The previous Government swept through a decision to return to the Open Plan classrooms of the 80s. As classrooms were opened up the classes of 40+ with say 2 teachers became the norm. Doesn't suit all kids. Has your school just caught up?
If it has failed before, or elsewhere, in education, as in so many other things, National is all for it.
National likes “evidence based policy” so they can do the opposite,
It will take decades to recover the ground lost in education, due to National's, back to the 1880's. Never mind the 80's.
Maybe comprehend what he said, "at the expense of the gentle children", not quite what you implied James, unless you're shit stirring? People get a little sensitive and personal when it comes to their kids.
Whatever the spin, the basic aim of all neo-liberal 'reforms' in education is cost-cutting: fitting more students into less space for less expense. I would say that was the main reason for 'Mainstreaming' as well, vociferously though its proponents will deny it.
One of the factors apparently is that children are separated from their friends that have been made and with whom they have formed a learning pair or group.
You'll get a balanced appraisal of Muller out of it. Turns out Judith Collins did the numbers for him. Last weekend, if I heard Harman aright, before the polls. So the thing was up & running on the basis that the two polls would confirm what they already knew?
The bit I heard he referred to making the decision to launch it after the poll results. So it's the difference between contingency plan and activation of that plan that we're looking at…
And then later on Niall Ferguson (if you're into the occasional bit of earache).
When listening to Ferguson's wisdom as an 'Historian' – you really need to preface the title with "Neo-liberal Economic'. Just as well Fukuyama's original predictions didn't come to pass or Ferguson would be out of a job
Coupla media pros with lengthy personal experience of dispassionate political commentary sharing their insights after having talked with him personally often enough through past years. No revelations – just a healthy antidote to the biased views expressed onsite here from a position of total ignorance since he won the battle…
Do you happen to have any conflicts of interest that should be declared?
I only ask because the only previous dude I heard who went out of his way to praise provide a balanced view of Who-ller had some 'splaining to do after he quit Twitter the other day.
No. I'm retired, my membership of the Green Party (second time round) is current at 5.5 years. I'm typical of a large swathe of humanity in preferring balanced views on anything contentious – due to it being an essential pre-condition for peaceful co-existence. 😇
Mullers very first speech after he gained the leadership, included the oft repeated lying memes that have been endlessly repeated by the usual suspects, this month. https://www.facebook.com/gerard.otto
Just another who is happy to join in National's one of two standard propaganda approaches to get power. Othering and repetitive lying.
Repeating the same bs on every occasion, until repetition persuades even the people who should know better.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”.
Does National have a clone factory for these people?
CIA or CCP run. LOLZ
I don't disagree that he is likely to pitch to those he represents – every politician must to be successful. Lying is a subjective judgment. Usually used without any evidence to validate it. I suspect he is unlike Trump and not inclined to do it. However I do have an open mind on the issue so will consider evidence.
He was objectively lying. As Otto showed in the link I included.
Lying about their economic and social record, misusing statistics, and, and bashing an, "other" are their standard methods, when they are lagging in the polls.
Muller is totally following the script.
The occasional original thought, from people who think they are competent to run the country, would be good.
Didn't you get the sub text in Mullers speech. The lines we will hear endlessly until the election, in various guises. "The girl did a good job with the virus. Now it is time for the serious, men, in National, to sort the economy".
In offering to refund firms' GST, the National Party appears to misunderstand the GST system. Firms, in theory, don't pay GST since any GST that they do pay is recouped from their customers. It is the customers, ultimately, who pay GST. A better plan would be to abolish GST altogether.
Any refund would merely be a subsidy masquerading as a GST refund. Subsidizing small firms which find themselves in difficulties due to COVID-19 may well be a good policy, but there is no reason to suppose that the GST that they have paid is the appropriate amount that that subsidy should take.
You only pay gst on profit? This statement makes you unqualified to have any public comment or position on tax.
Businesses pay the difference between gst collected and gst paid. Abolishing gst would be the best tax cut for poor people and the best way to reduce business compliance costs. It’ll also help our local councils as all the rates collected will go to them. They won’t have to pay 15% to central government.
Which isn’t a valid reason not to do it. I don’t expect councils for instance to lower rates 15%
companies, however, work out there margins then add gst on top. So some might make supernormal profits. Those in competitive industries would struggle to retain customers if they didn’t.
there was a lot of teeth gnashing and doom predicting for the less than top bracket earners when gst went up 2.5% Under national round here. Why the reluctance to abolish gst altogether just because someone may profit? Abolishing it now would be the best move the government could make. Give poor consumers 15% more bang for their buck at least.
National will have to return to power to see calls for gst to be cut to return to the standard
On profit plus labour costs and other non GSTaxable costs. With depreciation GST will have been refunded at the time a depreciable asset was purchased.
At a macro level GST is paid to the government by those not registered collected by those who are registered. Companies are only collecting it on the behalf of the govt and passing on the payment to the Govt. i.e. people pay the GST, companies do not.
I thought it was a very simplistic sound bite designed to appeal to very simplistic small business owners who see GST as a cost like power or rent.
Offering a rebate based on the GST you've paid is good for business selling into the NZ market who are doing ok, so probably don't need it, hopeless for the businesses that aren't doing too well, hence not paying much GST because expenses exceed income, and bloody offensive to businesses who export, because export receipts are zero rated for GST.
Coming from Muller, who's worked for export businesses and I'd expect knows how this works, is just poorly thought out survival politics.
I had a Nat candidate rock into the shop one election saying that National's tax cuts were going to make my business thrive. I replied that it would be nice to be making a profit for tax to be an issue (it was in the middle of the late 90's recession / austerity). The look was priceless
Muller wants trans-tasman travel to resume as a matter of priority, but Australia has 16 new cases today so this would be a risk to New Zealand and will remain so until Australia can get their new cases to zero.
The article is by Luke Malpass and Tracey Watkins. Interesting because Watkins was the National Party reporter and head of politics at Stuff but retired/moved-on after the 2017 defeat. Mr Malpass obviously doesn't have the ear of the important people in National's caucus so had to get Watkins in the work the phones for him!
I clocked Watkins name on the article too Muttonbird and it piqued my interest. Didn’t she have an article up recently bemoaning the loss of controlling the narrative? Media get two polls up in quick succession facilitating a leadership challenge, nek minnit, wall to wall national party coverage. There’s even a bloody opinion piece on stuff by Paul Goldsmith.
Trans tasman travel could be a while away given Victoria’s inability to get control of the virus. The states won’t even allow travel between each other. Queensland border might not open till September.
Pretty clear to me the comment in question is about if the Herald want a 50m handout, they have to do the bidding of the pm and earn it, probably like the accusations thrown from the left when tv3 got bailed out, even though it completely ignores two days of puff pieces on Mulder and kayley.
There is no way trans travel will start for a very long time as they said in Melbourne today we are finding more because we are testing more. so community cases are most of their cases .also Queensland will not open their border before September. and the NZ public will not want it to until all these issues are cleared up. Best he shuts up about that for a while
Mr Muller has been so busy developing his plan (not for NZ , but to roll Simon Bridges) that he seems to has missed that the trans Tasman bubble is well under way after Australia invited Jacinda to attend then cabinet meeting and that work is being done on it already on this. It is not his call to make on this in isolation. Actually Australia has a say in this too. Given his haste on this does that mean he would have left the lockdown sooner, or even kept the economy going in a partial lockdown.
Does Muller not understand gst? Small business owners collect the tax, but get a rebate of the gst they pay.
" The Herald on Sunday has since been told by a reliable source that Muller won the leadership by just one vote, although that may never be known for certain. "
Now that his old friend Todd Muller is National leader, Matthew Hooton is pulling back from political commentary. His critics say he should have done so before the contest kicked off, writes Colin Peacock for RNZ.
It was yet another example of control from the centre; funding for a while was only provided for classrooms that met the large 2 classes to a room model. Many are now being ''renovated"" to put a large divider down the middle so teachers can be heard by their class . . .
Sadly the primary school closest to me had their renovation approved pre-2017 election – as a ""Normal"" school some new teachers will know what schools to avoid . . .
I can only base this on a half-remembered presentation from an MoE guy early last year (during which I might have been busy or dozed off), but ISTR that was some of the point of the design approach they were going for – it could be adapted for different school needs.
If you could do group learning or needed lots of space for an art or drama class, open it up. If you need separated class rooms, the adaptation isn't structural.
Biden gets tough: "In a recent campaign ad, Joe Biden accused the president of being too soft on China over COVID-19. This decision to criticize Donald Trump on China and subsequent signals that Biden will take a tough approach toward Beijing have made some progressives nervous." https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/how-should-biden-handle-china/612052/
"Writing in The Atlantic, Peter Beinart called Biden’s ad “a jingoistic fantasy” that may put Asian Americans in the crosshairs of racist attacks, “hastening a geopolitical confrontation that threatens progressive goals.” In The New York Times, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft scholars Rachel Esplin Odell and Stephen Wertheim warned Biden about following Trump into a new cold war with China and argued that the United States should seek to work with Beijing on shared challenges such as pandemics and climate change."
"Critics of Biden’s China policy are proposing far-reaching U.S.-China cooperation that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent diplomatic record suggests is chimerical at best." You bet. Attempts to cooperate with emperors seem sadly lacking in the historical record. My way or the highway.
Completely understand what the government is trying to do with repealing the requirement for certain consents and think it's a reasonable thing to do…. however the law of unexpected consequences may come into play.
It's building consents not resource or planning consents? The district plan about the size and placement of buildings will still need to be followed I assume.? I can't see us being able to build 4 car garages with kerb crossings onto a major arterial route under this scheme if we couldn't before.
yes know who it went to but would suggest their input will be minimal on the outcome…i.e.their thoughts will be largely irrelevant to the implementation or not…and frankly its just as well.
Not a bad list. Agree with the need to check the priority of shovel ready projects so that we don't build too many more unneeded road tunnels.
I also though that the projects grouped:
Restoration- undoing past sins like restoring wetlands
Repurpose & resilience- electric rail not fossil fuel. 3 waters
Redirected- future facing projects like individual generation of electricity
I would add a few other screens too apart from going for a decent geographic spread of jobs and money.
– Can the investment be easily sold or reversed for gain by an incoming RW government. Individual power generation maybe not others yes
– does the investment promote the interests of for profit groupings (neo lib) or is a for community/ widespread individual benefit and with decision making at the lowest viable level.
-Is it progressive or regressive. Better power generation could be tied to the provision of universal basic services – improving lives and reducing community costs rather than high power company salaries and overseas dividends
-Does it embed a future economic low carbon approach that RW governments would struggle to undo.
Lastly, I see some of yesterday's ideas never sleep. Fran Wilde and another mayor trying again to amalgamate all the wellington councils. Pity she can't distingush between representation which does not need to be amalgamated and joint projects.
Banks and other entities trying to us the crisis to shove everything on line or into their preferred models of RW gouging.
Forest & Bird has laid an urgent complaint with the Chief Ombudsman, after MBIE officials took 30 days to refuse a request to release information on how the decisions are being weighted on nearly 2000 ‘shovel-ready’ project proposals.
Documents, including Forest & Bird’s complaint letter, are available here.
That would figure The government urgently needs to revamp the public service. Mobie according to the local scuttle still thinks it in the JK era. thank goodness the health dept had had it's refresh
From since when did Stuff allow party political broadcasts to masquerade as opinion?
Perhaps Stuff should publish an expose on how National steered NZ out of the GFC on the back of the economic legacy left by the previous Labour-led government? And that traditionally it’s National that sucks money away from the economy into the pockets of the rich, then leaves it to Labour to cop the blame and do all the fixing until the next change of government when the whole cycle starts over?
The general population needs to know this. National knows about money, but being good at manipulating the economy for the benefit of a few is not the same as being good economic managers. The myth rests on seeing National as a party for the wealthy, "so maybe if I vote for them I'll get rich, too". This thinking needs to be attacked head on and destroyed.
and important enough for you to link to, you know it's called "clickbait" for a reason (I couldn't be bothered reading it myself, too busy watching the latest Tory debacle over in the UK).
The Herald only published the story to trigger right-wing nut jobs. After all, they need something to talk about because the new Nats leader is less charismatic than a block of wood.
I'm hoping Herr Muller will appoint Mathew Hooten minister of propaganda. Mathew is of that age that requires a 911 Menoporsche and God knows he's earned it.
I went and saw Aussie author Bryce Courtney speak, changed my life.
He had a big corporate job, key player in a fabulous Sydney ad agency. He got a bonus, went and bought a sick 911. Just after taking delivery, sitting at the lights, he overheard the very type of human he was keen to attract. "Look at the desperate silver-fox in his Menoporsche."
He resigned and talked to a publisher about the practice book he had been working on: "The Power of One."
Throw a few sunflower seeds about this autumn. Easy.
Come spring your grandchildren will be amazed by the giant flowers and when they ask why you grew sunflowers you'll be able to say "I did it for you. You remind me of Sunflowers."
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Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
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Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
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Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
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Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
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I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
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A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam G. Arian, Lecturer (Accounting & Finance), Australian Catholic University Loic Manegarium/Pexels Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
Who are the fools that decided to experiment with kids education buy making classes into hubs with 40 kids in them??
My kids gone from loving school to dreading it in 1 term .
Please explain??
Ask your local Principal to explain. Perhaps 4 groups of 10 to limit covid-19 contacts?
It was done pre covid.
Unfortunately the principle is a lovely lady who thinks the trouble makers should be given multiple chances at the expense of the gentle children.
The previous Government swept through a decision to return to the Open Plan classrooms of the 80s. As classrooms were opened up the classes of 40+ with say 2 teachers became the norm. Doesn't suit all kids. Has your school just caught up?
Open Plan failed in the 80s.
If it has failed before, or elsewhere, in education, as in so many other things, National is all for it.
National likes “evidence based policy” so they can do the opposite,
It will take decades to recover the ground lost in education, due to National's, back to the 1880's. Never mind the 80's.
Ianmac ,, the school started bringing kids out from town to boost the roll and its become a runaway train ( possible wreck) .
We weren't consulted in any way about the expansion into hub systems or my child being 1 of 6 put up into a hub with the two years ahead.
You don’t think that the trouble makers should be given a chances?
why are they being like they are ? No breakfast? Problems at home ? But as soon as it impacts you – off they go.
god forbid your kids play up and become the trouble maker – I assume you would want them to be given chances and hep then?
Maybe comprehend what he said, "at the expense of the gentle children", not quite what you implied James, unless you're shit stirring? People get a little sensitive and personal when it comes to their kids.
And you can be certain James is a massive Nimby in all other respects so his comment is particularly at odds with what you would expect from him.
This added nothing to the conversation, did it? Just pointing it out for you. You can do so much better.
We don't comment in a bubble.
'You can do so much better.'
Can he though ?
What did this add to the conversation?
Both wasting oxygen. Grow up.
Do you want to be me today?
If you give him a chance, yes.
Feeling lucky today, do you?
You still interacting with James? He knows how to rile.
Do you think expanding classes to 40 helps the kids with behavioral issues??
Whatever the spin, the basic aim of all neo-liberal 'reforms' in education is cost-cutting: fitting more students into less space for less expense. I would say that was the main reason for 'Mainstreaming' as well, vociferously though its proponents will deny it.
Exactly right.
One of the factors apparently is that children are separated from their friends that have been made and with whom they have formed a learning pair or group.
Worth a listen: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018747729/linda-clark-and-richard-harman-discuss-politics-and-progress
You'll get a balanced appraisal of Muller out of it. Turns out Judith Collins did the numbers for him. Last weekend, if I heard Harman aright, before the polls. So the thing was up & running on the basis that the two polls would confirm what they already knew?
But when asked by a journalist at his first interview after gaining Leadership, Muller said he thought about going for Leader on Wednesday.
The bit I heard he referred to making the decision to launch it after the poll results. So it's the difference between contingency plan and activation of that plan that we're looking at…
And then later on Niall Ferguson (if you're into the occasional bit of earache).
When listening to Ferguson's wisdom as an 'Historian' – you really need to preface the title with "Neo-liberal Economic'. Just as well Fukuyama's original predictions didn't come to pass or Ferguson would be out of a job
Complete with denigrating governments for temporarily thwarting the free market's glorious destruction of businesses.
20’ 54”; yeah, nah.
What was the “balanced appraisal of Muller”, in a nutshell, and what did you think of it?
Coupla media pros with lengthy personal experience of dispassionate political commentary sharing their insights after having talked with him personally often enough through past years. No revelations – just a healthy antidote to the biased views expressed onsite here from a position of total ignorance since he won the battle…
Do you happen to have any conflicts of interest that should be declared?
I only ask because the only previous dude I heard who went out of his way to
praiseprovide a balanced view of Who-ller had some 'splaining to do after he quit Twitter the other day.No. I'm retired, my membership of the Green Party (second time round) is current at 5.5 years. I'm typical of a large swathe of humanity in preferring balanced views on anything contentious – due to it being an essential pre-condition for peaceful co-existence. 😇
Mullers very first speech after he gained the leadership, included the oft repeated lying memes that have been endlessly repeated by the usual suspects, this month.
https://www.facebook.com/gerard.otto
Just another who is happy to join in National's one of two standard propaganda approaches to get power. Othering and repetitive lying.
Repeating the same bs on every occasion, until repetition persuades even the people who should know better.
“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”.
Does National have a clone factory for these people?
CIA or CCP run. LOLZ
I don't disagree that he is likely to pitch to those he represents – every politician must to be successful. Lying is a subjective judgment. Usually used without any evidence to validate it. I suspect he is unlike Trump and not inclined to do it. However I do have an open mind on the issue so will consider evidence.
He was objectively lying. As Otto showed in the link I included.
Lying about their economic and social record, misusing statistics, and, and bashing an, "other" are their standard methods, when they are lagging in the polls.
Muller is totally following the script.
The occasional original thought, from people who think they are competent to run the country, would be good.
Didn't you get the sub text in Mullers speech. The lines we will hear endlessly until the election, in various guises. "The girl did a good job with the virus. Now it is time for the serious, men, in National, to sort the economy".
Collins merely told Bridges that the numbers were being done against him. Please get the basics right.
Validate such truth claims via actual quotes lest you seem frivolous. 🙄
It is from the audio you incorrectly characterised.
In offering to refund firms' GST, the National Party appears to misunderstand the GST system. Firms, in theory, don't pay GST since any GST that they do pay is recouped from their customers. It is the customers, ultimately, who pay GST. A better plan would be to abolish GST altogether.
Makes a good headline for the nats though, same shit different day
Any refund would merely be a subsidy masquerading as a GST refund. Subsidizing small firms which find themselves in difficulties due to COVID-19 may well be a good policy, but there is no reason to suppose that the GST that they have paid is the appropriate amount that that subsidy should take.
Yes, just corporate welfare and using GST payable as a (misleading) proxy for business scale. Lazy.
Should be in relation to business income tax paid.
However that would mean the many National supporters businesses, that are tax dodgers, would lose out.
And you only pay GST on profit. The balance is rebated so the strugglers don't get the steam off a turd, typical Nats.
You only pay gst on profit? This statement makes you unqualified to have any public comment or position on tax.
Businesses pay the difference between gst collected and gst paid. Abolishing gst would be the best tax cut for poor people and the best way to reduce business compliance costs. It’ll also help our local councils as all the rates collected will go to them. They won’t have to pay 15% to central government.
If we abolish GST we can't assume that everyone will automatically reduce their prices by 15% unfortunately.
Which isn’t a valid reason not to do it. I don’t expect councils for instance to lower rates 15%
companies, however, work out there margins then add gst on top. So some might make supernormal profits. Those in competitive industries would struggle to retain customers if they didn’t.
there was a lot of teeth gnashing and doom predicting for the less than top bracket earners when gst went up 2.5% Under national round here. Why the reluctance to abolish gst altogether just because someone may profit? Abolishing it now would be the best move the government could make. Give poor consumers 15% more bang for their buck at least.
National will have to return to power to see calls for gst to be cut to return to the standard
On profit plus labour costs and other non GSTaxable costs. With depreciation GST will have been refunded at the time a depreciable asset was purchased.
At a macro level GST is paid to the government by those not registered collected by those who are registered. Companies are only collecting it on the behalf of the govt and passing on the payment to the Govt. i.e. people pay the GST, companies do not.
I thought it was a very simplistic sound bite designed to appeal to very simplistic small business owners who see GST as a cost like power or rent.
Offering a rebate based on the GST you've paid is good for business selling into the NZ market who are doing ok, so probably don't need it, hopeless for the businesses that aren't doing too well, hence not paying much GST because expenses exceed income, and bloody offensive to businesses who export, because export receipts are zero rated for GST.
Coming from Muller, who's worked for export businesses and I'd expect knows how this works, is just poorly thought out survival politics.
Can see this blowing up in his face.
Is simply another variation of 'tax cuts'….and fully in line with the narrative National will continue to play.
Never mind that it doesn't work, it makes the right noises.
I had a Nat candidate rock into the shop one election saying that National's tax cuts were going to make my business thrive. I replied that it would be nice to be making a profit for tax to be an issue (it was in the middle of the late 90's recession / austerity). The look was priceless
Muller wants trans-tasman travel to resume as a matter of priority, but Australia has 16 new cases today so this would be a risk to New Zealand and will remain so until Australia can get their new cases to zero.
The article is by Luke Malpass and Tracey Watkins. Interesting because Watkins was the National Party reporter and head of politics at Stuff but retired/moved-on after the 2017 defeat. Mr Malpass obviously doesn't have the ear of the important people in National's caucus so had to get Watkins in the work the phones for him!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/121607160/how-todd-muller-took-simon-bridges-by-surprise
I clocked Watkins name on the article too Muttonbird and it piqued my interest. Didn’t she have an article up recently bemoaning the loss of controlling the narrative? Media get two polls up in quick succession facilitating a leadership challenge, nek minnit, wall to wall national party coverage. There’s even a bloody opinion piece on stuff by Paul Goldsmith.
Trans tasman travel could be a while away given Victoria’s inability to get control of the virus. The states won’t even allow travel between each other. Queensland border might not open till September.
There's always Tasmania 🙂
You forgot the sarc tag.
https://covidlive.com.au/
Total Active Cases
NSW 385
Vic 99
Qld 13
WA 2
SA 0
Tas 16
ACT 0
NT 0
Total 515
Nice one Damien Venuto:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12334259
“Todd Muller’s MAGA hat is not okay.”
Well for a 50M handout, they have to do something.
The NZ Herald got a $50M handout? Pray tell.
Your comprehension skills are a bit down today anonymous one.
I didn't say the Herald had received a 50m handout.
What did you say then?
Perhaps go and play Revolution 9 backwards for some clues..
[Your luck is about to run out. Please clarify what you meant @ 5.1 and don’t be a dick today because you can do better too, thanks – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 11:31 AM.
Ha Ha no thanks OAB…
[No worries. Have four days off instead plus another two for calling me OAB – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 12:16 PM.
Pretty clear to me the comment in question is about if the Herald want a 50m handout, they have to do the bidding of the pm and earn it, probably like the accusations thrown from the left when tv3 got bailed out, even though it completely ignores two days of puff pieces on Mulder and kayley.
The commenter was asked to clarify but chose not to and has been given some time off.
The only $50m bailout announced so far was mainly for broadcasters rather than print media in any case. Throwaway line.
There is no way trans travel will start for a very long time as they said in Melbourne today we are finding more because we are testing more. so community cases are most of their cases .also Queensland will not open their border before September. and the NZ public will not want it to until all these issues are cleared up. Best he shuts up about that for a while
This. Muller is blurting before thinking. Not a good sign for the Nats.
He seems your usual, arrogant born-to-rule tory.
Tory? Really?
Its like calling Labour Communist, just a load of crap. Come on Mutton you can do better!
small tee tory.
"small 't' Tory" Perfectly captured, weka and exquisitely true!
I doubt many Labour MPs are fans of the Communist Manifesto, true.
But I suspect many nats would be great fans of Thatcher's policies, if they bothered to read anything about her.
Mr Muller has been so busy developing his plan (not for NZ , but to roll Simon Bridges) that he seems to has missed that the trans Tasman bubble is well under way after Australia invited Jacinda to attend then cabinet meeting and that work is being done on it already on this. It is not his call to make on this in isolation. Actually Australia has a say in this too. Given his haste on this does that mean he would have left the lockdown sooner, or even kept the economy going in a partial lockdown.
Does Muller not understand gst? Small business owners collect the tax, but get a rebate of the gst they pay.
" The Herald on Sunday has since been told by a reliable source that Muller won the leadership by just one vote, although that may never be known for certain. "
from Claire Trevett
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12334244
Exploring the potential conflicts of interest in Mr Hooton's advocacy of Muller on RNZ (9min), including their Head of News' view of it: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018747708/prominent-pundit-pulls-back-over-muller-link
Hooton has deleted his Twitter account? Things are getting serious.
And:
Oh dear, poor Matt, the victim now!
He has temporarily deleted his account in the past.
You'd assume if his role with the National Party has been/is being resumed, it'll be more than a temporary deletion?
Perhaps it is temporary until he has had time to clean up any incriminating evidence.
Is it possible that Hooton has a new job? Muller might need a Campaign Manager perhaps.
Very possible…one things for sure, Paula Bennet isn't going to have that role.
What has happened to Paula? I rated her for the top-job, but she's been buried…somewhere…for sometime…Paula? Paula?
You rated Paula?…methinks you're being facetious
The same Mediawatch story in text form: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/24-05-2020/hooton-is-withdrawing-from-punditry-critics-say-hes-at-least-a-week-late/
I did wonder what Matthew’s Magic Numbers were all about …
It’s pretty legal, isn’t it? But is it Dirty Politics? Nek minit …
Hey someone had to leak the Curia internal polling to the Nat caucus who were being denied them by Simon's bunch. Wonder where he got them from..?
We’ll never know for certain but my guess is Christopher.
Has to be someone who was either trusted with them by the Bridges cabal or was getting them slipped via Farrar, I guess.
Suthers seems to have been comfortable in a ponyboy kinda way.
Hooton's company website has disappeared as well – Exceltium Corporate & Public Affairs Ltd.
It was yet another example of control from the centre; funding for a while was only provided for classrooms that met the large 2 classes to a room model. Many are now being ''renovated"" to put a large divider down the middle so teachers can be heard by their class . . .
Sadly the primary school closest to me had their renovation approved pre-2017 election – as a ""Normal"" school some new teachers will know what schools to avoid . . .
I can only base this on a half-remembered presentation from an MoE guy early last year (during which I might have been busy or dozed off), but ISTR that was some of the point of the design approach they were going for – it could be adapted for different school needs.
If you could do group learning or needed lots of space for an art or drama class, open it up. If you need separated class rooms, the adaptation isn't structural.
Biden gets tough: "In a recent campaign ad, Joe Biden accused the president of being too soft on China over COVID-19. This decision to criticize Donald Trump on China and subsequent signals that Biden will take a tough approach toward Beijing have made some progressives nervous." https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/how-should-biden-handle-china/612052/
"Writing in The Atlantic, Peter Beinart called Biden’s ad “a jingoistic fantasy” that may put Asian Americans in the crosshairs of racist attacks, “hastening a geopolitical confrontation that threatens progressive goals.” In The New York Times, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft scholars Rachel Esplin Odell and Stephen Wertheim warned Biden about following Trump into a new cold war with China and argued that the United States should seek to work with Beijing on shared challenges such as pandemics and climate change."
"Critics of Biden’s China policy are proposing far-reaching U.S.-China cooperation that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent diplomatic record suggests is chimerical at best." You bet. Attempts to cooperate with emperors seem sadly lacking in the historical record. My way or the highway.
Not quite sure about this
There seems to have been a great deal of scientific collaboration for quite some years between the US, France ,Uk and China
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236629065_The_role_of_Chinese-American_scientists_in_China-US_scientific_collaboration_A_study_in_nanotechnology
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/11/11/study-quantifies-benefits-us-china-scientific-collaboration
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/ce/ceindo/eng/whjy/kjjl/P020180115591904368673.pdf
Could be his advisors want him to out-macho Trump. 🙄 Yeah, I know. It's a male thing. Only works if in character, I suspect.
I agree that collaboration is, in principle, what we need in geopolitics. We're all up against primate internal wiring…
Completely understand what the government is trying to do with repealing the requirement for certain consents and think it's a reasonable thing to do…. however the law of unexpected consequences may come into play.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/121606376/diy-dream-come-true-building-consents-for-low-risk-projects-scrapped
A flood of granny-flat collapses in a decade's time. And backyard slum-lords across poor suburbs in the meantime.
I doubt granny-flats will be exempt, and everything will still need to be built to code.
It's building consents not resource or planning consents? The district plan about the size and placement of buildings will still need to be followed I assume.? I can't see us being able to build 4 car garages with kerb crossings onto a major arterial route under this scheme if we couldn't before.
Better or BAU?
https://mcusercontent.com/056bc28505444958c9358e331/files/909aa867-cb50-48a7-93c3-0b433650dcad/Letter_to_PM_from_ENGOs_Restoring_Aotearoa.pdf
My script-blocker has blanked that out.
Didn't expect the content to load, thought only the link would
All pretty sound suggestions.
Certainly a move in the right direction
It is. Surprising that Salmon is aboard (bluegreen). Hefty consensus. Shane & Phil will have to seek advice on how think about it…
Shane and Phil?
Check out who those copies went to…
yes know who it went to but would suggest their input will be minimal on the outcome…i.e.their thoughts will be largely irrelevant to the implementation or not…and frankly its just as well.
That is an excellent list of job-rich priorities.
Of course, only if you Party Vote Green you get most of them.
Not a bad list. Agree with the need to check the priority of shovel ready projects so that we don't build too many more unneeded road tunnels.
I also though that the projects grouped:
Restoration- undoing past sins like restoring wetlands
Repurpose & resilience- electric rail not fossil fuel. 3 waters
Redirected- future facing projects like individual generation of electricity
I would add a few other screens too apart from going for a decent geographic spread of jobs and money.
– Can the investment be easily sold or reversed for gain by an incoming RW government. Individual power generation maybe not others yes
– does the investment promote the interests of for profit groupings (neo lib) or is a for community/ widespread individual benefit and with decision making at the lowest viable level.
-Is it progressive or regressive. Better power generation could be tied to the provision of universal basic services – improving lives and reducing community costs rather than high power company salaries and overseas dividends
-Does it embed a future economic low carbon approach that RW governments would struggle to undo.
Lastly, I see some of yesterday's ideas never sleep. Fran Wilde and another mayor trying again to amalgamate all the wellington councils. Pity she can't distingush between representation which does not need to be amalgamated and joint projects.
Banks and other entities trying to us the crisis to shove everything on line or into their preferred models of RW gouging.
This from TDB. May.24/20
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/05/24/mbie-secrecy-not-how-democracy-should-function-forest-and-bird/#comment-507677
That would figure The government urgently needs to revamp the public service. Mobie according to the local scuttle still thinks it in the JK era. thank goodness the health dept had had it's refresh
7am tomorrow.
https://twitter.com/YoYo_Ma/status/1264220735066853376
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/300019211/its-been-a-tough-week-for-simon-bridges–but-this-isnt-tiddlywinks
From since when did Stuff allow party political broadcasts to masquerade as opinion?
Perhaps Stuff should publish an expose on how National steered NZ out of the GFC on the back of the economic legacy left by the previous Labour-led government? And that traditionally it’s National that sucks money away from the economy into the pockets of the rich, then leaves it to Labour to cop the blame and do all the fixing until the next change of government when the whole cycle starts over?
The general population needs to know this. National knows about money, but being good at manipulating the economy for the benefit of a few is not the same as being good economic managers. The myth rests on seeing National as a party for the wealthy, "so maybe if I vote for them I'll get rich, too". This thinking needs to be attacked head on and destroyed.
Jacinda Ardern realising she forgot to ditch the milk in her fridge makes national news.
Great to see our intrepid media keeping up the real important stories.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12334283
and important enough for you to link to, you know it's called "clickbait" for a reason (I couldn't be bothered reading it myself, too busy watching the latest Tory debacle over in the UK).
The Herald only published the story to trigger right-wing nut jobs. After all, they need something to talk about because the new Nats leader is less charismatic than a block of wood.
Remarkable gaffe from Todd Muller on TV1 news tonight. He calls for NZ to re-open the borders, and specifically to arrivals from China.
If he thinks that's a vote-winner, he reads the room as badly as Bridges.
I'm hoping Herr Muller will appoint Mathew Hooten minister of propaganda. Mathew is of that age that requires a 911 Menoporsche and God knows he's earned it.
I went and saw Aussie author Bryce Courtney speak, changed my life.
He had a big corporate job, key player in a fabulous Sydney ad agency. He got a bonus, went and bought a sick 911. Just after taking delivery, sitting at the lights, he overheard the very type of human he was keen to attract. "Look at the desperate silver-fox in his Menoporsche."
He resigned and talked to a publisher about the practice book he had been working on: "The Power of One."
Great book, and surprisingly really funny, bet he's a hoot to hear talking.
Yes, the thought of an orphaned boy befriending a chicken lacks credibility. Bryce made us fall in love with that chook.
Yes, I'm sure we all left his talk thinking, 'Gee I like that guy.'
Quality person.
Throw a few sunflower seeds about this autumn. Easy.
Come spring your grandchildren will be amazed by the giant flowers and when they ask why you grew sunflowers you'll be able to say "I did it for you. You remind me of Sunflowers."
Kia Ora The Am Show.
That's great local sports being able to start up with health and safety hygiene plans in place.
Buy New Zealand made is great.
I read some lines of a person Im quite glad that his opinions are not appropriate in the year 2020.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
The tax free payment is a payment design to keep tangata afloat and Aotearoa afloat during these unusual times.
Congratulations on the new baby.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Funny. I know A few Goldsmiths.
Ka pai using Pepe mail to teach our tamariki about our environment.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Newshub.
It great that Aotearoa has invested funds into vax research.
Jender equality at the Japanese bank is awesome the first Wahine CEO.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Newshub.
Shocking behaviour.
Shows how the tech industry has changed the World the Ion Age.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Move your butt looks like a great cause rasing funding for bowel cancer.
Te Papa opening is great there is some amazing things help by the Museum.
The Hangi pit makes me hungry.
A 4 day work week will save our environment and give people more time to live a good life.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Its great that teachers aids are getting paid equally as men based industry’s.
Papatuanuku is paradise that needs to be respected.
Great the person giving free dental service for the poor common people.
Ka kite Ano