Power is off all day for us so a swap/buy/exchange market up the road for us, then the beach – not bad practice for the times ahead where fun and experience will be had closer to home and closer to hand.
Capitalist extremist identifies homelessness as democracy.
During the Cold War, terms like ‘Democratic Society’, ‘The Free World’ became synonymous with capitalism. These terms were often used interchangeably, (and opportunistically, IMO), as antonyms in reference to Communist societies like Soviet Russia.
In an extraordinary blast from the past, this cold war dog whistle is being dragged up to justify keeping families in cars, on the streets, or bunked up in motels at huge expense to the taxpayer, while tens of thousands of perfectly good houses stand empty.
The problems of homelessness, housing stress, and the housing crisis in this country have been laid at the feet of the past National Government by the current Housing Minister, Phil Twyford. But that we should reverse this policy has been labeled, “Extremist nonsense” by Property Institute of New Zealand chief executive Ashley Church
The notion that people should be penalised for owning empty homes is “extremist nonsense” in a democratic society, he says.
Stuff.co.nz reporters Rob Stock and John Anthony debunk Ashley Church’s fallacious and self serving justification, noting that other democratic societies have implemented measures to crackdown on empty home owners.
Vancouver in Canada recently introduced a tax on empty homes expected to bring in C$30m (NZ$32.8m) of revenue in its first year.
I would encourage the current housing minister to push past the nasty bed baiting spin of Ashley Church, and other self interested parties, and copy Vancouver’s courageous, (and dare I say it, socialist) example.
New Zealand’s Housing Minister Phil Twyford blames the National Government for the proliferation of ghost houses but has stopped short of offering up any measures to discourage the practice.
See that? It’s the invisible hand of the market giving we the people the invisible finger…
Anthony Robins – June 16, 2015
To which I would add Anthony Robins’ invisible hand is attached to the very visible and self interested wrist of Ashley Church and the Property Institute, and the landlords and speculators whose interests his organisation exists to protect.
The notion that people should be penalised for owning empty homes is “extremist nonsense” in a democratic society, he says.
Proof, if you needed it, that capitalists don’t give a shit about anybody but themselves.
In a democratic society we’d ensure that everyone had a place to live and food on the table. It’s only in capitalism that we start accepting excuses from the capitalists as to why people need to be poor and oppressed.
That data doesn’t really tell us much Jenny. What we don’t know is how many of those 33,360 vacant homes are potentially available for rental/sale.
At any given point in time there will always be a large quantity of vacant properties and the reasons they’re empty are many & varied as is the duration of their vacancies. That 33.36k were only vacant at the time of the census, it didn’t mean they were permanently vacant.
Stats give this info;
“An unoccupied dwelling is classified as ’empty’ if it clearly has no current occupants and new occupants are not expected to move in on or before census night. Unoccupied dwellings that are being repaired or renovated are defined as empty dwellings. Unoccupied baches or holiday homes are also defined as empty dwellings.
A dwelling is classified as having ‘residents away’, where occupants of a dwelling are known to be temporarily away and are not expected to return on or before census night.”
The data table for the census unoccupied dwelling count has this at note 1;
“1. Unoccupied dwelling count is made up of ‘residents away’ and ‘empty dwelling’. ”
Anyone on holiday at the time of the census would be ‘residents away’ if they left the house vacant (no-one left behind)
The census recorded 36,597 cases of overcrowding, affecting 203,820 people.
There were two main classifications for unoccupied homes in the census “empty dwelling” and “residents away”. Just as you say, it seems that there was no further breakdown.
We can argue around the margins about how many houses might be empty for valid reasons, And I admit that I may be making a subjective call here, but I the sheer numbers, “empty dwellings” recorded, 141,366 nationally and 33,360 in Auckland, tells a story of unaffordability, in rents and house prices, that puts the majority of these “empty dwellings” out of the reach of many of the people captured in this survey suffering from housing distress.
Maybe when we can get to compare the 2013 figures, with the latest 2018 census figures for housing we might be better informed.
In the meantime we will have to go to other sources to get a handle on the problem.
Figures from the last census showed there were 141,366 empty dwellings in New Zealand, which are separate from houses that are vacant because their owners are away around census time.* More than 33,000 houses in Auckland were officially classified as empty in 2016.
Colleen Hawkes – May 16, 2018
*(My emphasis) J.
Minister of Housing Phil Twyford stated earlier this month that New Zealand will not be following Vancouver’s example in introducing taxes on empty houses.
“The Labour-led government has a comprehensive plan to address the housing shortage including cracking down on offshore speculators and changing rules around negative gearing,” Twyford said.
Christchurch Progressive Network convenor John Minto, who is advocating such a scheme, has criticised the government’s “poor use of money”. “It is stupid for the government to spend tens of millions on motel accommodation for homeless families when we have 33,000 empty homes in Auckland (2016 figures).”
I might ask Phil Twyford and Phil Goff both: is the suffering of middle and upper class bach owners, and housing speculators really comparable with the suffering of families living with overcrowding, insecurity and homelessness?
I don’t dispute the seriousness of the lack of housing Jenny. I was just making the observation that the numbers look to be wrong on the empty houses and it may be a dead duck. Wrong numbers lead to wrong decisions.
I honestly can’t see that many investors sitting on property like that, they exist for sure but my expectations are that it occurs in the high-wealth areas mostly. You’d need to be pretty cash rich to not need rental income, interest on borrowing chews capital and eats up profits real fast.
Kia ora DH, I strongly suspect that your expectations that many of the 33,360 “empty houses” recorded in Auckland in the census are at the high end of the market. (Of course it would be good to know for sure). But anecdotal evidence seems to back up this expectation.
But forcing these houses back onto the rental or housing market should free up more houses further down the housing ladder. The sheer numbers guarantee it.
Vancouver thought it was worth it.
Vancouver’s tax on empty homes will bring in $30-million of revenue in its first year, but that will come from only a tiny proportion of homeowners.
More than 5,000 properties out of 8,500 deemed vacant by city staff received exemptions under rules of the new tax bylaw, which is a first for Canada and is being watched closely around the world.
Nearly 61% of the homes declared empty in Vancouver were condos, and other multi-family properties made up almost 6%, according to the city government. More than a quarter of the empty properties were in downtown Vancouver.
The City of Vancouver released a heat map Thursday showing the distribution of residential properties where owners haven’t yet made a declaration to avoid its new empty-homes tax, and the highest concentration is in condo-rich Yaletown.
The city says about 182,000 residential property owners — about 98 per cent — have submitted their declarations but another 4,000 still haven’t. Most of the undeclared properties are in the downtown core and the highest concentrations are in Yaletown, Coal Harbour and the West End.
Homeowners in the three condo-dense neighbourhoods who have not declared occupancy risk paying a one per cent tax on their properties’ assessed values. Assessed values of residential strata units — such as condos — in Metro Vancouver skyrocketed this year by five to 35 per cent.
Residential property owners had until Feb. 2 to declare occupancy, however, the city extended the deadline to March 5 in order to give the 4,000 who had not declared a chance to avoid penalties and fines.
The empty-homes tax, a nationwide-first, was approved by councillors in 2016 as a tool to spur owners to rent out their empty homes. Any property owner that fails to declare by March 5 is subject to the tax plus a $250 fee. Declarations will be subject to an audit process and false declarations could result in fines of up to $10,000 per day, according to the city.
“With a near-zero vacancy rate in Vancouver, our key goal is to shift empty or under-used housing into the rental market. The city has done extensive advertising and notifications about the Empty Homes Tax for more than a year — all homeowners should know that they have to file a declaration, or their homes will be considered empty by default,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a news release.
Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program, who has been researching the distribution of empty homes in Vancouver, said the city’s heat map matches well with a map he generated from city data identifying private dwellings not occupied by usual residents. It also matches closely with a map of population density he prepared based on 2016 census data.
I was moved to make my original comment about this issue by the Stuff.co.nz report yesterday that mentioned Ghost Houses. And also because I had followed Victoria Crone and Phil Goff’s debate on this issue with keen interest. I was hardly aware of what was going on in Vancouver.
However, the more I read yesterday about the Vancouver example, the more fascinated I became. It’s incredible really, Many of the exact same arguments, for and against, that were made by Goff and Crone during the Auckland Mayoral debate were shadowed by the opponents and supporters of this scheme in Vancouver.
One of the arguments made by opponents of the scheme in Vancouver was that it would penalise owners of two homes.
Yes it would, that’s the point, you will be penalised if you keep one of them empty, while other people are struggling to find accomodation.
The lack of self awareness of the ridiculous nature of this objection, as seen by families without any home at all, is breathtaking.
One of the biggest criticisms made here by Goff of Crone’s proposal, was that there would be no method of telling which homes were being left empty.
In reply Crone suggested that water usage would give a good indication of which houses were being left idle and unused.
In opposition to Crone’s suggestion that water use would give a good indication of whether a house was being parked up, I remember one numpty commenting at the time on this website, criticising Crone’s suggestion, writing that this would just encourage absent owners to leave the taps running.
In the end, it seems that Vancouver settled on using the lack of electricity consumption as an indicator of an empty address.
More Innovatively Vancouver also did a poll on property owners asking them to declare whether their properties were empty or not.
This gave some very interesting results, for instance the first thing revealed was that contrary to the racist scape goating of Asians and immigrants as being behind the Ghost House problem, many of the owners of these empty houses were revealed as being Canadians or Americans from across the border. Another thing revealed was that most of the empty properties were in condominiums.
Revealed by the tax itself, was that (in line with DH’s expectations above) many of these empty homes were higher valued properties. Another thing revealed is that the owners of these high end properties were prepared to pay the tax rather than let them out, or put them on the market. (Some paying as much as $250,000 for the 2018 tax period.)
In total the owners of the these properties paid the city $30 million for the privilege of keeping these properties empty.
But Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is pleased with the results anyway.
“Thank you for contributing to Vancouver’s affordable-housing fund,” the mayor said wryly at a news conference outlining the details of the new tax. He acknowledged it’s not clear yet whether the tax has caused any owners to rent out their apartments or houses, which is one of the city’s goals.
But, he said, the city needed to do something to ensure that desperately needed housing is available.
“It’s unacceptable to have homes sitting empty when so many people are looking for a place to live.”
The 1,200 to 2,300 homeowners who may eventually pay the tax are far less than the numbers that have circulated for years about empty units.
Two years ago, the city said 10,800 units were unoccupied for a year or more, after a comprehensive study of electrical use.
At last count, 7 per cent of Auckland’s homes sit empty.
New Zealand’s Housing Minister Phil Twyford blames the National Government for the proliferation of ghost houses but has stopped short of offering up any measures to discourage the practice.
Maybe Phil Twyford instead of stopping short of offering up any measures to discourage the practice, could take a leaf out Victoria Crone’s mayoral campaign
In 2016 Independent Mayoral Candidate, Victoria Crone championed action to address Ghost houses as part of her Mayoral campaign.
Labour Party candidate Phil Goff vehemently opposed Crone over this policy, characterising it as unfairly affecting “bach owners”.
(For God’s sakes, as if bach owners hardships could be anyway comparable to the hardships faced by families with out any home at all, let alone a spare one to go to on for holidays.)
Instead Phil Goff, echoing the Trump Presidential campaign, chose a more traditionally Right Wing strategy; scapegoating immigrants for the housing crisis.
Not only was Goff’s anti-immigrant strategy Right Wing, it was dishonest – immigration policy is set by central government not by the Auckland Region, a fact which he well knows.
* (Except it seems, the interests of property developers, landlords and speculators and other wide boys. A fact we may all come to regret when the housing market is flooded with even more empty and unaffordable houses.)
‘A collection of research published last week in a special edition of the major scientific journal Nature showed that Antarctica has lost 3 trillion tonnes of ice over the past 25 years. Half of that melting has happened in the past 5 years. Professor Tim Naish is from the Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre says we have less than a decade to stop a catastrophe.’
Top work Ireland taking out Australia in their Rugby series.
I’m really, really sorry about the last-minute decision by the ref.
Really, really sorry not.
Q&A (TV1) had a very good panel this morning.
I’m hopeless remembering names so you will need to link through yourselves.
Subjects: Business confidence taking a dip… the Mexican Border fiasco fallout… and EU Trade negotiations. No babies.
An inherent message to the Labour-led government:
You will need to do a much better job explaining your policy positions/decisions if you want to avoid confusion among voters and mischievous spin from your political opponents gaining traction.
Could not agree more. At the moment those opponents are having a free run on misrepresentation because ministers (with a few exceptions) are not stepping up to properly counter them. If they can’t do the political side of the job, then they need to be replaced with those who can. My cent-worth for the day.
Q&A (TV1) had a very good panel this morning.
I’m hopeless remembering names so you will need to link through yourselves.
Subjects: Business confidence taking a dip… the Mexican Border fiasco fallout… and EU Trade negotiations. No babies.
An inherent message to the Labour-led government:
You will need to do a much better job explaining your policy positions/decisions if you want to avoid confusion among voters and false spin from your political opponents gaining traction.
Could not agree more. At the moment those opponents are having a free run on misrepresentation because ministers (with a few exceptions) are not stepping up to properly counter them. If they can’t do the political side of the job, then they need to be replaced with those who can. My cent-worth for the day.
Yes, an interesting Q & A. Not one of Grant’s better performances. Very monotone, he looked tired and listless.
On business confidence, and in fact on forward spending/investment plans, as mentioned by Barnett, I can’t think of one thing the government has done to encourage business.
But I can think of plenty of government decisions that will increase regulatory burdens, that look capricious (oil and gas virtually out of the blue) and which will increase costs (fuel taxes, $20 min wage, a lot more union control, proposed CGT).
In these circumstances, it is not surprising that business are not making new investments, it looks too risky. Safer to keep spare capital in passive investments (either in NZ or offshore) or alternatively not borrow. The business will operate at a lower but safer level.
The cost is lower growth, lower taxes, less employment growth.
Why should business expect to be led by the government?
New Zealand business has had oblique and small policy markers from central government under National’s 9 long and directionless years.
Under Labour’s government, they are being led by the public sector through construction and transport funding, which are the economic policy areas this government really care about anyway. Those areas will continue to boom under this government for the foreseeable future.
Unless your business is rent, housing rent, in which case you are about to be shown the door. The Productivity Commission would firmly encourage landlords to find something else more productive to invest in.
Broadly speaking, this government seeks to tilt real estate capitalism, and that’s about it.
Business organizations in New Zealand don’t want to be led. They’ve been clear about that for a while. They are virulently and relentlessly anti-Labour and they don’t care who knows it, and it won’t change. It’s on business to determine if they want to make something useful out of this Labour-led government.
Meanwhile, headline unemployment is great, property prices are stabilizing, the governments’ investment direction and savings culture are fantastic, and the government is really popular.
”(fuel taxes, $20 min wage, a lot more union control, proposed CGT).””
How dare a govt actually do shit . And try make the country function ,I long for the days we had a bunch of greasy middle management tossers doing fuck all other than tell us how good they are.
On business confidence, and in fact on forward spending/investment plans, as mentioned by Barnett, I can’t think of one thing the government has done to encourage business.
How could you say that, Wayne? This Government signed TPPA-11!
And there are proposals for an ‘Amazon Tax’ and for R & D tax loss credits for companies that spend more than $100k pa on R & D.
CPTPP 11I will concede, although it has a sting in the tail with the new restrictions on foreign investment. The R& D tax credit is essentially the Callaghan growth grant repackaged (though expanded somewhat).
The furore over the Te Arai exemption just illustrated the problems. Quite a few proposed tourist resort projects had the intent of selling the units to overseas investors as a means of raising the capital.
Not one of Grant’s better performances. Very monotone, he looked tired and listless.
And there’s the standard RWNJ ad hominem.
I can’t think of one thing the government has done to encourage business.
The government isn’t actually there for business – it’s there for the people.
But I can think of plenty of government decisions that will increase regulatory burdens
That’s good. A market system can’t work without proper regulation. It was the lack of regulation and then followed by bad regulation that brought us the ‘legal highs’ fiasco.
and which will increase costs (fuel taxes, $20 min wage, a lot more union control, proposed CGT).
You don’t seem to be concerned with the rising costs of living that needs to be covered by wages. Costs that the capitalists almost always ignore which is why we need a minimum wage in the first place. It would actually be better to have a universal income rather than a minimum wage to ensure that everyone has a good living standard. Although, considering how greedy the capitalists are, I think we’d still need a minimum wage to ensure that they actually paid.
The cost is lower growth, lower taxes, less employment growth.
Which is, of course, a load of bollocks. We’ve been cutting taxes and regulations for the last thirty years and it’s made us all worse off. It’s cut productivity increases and wages while rewarding the bludging shareholders and speculators.
Maybe Grant Robertson needed a Redbull drink to pep him up before the interview. I have seen him give plenty more energetic and therefore more engaging interviews than this mornings on Q & A.
Saying grant looks tired listless is not at an ad hom. You throw it round so often I am beginning to think you don’t know what words mean.
An ad hom would be “Grant is fat/lazy/stupid therefore his argument is invalid”. Ad hom means to attack the person to denigrate the argument or point they are putting forward. Saying someone looks tired and listless is not an ad hom.
This is the second time I have had to point this out to you. Please try harder
“In these circumstances, it is not surprising that business are not making new investments, it looks too risky. Safer to keep spare capital in passive investments (either in NZ or offshore) or alternatively not borrow. The business will operate at a lower but safer level.”
There’s also the actions of a lot of New Zealand business that are causing these reactions as well. Take the actual and perceived losses of around 4 billion from Fletcher Building and Fontera, along with the M. Bovis debacle and there’s more than enough to give business the willies. This occurred under the leadership of the previous National government.
I look around Queenstown and see a lot of similarity to the situation in 2007 with a lot of developments that are unlikely to be profitable first time around. This has a chilling effect on business confidence.
Maybe New Zealand business, and the National Party, should look at their own actions and leadership before trying to blame someone else for their problems.
Unfortunately our “business leaders” and National politicians won’t be terribly affected by the fallout from the fuck-ups above, that will fall on the workers, subcontractors and share-milkers who will have their lives destroyed.
Wayne increasing wages means more money in businesses where this money is spent.
$880 million to bail out farmer’s.
Business confidence is over 50 which means business ha got over National loosing the election.
Just business leaders doing their expected “it’s a Labour government” hissy fit.
Saw it in 2000, same again.
Put Thompson & Clark onto them as they clearly need monitoring as a threat to the democratic process.
the Prime Minister’s baby name just announced: Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford. I am so proud of this Kiwi family, with both Jacinda and Clarke new role models of how men and women can be in the world – in my life time.
It has finally been revealed. Little Prime Miniature’s real name is – Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford. (Snap -I now see Venezia has already announced the name.)
An uncommon first name which apparently is ( or maybe from) from an Old Irish feminine name “Niamh” pronounced Neev, meaning “bright” or radiant”, according to Wikipedia.
The first part of this bit in the Wikipedia entry made me laugh vis a vis the proud new father – ” In Irish mythology, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir and one of the queens of Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero Oisín” .
As mentioned by Jacinda Ardern in the press conference at 11am at the hospital before the Ardern Gayford family left for home, “Neve” also means “snow” in some languages – eg Latin, Italian and Portuguese.
Here is a link to the TVNZ article which includes video of the short press conference.
Mum looked radiant and not at all like someone who had had very little sleep over the last few days; and Dad is as proud as punch. Baby slept …
For the fashion conscious:
Neve was wearing a soft green home knitted hat, which virtually matched the jacket (and shoes) of one of their DPS minders. (LOL)
Mum wore a white top and black pants and white sneakers.
Dad wore his “trial father’s cardigan” as it was described in a (rather funny double act) video some months ago when he wore it for the first time. According to JA it was bought in an op shop.
I wondered who would bite when I submitted my comment – and sure enough … LOL.
Just the usual One Two type of shitty comment. He/she thinks they are soooo clever. I gave up reading his/her comments a long time ago and just pass over them so did not see this one until someone pointed it out to me.
As for knowing JA, I am pretty sure that you and I are in the same position there if I correctly remember a comment of yours some months ago – but I am not going to say what that was. LOL
The Dad cardie is getting a lot of air time – apparently from the Sally’s op shop in Gisborne according to JA in her latest Facebook video.
Jacinda and Clarke with their daughter, showed wonder grace happiness and kindness.
In her speech and answers she acknowledged all the kindness they had received, mentioning some had come from loss and sadness as well as open acceptance from NZers who had given love freely, from home made gifts to names, to the offer of placenta burial by Ngapui.
They looked a lovely wee family we can be proud of. I have had the good fortune to meet her prior to the election. She has gone from strength to strength and does us all proud, along with her clearly loving supportive partner.
Their selection of names shows a nod to their own choices coupled with a strong connection to love. “Love and happiness” the expectations for their daughter, Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford, are simple but profound.
OK, it SAYS “Flying car”, but it functions more like a human carrying drone. A car would surely be a more apt description if it had wheels and used the air current to lift about a meter or so off road so to speak.
Even so the Kitty Hawk is cool. Needs a roll bar type device.
It will be interesting to watch how this all develops. Safety will be a big concern I’d think, the potential for midair collisions will magnify very quickly if/when they become mainstream. Lots to think about.
I can imagine the rozzers scratching their heads wondering how they’ll get speed cameras up there…
Abstract:
Low Flying Aircraft (LFA) may be used to smuggle illicit drugs or illegal immigrants across borders. Sound radiated by LFA was used for their detection, tracking and classification by the developed Acousto Seismic Air Detection (ASAD) system. ASAD consists of several nodes, where each node has five microphone clusters and three geophones. Single ASAD node can detect aircraft sound, determine their bearing, and classify the target. Two or mode nodes provide target localization. Extended tests of various small aircraft flying according to planned test patterns were conducted in difficult mountainous areas. The comparison of acoustic detection and tracking with ground truth from the GPS carried by the targets allowed the estimation of acoustic detection, bearing and localization distances and their accuracy.
Weka disappeared at least two months ago. I recall ‘tracey’ responding to the same question with words to the effect “Weka is fine”.
I don’t know why she has left TS but suspect it might have something to do with some stoush in what is termed “the backend”. But that is no more than a guess and could be wrong.
Pile your firewood inside so you don’t have to go out.
Next three days is going to be incredibly cold; snow between 100 and 200 metres above sea level from Stewart Island and Fiordland right through Otago, and a long cold snap all the way up the centre and east of the North Island.
We’ve already had it pretty cold lately Ad. Highs of 4 or 5 and lows of -5 to -6 at my place most of last week. Ice has been building up in shady areas of the garden. The woodburner has been running day and night.
A snow laden southerly usually means temps around 0 to 2 across the board so a bit of a relief really.
Good morning The Am Show one should not count there chickens Peter Burling came second .
Loyd would have still celebrated as a Kiwi salior won the race on Chinese boat Dong Fang and Blair Tuke came 3rd Ka pai.
Duncan everyone knows that buildings construction slow down in the winter one just makes a mess when you dig holes in the rain also the timber framing don’t pass there moisture test so there cladding cannot be installed many other reason that construction slows in winter less day light hours. Thats were prefab house increase house building productivity . These prefab building could target using the renewable resource we have a lot of laminated timber this product is alot less energy in producing this laminated timber products
The Kiwi Rugby League team and management are in rebuild mode you wait and see they will get back to there best form .
With the Roseanne Show in the USA that shows that te Papatuanuku has had enough of the racial discriminating slander Ka pai but the show gives US a view into the reality’s of common tangata in the USA and how hard they have it just to survive in the USA the big picture is we were heading in that direction till the changes we have had with the new Labour lead Coalition Government. Duncan Te kumara never tells how sweet it is
Ka kite ano P.S it is a super food loaded with good minerals good for the mokopunas
Many thanks to Saudi Arabia for granting the rights for ladies to drive cars this is a win for Ladies Equality around Papatuanuku as Saudi ladies have won the right to drive there are many more rights these ladies need to be granted to get to Equality its all about a bright healthy future for all Tangata link below.
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Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
Christina SzalinskiWhen Martha Field became pregnant in 2005, a singular fear weighed on her mind. Not long before, as a Cornell University graduate student researching how genes and nutrients interact to cause disease, she had seen images of unborn mouse pups smaller than her pinkie nail, some with ...
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President respectively for the US 2020 Election, may have dispensed with the erstwhile nemesis, Trump the candidate – but there are numerous critical openings through which much, much worse many out there may yet see fit to ...
I don’t know Taupō well. Even though I stop off there from time to time, I’m always on the way to somewhere else. Usually Taupō means making a hot water puddle in the gritty sand followed by a swim in the lake, noticing with bemusement and resignation the traffic, the ...
Frances Williams, King’s College LondonFor most people, infection with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – leads to mild, short-term symptoms, acute respiratory illness, or possibly no symptoms at all. But some people have long-lasting symptoms after their infection – this has been dubbed “long COVID”. Scientists are ...
Last night, a British court ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US. Unfortunately, its not because all he is "guilty" of is journalism, or because the offence the US wants to charge him with - espionage - is of an inherently political nature; instead the judge accepted ...
Is the Gender Identity Movement a movement for human liberation, or is it a regressive movement which undermines women’s liberation and promotes sexist stereotypes? Should biological males be allowed to play in women’s sport, use women-only spaces (public toilets, changing rooms, other facilities), be able to have access to everything ...
Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of BirminghamSpace exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of ...
Michael Head, University of SouthamptonThe UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK – following the Pfizer vaccine. The British government ...
So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again. We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.Look at ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to ZeroThat’s one of several recent ...
The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic.Cases: over *70,000* people who were tested in England on 29th December tested positive. This is *not* because there were more tests on that day. It *is* 4 days after Christmas though, around when people who caught Covid on Christmas Day might start ...
by Don Franks For five days over New Year weekend, sixteen prisoners in the archaic pre WW1 block of Waikeria Prison defied authorities by setting fires and occupying the building’s roof. They eventually agreed to surrender after intervention from Maori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. A message from the protesting men had stated: ...
Lost Opportunity: The powerful political metaphor of the Maori Party leading the despised and marginalised from danger to safety, is one Labour could have pre-empted by taking the uprising at Waikeria Prison much more seriously. AS WORD OF Rawiri Waititi’s successful intervention in the Waikeria Prison stand-off spreads, the Maori ...
Dear friends, it’s been a covidious year,A testing time for all of us here—Citizens of an island nationIn a state of managed isolation,A team (someone said) five million strong,Making it up as we went along:Somehow in typical Kiwi fashion,Without any wild excess ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 27, 2020 through Sat, Jan 2, 2021Editor's Choice7 Graphics That Show Why the Arctic Is in Trouble Arctic Sea Ice: NSIDC It’s no secret that the Arctic is ...
One of the books I read in 2020 was She, by H. Rider Haggard (1887). I thoroughly enjoyed it, as being an exemplar of a good old-fashioned adventure story. I also noted with amusement ...
Scottish doctor Malcolm Kendrick looks at the pandemic and the responses to it 30th December 2020 I have not written much about COVID19 recently. What can be said? In my opinion the world has simply gone bonkers. The best description can be found in Dante’s Inferno, written many hundreds of ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tuffley, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, Griffith University It could be argued artificial intelligence (AI) is already the indispensable tool of the 21st century. From helping doctors diagnose and treat patients to rapidly advancing new drug discoveries, it’s our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Through recent natural disasters, global upheavals and a pandemic, Australia’s political centre has largely held. Australians may have disagreed at times, but they have also kept faith with governmental norms, eschewing the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Holly Seale, Associate professor, UNSW Health workers are at higher risk of COVID infection and illness. They can also act as extremely efficient transmitters of viruses to others in medical and aged care facilities. That’s why health workers have been prioritised to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Orchard, Adjunct Lecturer, Monash University Last week, somewhat overshadowed by the events in Washington, the Democrats took control of the US Senate. The Democrats now hold a small majority in both the House and the Senate until 2022, giving President-elect Joe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mittul Vahanvati, Lecturer, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University Heatwaves, floods, bushfires: disaster season is upon us again. We can’t prevent hazards or climate change-related extreme weather events but we can prepare for them — not just as individuals ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mandie Shean, Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University Starting school is an important event for children and a positive experience can set the tone for the rest of their school experience. Some children are excited to attend school for the first ...
Some families in emergency housing are reporting their children are becoming emotionally distressed because of their living conditions. Demand for emergency accommodation has escalated this past year with the number of emergency housing grants increasing by half. Data showed nearly 10,000 people were given an Emergency Housing Special Needs Grant between ...
Summer reissue: Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden are back for a second season of On the Rag, and where better to start than with the mysterious, exhausting world of wellness?First published June 23, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
With few Covid-19 infections and negiligible natural immunity, New Zealand faces being a victim of its own success when it is left till last to get the vaccines, argues Dr Parmjeet Parmar. ...
Steve Braunias reports on a literary cancelling. The Corrections department has refused to allow Jared Savage's best-selling book Gangland inside prison on the grounds that it "promotes violence and drug use". An inmate at Otago Corrections Facility in Dunedin was sent a copy of the book – but it was ...
New data from the CTU’s annual work life survey shows a snapshot of working people’s experiences and outlook heading out of 2020 and into the new year. Concerningly 42% of respondents cite workplace bullying as an issue in their workplace - a number ...
An international player, selector and self-confessed cricket stats nerd, Penny Kinsella has now played a hand in recording the rich history of the women's game in New Zealand. Penny Kinsella’s cricketing career was perched on the cusp of change for the White Ferns. “My first tour to Australia, we ...
The dramatic capsize of American Magic brought out the best in the America's Cup sailing fraternity. But, Suzanne McFadden asks, what does it mean to the crippled New York Yacht Club campaign and to the Prada Cup? It was a scene as unreal as it was calamitous. Right at the moment the ...
The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of ...
The experience in the Brazilian city of Manaus reveals how mistaken, and dangerous, the herd-immunity-by-infection theory really is. As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop ...
As New Zealand gears up to fight climate change, experts warn that we need to actually reduce emissions, not just plant trees to offset our greenhouse gases. ...
A nationwide poll has found majority support for the government to continue to closely monitor abortions in New Zealand and the reasons for it, despite the Ministry of Health recently suggesting that there is not a use for collecting much of this information. ...
The out-of-control growth in gangs, gun crime, and violent gang activity is exposing our communities to dangerous levels of violence that will inevitably end in tragedy, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “The recent incidents of people being shot and ...
Successive governments have paid lip service to our productivity challenge but have failed to deliver. It's time to establish a Productivity Council charged with prioritising efforts. ...
Understanding the connection between chronic fatigue syndrome and ‘long Covid’ might be helpful in treating symptoms that doctors will find all too easy to dismiss.When people began to report signs of “long Covid”, characterised by a lack of full recovery from the virus and debilitating fatigue, I recognised their stories. ...
Nadine Anne Hura, who never considered herself an artist, reflects on what art and making has taught her.I couldn’t clean or cook or wash the clothes, but I could sew. That’s a lie, I’m a terrible sewer, but I left work early to fossick around in the $1 bin of ...
Summer reissue: In the final episode of this season of Bad News, Alice is joined by Billy T award winner Kura Forrester to look at how well we’re honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 2020.First published September 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The ...
Lucy Revill’s The Residents is a blog about daily life in Wellington that has morphed into a stylish, low-key coffee-table book featuring interviews and photographic portraits of 38 Wellingtonians. In this extract, Revill profiles Eboni Waitere, owner and executive director of Huia Publishers. The Residents features names like Monique Fiso ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called “founding fathers” of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
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.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
“We may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong What can we make of Clive Palmer? This week, he announced his United Australia Party (UAP) would not contest the upcoming West Australian state election on March 13. After a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seenmagpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis. Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his “base”, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...
Covid-19 fears accelerated banks’ moves towards cashless transactions. But the Reserve Bank is fighting to protect cash, and those who still use it. ...
Good morning and welcome to this one-off edition of The Bulletin, covering major stories from the last few weeks.A quick preamble to this: Today’s special edition of The Bulletin is all about filling you in on some of the stories you might have missed over the summer period. Perhaps you had ...
Summer reissue: In this episode of Bad News, Alice Snedden is forced to confront her own mortality before hosting a very special dinner party to get to grips with the euthanasia debate.First published August 27, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
The debate over cutting down a large macrocarpa to make way for a new residential development has highlighted a wider agreement between developers and protesters: that we also need to be planting far more trees. At the corner of Great North Road and Ash Street in Avondale, a 150-year-old macrocarpa stands its ground ...
The contrast between the words of John F Kennedy and today’s anti-democratic demagogue is inescapable, writes Dolores Janiewski I still remember three eloquent speeches by an American president. One happened in January 1961 and spoke about a “torch being passed to a new generation”. Two years later and one day apart, ...
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Watched “The Old Curiosity Shop” last night. Daniel Quilp shoulda let go those money bags!
Power is off all day for us so a swap/buy/exchange market up the road for us, then the beach – not bad practice for the times ahead where fun and experience will be had closer to home and closer to hand.
Capitalist extremist identifies homelessness as democracy.
During the Cold War, terms like ‘Democratic Society’, ‘The Free World’ became synonymous with capitalism. These terms were often used interchangeably, (and opportunistically, IMO), as antonyms in reference to Communist societies like Soviet Russia.
In an extraordinary blast from the past, this cold war dog whistle is being dragged up to justify keeping families in cars, on the streets, or bunked up in motels at huge expense to the taxpayer, while tens of thousands of perfectly good houses stand empty.
The problems of homelessness, housing stress, and the housing crisis in this country have been laid at the feet of the past National Government by the current Housing Minister, Phil Twyford. But that we should reverse this policy has been labeled, “Extremist nonsense” by Property Institute of New Zealand chief executive Ashley Church
Stuff.co.nz reporters Rob Stock and John Anthony debunk Ashley Church’s fallacious and self serving justification, noting that other democratic societies have implemented measures to crackdown on empty home owners.
I would encourage the current housing minister to push past the nasty bed baiting spin of Ashley Church, and other self interested parties, and copy Vancouver’s courageous, (and dare I say it, socialist) example.
Related:
The hidden homeless and the speculators
Ashley Church gives the finger to the homeless
To which I would add Anthony Robins’ invisible hand is attached to the very visible and self interested wrist of Ashley Church and the Property Institute, and the landlords and speculators whose interests his organisation exists to protect.
Proof, if you needed it, that capitalists don’t give a shit about anybody but themselves.
In a democratic society we’d ensure that everyone had a place to live and food on the table. It’s only in capitalism that we start accepting excuses from the capitalists as to why people need to be poor and oppressed.
In another context, it was Edward Snowden who once said he regarded meta-data as more valuable than personal data.
The raw data tells the story.
According to the 2013 census, New Zealand’s usually resident population count at 5 March 2013 was 4.242048 million.
In Auckland, the 2013 census counted 33,360 vacant homes.
Nation wide the census counted 36,597 overcrowded residences*
Nation wide 203,820 people in total were recorded as living in these overcrowded residences
Source: Statistics NZ, Census 2013
last updated 26 February, 2018
*Overcrowded means more than two people per bedroom, or bedrooms shared by adults other than couples or by opposite-sex children.
That data doesn’t really tell us much Jenny. What we don’t know is how many of those 33,360 vacant homes are potentially available for rental/sale.
At any given point in time there will always be a large quantity of vacant properties and the reasons they’re empty are many & varied as is the duration of their vacancies. That 33.36k were only vacant at the time of the census, it didn’t mean they were permanently vacant.
Stats give this info;
“An unoccupied dwelling is classified as ’empty’ if it clearly has no current occupants and new occupants are not expected to move in on or before census night. Unoccupied dwellings that are being repaired or renovated are defined as empty dwellings. Unoccupied baches or holiday homes are also defined as empty dwellings.
A dwelling is classified as having ‘residents away’, where occupants of a dwelling are known to be temporarily away and are not expected to return on or before census night.”
The data table for the census unoccupied dwelling count has this at note 1;
“1. Unoccupied dwelling count is made up of ‘residents away’ and ‘empty dwelling’. ”
Anyone on holiday at the time of the census would be ‘residents away’ if they left the house vacant (no-one left behind)
Kia ora DH,
The census recorded 36,597 cases of overcrowding, affecting 203,820 people.
There were two main classifications for unoccupied homes in the census “empty dwelling” and “residents away”. Just as you say, it seems that there was no further breakdown.
We can argue around the margins about how many houses might be empty for valid reasons, And I admit that I may be making a subjective call here, but I the sheer numbers, “empty dwellings” recorded, 141,366 nationally and 33,360 in Auckland, tells a story of unaffordability, in rents and house prices, that puts the majority of these “empty dwellings” out of the reach of many of the people captured in this survey suffering from housing distress.
Maybe when we can get to compare the 2013 figures, with the latest 2018 census figures for housing we might be better informed.
In the meantime we will have to go to other sources to get a handle on the problem.
From an attached link to the main report, Stuff.co.nz reporter Colleen Hawkes asks; “Is it time to address the question of empty ‘ghost houses’?”
*(My emphasis) J.
I might ask Phil Twyford and Phil Goff both: is the suffering of middle and upper class bach owners, and housing speculators really comparable with the suffering of families living with overcrowding, insecurity and homelessness?
I don’t dispute the seriousness of the lack of housing Jenny. I was just making the observation that the numbers look to be wrong on the empty houses and it may be a dead duck. Wrong numbers lead to wrong decisions.
I honestly can’t see that many investors sitting on property like that, they exist for sure but my expectations are that it occurs in the high-wealth areas mostly. You’d need to be pretty cash rich to not need rental income, interest on borrowing chews capital and eats up profits real fast.
Kia ora DH, I strongly suspect that your expectations that many of the 33,360 “empty houses” recorded in Auckland in the census are at the high end of the market. (Of course it would be good to know for sure). But anecdotal evidence seems to back up this expectation.
But forcing these houses back onto the rental or housing market should free up more houses further down the housing ladder. The sheer numbers guarantee it.
Vancouver thought it was worth it.
This is how you do it.
I was moved to make my original comment about this issue by the Stuff.co.nz report yesterday that mentioned Ghost Houses. And also because I had followed Victoria Crone and Phil Goff’s debate on this issue with keen interest. I was hardly aware of what was going on in Vancouver.
However, the more I read yesterday about the Vancouver example, the more fascinated I became. It’s incredible really, Many of the exact same arguments, for and against, that were made by Goff and Crone during the Auckland Mayoral debate were shadowed by the opponents and supporters of this scheme in Vancouver.
One of the arguments made by opponents of the scheme in Vancouver was that it would penalise owners of two homes.
Yes it would, that’s the point, you will be penalised if you keep one of them empty, while other people are struggling to find accomodation.
The lack of self awareness of the ridiculous nature of this objection, as seen by families without any home at all, is breathtaking.
One of the biggest criticisms made here by Goff of Crone’s proposal, was that there would be no method of telling which homes were being left empty.
In reply Crone suggested that water usage would give a good indication of which houses were being left idle and unused.
In opposition to Crone’s suggestion that water use would give a good indication of whether a house was being parked up, I remember one numpty commenting at the time on this website, criticising Crone’s suggestion, writing that this would just encourage absent owners to leave the taps running.
In the end, it seems that Vancouver settled on using the lack of electricity consumption as an indicator of an empty address.
More Innovatively Vancouver also did a poll on property owners asking them to declare whether their properties were empty or not.
This gave some very interesting results, for instance the first thing revealed was that contrary to the racist scape goating of Asians and immigrants as being behind the Ghost House problem, many of the owners of these empty houses were revealed as being Canadians or Americans from across the border. Another thing revealed was that most of the empty properties were in condominiums.
Revealed by the tax itself, was that (in line with DH’s expectations above) many of these empty homes were higher valued properties. Another thing revealed is that the owners of these high end properties were prepared to pay the tax rather than let them out, or put them on the market. (Some paying as much as $250,000 for the 2018 tax period.)
In total the owners of the these properties paid the city $30 million for the privilege of keeping these properties empty.
“Nothing is sacred…..”*
And it seems that nothing is profane, either.
Maybe Phil Twyford instead of stopping short of offering up any measures to discourage the practice, could take a leaf out Victoria Crone’s mayoral campaign
In 2016 Independent Mayoral Candidate, Victoria Crone championed action to address Ghost houses as part of her Mayoral campaign.
Labour Party candidate Phil Goff vehemently opposed Crone over this policy, characterising it as unfairly affecting “bach owners”.
(For God’s sakes, as if bach owners hardships could be anyway comparable to the hardships faced by families with out any home at all, let alone a spare one to go to on for holidays.)
“Crone would up rates on empty baches”
Instead Phil Goff, echoing the Trump Presidential campaign, chose a more traditionally Right Wing strategy; scapegoating immigrants for the housing crisis.
“Phil Goff: Limit immigration to fix housing crisis”
Not only was Goff’s anti-immigrant strategy Right Wing, it was dishonest – immigration policy is set by central government not by the Auckland Region, a fact which he well knows.
* (Except it seems, the interests of property developers, landlords and speculators and other wide boys. A fact we may all come to regret when the housing market is flooded with even more empty and unaffordable houses.)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531852/Exorcising-Irelands-ghost-estates-Demolition-begins-housing-projects-built-economic-boom-left-country-300-000-homes.html
This TED talk is inspiring as hell. Ft. Curtis “Wall Street” Carroll. *must watch* (although best bits 3 or 4 mins in)
‘A collection of research published last week in a special edition of the major scientific journal Nature showed that Antarctica has lost 3 trillion tonnes of ice over the past 25 years. Half of that melting has happened in the past 5 years. Professor Tim Naish is from the Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre says we have less than a decade to stop a catastrophe.’
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018650659/tim-naish-says-we-can-still-save-antarctic-ice
a timely and well conducted interview on RNZ this morning.
Top work Ireland taking out Australia in their Rugby series.
I’m really, really sorry about the last-minute decision by the ref.
Really, really sorry not.
Ireland! Celebrate long and hard!
Spiritual sunday tune
another
3rd uplifting hymn from the good oils
Q&A (TV1) had a very good panel this morning.
I’m hopeless remembering names so you will need to link through yourselves.
Subjects: Business confidence taking a dip… the Mexican Border fiasco fallout… and EU Trade negotiations. No babies.
An inherent message to the Labour-led government:
You will need to do a much better job explaining your policy positions/decisions if you want to avoid confusion among voters and mischievous spin from your political opponents gaining traction.
Could not agree more. At the moment those opponents are having a free run on misrepresentation because ministers (with a few exceptions) are not stepping up to properly counter them. If they can’t do the political side of the job, then they need to be replaced with those who can. My cent-worth for the day.
Q&A (TV1) had a very good panel this morning.
I’m hopeless remembering names so you will need to link through yourselves.
Subjects: Business confidence taking a dip… the Mexican Border fiasco fallout… and EU Trade negotiations. No babies.
An inherent message to the Labour-led government:
You will need to do a much better job explaining your policy positions/decisions if you want to avoid confusion among voters and false spin from your political opponents gaining traction.
Could not agree more. At the moment those opponents are having a free run on misrepresentation because ministers (with a few exceptions) are not stepping up to properly counter them. If they can’t do the political side of the job, then they need to be replaced with those who can. My cent-worth for the day.
Anne,
Yes, an interesting Q & A. Not one of Grant’s better performances. Very monotone, he looked tired and listless.
On business confidence, and in fact on forward spending/investment plans, as mentioned by Barnett, I can’t think of one thing the government has done to encourage business.
But I can think of plenty of government decisions that will increase regulatory burdens, that look capricious (oil and gas virtually out of the blue) and which will increase costs (fuel taxes, $20 min wage, a lot more union control, proposed CGT).
In these circumstances, it is not surprising that business are not making new investments, it looks too risky. Safer to keep spare capital in passive investments (either in NZ or offshore) or alternatively not borrow. The business will operate at a lower but safer level.
The cost is lower growth, lower taxes, less employment growth.
Why should business expect to be led by the government?
New Zealand business has had oblique and small policy markers from central government under National’s 9 long and directionless years.
Under Labour’s government, they are being led by the public sector through construction and transport funding, which are the economic policy areas this government really care about anyway. Those areas will continue to boom under this government for the foreseeable future.
Unless your business is rent, housing rent, in which case you are about to be shown the door. The Productivity Commission would firmly encourage landlords to find something else more productive to invest in.
Broadly speaking, this government seeks to tilt real estate capitalism, and that’s about it.
Business organizations in New Zealand don’t want to be led. They’ve been clear about that for a while. They are virulently and relentlessly anti-Labour and they don’t care who knows it, and it won’t change. It’s on business to determine if they want to make something useful out of this Labour-led government.
Meanwhile, headline unemployment is great, property prices are stabilizing, the governments’ investment direction and savings culture are fantastic, and the government is really popular.
”(fuel taxes, $20 min wage, a lot more union control, proposed CGT).””
How dare a govt actually do shit . And try make the country function ,I long for the days we had a bunch of greasy middle management tossers doing fuck all other than tell us how good they are.
How could you say that, Wayne? This Government signed TPPA-11!
And there are proposals for an ‘Amazon Tax’ and for R & D tax loss credits for companies that spend more than $100k pa on R & D.
CPTPP 11I will concede, although it has a sting in the tail with the new restrictions on foreign investment. The R& D tax credit is essentially the Callaghan growth grant repackaged (though expanded somewhat).
The furore over the Te Arai exemption just illustrated the problems. Quite a few proposed tourist resort projects had the intent of selling the units to overseas investors as a means of raising the capital.
And there’s the standard RWNJ ad hominem.
The government isn’t actually there for business – it’s there for the people.
That’s good. A market system can’t work without proper regulation. It was the lack of regulation and then followed by bad regulation that brought us the ‘legal highs’ fiasco.
You don’t seem to be concerned with the rising costs of living that needs to be covered by wages. Costs that the capitalists almost always ignore which is why we need a minimum wage in the first place. It would actually be better to have a universal income rather than a minimum wage to ensure that everyone has a good living standard. Although, considering how greedy the capitalists are, I think we’d still need a minimum wage to ensure that they actually paid.
Which is, of course, a load of bollocks. We’ve been cutting taxes and regulations for the last thirty years and it’s made us all worse off. It’s cut productivity increases and wages while rewarding the bludging shareholders and speculators.
Maybe Grant Robertson needed a Redbull drink to pep him up before the interview. I have seen him give plenty more energetic and therefore more engaging interviews than this mornings on Q & A.
He likes rugby and beer I believe .
Dissapointed to see you advocate for such lowlife company.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39427291
Saying grant looks tired listless is not at an ad hom. You throw it round so often I am beginning to think you don’t know what words mean.
An ad hom would be “Grant is fat/lazy/stupid therefore his argument is invalid”. Ad hom means to attack the person to denigrate the argument or point they are putting forward. Saying someone looks tired and listless is not an ad hom.
This is the second time I have had to point this out to you. Please try harder
Within context, within the opening statement, yeah it is. It was a declaration that he can’t handle the job.
No, it was a comment on how he appeared in the interview. Maybe you disagree with the statement but it was a statement, not an argument.
It was not an ad him however much you want to believe it was.
“In these circumstances, it is not surprising that business are not making new investments, it looks too risky. Safer to keep spare capital in passive investments (either in NZ or offshore) or alternatively not borrow. The business will operate at a lower but safer level.”
There’s also the actions of a lot of New Zealand business that are causing these reactions as well. Take the actual and perceived losses of around 4 billion from Fletcher Building and Fontera, along with the M. Bovis debacle and there’s more than enough to give business the willies. This occurred under the leadership of the previous National government.
I look around Queenstown and see a lot of similarity to the situation in 2007 with a lot of developments that are unlikely to be profitable first time around. This has a chilling effect on business confidence.
Maybe New Zealand business, and the National Party, should look at their own actions and leadership before trying to blame someone else for their problems.
Unfortunately our “business leaders” and National politicians won’t be terribly affected by the fallout from the fuck-ups above, that will fall on the workers, subcontractors and share-milkers who will have their lives destroyed.
“The cost is lower growth, lower taxes, less employment growth.”
Did you ever stop and consider that the problem may be growth?
Wayne increasing wages means more money in businesses where this money is spent.
$880 million to bail out farmer’s.
Business confidence is over 50 which means business ha got over National loosing the election.
Just business leaders doing their expected “it’s a Labour government” hissy fit.
Saw it in 2000, same again.
Put Thompson & Clark onto them as they clearly need monitoring as a threat to the democratic process.
QFT
the Prime Minister’s baby name just announced: Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford. I am so proud of this Kiwi family, with both Jacinda and Clarke new role models of how men and women can be in the world – in my life time.
Aww that’s nice.
Irish and Maori – love pure as snow
You’ve made that comment entirely about yourself…Despite the vicarious nature of the comment…
Focus on your own journey, family and personal development…
Don’t look outward for inward inspiration…
Don’t shit on someone else’s inoffensive happiness just because your ego wants you to be Buddha.
Thank you One Two. Food for thought.
Sadly lacking you are sad it is
Millsy came 2nd in the Sweep, they guessed Aroha a few days ago.
It has finally been revealed. Little Prime Miniature’s real name is – Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford. (Snap -I now see Venezia has already announced the name.)
An uncommon first name which apparently is ( or maybe from) from an Old Irish feminine name “Niamh” pronounced Neev, meaning “bright” or radiant”, according to Wikipedia.
The first part of this bit in the Wikipedia entry made me laugh vis a vis the proud new father –
” In Irish mythology, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir and one of the queens of Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero Oisín” .
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niamh
As mentioned by Jacinda Ardern in the press conference at 11am at the hospital before the Ardern Gayford family left for home, “Neve” also means “snow” in some languages – eg Latin, Italian and Portuguese.
Here is a link to the TVNZ article which includes video of the short press conference.
Mum looked radiant and not at all like someone who had had very little sleep over the last few days; and Dad is as proud as punch. Baby slept …
For the fashion conscious:
Neve was wearing a soft green home knitted hat, which virtually matched the jacket (and shoes) of one of their DPS minders. (LOL)
Mum wore a white top and black pants and white sneakers.
Dad wore his “trial father’s cardigan” as it was described in a (rather funny double act) video some months ago when he wore it for the first time. According to JA it was bought in an op shop.
Ooops, forgot to put in the link to the TVNZ video of the press conference.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/name-pm-jacinda-ardern-and-clarke-gayfords-newborn-baby-announced
Here is also the RNZ article with videos, photos, live blog.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/360285/watch-pm-jacinda-ardern-leaves-hospital-with-neve-te-aroha
VV, are you as passionate and expressive about and towards people you know personally?
You’re an a******e One Two.
For all you know “vv” does personally know Jacinda.
Piss off and play your puerile little games elsewhere.
Well said, Anne.
I wondered who would bite when I submitted my comment – and sure enough … LOL.
Just the usual One Two type of shitty comment. He/she thinks they are soooo clever. I gave up reading his/her comments a long time ago and just pass over them so did not see this one until someone pointed it out to me.
As for knowing JA, I am pretty sure that you and I are in the same position there if I correctly remember a comment of yours some months ago – but I am not going to say what that was. LOL
The Dad cardie is getting a lot of air time – apparently from the Sally’s op shop in Gisborne according to JA in her latest Facebook video.
.
She is going to be a Green!
Absolutely! I’m sure she won’t be a neoliberal Labourite like uncle Grant or uncle Stuart.
With the need for additional workers within some sectors e.g. “While the construction sector is set to get policy tweaks to allow for more migrant workers, the aged-care sector has been lobbying Lees-Galloway for more people.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/104863218/government-set-to-greenlight-skilled-foreign-workers-for-construction-sector
Can anyone out there point out if this will still be requirement ?
“Construction firms will be exempt from applying the existing labour market test to bring in up to 1,500 foreign tradespeople at any one time if employers promise to take on a local apprentice for every migrant under a new ‘KiwiBuild Visa’ proposed by Labour.”
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/88240/labours-immigration-policy-targets-kiwibuild-workers-and-apprentice-boost-aims-cut-20000
Fine to source overseas works BUT shouldn’t we also expect the same industries to “future proof” themselves and give a little back in exchange for this govt intervention ?
Jacinda and Clarke with their daughter, showed wonder grace happiness and kindness.
In her speech and answers she acknowledged all the kindness they had received, mentioning some had come from loss and sadness as well as open acceptance from NZers who had given love freely, from home made gifts to names, to the offer of placenta burial by Ngapui.
They looked a lovely wee family we can be proud of. I have had the good fortune to meet her prior to the election. She has gone from strength to strength and does us all proud, along with her clearly loving supportive partner.
Their selection of names shows a nod to their own choices coupled with a strong connection to love. “Love and happiness” the expectations for their daughter, Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford, are simple but profound.
OK, it SAYS “Flying car”, but it functions more like a human carrying drone. A car would surely be a more apt description if it had wheels and used the air current to lift about a meter or so off road so to speak.
Even so the Kitty Hawk is cool. Needs a roll bar type device.
It will be interesting to watch how this all develops. Safety will be a big concern I’d think, the potential for midair collisions will magnify very quickly if/when they become mainstream. Lots to think about.
I can imagine the rozzers scratching their heads wondering how they’ll get speed cameras up there…
You can’t have flying cars while humans pilot them. Far too dangerous.
Acoustic detection, tracking and classification of Low Flying Aircraft
Yeah, not difficult.
Where is Weka? Is Weka ok?
Weka disappeared at least two months ago. I recall ‘tracey’ responding to the same question with words to the effect “Weka is fine”.
I don’t know why she has left TS but suspect it might have something to do with some stoush in what is termed “the backend”. But that is no more than a guess and could be wrong.
around the time psycho milt was banned if my recollection is correct.
Doors opening soon.
Be there, or be square
https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/2018/06/21/auckland-fundraising-event-this-sunday/
Wrap up warm New Zealand.
Pile your firewood inside so you don’t have to go out.
Next three days is going to be incredibly cold; snow between 100 and 200 metres above sea level from Stewart Island and Fiordland right through Otago, and a long cold snap all the way up the centre and east of the North Island.
http://www.metservice.com/maps-radar/rain-forecast/rain-forecast-3-day
Its shaping up to be a significant cold event.
mean sea level pressure
http://cr.acg.maine.edu/wx_frames/gfs/ds/gfs_nh-sat6_mslp_1-day.png
500 hpa mass levels.
http://cr.acg.maine.edu/wx_frames/gfs/ds/gfs_nh-sat6_gph500_1-day.png
Jetstream (the polar night jet) coming straight from the Antarctic.
.
We’ve already had it pretty cold lately Ad. Highs of 4 or 5 and lows of -5 to -6 at my place most of last week. Ice has been building up in shady areas of the garden. The woodburner has been running day and night.
A snow laden southerly usually means temps around 0 to 2 across the board so a bit of a relief really.
what region are you?
Southern Lakes near Queenstown. It’s currently about 1c and rain has turned to a sleety mix.
Good morning The Am Show one should not count there chickens Peter Burling came second .
Loyd would have still celebrated as a Kiwi salior won the race on Chinese boat Dong Fang and Blair Tuke came 3rd Ka pai.
Duncan everyone knows that buildings construction slow down in the winter one just makes a mess when you dig holes in the rain also the timber framing don’t pass there moisture test so there cladding cannot be installed many other reason that construction slows in winter less day light hours. Thats were prefab house increase house building productivity . These prefab building could target using the renewable resource we have a lot of laminated timber this product is alot less energy in producing this laminated timber products
The Kiwi Rugby League team and management are in rebuild mode you wait and see they will get back to there best form .
With the Roseanne Show in the USA that shows that te Papatuanuku has had enough of the racial discriminating slander Ka pai but the show gives US a view into the reality’s of common tangata in the USA and how hard they have it just to survive in the USA the big picture is we were heading in that direction till the changes we have had with the new Labour lead Coalition Government. Duncan Te kumara never tells how sweet it is
Ka kite ano P.S it is a super food loaded with good minerals good for the mokopunas
Many thanks to Saudi Arabia for granting the rights for ladies to drive cars this is a win for Ladies Equality around Papatuanuku as Saudi ladies have won the right to drive there are many more rights these ladies need to be granted to get to Equality its all about a bright healthy future for all Tangata link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/24/saudi-arabia-women-celebrate-as-driving-ban-lifted Ka kite ano
Pity the rest of the laws in that country are based on a brutal and backward religion.