the current method they should be able to access it.
Cervical cancer screening reduces cervical cancer, especially when caught at the pre cancer stage or insitu stage. The HPV jab is also in the tool kit.
currently you can not self test.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300281486/hpv-vaccine-uptake-languishing-below-target-amid-rising-cancer-rates
The below par up take of HPV vaccination needs to be looked into due to being effective for other cancers associated with HPV. I did not realise 2 injections were required.
2 or 3 injections, depending on age. It’s free for people between 9 and 26 years of age.
NZ Bus loses in court. NZ Bus is owned by an Australian private equity firm. Wellington's bus issues started after that sale in 2018.
Why do we do this to ourselves?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124941377/wellington-bus-lockout-to-end-after-court-grants-injunction-against-nz-bus
Good question. I guess profit for the few over rides the greater common good.
Rent controls
"…But it was hated by landlords, real-estate investors and members of Germany’s conservative political parties. The lawsuit against the cap was filed by 284 parliamentary members of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP)."
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/apr/23/berlin-rent-cap-defeated-landlords-empty
"Last week’s ruling represents a defeat for Berlin’s housing movement, but it may yet prove to be a pyrrhic victory for the city’s landlords and speculators. Anger over the nullification of the rent cap is fuelling support for the expropriation and remunicipalisation of thousands of units of public housing that had been privatised. Some activists would like to go further and expropriate empty flats."
The article shows how divisive rent control is between a tenant and a landlord and the extent a landlord will go to to stop it.
not just the investors but the politicians (who took the legal action)….the peoples representatives(?)
Rent controls are a political issue. When it comes to being homeless there are property investors who look the other way, a political party says no rent control and banks allow too much money to be loaned so high rent is required to pay the bank.
Having different interest rates, a high one for a property investor and a low one for a first home buyer.
Everything is a political issue….i find it curious that after 5 years of (presumably) a political decision, possibly at local level it has been legally challenged by the political class.
As noted in the piece, the victory(?) may well be pyrrhic…when something is unsustainable , one thing is certain….it wont continue.
That article illustrates very well how international and intractable the accomodation crisis is. When rental housing is the best, or only, investment with any sort of return and perceived lowish risk the shit's going to hit the fan for the poor bastards that have to rent.
We'll see if the imminent rise in interest rates, with a flow on to deposit rates will start to ease things for tenants.
The last ponzi standing?
Not so much ponzi, but the last reasonable investment with the perception of a manageable risk.
Housing will generally give you 5%, pretty risk free. Bank investments, the best my bank is offering is 0.90%. What are you going to do? The Share Market and Managed Funds offer better returns, comparable or maybe better than housing but require more knowledge and present more risk. Also most of the people putting their money into housing now were around when fortunes went down the gurgler in 1987 and 2008, often their fortunes, so are a tad wary of those sorts of investments now.
A rent strike could send a message to greedy landlords. Or not to pay the increase in rent.
Agree 1% is a poor return (esp with bail in) but I suspect that many are due to find out that RE is no less susceptible to losses ….and ponzi is exactly what it is, increasing credit to sustain existing credit, and it all has to be underpinned by an (shrinking) economy with only one direction for servicing costs.
The folly will be obvious after the event…all too late.
Pat
That should be published as a poster! Could everyone of an activist nature, copy this message without name or other information to distract the eye, on half of an A4 sheet (a size easier to find a place for on a bulletin board etc), in about 14 font, clear and easily read, and pin, staple, bluetack – whatever is appropriate, somewhere in a public place. And repeat in about two weeks somewhere else etc. It could be a new way of breaking through the great disease of Plum Smugness (ie the boy with the pie who pulled out a plum. This was a sly rhyme about a trusted servant who stole the title to lands hidden in a pie!
Just these words – (under the heading of Financial Loss for Real Estate investors – a simple, striking and unwelcome message.)!
Financial Loss for Real Estate Investors ie Houses
…Chris Roberts dissect the meaning of the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner." It's about a real estate swindle in 16th-century England. Roberts is the author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme.
You think the real estate market is treacherous today, try England in the late 1530s. That's what the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner" is really all about. ..
`Little Jack Horner sat in a corner eating his Christmas pie.
He stuck in a thumb and pulled out a plum and said,
"What a good boy am I."'
Where to begin with this? This is talking about the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII taking property from the Catholic Church. Jack, as we know, is actually called Thomas Horner. Now he was a steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury during the reign of Henry VIII. This is how the story goes: He was entrusted to take some title deeds of properties to Henry VIII as a bribe so the abbot could keep the main monastery, but was prepared to give away some of the lesser properties.
Now the title deeds were held and sealed in a pie, and Jack's off to London. But instead of delivering the bribe to Henry VIII, he helps himself to the pie, puts his hand in, pulls out a plum piece of real estate–in this case, a place called Mells Manor-
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5135080
Berlin has a nice history of squatting. 🙂
And the CDU/CSU – the federal german and bavarian state capitalists are neither Christian nor social.
As for the FDP – years ago they almost got taken over by students in a concerted effort to swamp membership for this party- so much fun, but sadly they found out too soon and stopped accepting membership request. This Party is useless on its own and can only get traction as part of a coalition and is usually considered a 'filler party' for the above mentioned Parties if they have to have a coalition partner that will be silent and roll over on demand.
And yes, while Germany is a federation we do have a Free State with its on set of laws – Bavaria, we have a free State City Hamburg with very much its own set of laws. Sadly Berlin – to new a town in terms of German history never got elevated to a 'free' status. And thus like in the eighties is still run by the same set of hostage takers it was in the 80s when we squatted due to no availablity of flats.
Squatting (and the like) may become the housing solution du jour
It should have done some some years ago to be honest.
this is a good rundown on the "Hafenstadt Occupation" in Hamburg that has been a thing now since the seventies. And interstingly enough it saved a lot of beautiful houses and complexes in Hamburg, one of them the 'Porttown' which is just stunning. One of the Oldest ones would be the "alte Flora' a building which has been occupied since 1986 🙂 (giggles with delight)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hausbesetzungen_in_Hamburg
or Berlin
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlacht_am_Fraenkelufer#:~:text=Ab%201979%20nahmen%20Besetzungen%20leerstehender,Haus%20Fraenkelufer%2048%20zu%20besetzen.
the beginning of the occupation of empty buidings in Berlin.
and this is repeated throughout Germany but these would be the most known towns for it. Ah, when the left was radical. Good times.
I am not sure how to convert these links into english language, but the first has a nice list of of occupied buildings and pictures to give an idea just what you can occupy if you put your heart to it. Some of these buildings are grandios.
Here are a few links about squatting if wanting to explore that theme.
2018 https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/property/108269114/an-australian-man-has-got-a-home-using-squatters-rights-and-theres-a-similar-law-in-new-zealand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatting_in_England_and_Wales
Under Section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, squatting in residential property became a criminal offence on 1 September 2012.
https://squattinglondon.wordpress.com/2017/11/01/an-early-history-of-british-squatting/
Why do we privatise? It's the latest economic fashion. Unfortunately they don't change economic OS as fast as clothing fashions. You have to put up with obvious bad management even criminality for so many decades it turns into an era. When it should be seen to be a glitch in a good record and quickly abandoned when noticed.
The UK government had had a postal service since 1516. I see from Wikipedia that a directive came from the EU to privatise it and that was done in 2012. I am so ignorant, I didn't think that the EU did this sort of thing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mail#Privatisation
There had been lots of complaints about it before that. Poor delivery service: Often a miserable, underpaid temp, who stuffs all the mail for six flats through the door in one torn and crumpled bundle because he or she is so frightened of being penalised by the manager for not meeting a preposterous delivery target that there is no time even to take the rubber bands off.
In beefing the delivery targets to unmanageable sizes per worker, then sacking postmen for failing to meet them, in axing the second post and generally thumping down the iron fist, the Royal Mail managed this year to make a £321m operating profit. They celebrated by imposing an immediate pay freeze on the workers.
2009/Oct.18 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/18/victoria-coren-royal-mail
Then they had started jailing the small subpostmasters for theft and hiding the fact that discrepancies were likely to be caused by faults in their tech caused by their Horizon operating system.
The Post Office ultimately settled the civil claim brought by more than 550 claimants for £57.75m, without admitting liability, in December 2019.
Justice Fraser found Horizon contained “bugs, errors and defects” and that there was a “material risk” shortfalls in branch accounts were caused by the system.
……Subpostmasters’ lives were “irreparably ruined”, as they lost their jobs, homes and marriages after they were prosecuted by the Post Office – which knew the Fujitsu-developed IT system had “faults and bugs from the earliest days of its operation”, the court of appeal heard last month.
Lawyers representing 42 former subpostmasters said evidence of serious defects in the Horizon system was “concealed from the courts, prosecutors and defence”, in order to protect the Post Office “at all costs”…
2021/Apr.23 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/23/former-subpostmasters-expected-to-have-names-cleared-after-court-appeal
A pregnant subpostmaster was jailed and said the baby stopped her from thinking about suicide. One man, imprisoned, found himself crying every day. Their names have been blackened, their ability to get work affected, they had to declare themselves criminals n forms at the airport etc. They felt forced to plead guilty as advised by their barristers, rather than take on the mighty power of the now unscrupulous Postal Service, once held in high esteem. These two people were both Indian. I just note that as of interest amongst all the disturbing facts of this dreadful business of the UKPost
Geez
Chicken run: New Zealand Post will start delivering KFC to beat mail slump
Thanks Grey, disturbing info on UK Post. The idea of public service has been affected/infected by the pernicious profit motive pandemic. Too late for a vaccine?
Good reading there Drowsy – (you aren't!). That ReMADE approach, I’m thinking now about our new health project. Is Labour attempting this with the Health Project meant to give our health system a vaccine against poor management? It needs to go to the very source of the flow of medical services – the Ministry of Health (or as Rosemary McDonald has sarcastically described as the Misery of Health.)