In my fathers wallet there was always a photo of my twin brother and i . Dad always said it was behind a photo of Tito because he did not want the sun to fade it.
73 of an intake of 1200 cadets at West Point cheat in a calculus online exam. That's 6%.
Wikipedia says "Candidates for admission must apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Other nomination sources include the president and vice president"!
I wonder how many of these cheats debasing university qualifications and heading for high office in the US military were nominated by Republicans, and how many by Democrats?
A wider question is do we wonder how power elites maintain their power when prospective top military officers have to be nominated by members of the power elite?
Hardly surprising, considering the likes of Donald Trump is an ex cadet/student of West Point! He who got out of doing a tour of duty in Vietnam, due to his "flat feet." Then went on to criticise John McCain for being taken a prisoner of war during the same conflict!
Generalissimo Bonespurs got sent to New York Military Academy in lieu of regular high school. Because he was too obnoxious for regular schooling to deal with.
While NYMA is just up the river from West Point, there is zero connection, and very few NYMA alumni went on to military careers. Basically, in the US, "military academies" are private boarding schools that the privileged and wealthy sent their snotty offspring to try to straighten them out.
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
Closer to the action, Councillor Efeso Collins, who was born and raised in Ōtara, says 80 per cent of Pacific people, the majority in his Manukau ward, do not own their homes – and there is now no chance they ever will.
Jacinda Ardern expresses concern, but says she wants house prices to keep going up.
Insofar as further meaning can be discerned from her remarks, it seems the Prime Minister hopes future wage inflation will be above house-price inflation.
Yet this is not the picture painted by Treasury in last week's Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), signed off by Finance Minister Grant Robertson as reflecting all government decisions and other circumstances of which he is aware.
According to Robertson's HYEFU, house prices will increase by another 32 per cent over the next five years while wages will go up by only 14 per cent, and consumer prices by 8 per cent.
The good news for an Ōtara family with an annual household income of $60,000 wanting to buy a $600,000 house is that they can expect to be earning $156 a week more in five years' time.
They'll also be able to save a bit more, since their weekly supermarket shop will only go up from, say, $200 to $216 – although their bank won't help much, since interest rates on savings accounts will remain dismally low for the full five years.
The really bad news is that the $600,000 house they have their eye on will go up by another $195,000. The Reserve Bank restoring loan-to-value restrictions will make it even harder for them to buy it, but not those who already own a home who they will need to compete with.
By dint of his own signature, Robertson says he knows of no government decisions or other circumstances that make these forecasts unsafe.
The realpolitik of the median voter model means that no one in Wellington actually cares or even thinks about a $60,000-a-year family in Ōtara dreaming of one day owning a home – and they never have.
But Beehive strategists do worry about middle-class couples wanting to save for their first home over the next parliamentary term. Double or triple the numbers above, and you've worked out the equally impossible maths facing them.
Ardern and Roberston appear either oblivious to the effects of their own Treasury's forecasts or utterly complacent about them.
Having wailed about a housing crisis for more than a decade – when house prices were half what they are now – they have not replied to the latest numbers with an emergency pre-Christmas programme the way previous governments with big mandates have responded to the economic, fiscal or social calamity of the day.
Instead, Robertson says the Government is now in a position to – and I quote him – "start addressing some of those long-term issues like housing [and] child poverty". A "housing package" is promised next year, although it will apparently focus more on making renting easier than on home ownership.
The time for excuses on the housing crisis has surely run out. Ardern has been re-elected with one of the most overwhelming mandates in the history of New Zealand or any proportional representation system. She no longer has the excuse of being new to the job or constrained by a coalition partner. She faces no credible opposition.
Nor is the housing crisis an issue where the best policy response has not been well-canvassed. Ardern and Robertson could do worse than even just re-reading Phil Goff's Mayoral Taskforce Housing Report released more than three years ago, with Labour's support.
It outlined a clear strategy covering everything from finance through to the building code, and was the consensus view of investors, lenders, developers, designers, builders, politicians, government officials and council officers.
As well as much-needed intensification throughout Auckland, Labour might also look at its own manifesto from 2017, which promised commuter rail linking the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga and new suburbs between them.
After the failure of the pepper-potting Kiwibuild, Labour could announce that new suburbs to the south and west of Auckland will be built as a single undertaking, including all necessary infrastructure and connectivity to the public transport network. Every construction company in the world would seek that contract.
In line with Labour ideology and the huge blow-out of eligible families on state-house waiting lists, these could start out as entirely state-house suburbs but with residents able to progressively purchase their home under a rent-to-buy scheme.
The surprisingly statist shared-equity scheme proposed by Roger Douglas some weeks ago should also be part of Robertson's promised package.
I have become as tired of writing about the housing crisis as you are of reading about it. Even the lunchtime jokes among homeowners about their properties working harder than they do are now falling flat.
There is a genuine threat to social cohesion in New Zealand unless the Prime Minister takes big, bold action on which she need not so much expend her political capital as invest it for further big political gains.
It is disappointing the first two months since her historic mandate have not been used more productively, but perhaps understandable given the senior leadership's general exhaustion after Covid-19.
But there can be no excuses when the housing package is released in the New Year. There have been enough platitudes. And there are no longer any constraints on Ardern from doing whatever she believes is necessary for the people she claims she entered politics to help.
Terrible experience for me…I agree almost entirely with Hooton…except for the Thatcherist rent to buy for state houses; I prefer Douglas’s shared equity…OMG now I’m agreeing with him.
There is a rich vein of votes to be mined here by the Greens. Jacinda appears tone deaf on this central issue.
Hooton is clever at dropping lies into opinion pieces that are designed to create a falsely negative perception of people he either doesn't like or opposes on political/ideological grounds.
An obvious example from the piece above:
Jacinda Ardern expresses concern, but says she wants house prices to keep going up.
Oh bullshit. she said nothing of the sort. What she did say was something to the effect that house prices will continue to go up in the short term.
That is an unfortunate fact. They will continue to rise, and there's nothing she or anyone else can do about it – in the short term.
Never forget that Hooton is an apologist for right-wing ideology – the very ideology that created the problem in the first place. His righteous indignation about an over- heated house market seems only to have surfaced since the Labour led government came to power despite the problem arising years sooner. Funny that.
The easiest thing to do to address house pricing and the availability is to remove the ability for Landlords to claim interest and maintenance deductions on rental properties and shift that over to Owner Occupiers only.
Many landlords deliberately gear up rental properties to the maximum mortgage amount, on interest only, and make a killing getting refunds from IRD each year. Their own Owner Occupiers homes are often mortgage free. That interest refund helps pay for the new car, or goes towards another property.
Removing the interest deductibility on rental properties will have a staggering effect, and likely one that will be far more beneficial than any other tinkering that could be proposed.
There is nothing wrong with landlords spending money on maintenance and renovation/improvement to meet regulatory standards for rental property. And such is a legitimate expense against taxable income.
As for interest deductability well … maybe interest claimed as an expense should become a tax liability if they sell the property for an untaxed CG (up to the taxable value of that CG at least). Thus still no CGT if the investor owns the property without a mortgage and does not sell within the brightline period.
Why? Let's use the theory that "only rental houses are habitable houses"
Owner Occupiers should not live at a lesser standard than renters. They should all be equal. How then, is it morally right to allow landlords to claim maintenance costs on bringing a rental property up to scratch, but not allow Owner Occupiers to do the same thing?
It's farcical, especially considering that the OO is highly likely to use their property as equity to buy another, and then use the original house as a rental. So therefore any argument revolving around expected future gains immediately drops away as now both classes of people are in the same boat. If OO were the only ones able to claim back maintenance costs, you can bet your sweet bippy that a lot more houses would be bought up to a more habitable standard a lot faster as people don't want to live in damp ridden boxes so will do upgrades so they are comfortable where they live.
Forcing landlords to do it is like extracting hens teeth. People have a vested interest in themselves first and foremost. Removing the landlord rort and giving it to OO will immediately address the housing crisis and lead to a faster reduction in house price growth.
As for the last sentence, very few landlords in NZ now are mortgage free on their rental property. Why should they be? It’s far better to have a mortgage to the maximum against the rental.
Businesses get all kinds of tax advantages over end users. For example a GST registered business doesn't pay GST on goods it uses.
I don't really see a good case that interest payments on houses should be treated differently to interest costs on any other business. There is also a question on where the line is drawn on commercial property ownership.
I think the right way to tackle this is to ring fence the property business from other income sources so that unrelated income can't be rebated against a loss. But to some extent these losses have been allowing a slower rate of rental price increases (with the owners satisfied with the unrealised capital gains).
In the case of a property owner they are still not writing off the interest on their own place of living so I don't think its so clear that they receive an unfair advantage.
There used to be a mortgage rebate claim in the annual tax return – but this was removed when the top rate of income tax was reduced down from 66 to 33 cents. The presumption being homeowners (with mortgages to pay) were those in the higher income tax bracket etc.
Ring fencing moves have already begun, at these property values rent returns are now quite low and so any net loss cannot be charged against other (say working) income.
Well, yes. I was raising the pertinent question about all these things we know will bring property prices down (if implemented). How do we know, will they actually, and given they have been why didn't it work (e.g brightline test/CGT).
It all points towards the successful policy measure being the one which drives lots of first home buyers out. I think that will be very unpopular.
Why? As to maintenance, is because of the charge of tax against rental income. There is no profit/income to tax, but after cost profit/income.
Most low quality housing is rental not OO. And if the government allowed homeowners to charge necessary maintenance to government, it would be another middle class handout. Near all working homeowners are quite capable of borrowing while mortgage rates are cheap (and values are rising) to maintain their property. If it was allowed for low income homeowners (say the retired) it should be chargeable against the estate/or on sale.
Removing the ability to claim for maintenance costs is more likely to lead to lower quality rentals and more landlord tenant problems.
And it would do nothing to lower property values (a supply and demand thing) – but it would encourage speculators to simply leave their properties untenanted as they waited for CG.
As to my last sentence – the existence of such mortgage free owner investors is the reason why any tax claim against interest paid by other landlords could not be described as a CGT.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she would like to see small increases in houses prices, acknowledging most people “expect” the value of their most valuable asset to keep rising.
Asked by interest.co.nz whether “sustained moderation” of house prices was still the government’s goal, Ardern said: “Yes. We don’t want to see the significant increases; these huge jumps in house price growth.
I tend to agree with the PM, rightly or wrongly people don't want to see a 30% reduction in house prices, especially those that have just purchased even if they are staying put for a while. She like all politicians that have successfully achieved goals 1 and 2 of the job has an eye on number 3 which is to be re-elected again and promising to cut the value of houses 30% is not a way to do this.
Depends on the situation. An immediate 30% fall in values would put some recent buyers under water and many into the low equity category paying higher interest rates. Sometimes banks ask for rapid debt repayment in those situations too.
And if more broadly that price change spills over into a recession then the negative consequences will not fall fairly or on home owners.
We should also be aware wages don't typically fall during a recession and in nominal terms property prices tend not to either so to get that outcome something pretty rough might need to happen to the economy.
I think Hootons spin is pretty close to the truth of what was said… closer than your spin anyway
"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she would like to see small increases in houses prices, acknowledging most people “expect” the value of their most valuable asset to keep rising."
"Asked by interest.co.nz (see video below) whether “sustained moderation” of house prices was still the government’s goal, Ardern said: “Yes. We don’t want to see the significant increases; these huge jumps in house price growth."
Hooton was lying when he said Ardern wants house prices to keep going up and he knows it. At best he could be said to be misinterpreting – deliberately in my view – what she said.
She was talking in general terms in so far as she appreciated nobody wants to see their house decrease in value so a small increase over time is acceptable. What has been happening since well before Labour came to power is: house prices have been going up in leaps and bounds to the point its now out of control and that is totally unacceptable.
Nobody needs Hooton's spin on the situation. We already know what is fueling the rise in house prices. See my 4.1.1
Yes, his spin vs your spin in your eqrlier comment this one is closer the truth…
Reality is it's looking like this govt is going to over see the biggest increase in house prices in both dollar value and as a percentage in our history.
Its very fair to say that after railing against Nationals inaction in opposition, having Kiwibuild fail utterly, and now inflating the market with cheap money seemingly having no real plan outside of expressing concern this govt is unwillingly to take meaningful steps.
This crisis and Labours inaction is going to have a similar long term effect to Rogernomics…
Fuck Labour is better at looking after the well healed than the nats are…
It would be appropriately precautionary to assume that Hooten is arguing in bad faith -hoping to create an environment where the Government is spooked into doing something electorally damaging to itself. And thereby giving National a pathway back.
Strategically, it is essential that any discontent with Labour's approach to housing grows the political bloc to it's left – not give National a totally undeserved break when they are down.
It would be appropriately precautionary to assume that Hooten is arguing in bad faith – hoping to create an environment where the Government is spooked into doing something electorally damaging to itself.
Probably the only Thatcherite policy that withstands scrutiny is rent-to-buy schemes for state houses – but only if the state keeps on building them. The Singaporean state housing scheme prioritizes getting people into their own homes. Among other models they looked at before embarking on that was NZ's state housing scheme – before a greedy little wanker called Roger Douglas parasitized it of course.
In Thatcher's Britain the state houses sold were "cherry-picked" for the best ones leaving the crap ones still in the hands of the state for poor people. They were sold at massive discounts which meant the state lost a capital asset it could have rented out to needy people in the future and they were not replaced meaning the stock of state houses went down….was privatised. No wonder Hooton likes this.
My guess is the same thing would happen here.
The shared equity option looks far better in this context.
Yeah, I know what they did. But it is far more economical (and realistic) for the government to take up the slack in the non-MacMansion end of the market, than it is for them to throw money at 'investors' hoping they will solve it.
The UK Tories are the epitome of uselessness, and our Gnats give them a run for their money. But Singapore has successfully run a scheme where the state builds and sells apartments to occupiers for some decades.
If we have a surfeit of corrupt assholes wrecking our attempts at governance, well, we'd better have a bit of a clear out. Nothing good is possible till we do.
Agree…I would love to see a big state house construction programme and the Bright Line Test extended to 10 years-that is probably the only housing tax change Labour can make under its manifesto.
Yeah him and the highly irritating Seymour, the pair of them make me ill.
RNZ seem to have a fixation with Seymour making comments in as many "news" bulletins as possible, needless to say I turn the damn thing off every time I hear the little pricks voice!
Bishop said the Government needed to respond to the new strain by introducing pre-departure tests for arrivals from the UK. Bishop said the situation in the UK was another example of why the government should introduce a 'traffic-light system' to grade the risk of incoming travellers.
Bishop is taking the position of Baker. What he overlooks is that airlines are now limiting services out of the UK – so there is a de facto traffic light system developing – where those from Oz will take up bookings allocated to those who can no longer get flights. And pre flight tests are simply a bad idea – people leaving lockdown safety to get a test are placed at risk of catching the virus – they will test negative but be infected by the time they get to the plane with their now obsolete result. It would make things worse. Sometimes people do not think.
For mine the best move we can make with a new more infectious strain about is to keep people in their hotel rooms for the first week (so recent arrivals are kept apart from those in the second week about to leave the hotel).
The mention of Baker is interesting, he is practicly the only commentator on the media. What exactly was his role in the huge Covid committee, I was under the impression he was sidelined quite early on. Was he the one who wanted to completely seal the borders even to returning NZers which I think goes against international law. I lost all respect for him when I read his Guardian article mid year pretty much claiming all the credit for the lockdown and espousing just how brilliant he thought he was, it was the sort of thing Trump could have written it about himself.
I don't think this new variant will be found to be that much faster spread, I think the problem is that when FC Johnson lifted the London Lockdown too early the pent up infections just exploded. Who has a " lockdown "when the top tier only closes cinemas and pubs, restaurants, gyms, and pretty much everything else was wide open. It was a story that FC Johnson concocted to cover even more of his stupidity.
Note.. if you want to know about the FC identifier, look up what the UK No1 Christmas song is looking like being this year. It is a brilliant punk rock anthem.
Baker is doing his job, and he's damned good at it. He was the one who said that we could eliminate this thing, when everyone else was just trying to lessen the impact. And public communication is part of his role.
But his job is to focus solely on the health of the population. If there's anything with a tiny chance of improving things, he throws it up the flagpole. Other people have the job of looking at things from a financial, practical, or social impact perspective.
We tried pre-testing. It didn't work well enough to make arrival isolation less important. But he's right to keep throwing options up.
He may be very, very good at his job but there are ways to be a little less of the smug manner about it, and smug is probably the wrong word. There are also around 40 or so others who are or were advising like Dr Ian Town, Dr Ayesha Verrall Stephen?Hendry , and many others I can't recall. One does get the impression from Dr Baker that he is the only one who is the authority.
Most scientific advisors have multiple hats. In Baker's case, he's a senior academic (which requires being "critic and conscience" of society), and is probably on speed dial for any journo needing a quote from an expert in public health.
DHB professionals, for example, don't have the same public communication job as academics, and might even be constrained by policies about speaking out. Science communicators might not have the specialisation. So folk like Baker have their moment in the sun.
As to smug… well, that's a more subjective judgement.
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Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
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In my fathers wallet there was always a photo of my twin brother and i . Dad always said it was behind a photo of Tito because he did not want the sun to fade it.
Miss you DAD!!
Merry Christmas to you all and a Happy New Year
Hey Sanctuary put your pants on and do a post on the media lowlights this year.
73 of an intake of 1200 cadets at West Point cheat in a calculus online exam. That's 6%.
Wikipedia says "Candidates for admission must apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. Other nomination sources include the president and vice president"!
"The academic program grants a bachelor of science degree. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that "a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Academy
The worst scandal in 45 years!
I wonder how many of these cheats debasing university qualifications and heading for high office in the US military were nominated by Republicans, and how many by Democrats?
A wider question is do we wonder how power elites maintain their power when prospective top military officers have to be nominated by members of the power elite?
Does Prump have time to pardon them?
@ mac1 (3) …
Hardly surprising, considering the likes of Donald Trump is an ex cadet/student of West Point! He who got out of doing a tour of duty in Vietnam, due to his "flat feet." Then went on to criticise John McCain for being taken a prisoner of war during the same conflict!
The oompah loompah attended west point? Never heard that one before.
Humourous side note: tried to search for even an incomplete attendance using "trump education west point", got this:
lol
Generalissimo Bonespurs got sent to New York Military Academy in lieu of regular high school. Because he was too obnoxious for regular schooling to deal with.
While NYMA is just up the river from West Point, there is zero connection, and very few NYMA alumni went on to military careers. Basically, in the US, "military academies" are private boarding schools that the privileged and wealthy sent their snotty offspring to try to straighten them out.
Hooton in the Herald today:
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
OMC's name was meant to be ironic. Everyone knew Ōtara had no millionaires, let alone enough for a club.
November's $1.01 million sale of 1 Tate Place has predictably been labelled "how bizarre". Yet the price paid for the 95 square metre, one-bathroom, three-bedroom, weatherboard house on less than a fifth of an acre was not the first in Ōtara above $1m and most certainly will not be the last.
Nevertheless, Ōtara may remain millionaire-free, with only around a third of houses in the Panmure-Ōtāhuhu electorate, of which it is part, being owner-occupied. The electorate's median household income is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range.
Closer to the action, Councillor Efeso Collins, who was born and raised in Ōtara, says 80 per cent of Pacific people, the majority in his Manukau ward, do not own their homes – and there is now no chance they ever will.
Jacinda Ardern expresses concern, but says she wants house prices to keep going up.
Insofar as further meaning can be discerned from her remarks, it seems the Prime Minister hopes future wage inflation will be above house-price inflation.
Yet this is not the picture painted by Treasury in last week's Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), signed off by Finance Minister Grant Robertson as reflecting all government decisions and other circumstances of which he is aware.
According to Robertson's HYEFU, house prices will increase by another 32 per cent over the next five years while wages will go up by only 14 per cent, and consumer prices by 8 per cent.
The good news for an Ōtara family with an annual household income of $60,000 wanting to buy a $600,000 house is that they can expect to be earning $156 a week more in five years' time.
They'll also be able to save a bit more, since their weekly supermarket shop will only go up from, say, $200 to $216 – although their bank won't help much, since interest rates on savings accounts will remain dismally low for the full five years.
The really bad news is that the $600,000 house they have their eye on will go up by another $195,000. The Reserve Bank restoring loan-to-value restrictions will make it even harder for them to buy it, but not those who already own a home who they will need to compete with.
By dint of his own signature, Robertson says he knows of no government decisions or other circumstances that make these forecasts unsafe.
The realpolitik of the median voter model means that no one in Wellington actually cares or even thinks about a $60,000-a-year family in Ōtara dreaming of one day owning a home – and they never have.
But Beehive strategists do worry about middle-class couples wanting to save for their first home over the next parliamentary term. Double or triple the numbers above, and you've worked out the equally impossible maths facing them.
Ardern and Roberston appear either oblivious to the effects of their own Treasury's forecasts or utterly complacent about them.
Having wailed about a housing crisis for more than a decade – when house prices were half what they are now – they have not replied to the latest numbers with an emergency pre-Christmas programme the way previous governments with big mandates have responded to the economic, fiscal or social calamity of the day.
Instead, Robertson says the Government is now in a position to – and I quote him – "start addressing some of those long-term issues like housing [and] child poverty". A "housing package" is promised next year, although it will apparently focus more on making renting easier than on home ownership.
The time for excuses on the housing crisis has surely run out. Ardern has been re-elected with one of the most overwhelming mandates in the history of New Zealand or any proportional representation system. She no longer has the excuse of being new to the job or constrained by a coalition partner. She faces no credible opposition.
Nor is the housing crisis an issue where the best policy response has not been well-canvassed. Ardern and Robertson could do worse than even just re-reading Phil Goff's Mayoral Taskforce Housing Report released more than three years ago, with Labour's support.
It outlined a clear strategy covering everything from finance through to the building code, and was the consensus view of investors, lenders, developers, designers, builders, politicians, government officials and council officers.
As well as much-needed intensification throughout Auckland, Labour might also look at its own manifesto from 2017, which promised commuter rail linking the golden triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga and new suburbs between them.
After the failure of the pepper-potting Kiwibuild, Labour could announce that new suburbs to the south and west of Auckland will be built as a single undertaking, including all necessary infrastructure and connectivity to the public transport network. Every construction company in the world would seek that contract.
In line with Labour ideology and the huge blow-out of eligible families on state-house waiting lists, these could start out as entirely state-house suburbs but with residents able to progressively purchase their home under a rent-to-buy scheme.
The surprisingly statist shared-equity scheme proposed by Roger Douglas some weeks ago should also be part of Robertson's promised package.
I have become as tired of writing about the housing crisis as you are of reading about it. Even the lunchtime jokes among homeowners about their properties working harder than they do are now falling flat.
There is a genuine threat to social cohesion in New Zealand unless the Prime Minister takes big, bold action on which she need not so much expend her political capital as invest it for further big political gains.
It is disappointing the first two months since her historic mandate have not been used more productively, but perhaps understandable given the senior leadership's general exhaustion after Covid-19.
But there can be no excuses when the housing package is released in the New Year. There have been enough platitudes. And there are no longer any constraints on Ardern from doing whatever she believes is necessary for the people she claims she entered politics to help.
Terrible experience for me…I agree almost entirely with Hooton…except for the Thatcherist rent to buy for state houses; I prefer Douglas’s shared equity…OMG now I’m agreeing with him.
There is a rich vein of votes to be mined here by the Greens. Jacinda appears tone deaf on this central issue.
Hooton is clever at dropping lies into opinion pieces that are designed to create a falsely negative perception of people he either doesn't like or opposes on political/ideological grounds.
An obvious example from the piece above:
Oh bullshit. she said nothing of the sort. What she did say was something to the effect that house prices will continue to go up in the short term.
That is an unfortunate fact. They will continue to rise, and there's nothing she or anyone else can do about it – in the short term.
Never forget that Hooton is an apologist for right-wing ideology – the very ideology that created the problem in the first place. His righteous indignation about an over- heated house market seems only to have surfaced since the Labour led government came to power despite the problem arising years sooner. Funny that.
The easiest thing to do to address house pricing and the availability is to remove the ability for Landlords to claim interest and maintenance deductions on rental properties and shift that over to Owner Occupiers only.
Many landlords deliberately gear up rental properties to the maximum mortgage amount, on interest only, and make a killing getting refunds from IRD each year. Their own Owner Occupiers homes are often mortgage free. That interest refund helps pay for the new car, or goes towards another property.
Removing the interest deductibility on rental properties will have a staggering effect, and likely one that will be far more beneficial than any other tinkering that could be proposed.
There is nothing wrong with landlords spending money on maintenance and renovation/improvement to meet regulatory standards for rental property. And such is a legitimate expense against taxable income.
As for interest deductability well … maybe interest claimed as an expense should become a tax liability if they sell the property for an untaxed CG (up to the taxable value of that CG at least). Thus still no CGT if the investor owns the property without a mortgage and does not sell within the brightline period.
Why? Let's use the theory that "only rental houses are habitable houses"
Owner Occupiers should not live at a lesser standard than renters. They should all be equal. How then, is it morally right to allow landlords to claim maintenance costs on bringing a rental property up to scratch, but not allow Owner Occupiers to do the same thing?
It's farcical, especially considering that the OO is highly likely to use their property as equity to buy another, and then use the original house as a rental. So therefore any argument revolving around expected future gains immediately drops away as now both classes of people are in the same boat. If OO were the only ones able to claim back maintenance costs, you can bet your sweet bippy that a lot more houses would be bought up to a more habitable standard a lot faster as people don't want to live in damp ridden boxes so will do upgrades so they are comfortable where they live.
Forcing landlords to do it is like extracting hens teeth. People have a vested interest in themselves first and foremost. Removing the landlord rort and giving it to OO will immediately address the housing crisis and lead to a faster reduction in house price growth.
As for the last sentence, very few landlords in NZ now are mortgage free on their rental property. Why should they be? It’s far better to have a mortgage to the maximum against the rental.
Businesses get all kinds of tax advantages over end users. For example a GST registered business doesn't pay GST on goods it uses.
I don't really see a good case that interest payments on houses should be treated differently to interest costs on any other business. There is also a question on where the line is drawn on commercial property ownership.
I think the right way to tackle this is to ring fence the property business from other income sources so that unrelated income can't be rebated against a loss. But to some extent these losses have been allowing a slower rate of rental price increases (with the owners satisfied with the unrealised capital gains).
In the case of a property owner they are still not writing off the interest on their own place of living so I don't think its so clear that they receive an unfair advantage.
There used to be a mortgage rebate claim in the annual tax return – but this was removed when the top rate of income tax was reduced down from 66 to 33 cents. The presumption being homeowners (with mortgages to pay) were those in the higher income tax bracket etc.
Ring fencing moves have already begun, at these property values rent returns are now quite low and so any net loss cannot be charged against other (say working) income.
https://www.chapmans.co.nz/media/1043/new-loss-ring-fencing-rules.pdf
Well, yes. I was raising the pertinent question about all these things we know will bring property prices down (if implemented). How do we know, will they actually, and given they have been why didn't it work (e.g brightline test/CGT).
It all points towards the successful policy measure being the one which drives lots of first home buyers out. I think that will be very unpopular.
Why? As to maintenance, is because of the charge of tax against rental income. There is no profit/income to tax, but after cost profit/income.
Most low quality housing is rental not OO. And if the government allowed homeowners to charge necessary maintenance to government, it would be another middle class handout. Near all working homeowners are quite capable of borrowing while mortgage rates are cheap (and values are rising) to maintain their property. If it was allowed for low income homeowners (say the retired) it should be chargeable against the estate/or on sale.
Removing the ability to claim for maintenance costs is more likely to lead to lower quality rentals and more landlord tenant problems.
And it would do nothing to lower property values (a supply and demand thing) – but it would encourage speculators to simply leave their properties untenanted as they waited for CG.
As to my last sentence – the existence of such mortgage free owner investors is the reason why any tax claim against interest paid by other landlords could not be described as a CGT.
Hooten's right on this one Anne- see comments taken from an article and video with interest.co.nz
I tend to agree with the PM, rightly or wrongly people don't want to see a 30% reduction in house prices, especially those that have just purchased even if they are staying put for a while. She like all politicians that have successfully achieved goals 1 and 2 of the job has an eye on number 3 which is to be re-elected again and promising to cut the value of houses 30% is not a way to do this.
"..rightly or wrongly people don't want to see a 30% reduction in house prices.."
Even though houses are 30% over-valued?
Depends on the situation. An immediate 30% fall in values would put some recent buyers under water and many into the low equity category paying higher interest rates. Sometimes banks ask for rapid debt repayment in those situations too.
And if more broadly that price change spills over into a recession then the negative consequences will not fall fairly or on home owners.
We should also be aware wages don't typically fall during a recession and in nominal terms property prices tend not to either so to get that outcome something pretty rough might need to happen to the economy.
I think Hootons spin is pretty close to the truth of what was said… closer than your spin anyway
"Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she would like to see small increases in houses prices, acknowledging most people “expect” the value of their most valuable asset to keep rising."
"Asked by interest.co.nz (see video below) whether “sustained moderation” of house prices was still the government’s goal, Ardern said: “Yes. We don’t want to see the significant increases; these huge jumps in house price growth."
From https://www.interest.co.nz/property/108301/pm-jacinda-ardern-says-sustained-moderation-remains-governments-goal-when-it-comes
Hooton was lying when he said Ardern wants house prices to keep going up and he knows it. At best he could be said to be misinterpreting – deliberately in my view – what she said.
She was talking in general terms in so far as she appreciated nobody wants to see their house decrease in value so a small increase over time is acceptable. What has been happening since well before Labour came to power is: house prices have been going up in leaps and bounds to the point its now out of control and that is totally unacceptable.
Nobody needs Hooton's spin on the situation. We already know what is fueling the rise in house prices. See my 4.1.1
Yes, his spin vs your spin in your eqrlier comment this one is closer the truth…
Reality is it's looking like this govt is going to over see the biggest increase in house prices in both dollar value and as a percentage in our history.
Its very fair to say that after railing against Nationals inaction in opposition, having Kiwibuild fail utterly, and now inflating the market with cheap money seemingly having no real plan outside of expressing concern this govt is unwillingly to take meaningful steps.
This crisis and Labours inaction is going to have a similar long term effect to Rogernomics…
Fuck Labour is better at looking after the well healed than the nats are…
It would be appropriately precautionary to assume that Hooten is arguing in bad faith -hoping to create an environment where the Government is spooked into doing something electorally damaging to itself. And thereby giving National a pathway back.
Strategically, it is essential that any discontent with Labour's approach to housing grows the political bloc to it's left – not give National a totally undeserved break when they are down.
That is exactly what he is doing.
hard to argue with anything hooton sez there..
(I am pretty sure that is the first time I have ever said those words..)
I like the idea of fully serviced state house suburbs..('green' houses in them..)
and I see no problem with a rent-to-buy option in there…
why is that a problem for some here..?
it is perhaps the only chance many have to attain a home..after all..
and I don't see it as a privatisation stalking-horse…
just build more houses..!
and just out of interests' sake…what do those opposing this plan see as the solution..?
y'know..!..a good idea is a good idea..
..I couldn't give a hoot where it comes from…
(see what I did there…?..)
[Fixed typo in user name]
sometimes adherence to a political party spills over into cult behaviour..
I've noticed ..
the guru is always correct..
dissension will not be tolerated…
blind faith is the norm..
we are never wrong..
and the 'other' ..i.e. not them..are always wrong…
there are plenty of them in pretty much every party..
the 'true believers'..of whatever political faith..
can be quite tiresome..
I see it all as being much more fluid/nuanced..
..and there are many moves that could be made on the housing market..
but just making it a bit uncomfortable for the rentier class..isn't enough..
as hooton advocates..
..a massive building program must be part of it..
and new green state house suburbs sounds pretty pretty good to me…
Probably the only Thatcherite policy that withstands scrutiny is rent-to-buy schemes for state houses – but only if the state keeps on building them. The Singaporean state housing scheme prioritizes getting people into their own homes. Among other models they looked at before embarking on that was NZ's state housing scheme – before a greedy little wanker called Roger Douglas parasitized it of course.
I don't agree Stuart.
In Thatcher's Britain the state houses sold were "cherry-picked" for the best ones leaving the crap ones still in the hands of the state for poor people. They were sold at massive discounts which meant the state lost a capital asset it could have rented out to needy people in the future and they were not replaced meaning the stock of state houses went down….was privatised. No wonder Hooton likes this.
My guess is the same thing would happen here.
The shared equity option looks far better in this context.
Yeah, I know what they did. But it is far more economical (and realistic) for the government to take up the slack in the non-MacMansion end of the market, than it is for them to throw money at 'investors' hoping they will solve it.
The UK Tories are the epitome of uselessness, and our Gnats give them a run for their money. But Singapore has successfully run a scheme where the state builds and sells apartments to occupiers for some decades.
If we have a surfeit of corrupt assholes wrecking our attempts at governance, well, we'd better have a bit of a clear out. Nothing good is possible till we do.
Agree…I would love to see a big state house construction programme and the Bright Line Test extended to 10 years-that is probably the only housing tax change Labour can make under its manifesto.
It seems Chris Bishop has set himself a target of being in the media as much as possible.
Quantity will not equal quality. Maybe he doesn't realise that while being there will boost his profile of course 10 X 0 still = 0
Yeah him and the highly irritating Seymour, the pair of them make me ill.
RNZ seem to have a fixation with Seymour making comments in as many "news" bulletins as possible, needless to say I turn the damn thing off every time I hear the little pricks voice!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/12/covid-19-national-calls-on-govt-to-address-concerns-over-new-covid-strain-in-the-uk.html
Bishop is taking the position of Baker. What he overlooks is that airlines are now limiting services out of the UK – so there is a de facto traffic light system developing – where those from Oz will take up bookings allocated to those who can no longer get flights. And pre flight tests are simply a bad idea – people leaving lockdown safety to get a test are placed at risk of catching the virus – they will test negative but be infected by the time they get to the plane with their now obsolete result. It would make things worse. Sometimes people do not think.
For mine the best move we can make with a new more infectious strain about is to keep people in their hotel rooms for the first week (so recent arrivals are kept apart from those in the second week about to leave the hotel).
The mention of Baker is interesting, he is practicly the only commentator on the media. What exactly was his role in the huge Covid committee, I was under the impression he was sidelined quite early on. Was he the one who wanted to completely seal the borders even to returning NZers which I think goes against international law. I lost all respect for him when I read his Guardian article mid year pretty much claiming all the credit for the lockdown and espousing just how brilliant he thought he was, it was the sort of thing Trump could have written it about himself.
I don't think this new variant will be found to be that much faster spread, I think the problem is that when FC Johnson lifted the London Lockdown too early the pent up infections just exploded. Who has a " lockdown "when the top tier only closes cinemas and pubs, restaurants, gyms, and pretty much everything else was wide open. It was a story that FC Johnson concocted to cover even more of his stupidity.
Note.. if you want to know about the FC identifier, look up what the UK No1 Christmas song is looking like being this year. It is a brilliant punk rock anthem.
Baker is doing his job, and he's damned good at it. He was the one who said that we could eliminate this thing, when everyone else was just trying to lessen the impact. And public communication is part of his role.
But his job is to focus solely on the health of the population. If there's anything with a tiny chance of improving things, he throws it up the flagpole. Other people have the job of looking at things from a financial, practical, or social impact perspective.
We tried pre-testing. It didn't work well enough to make arrival isolation less important. But he's right to keep throwing options up.
He may be very, very good at his job but there are ways to be a little less of the smug manner about it, and smug is probably the wrong word. There are also around 40 or so others who are or were advising like Dr Ian Town, Dr Ayesha Verrall Stephen?Hendry , and many others I can't recall. One does get the impression from Dr Baker that he is the only one who is the authority.
Most scientific advisors have multiple hats. In Baker's case, he's a senior academic (which requires being "critic and conscience" of society), and is probably on speed dial for any journo needing a quote from an expert in public health.
DHB professionals, for example, don't have the same public communication job as academics, and might even be constrained by policies about speaking out. Science communicators might not have the specialisation. So folk like Baker have their moment in the sun.
As to smug… well, that's a more subjective judgement.
His dad often writes in the Dom. Tragic when your only fan club is your parents.
Thoughts go out to those serving the community over this festive season be you distributing food from a food bank serving meals to those in need
hopefully these services will be in less demand, we can only hope
@ Andre ..
My mistake. Cheers for clarifying that point re the Brumpf's (military) schooling.