The Government is desperate to make cuts in primary education, closing down special and residential schools and placing high needs children back into their local schools is the next initiative. These children will be supported by “wrap-around services”, but the question is, who will provide them? http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/wrap-around-services-unraveling.html
Poll out in the Herald on Sunday, the vast majority want to retain assets, so no surprise there. Apparently 60% of us want to buy shares, but there is no indication of how many can actually afford to buy the shares (5%?).
On preferred party polling, more trouble for Johnny Sparkles. The Herald is really, really reluctant to say it, but the tide is turning. Bear in mind, Key Research/HOS is the most optimistically blue tinged of the polling companies.
National: 47.9
Labour: 30.4
Greens: 14.8
No result recorded for NZF, but the commentary suggests their vote was below 5%. Peter Dunne is rightly hammered for his sin of ommision:
” … NZ First, Mana and Act have all taken a big hit. Peter Dunne’s United Future didn’t even register.”
National 47.9% (-8.5%)
Labour 30.4% (+6.2%)
Green 14.8% (+2.2%)
ACT 0.5% (nc)
Maori 1.7% (+1.1%)
United Future 0.0% (-0.3%)
Mana 0.2% (-0.1%)
NZ First 3.2% (-0.4%)
Conservative 0.8% (-0.6%)
National’s result is actually above it’s election % (same for Labour and Greens). Small party poll support tends to drop off between elections and doesn’t firm up until within a week or two of an election, as demonstrated by NZF. Can’t read much into that.
[nothing for His Hairness? A typo, surely. Because that last poll was just before the election and significantly out of line with it, the indication is that the Herald poll significantly over polls National and under polls Labour. So, it’s stupid to compare this result against the election result. With any single poll, you want to look at the trend in that poll, not the absolute numbers vs other measures of support. Eddie]
Trends are semi important for the large parties but there’s a lot of other factors – like how often the polls are taken, and when the last one was.
I doubt Winston Peters will give a hoot about the NZF trend. He targets one month prior to an election, the trend through that period is what’s criticval, the rest don’t matter.
UF have barely registered in most polls for yonks. That means little this far out. As does this:
Projected Seats
– United Future 1
A trend means more if the polls are close together, if they are a long time apart they mean much less.
From what I can see the previous HoS poll was 20.11.11, just prior to the election, where it had National on 56.4 and Labour on 24.2, Greens on 12.6 and NZF on 3.6 – that is nothing like the election result the following week.
Being seven months ago surely it’s hard to deduce any trend. And they only have one other poll listed, 14.10.11 – how reliable is a trend from three unevenly spaced polls where the first two were in totally different circumstances, in the lead up to an election?
100% correct Pete, the trend means more when they are close together. So what do 5 Roy Morgans, two or 3 from the telly and now the HoS all confirming National’s slide and UF’s demise coming together in just 3 months tell you?
“A trend means more if the polls are close together, if they are a long time apart they mean much less.”
Ok, you didn’t get it. The timing of the results is not some “other factor” apart from the trend, it’s part of what makes up the trend. Jeez, learn some fucking english, would you?
“From what I can see the previous HoS poll was 20.11.11, just prior to the election, where it had National on 56.4 and Labour on 24.2, Greens on 12.6 and NZF on 3.6 – that is nothing like the election result the following week. “
Which is exactly why you’re an idiot if you compare the recent poll with the election result and conclude that National’s support has risen. The HoS poll consistently overestimates National’s support.
It’s reasonable to assume, based on all available information over many polls, that National’s support is considerably lower than this poll indicates. Your own observation above supports this view, which is also consistent with the reasonable conclusions drawn from the trends of all other recent polls.
Spot on, eddie. If I recall correctly, one of the HoS polls before the election had National on 65% support, so their record is patchy at best. However, this one is in line with the last 5 Roy Morgans and the 2 or 3 tv polls over the last 3 months. UF’s dismal result in this poll is not a reflection of a mid term drop, it’s actually only 0.6% away from the actual vote cast in November and again, in line with what the other polls are saying about UF. And what they are saying is “oblivion”.
The real question for the next election is how well the maori party go. If they lose even one seat to Labour, it’s all over for Team Key.
I don’t like to sound overly optimistic but from my own crude rithmatic National are at present polling on the 43% mark,
That gambling site run by the Tories themselves has taken an even more pessimistic view of National as a betting option figuring them now at a miserable 41%, (to all extents and purposes gone-burger in 2014),
NZFirst below the 5%, thats got to be included this day for the humor content, even in its darkest days leading up to and at the 2008 election NZFirst held 4% of the vote,
Having said all that I see no need for any of us to become complacent and such figures should just give us all the impetus to provide even more vocal opposition to the Tories and the Slippery shyster from New York we have as Prime Minister,
What an incoming Government will face after the 2014 election is a Government debt stretched out to the point where further large scale borrowing by that Government becomes extremely problematic,
The view from here is that all opposition party’s should be looking further than simply a capital gains tax as an effort to stifle the speculation in housing,
The state of our economy in 2014/2015 is going to be such that a properly targeted Financial Transactions Tax is seen as the best means of producing surplus in the Government books as well as enabling the Government debt to be paid down,
I suggest that for capital expenditure on infrastructure and social housing Government need resort to creating such monies as needed…
On The Nation yesterday Winston Peters said that the Cullen Fund should be used to buy back the assets (when he’s in Government). That’s nonsense from WP.
The fact is the Cullen Fund is likely to buy as many shares as it can get (up to 10%) as soon as they go on the market.
Just another indication from WP of having the pension fund raided for other purposes then what it is meant for (I bet he is not the only one). In 20-30 years time there will be no money and people have to work til they are 70, perhaps even for all their lives (Dickensian). My god this is so mean and in the disguise of a “good cause”. Meanwhile NZ is becoming more and more an underdeveloped nation and all this with the nodding of the population. Pathetic really, but today’s comments on education are very revealing and do point in the direction NZ is moving.
Going back to Dave Kennedy’s comment, any more cuts and the illiteracy of the kids will even more increase. It would be nothing short of catastrophic for NZ. These comments below from an article this morning. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/7159927/Writing-on-the-wall-for-illiterate-Kiwis
A 2006 survey found 43 per cent of adults with some sort of literacy issue, and half the population with numeracy difficulties.
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training says the number of low-skilled jobs will fall by 51 per cent this decade, while highly skilled jobs will increase only 21 per cent.
Last year 31 per cent of students left school without level 2 NCEA, the equivalent of Sixth Form Certificate.
This is the real issue because people who fall behind will not be able to build a future for their community. Looking at other comments on this site, they will not be able to research issues like Asset Sales, they will be easier manipulated by social media and advertising. This is also a reason why the “rich” or whoever can afford it (be it with 3 jobs going) send their kids to private schools.
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training says the number of low-skilled jobs will fall by 51 per cent this decade, while highly skilled jobs will increase only 21 per cent.
Uh, highly skilled jobs are going to China and India. Highly skilled does not have to mean here and highly paid.
This report was about NZ and its education outcome. Sorry, but the number of people not able to string a sentence or able to calculate without any aid (provided the can read!) is rising. To get skilled means literate and able to be trained. How do you propose to change the future if the kids are not held on to the learn the basics? There is a worldwide shift from low or no skill where one can get by illiterate. This will and has changed to demands of better educational outcomes to operate the equipment that is provided and more and more hi tech. Read the article and you will understand what I try to say.
Basic literacy and numeracy are key, yes. But in the context that the future is going back to the past, FW. We will need fitter turners more than we will need semiconductor engineers.
And we need an education which arms children with social and communication skills primarily, not “high tech” skills.
BTW ever see a 50 year old use an iPhone or a Windows PC?
That 50 year old was in primary school in 1970. No computers, no internet. No problem.
Argh yes the “knowledge economy”, going along well isn’t it…NZ is forging ahead, along with the rest of the western nations. We can tell from the swaths of out of work young/graduates, as the economies of the world in real terms, have failed, on the back end of the money men cartels!!
FW – Don’t be fooled into thinking that the “tech” is the saviour os us, it simply is not, and will not be.
In fact the more the tech advances, the more stripped down the hunan being becomes, far from the direction most believe that all the “tech’ is taking us…
I was out of cash and needed some money to get by, so I thought I’d sell my car.
A mate of mine said he’d buy it.
It had a full tank of gas, new tyres and the engine ran ok.
I sold it to him for $100.
He used it as a taxi and made heaps of money.
After a while- having to pay my mate to get around, I realised that I needed a car of my own after all.
My mate said I could have my old car back.
The gas tank was empty, the tyres were worn out and the engine was stuffed.
He said I could buy it back for $200.
So far it’s cost me a lot for repairs and still doesn’t run very well,
but at least I’ve got my car back again.
Pretty good value, eh?!
My Asset Sales Story
I sold a car once, and some other assets, to raise a deposit to buy a house. After a while, as I paid off some of the mortgage and inflation and promotion raised my earning, I was able to buy a better car again.
So explain to me how selling what produces our earnings will give us a promotion and a pay increase.
The car you sold was a cost and the other assets were non income producing.
A more accurate analogy would be to have sold your body to a pimp who then used it to generate their own income. After several years your body was worn out and no use to the pimp and you had to pay lots of money to put it right again. The pimp meanwhile kept his money.
PG if your story bore any resemblance to government policy I don’t see it. National (+ klingon parties) won’t use the proceeds to improve NZ’s asset portfolio, they are just going to juice the budget for a few years and then there will be nothing to show for it.
So, Pete, do you think this government is planning to sell the shares in the power companies and in AirNZ, use the funds to reduce debt, and then buy those shares back when things are considered to be looking a bit better?
Rather than going into government coffers, most of the profits head directly overseas. The government woud have made much more money keeping the asset rather than selling it for a one-off payment. And it’s pretty much the most expensive power company in the consumer electricity market.
Thanks for pointing out what a stupid idea selling any other assets would be, pete. Care to share it with the hair-do?
It’s a perfectly valid analogy, Pete. It points out that Dunne and Key want to sell income generating assets and spend the money on non-income generating assets, or worse still on the general running costs of the country.
I know you’re not very good at analogies though. From the way I’ve seen you try to interpret them before, you’re probably thinking ‘what an idiot, the govt hasn’t said anything about buying petrol…’
As for PG What a limp apology for a comment with an underlying theme that goes like this. “I am so clever that I can manage my affairs so well that I don’t feel hardship because I am so clever and hard working, which is all that is needed in this life to succeed. Every clever boy knows that.”
Why is my comment that I put on at 11.15 a.m. after ropata not up there at 9.1.2 where it has some relevance? Instead I have gone down to 9.2 below felix’s at 6.18p.m. It’s makes the comment irrelevant to be so distant from the origin.
Would someone have time to explain how I can avoid this. You might note that I headed my original comment with ropata’s name so tied it, I thought, to the one I was replying to.
Probably other people have had this same thing occurring. It is annoying and makes commenting on comments a waste of time and discouraging. Is that the intention?
ropata
So this means that I should have replied to PG and then added comment to you at the end of one to PG so I could get in cooee of your comment. This is strategic – I’ll have to make plans for my future forays into the blogosphere.
A report on Radionz yesterday on the state of the Spanish oil industry. It is being ruined by the buying power of supermarkets who use this popular and needed item as a loss leader thus forcing down profits for the growers. Also the fudging of labelling to give the idea of higher quality.
Pure virgin labelling should show Acidity 0.3% but the marketing companies extend this classification by adding more processed oil giving 0.3 to 1% acidity, not virgin oil at all. The price being paid in general isn’t enough to fund the already low-paid work force using traditional gathering by shaking the olive branches to drop the fruit on mats underneath. This method allows the good ripening and flavour of good oil.
Australian supermarkets have used milk as a loss leader and had a price war between them for which apparently they didn’t bear the cost. They recouped losses by reducing the prices that farmers thought they were to receive under contract.
This is not new, the Spanish olive oil industry has been monitored for this reason for quite a while now. Don’t forget, Spaniards or for that matter Mediterranean Countries use Olive oil like we do canola and butter. But now that the new owners, the ones who bailed the country out, are in charge this kind of thing will surface. But don’t get fooled, the practice of “loss leader” marketing is well established and works in NZ too – look at the alcohol sales. All it means is that there is a war of shareholding in the food market on and we are the pawns on both side of the equation. We pay less and have no job, no income. So the price has to be cut to “loss leader” level, etc.
Foreign waka
Mmmm too true. Another thing that happens when these food price wars continue is that quality and good nutrition can be lost in favour of cheaper manufacturing procedures, longer shelf life, and poorer quality ingredients.
Already done, look at the “pink slime” mince issue in the US, just the tip of the iceberg. All these long name ingredients which – I would not be surprised to find this with 90% – are industrial waste. Toothpaste – fluoride is one of them.
Shame on the Corrections Department for the conditions they are imposing on prisoners. The prisoners are held at great expense to the taxpayers. They are usually not held for life, but let out eventually back into society – where many continue the schemes their twisted minds obssess about on one part of society, females but not forgetting children animals and old people or foreigners with perceived assets. The so-called Corrections Department doesn’t match its name. It doesn’t attempt to correct just to punish with prisoners locked in for 23 hours a day, with nothing to do. Let’s get it straight, that the Department is the Punishment Department and is an expensive, inefficient and dangerous method of dealing with criminals, dangerous to society. And they should now be allowing Peter Williams Lawyer and rep for the Howard League to talk to the stressed prisoners in the tower.
This is an inhuman, backward way to treat these people. The serially bad should be kept under life control on prison farms where they can work to grow prison food. All should be enabled to learn some skill or project interesting to them (not involving the making of weapons or studying warfare – they already know violence and callousness intimately). The others should go straight into a series of projects with limited time frames, which are not hard to accomplish. These would be chosen to suit their needs and they would pick from such a group.
Learning is hard work and would be a shock to the system for many. By doing something, first based on theoretical or philosophical teaching, then followed by a practical, hands-on thing they would pass the time productively for all, and eventually it would entertain them. Also, the sentence would be suspended when they had achieved a certain number, some being basic school programs they had missed.
Simple sayings, trite or cliche often say it all. The devil makes work for idle hands. Add to that my observation that people are like lettuces, once cut off from good nurturing, they wither. We are just as perishable as lettuces and need care to grow well.
I said that Correction Department doesn’t try to help prisoners, but that is not so, now I think about it. Someone will defend them saying that they do run projects to guide some of their prisoners to better thinking and behaviour. However they then spoil this positive by reducing the remaining humanity in their prisoners until they are full of anger or despair, and then more likely to erupt and strike, injure, kill in prison and out.
This 23 hour lock-up, multiple bunking attitude comes from High Society who wouldn’t demean themselves to commit such coarse criminality, aiming for a higher more complex type. These people are the product of their environment with some nature in the mix. Three ways to improve – one get beside parents with help and respect for the task, two limit addiction suppliers, legalise and tax and control and monitor their businesses, three to encourage prisoners to envisage a different path which would be better for them and society and then give them the help to achieve it.
This 23 hour lock-up, multiple bunking attitude comes from High Society who wouldn’t demean themselves to commit such coarse criminality,
Exactly, and that fits with the way the whole thing was being reported on Radio NZ… ‘They’ll come down when they get sick of it’ as if prisoners are naughty children! ‘They want to see Peter Williams, but we won’t let them’ (because Corrections has its own trained negotiators there… and that seems to be working so well!)
Community Action on Suicide Prevention Education and Research founder Maria Bradshaw […]says the ministry does not disclose the questionnaire’s real purpose to parents, and discourages those conducting the test to tell parents if their child’s scores are borderline or abnormal.
Since 2008 Pharmac figures show a 140 per cent increase in antidepressant prescriptions for 0 to 4-year-olds between 2009 and 2010, and an average 10 per cent increase in mood-stabilising drug prescriptions in the last five years for children aged five and over.
Giving anti-depressants to toddlers is totally wrong IMO – the drugs can be toxic, create dependence and too little is know about the effects on developing brains.
Big pharma may be looking for another market for its wares but that is not a good reason for letting them experiment on NZ’s kids.
The deliberate deception from the ministry and the instruction to those conducting tests to with-hold information from parents is totally unacceptable.
CL – Indeed this issue in fact goes back furher with CASPER playing a key role in keeping it in the public eye.
The use of psychotropic drugs, as it relates to the suicides of young Kiwis is a key issue. Now it looks like they are trying to get the kids hooked up even sooner, and who does this benefit overall – Big Pharma!
Bradshaw, the founder of Casper – Community Action on Suicide Prevention Education and Research – calls the associate minister of health, “Peter Dunne Nothing”, because she says that in the four years he has been responsible for suicide prevention in government “he has done absolutely nothing”.
Giving anti-depressants to toddlers is totally wrong IMO – the drugs can be toxic, create dependence and too little is know about the effects on developing brains.
Drugs should be the last resort IMO. Change of diet is probably the first one and then looking to care, involvement and environment.
Every individual needs a chance to become a person without medical intervention in the form of a psychotropic drug, especially at such young ages. Tests that normalise such interventions are not solving any problems, they are creating them.
I was talking about toddlers, and the “children aged five and over” referred to in the article who are a bit too young to be on the booze – but you have kindly illustrated my point – which was that if your kid ‘fails’ one of these ‘tests’ then next thing you know someone like BernyD is labelling them a future street corner dweller or alcoholic.
The use of psychotropic drugs, as it relates to the suicides of young Kiwis is a key issue. Now it looks like they are trying to get the kids hooked up even sooner, and who does this benefit overall – Big Pharma!</
This is what I mean by applying science.
The Devil is a known commodity, it can be observed, recorded, analysed.
The street corner or bar tender are not.
If everyone in NZ was happy to talk to a professional personality observer, they would find their lives a lot easier to understand.
It may scare them, but at least they’d know why.
And trust me when I say the Devil drug dealer is no psychiatrist all he wants is money.
Furthermore most kids from troubled backgrounds start drinking very young as well.
I include myself in that category, and would’ve appreciated qualified help.
Andrew Little is making a mistake is proposing that the ACC funding model be changed. The ACC has an investment portfolio of about $20b. DO NOT give the Nats a chance to liquidate that: it will only result in tax reduction for the top earners and cost reduction for employers. Andrew Little is taking a short term view, and Shearer will sit on the fence.
The ACC funded model is a Labour Party inter-generational treasure for our children. Like the Hydro Dams, it is wrong cash them in. Pull your head in Andrew Little, show some leadership Shearer.
“But the party’s ACC spokesman, Andrew Little, said it was time for a public debate about funding options, with recent controversy highlighting ACC’s overemphasis on lowering costs rather than meeting claimants’ needs. Under full funding the corporation builds up reserves to cover the current and future costs of existing claims, and is aiming to reach that goal by 2019.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7125792/Premiums-may-drop-in-ACC-rethink
I agree KM that ACC’s reserves should be maintained. Otherwise our young will not only be paying for our future superannuation but also paying for our accidents and our hospital bills …
No matter what the actual costs will have to be met from available resources. What this means in practical terms is an effective slack in the economy that can meet emergency situations. No amount of saving money will change that and, in fact, saving money makes it look like things can be done without diverting from other economic activity. I,e, Christchurch isn’t being rebuilt partially because the saved money isn’t generating a diversion from other economic activity.
Saving money is delusional but, then, our entire financial/economic system is delusional.
It’s not delusional. Each ACC account has its own investment fund and our levies have been topping them up so the income from investments can pay the future cost of existing claims.
To give you an idea what it’s worth; in 2011 investments returned very high sums because of recovering markets but if we discount it back to the risk-free rate of around 5% ACC investment accounts in 2011 would have paid 34% of the work account costs, 24% of the earners account and 49% of the motor vehicle account. That’s total cash outgoings too, including claims and all expenses. The percentages will get higher each year as surpluses are reinvested. That’s what we stand to lose if they nobble our ACC assets and change to pay as you go.
KM
Perhaps there could be an amendment from full to a part-funding model so that we don’t have to carry all tomorrow’s inflated costs on our shoulders today. Even small annual inflation, which is going to happen in a thriving economy, does mount up and we meet its cost as we go along.
Prism, there might be a valid case to move the target date out a few more years. But to remove that strategic target for short term reasons is as much intergenerational theft as selling the Hydro Dams.
Totally with your point KhandallahMan. I was equally pretty shocked to hear Kevin Hague of the Greens suggest that the Greens would simply liquidate the ACC fund, in order to stop a National government from using the fund to privatize ACC. Pretty odd kind of “salt the wells and burn the villages” kind of logic there.
If ACC’s goal really is to be self-funding, I presume that to mean that they generate a fund large enough that the levies will decrease. That’s a cost off business, and a cost of the injured, and a massive cost off the health system. That’s worth keeping a massive fund for.
Little is also spectacularly dumb if he wants to tamper with it. What Labour should avoid is moving from a simple political target (getting a few politicians fired), to a policy one in which they have no clue what success would look like (let’s reinvent ACC).
Labour have no clear policy on this, and you should not re-write an intergenerational contract on the fly.
It’s pretty obvious what it’s about. If they make ACC pay as you go then they can make the outstanding claims liability (OCL) disappear at the stroke of a pen. Presently it’s protected because of accounting rules, if they nobble any of our ACC cash it goes on the books as a deficit. Change the rules and they can grab the cash, book it as a surplus, and leave us paying extortionate levies for an ACC we’ve already paid for.
Neither the left nor the right political parties can be trusted on this IMO. The right want to sell off ACC so they can loot the kitty & enrich themselves, the left want to loot the kitty so they can spend more. It’s the best scheme of its type in the world and they’re all hell-bent on wrecking it for their own selfish ends.
The ACC is a Treasure! A Taonga. Some idiots from National are dicking around with it. The Nats want to sell it or wreck it. Labour should be very very carful not to undermine the unique value proposition of a properly funded ACC. Other countries are copying the historic Labour model.
Hague and the Greens have no maturity of policy development in this space. Andrew Little needs to engage with more experienced MPs and Party policy makers before shooting from the hip in public.
He deserves a good bollicking at the next caucus meeting.
Just imagine if we had a sovereign investment fund that included the ACC fund, the EQC fund, a public Kiwisaver option, and the NZSuperFund, and the (remaining) state companies. Perhaps in part managed by Kiwibank.
Something even bigger than Temasek or Harvard Pension, roaming the earth owning chunks of massive companies, investing with ethical and long term purpose.
Not just producing milk and cheese, but owning supermarket chains.
Not just converting to wind farms, but buying out the turbine manufacturer.
At every point, aggregating the public resources we have into single common purpose.
And imagine that fund being used to enable policy outcomes; a free health system, a fully resilient set of cities, a more confident NZSuperannuation.
The Greens(!) are the only party that have proposed such a fund, well they at least they promised to look into whether one would be worth investigating 🙂 While National just want to use our mineral wealth to subsidize tax cuts for the rich. Kinda what Thatcher did with North Sea gas…
Epic, and surprisingly uplifting. A great topic for defeatists and catastrophists in that he reaffirms individual human agency and choice, both through his own story and through railing against immoral kinds of government. Loved it.
I’d say that’s a serious concern. Was the release of cyanide gas from the grass an effect of the genetic modification or just a random mutation due to local drought conditions?
And sorghum is a popular feed and could have been GMO. The item about the dead cows said that others have had this trouble from the same Tifton85 type. However it shows up on google as a hybrid grass which happens more through breeding and crossing strains than adding and subtracting genetic material of various sorts.
In my humble opinion, today concludes the end of the first chapter of the Egyptian revolution. I know that other people have it divided into sections in regards to original 18 days, elections, parliament and presidential elections, but I don’t subscribe to that. We went into the revolution with the same thinking that people like me had back in 2005: we must remove Mubarak, stop his son from inheriting us, and get democratic elections. All of us had those goals and not a single vision on what to do afterwards, because the removal of Mubarak was such a pipedream. So, you successfully dethrone a tyrant, and you have neither plan nor vision on what to do afterwards, and no real understanding of the regime itself, then, quite naturally, you fall flat on your face, and we have been doing that for the past 18 months. This has been our story: the removal of a dictator and the repercussions that follow. That’s what’s been happening. This ends today, and the new chapter starts, for better or worse
At one point today when I tried to link to a specific commenter, it kept coming up with a post way back in 2008. Can’t remember the title but someone was… wondering why the Leader of the Opposition, John Key always had a cheesy grin on his face.
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A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
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. ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
Asia Pacific Report The Aotearoa chapter of the Women’s International league for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) has appealed to the New Zealand government to call out Israel over the “cruel and barbaric use of force” in Gaza and demand a permanent ceasefire. The league’s open letter was sent to Prime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
Asia Pacific Report Following an open letter by Auckland University academics speaking out in support of their students’ right to protest against the genocidal Israeli war on Gaza, a group of academics at Otago University have today also called on New Zealand academic institutions to “repair colonial violence” and end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda J. Graham, Professor and Director of the Centre for Inclusive Education, Queensland University of Technology Ryan Tauss/ Unsplash, CC BY Two male students have been expelled from a Melbourne private school for their involvement in a list ranking female students. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The Reserve Bank is now assuming Australians will see no interest rate cuts this year – and quite possibly none before the next federal election, due next May. That’s ...
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Morning. Is this meant to be a politics free Sunday?
didn’t you get the memo?
This is the second ‘weekend social’ this weekend. I got a bit confused for a minute there.
Looks like our open mike and weekend social wires got crossed. Fixed now.
but isn’t today the 24th?
someone should put the cap back on the bottle before things get any worse 🙂
Give that man a 10% pay cut!
My mistake. Too tired last night, brain on autopilot, wires crossed everywhere. All sorted now (I think)…
The Government is desperate to make cuts in primary education, closing down special and residential schools and placing high needs children back into their local schools is the next initiative. These children will be supported by “wrap-around services”, but the question is, who will provide them?
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/wrap-around-services-unraveling.html
This is going to end up just like our mental health services.
And ACC, Millsy, this government is actively avoiding their responsibility to support our most vulnerable.
Poll out in the Herald on Sunday, the vast majority want to retain assets, so no surprise there. Apparently 60% of us want to buy shares, but there is no indication of how many can actually afford to buy the shares (5%?).
On preferred party polling, more trouble for Johnny Sparkles. The Herald is really, really reluctant to say it, but the tide is turning. Bear in mind, Key Research/HOS is the most optimistically blue tinged of the polling companies.
National: 47.9
Labour: 30.4
Greens: 14.8
No result recorded for NZF, but the commentary suggests their vote was below 5%. Peter Dunne is rightly hammered for his sin of ommision:
” … NZ First, Mana and Act have all taken a big hit. Peter Dunne’s United Future didn’t even register.”
National 47.9% (-8.5%)
Labour 30.4% (+6.2%)
Green 14.8% (+2.2%)
ACT 0.5% (nc)
Maori 1.7% (+1.1%)
United Future 0.0% (-0.3%)
Mana 0.2% (-0.1%)
NZ First 3.2% (-0.4%)
Conservative 0.8% (-0.6%)
http://curiablog.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/herald-on-sunday-key-research-poll-june-2012/
National’s result is actually above it’s election % (same for Labour and Greens). Small party poll support tends to drop off between elections and doesn’t firm up until within a week or two of an election, as demonstrated by NZF. Can’t read much into that.
[nothing for His Hairness? A typo, surely. Because that last poll was just before the election and significantly out of line with it, the indication is that the Herald poll significantly over polls National and under polls Labour. So, it’s stupid to compare this result against the election result. With any single poll, you want to look at the trend in that poll, not the absolute numbers vs other measures of support. Eddie]
Trends are semi important for the large parties but there’s a lot of other factors – like how often the polls are taken, and when the last one was.
I doubt Winston Peters will give a hoot about the NZF trend. He targets one month prior to an election, the trend through that period is what’s criticval, the rest don’t matter.
UF have barely registered in most polls for yonks. That means little this far out. As does this:
Projected Seats
– United Future 1
That trend is stable, but meaningless.
Politicly Gelded looks like Dunne is going to have to change his blue rinse to red green rinse!
“UF have barely registered in most polls for yonks. That means little this far out.”
Quite right, Pete. If UF made you leader just before the election then put you on TV with that worm going again I reckon you’d end up our next PM.
Thanks for that decisive analysis, Pete.
UF are a rubbish party with no credibility. PD gets elected in Ohariu largely because of his personal popularity in the electorate.
“Trends are semi important for the large parties but there’s a lot of other factors – like how often the polls are taken, and when the last one was.”
Jeez Pete, what do you think “trend” means in this context if not movement over time?
You’re getting worse and worse at these “waffle over the gaping hole” comments you know.
A trend means more if the polls are close together, if they are a long time apart they mean much less.
From what I can see the previous HoS poll was 20.11.11, just prior to the election, where it had National on 56.4 and Labour on 24.2, Greens on 12.6 and NZF on 3.6 – that is nothing like the election result the following week.
Being seven months ago surely it’s hard to deduce any trend. And they only have one other poll listed, 14.10.11 – how reliable is a trend from three unevenly spaced polls where the first two were in totally different circumstances, in the lead up to an election?
The trend for UF is spectacularly stable though – no matter what the poll, UF is always on fuck-all. And that includes elections.
Sigh. There is so much wrong with this statement, stochastically, but I’m not even going to bother.
100% correct Pete, the trend means more when they are close together. So what do 5 Roy Morgans, two or 3 from the telly and now the HoS all confirming National’s slide and UF’s demise coming together in just 3 months tell you?
“A trend means more if the polls are close together, if they are a long time apart they mean much less.”
Ok, you didn’t get it. The timing of the results is not some “other factor” apart from the trend, it’s part of what makes up the trend. Jeez, learn some fucking english, would you?
“From what I can see the previous HoS poll was 20.11.11, just prior to the election, where it had National on 56.4 and Labour on 24.2, Greens on 12.6 and NZF on 3.6 – that is nothing like the election result the following week. “
Which is exactly why you’re an idiot if you compare the recent poll with the election result and conclude that National’s support has risen. The HoS poll consistently overestimates National’s support.
It’s reasonable to assume, based on all available information over many polls, that National’s support is considerably lower than this poll indicates. Your own observation above supports this view, which is also consistent with the reasonable conclusions drawn from the trends of all other recent polls.
Spot on, eddie. If I recall correctly, one of the HoS polls before the election had National on 65% support, so their record is patchy at best. However, this one is in line with the last 5 Roy Morgans and the 2 or 3 tv polls over the last 3 months. UF’s dismal result in this poll is not a reflection of a mid term drop, it’s actually only 0.6% away from the actual vote cast in November and again, in line with what the other polls are saying about UF. And what they are saying is “oblivion”.
The real question for the next election is how well the maori party go. If they lose even one seat to Labour, it’s all over for Team Key.
I don’t like to sound overly optimistic but from my own crude rithmatic National are at present polling on the 43% mark,
That gambling site run by the Tories themselves has taken an even more pessimistic view of National as a betting option figuring them now at a miserable 41%, (to all extents and purposes gone-burger in 2014),
NZFirst below the 5%, thats got to be included this day for the humor content, even in its darkest days leading up to and at the 2008 election NZFirst held 4% of the vote,
Having said all that I see no need for any of us to become complacent and such figures should just give us all the impetus to provide even more vocal opposition to the Tories and the Slippery shyster from New York we have as Prime Minister,
What an incoming Government will face after the 2014 election is a Government debt stretched out to the point where further large scale borrowing by that Government becomes extremely problematic,
The view from here is that all opposition party’s should be looking further than simply a capital gains tax as an effort to stifle the speculation in housing,
The state of our economy in 2014/2015 is going to be such that a properly targeted Financial Transactions Tax is seen as the best means of producing surplus in the Government books as well as enabling the Government debt to be paid down,
I suggest that for capital expenditure on infrastructure and social housing Government need resort to creating such monies as needed…
“no indication of how many can actually afford to buy the shares ”
Anyone with KiwiSaver can invest
On The Nation yesterday Winston Peters said that the Cullen Fund should be used to buy back the assets (when he’s in Government). That’s nonsense from WP.
The fact is the Cullen Fund is likely to buy as many shares as it can get (up to 10%) as soon as they go on the market.
Just another indication from WP of having the pension fund raided for other purposes then what it is meant for (I bet he is not the only one). In 20-30 years time there will be no money and people have to work til they are 70, perhaps even for all their lives (Dickensian). My god this is so mean and in the disguise of a “good cause”. Meanwhile NZ is becoming more and more an underdeveloped nation and all this with the nodding of the population. Pathetic really, but today’s comments on education are very revealing and do point in the direction NZ is moving.
Not the same thing. The clue was the word ‘buy’, which was in the question KR/HoS asked.
How does that work in practice?
http://newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/292669198-Greens-to-meet-with-ACC-minister-over-12-point-plan
It pains me to say it but those looney greenies arn’t doing a bad job at the moment
Going back to Dave Kennedy’s comment, any more cuts and the illiteracy of the kids will even more increase. It would be nothing short of catastrophic for NZ. These comments below from an article this morning.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/7159927/Writing-on-the-wall-for-illiterate-Kiwis
A 2006 survey found 43 per cent of adults with some sort of literacy issue, and half the population with numeracy difficulties.
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training says the number of low-skilled jobs will fall by 51 per cent this decade, while highly skilled jobs will increase only 21 per cent.
Last year 31 per cent of students left school without level 2 NCEA, the equivalent of Sixth Form Certificate.
This is the real issue because people who fall behind will not be able to build a future for their community. Looking at other comments on this site, they will not be able to research issues like Asset Sales, they will be easier manipulated by social media and advertising. This is also a reason why the “rich” or whoever can afford it (be it with 3 jobs going) send their kids to private schools.
Uh, highly skilled jobs are going to China and India. Highly skilled does not have to mean here and highly paid.
This report was about NZ and its education outcome. Sorry, but the number of people not able to string a sentence or able to calculate without any aid (provided the can read!) is rising. To get skilled means literate and able to be trained. How do you propose to change the future if the kids are not held on to the learn the basics? There is a worldwide shift from low or no skill where one can get by illiterate. This will and has changed to demands of better educational outcomes to operate the equipment that is provided and more and more hi tech. Read the article and you will understand what I try to say.
Basic literacy and numeracy are key, yes. But in the context that the future is going back to the past, FW. We will need fitter turners more than we will need semiconductor engineers.
And we need an education which arms children with social and communication skills primarily, not “high tech” skills.
BTW ever see a 50 year old use an iPhone or a Windows PC?
That 50 year old was in primary school in 1970. No computers, no internet. No problem.
Argh yes the “knowledge economy”, going along well isn’t it…NZ is forging ahead, along with the rest of the western nations. We can tell from the swaths of out of work young/graduates, as the economies of the world in real terms, have failed, on the back end of the money men cartels!!
FW – Don’t be fooled into thinking that the “tech” is the saviour os us, it simply is not, and will not be.
In fact the more the tech advances, the more stripped down the hunan being becomes, far from the direction most believe that all the “tech’ is taking us…
Back to the future it will have to be!
My Asset Sales Story
My Asset Sales Story
I sold a car once, and some other assets, to raise a deposit to buy a house. After a while, as I paid off some of the mortgage and inflation and promotion raised my earning, I was able to buy a better car again.
True.
So explain to me how selling what produces our earnings will give us a promotion and a pay increase.
The car you sold was a cost and the other assets were non income producing.
A more accurate analogy would be to have sold your body to a pimp who then used it to generate their own income. After several years your body was worn out and no use to the pimp and you had to pay lots of money to put it right again. The pimp meanwhile kept his money.
PG if your story bore any resemblance to government policy I don’t see it. National (+ klingon parties) won’t use the proceeds to improve NZ’s asset portfolio, they are just going to juice the budget for a few years and then there will be nothing to show for it.
Well do the sums Peteg and tell us how this scenario is actually going to happen.
We are not selling the car to buy a house, we are selling the business so we can pay off the credit card and give some money to the farmers.
So, Pete, do you think this government is planning to sell the shares in the power companies and in AirNZ, use the funds to reduce debt, and then buy those shares back when things are considered to be looking a bit better?
Cool story bro. Unfortunately what National and Peter Dunne are about to do is more akin to selling the house to put petrol in the car.
That’s another of many ridiculous comparisons. The best/worst I’ve seen is it’s like selling a kidney to buy a dialysis machine.
Here’s a relevant analogy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_Energy
Very apt indeed.
Rather than going into government coffers, most of the profits head directly overseas. The government woud have made much more money keeping the asset rather than selling it for a one-off payment. And it’s pretty much the most expensive power company in the consumer electricity market.
Thanks for pointing out what a stupid idea selling any other assets would be, pete. Care to share it with the hair-do?
It’s a perfectly valid analogy, Pete. It points out that Dunne and Key want to sell income generating assets and spend the money on non-income generating assets, or worse still on the general running costs of the country.
I know you’re not very good at analogies though. From the way I’ve seen you try to interpret them before, you’re probably thinking ‘what an idiot, the govt hasn’t said anything about buying petrol…’
ropata
A good story – very good analogy.
As for PG What a limp apology for a comment with an underlying theme that goes like this. “I am so clever that I can manage my affairs so well that I don’t feel hardship because I am so clever and hard working, which is all that is needed in this life to succeed. Every clever boy knows that.”
Why is my comment that I put on at 11.15 a.m. after ropata not up there at 9.1.2 where it has some relevance? Instead I have gone down to 9.2 below felix’s at 6.18p.m. It’s makes the comment irrelevant to be so distant from the origin.
Would someone have time to explain how I can avoid this. You might note that I headed my original comment with ropata’s name so tied it, I thought, to the one I was replying to.
Probably other people have had this same thing occurring. It is annoying and makes commenting on comments a waste of time and discouraging. Is that the intention?
Hey I saw your comment (9.2) and appreciated it, but PG got in first (9.1) and everyone replied to him (9.1.x) which shifted yours down lower.
ropata
So this means that I should have replied to PG and then added comment to you at the end of one to PG so I could get in cooee of your comment. This is strategic – I’ll have to make plans for my future forays into the blogosphere.
A report on Radionz yesterday on the state of the Spanish oil industry. It is being ruined by the buying power of supermarkets who use this popular and needed item as a loss leader thus forcing down profits for the growers. Also the fudging of labelling to give the idea of higher quality.
Pure virgin labelling should show Acidity 0.3% but the marketing companies extend this classification by adding more processed oil giving 0.3 to 1% acidity, not virgin oil at all. The price being paid in general isn’t enough to fund the already low-paid work force using traditional gathering by shaking the olive branches to drop the fruit on mats underneath. This method allows the good ripening and flavour of good oil.
Australian supermarkets have used milk as a loss leader and had a price war between them for which apparently they didn’t bear the cost. They recouped losses by reducing the prices that farmers thought they were to receive under contract.
This is not new, the Spanish olive oil industry has been monitored for this reason for quite a while now. Don’t forget, Spaniards or for that matter Mediterranean Countries use Olive oil like we do canola and butter. But now that the new owners, the ones who bailed the country out, are in charge this kind of thing will surface. But don’t get fooled, the practice of “loss leader” marketing is well established and works in NZ too – look at the alcohol sales. All it means is that there is a war of shareholding in the food market on and we are the pawns on both side of the equation. We pay less and have no job, no income. So the price has to be cut to “loss leader” level, etc.
Foreign waka
Mmmm too true. Another thing that happens when these food price wars continue is that quality and good nutrition can be lost in favour of cheaper manufacturing procedures, longer shelf life, and poorer quality ingredients.
Already done, look at the “pink slime” mince issue in the US, just the tip of the iceberg. All these long name ingredients which – I would not be surprised to find this with 90% – are industrial waste. Toothpaste – fluoride is one of them.
Shame on the Corrections Department for the conditions they are imposing on prisoners. The prisoners are held at great expense to the taxpayers. They are usually not held for life, but let out eventually back into society – where many continue the schemes their twisted minds obssess about on one part of society, females but not forgetting children animals and old people or foreigners with perceived assets. The so-called Corrections Department doesn’t match its name. It doesn’t attempt to correct just to punish with prisoners locked in for 23 hours a day, with nothing to do. Let’s get it straight, that the Department is the Punishment Department and is an expensive, inefficient and dangerous method of dealing with criminals, dangerous to society. And they should now be allowing Peter Williams Lawyer and rep for the Howard League to talk to the stressed prisoners in the tower.
This is an inhuman, backward way to treat these people. The serially bad should be kept under life control on prison farms where they can work to grow prison food. All should be enabled to learn some skill or project interesting to them (not involving the making of weapons or studying warfare – they already know violence and callousness intimately). The others should go straight into a series of projects with limited time frames, which are not hard to accomplish. These would be chosen to suit their needs and they would pick from such a group.
Learning is hard work and would be a shock to the system for many. By doing something, first based on theoretical or philosophical teaching, then followed by a practical, hands-on thing they would pass the time productively for all, and eventually it would entertain them. Also, the sentence would be suspended when they had achieved a certain number, some being basic school programs they had missed.
Simple sayings, trite or cliche often say it all. The devil makes work for idle hands. Add to that my observation that people are like lettuces, once cut off from good nurturing, they wither. We are just as perishable as lettuces and need care to grow well.
I said that Correction Department doesn’t try to help prisoners, but that is not so, now I think about it. Someone will defend them saying that they do run projects to guide some of their prisoners to better thinking and behaviour. However they then spoil this positive by reducing the remaining humanity in their prisoners until they are full of anger or despair, and then more likely to erupt and strike, injure, kill in prison and out.
This 23 hour lock-up, multiple bunking attitude comes from High Society who wouldn’t demean themselves to commit such coarse criminality, aiming for a higher more complex type. These people are the product of their environment with some nature in the mix. Three ways to improve – one get beside parents with help and respect for the task, two limit addiction suppliers, legalise and tax and control and monitor their businesses, three to encourage prisoners to envisage a different path which would be better for them and society and then give them the help to achieve it.
Yes that’s how I felt Vicky32.
Ministry ‘hides test’s real purpose’
Giving anti-depressants to toddlers is totally wrong IMO – the drugs can be toxic, create dependence and too little is know about the effects on developing brains.
Big pharma may be looking for another market for its wares but that is not a good reason for letting them experiment on NZ’s kids.
The deliberate deception from the ministry and the instruction to those conducting tests to with-hold information from parents is totally unacceptable.
CL – Indeed this issue in fact goes back furher with CASPER playing a key role in keeping it in the public eye.
The use of psychotropic drugs, as it relates to the suicides of young Kiwis is a key issue. Now it looks like they are trying to get the kids hooked up even sooner, and who does this benefit overall – Big Pharma!
Maria Bradshaw has a nickname for Peter Dunne.
Bradshaw, the founder of Casper – Community Action on Suicide Prevention Education and Research – calls the associate minister of health, “Peter Dunne Nothing”, because she says that in the four years he has been responsible for suicide prevention in government “he has done absolutely nothing”.
Many links to articles below
http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/index.html?t=Mental%20Health
Better than the street corner
Drugs should be the last resort IMO. Change of diet is probably the first one and then looking to care, involvement and environment.
Well said, but a “Professional” to help would be required.
Individual needs vary
Every individual needs a chance to become a person without medical intervention in the form of a psychotropic drug, especially at such young ages. Tests that normalise such interventions are not solving any problems, they are creating them.
I have too agree with you, self medication is the current result, starting with alcohol
I was talking about toddlers, and the “children aged five and over” referred to in the article who are a bit too young to be on the booze – but you have kindly illustrated my point – which was that if your kid ‘fails’ one of these ‘tests’ then next thing you know someone like BernyD is labelling them a future street corner dweller or alcoholic.
It relates to the original post by muzza …
Not sure where you got five year olds from, Just saying we need to make Psycho analysis less of a social evil and more of a science.
Even the ‘professionals’ admit they are supping with the devil
This is what I mean by applying science.
The Devil is a known commodity, it can be observed, recorded, analysed.
The street corner or bar tender are not.
If everyone in NZ was happy to talk to a professional personality observer, they would find their lives a lot easier to understand.
It may scare them, but at least they’d know why.
And trust me when I say the Devil drug dealer is no psychiatrist all he wants is money.
Furthermore most kids from troubled backgrounds start drinking very young as well.
I include myself in that category, and would’ve appreciated qualified help.
Andrew Little is making a mistake is proposing that the ACC funding model be changed. The ACC has an investment portfolio of about $20b. DO NOT give the Nats a chance to liquidate that: it will only result in tax reduction for the top earners and cost reduction for employers. Andrew Little is taking a short term view, and Shearer will sit on the fence.
The ACC funded model is a Labour Party inter-generational treasure for our children. Like the Hydro Dams, it is wrong cash them in. Pull your head in Andrew Little, show some leadership Shearer.
“But the party’s ACC spokesman, Andrew Little, said it was time for a public debate about funding options, with recent controversy highlighting ACC’s overemphasis on lowering costs rather than meeting claimants’ needs.
Under full funding the corporation builds up reserves to cover the current and future costs of existing claims, and is aiming to reach that goal by 2019.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7125792/Premiums-may-drop-in-ACC-rethink
I agree KM that ACC’s reserves should be maintained. Otherwise our young will not only be paying for our future superannuation but also paying for our accidents and our hospital bills …
No matter what the actual costs will have to be met from available resources. What this means in practical terms is an effective slack in the economy that can meet emergency situations. No amount of saving money will change that and, in fact, saving money makes it look like things can be done without diverting from other economic activity. I,e, Christchurch isn’t being rebuilt partially because the saved money isn’t generating a diversion from other economic activity.
Saving money is delusional but, then, our entire financial/economic system is delusional.
It’s not delusional. Each ACC account has its own investment fund and our levies have been topping them up so the income from investments can pay the future cost of existing claims.
To give you an idea what it’s worth; in 2011 investments returned very high sums because of recovering markets but if we discount it back to the risk-free rate of around 5% ACC investment accounts in 2011 would have paid 34% of the work account costs, 24% of the earners account and 49% of the motor vehicle account. That’s total cash outgoings too, including claims and all expenses. The percentages will get higher each year as surpluses are reinvested. That’s what we stand to lose if they nobble our ACC assets and change to pay as you go.
And you missed the point.
KM
Perhaps there could be an amendment from full to a part-funding model so that we don’t have to carry all tomorrow’s inflated costs on our shoulders today. Even small annual inflation, which is going to happen in a thriving economy, does mount up and we meet its cost as we go along.
Prism, there might be a valid case to move the target date out a few more years. But to remove that strategic target for short term reasons is as much intergenerational theft as selling the Hydro Dams.
Totally with your point KhandallahMan. I was equally pretty shocked to hear Kevin Hague of the Greens suggest that the Greens would simply liquidate the ACC fund, in order to stop a National government from using the fund to privatize ACC. Pretty odd kind of “salt the wells and burn the villages” kind of logic there.
If ACC’s goal really is to be self-funding, I presume that to mean that they generate a fund large enough that the levies will decrease. That’s a cost off business, and a cost of the injured, and a massive cost off the health system. That’s worth keeping a massive fund for.
Little is also spectacularly dumb if he wants to tamper with it. What Labour should avoid is moving from a simple political target (getting a few politicians fired), to a policy one in which they have no clue what success would look like (let’s reinvent ACC).
Labour have no clear policy on this, and you should not re-write an intergenerational contract on the fly.
It’s pretty obvious what it’s about. If they make ACC pay as you go then they can make the outstanding claims liability (OCL) disappear at the stroke of a pen. Presently it’s protected because of accounting rules, if they nobble any of our ACC cash it goes on the books as a deficit. Change the rules and they can grab the cash, book it as a surplus, and leave us paying extortionate levies for an ACC we’ve already paid for.
Neither the left nor the right political parties can be trusted on this IMO. The right want to sell off ACC so they can loot the kitty & enrich themselves, the left want to loot the kitty so they can spend more. It’s the best scheme of its type in the world and they’re all hell-bent on wrecking it for their own selfish ends.
Noisy scandals, Pullar, Privacy, who said what when, etc and blah blah are distractions. The ACC became under attach when Nick Smith appointed the new Board after National won the 2008 election.
http://www.acc.co.nz/about-acc/overview-of-acc/key-people/ABA00006
The ACC is a Treasure! A Taonga. Some idiots from National are dicking around with it. The Nats want to sell it or wreck it. Labour should be very very carful not to undermine the unique value proposition of a properly funded ACC. Other countries are copying the historic Labour model.
Hague and the Greens have no maturity of policy development in this space. Andrew Little needs to engage with more experienced MPs and Party policy makers before shooting from the hip in public.
He deserves a good bollicking at the next caucus meeting.
Just imagine if we had a sovereign investment fund that included the ACC fund, the EQC fund, a public Kiwisaver option, and the NZSuperFund, and the (remaining) state companies. Perhaps in part managed by Kiwibank.
Something even bigger than Temasek or Harvard Pension, roaming the earth owning chunks of massive companies, investing with ethical and long term purpose.
Not just producing milk and cheese, but owning supermarket chains.
Not just converting to wind farms, but buying out the turbine manufacturer.
At every point, aggregating the public resources we have into single common purpose.
And imagine that fund being used to enable policy outcomes; a free health system, a fully resilient set of cities, a more confident NZSuperannuation.
Call it Kiwifund.
Khandalla, that’s where Labour should be headed.
Now that is something I would support.
The Greens(!) are the only party that have proposed such a fund, well they at least they promised to look into whether one would be worth investigating 🙂 While National just want to use our mineral wealth to subsidize tax cuts for the rich. Kinda what Thatcher did with North Sea gas…
Or in any other as far as I can see!
Dr Michael Burry UCLA Commencement Speech
An outstanding critique of the political, economic and financial situation the world finds itself in.
From one of the world’s top 0.1%.
Epic, and surprisingly uplifting. A great topic for defeatists and catastrophists in that he reaffirms individual human agency and choice, both through his own story and through railing against immoral kinds of government. Loved it.
What to make of this?.
http://www.foodrenegade.com/mutated-gmo-grass-makes-cyanide-kills-cattle-2/
I’d say that’s a serious concern. Was the release of cyanide gas from the grass an effect of the genetic modification or just a random mutation due to local drought conditions?
Came across this and it seems that cyanide poisoning is a drought related feeding problem.
Prussic acid or cyanide poisoning can also be a problem when grazing drought-stunted plants such as sorghum, sorghum hybrids and sudan grass.
And sorghum is a popular feed and could have been GMO. The item about the dead cows said that others have had this trouble from the same Tifton85 type. However it shows up on google as a hybrid grass which happens more through breeding and crossing strains than adding and subtracting genetic material of various sorts.
Sandmonkey (Mahmoud Salem) on the Egyptian elections.
In my humble opinion, today concludes the end of the first chapter of the Egyptian revolution. I know that other people have it divided into sections in regards to original 18 days, elections, parliament and presidential elections, but I don’t subscribe to that. We went into the revolution with the same thinking that people like me had back in 2005: we must remove Mubarak, stop his son from inheriting us, and get democratic elections. All of us had those goals and not a single vision on what to do afterwards, because the removal of Mubarak was such a pipedream. So, you successfully dethrone a tyrant, and you have neither plan nor vision on what to do afterwards, and no real understanding of the regime itself, then, quite naturally, you fall flat on your face, and we have been doing that for the past 18 months. This has been our story: the removal of a dictator and the repercussions that follow. That’s what’s been happening. This ends today, and the new chapter starts, for better or worse
Some choice that was..
A member of the establishment, or some crackpot mullah.
Anyone else having trouble loading thestandard today?
At one point today when I tried to link to a specific commenter, it kept coming up with a post way back in 2008. Can’t remember the title but someone was… wondering why the Leader of the Opposition, John Key always had a cheesy grin on his face.