Conservative writer for and about Asian perspectives, Dileepa Fonseka, has an issue with Chris Hipkins already.
The incoming PM spoke too much about where he comes from and not enough about the Lunar New Year!
Mr Fonseka feels immigrants new and old are being ignored because they don't know where the Hutt Valley is, therefore it is exclusionary to mention it. Why then does he spend half his article on referencing 1981 play Foreskin's Lament and the apparent dangers of Labour government borrowing 50 years past? Hardly accessible concepts for his audience.
He infers parallels between this government and the pace of change by the Kirk government and the upset that caused conservative voters, and references the apparent rise of Paul Spoonley's "working-class conservative". I suspect Dileepa's real audience are voters Asian and non-Asian who might like the spread the word that Hipkins is no good.
The writer complains about the new PM mentioning his local Cossie Club, but it might be worth him looking up the word, "cosmopolitan", and see what it says about diversity:
cosmopolitan
adjective
including people from many different countries.
"immigration transformed the city into a cosmopolitan metropolis"
Fonseka is just a writer trying to find an angle to justify being in work.
Maybe today one of his colleagues will fashion a piece about Hopkins being 'anti sports' and not interested in sports people because he hasn't included those in his initial comments.
Or doesn't care about old people as shown by not referring to retirement villages.
Fonseca is a shill for the migrant worker pipeline to business class interest.
An apologetic that the migrant worker is the new working class is of a design to obstruct labour focus on worker training, fair pay/industry awards, standards/regulations for businesses employing migrant labour.
This “salt of the earth” routine is an attempt to prevent a backlash similar to the one seen when Labour was elected with a thumping majority under Norman Kirk in 1972. Kirk had big plans and ushered in big changes, but by 1975 inflation was soaring, the country had borrowed heavily, and it had been hit by an oil shock.
The pace of change had disillusioned some of the conservative voters who had voted for Kirk, and then the major economic problems, like heavy government borrowing and skyrocketing inflation, had dislodged Labour’s urban “working-class” supporters.
Utter tosh, what pace of change? This is a specious effort to imply a comparison to the here and now (the only one is inflation). There was some economic insecurity because the loss of the UK market (EEC) and this together with the oil price shock impacted the BOP (and because this was pre floating the currency it was hard to make the right economic adjustment). National had no response either and thus 75-84 was a waste of 9 years (they needed to float and NAFTA 1967 to CER by 1978, not 1984).
“When he can afford to be really intellectual, he starts worrying about the mortgage, and the missus, and his next naughty on the side.
Here Fonseca is a shill for a business class who covet a generation of working class people who pay rent rather than own homes, because they do not want to pay people enough to own homes – they want a constant supply line of low wage migrant labour to exploit.
A future where National and a migrant labour supply on tap are the future of our economic and political society is a nightmare scenario.
Posing labour as of the past for getting in the way is classic apologetic for neo-liberalism global market hegemony.
a business class who covet a generation of working class people who pay rent rather than own homes, because they do not want to pay people enough to own homes – they want a constant supply line of low wage migrant labour to exploit.
Well summed ! Queenstown be the epitome of that, but theres nowhere to even rent …to paraphrase that famous song "Work and pray, live on hay"… and in a tent : (
This is why I comment here, to get ideas down on paper so others more knowledgeable can pick it up and expand.
Always been suspicious about Fonseka's motivations and wanted to make that point so everyone can see and understand when they read him next time that his loyalties lie with NACT and open tap rather than managed immigration.
One major problem for Hipkins in this strategy, is that it leaves the government open to a very simple and compelling response from National. That is:
"If you want to be sure that the policies you hate aren't regurgitated after the election, then vote National."
I imagine policies such as the RNZ/TVNZ merger will get the chop. But one of the tricky policies will be Three Waters. This is already a long way down the track with a lot set up. So, it is going to be very difficult to ditch this policy now.
Indeed. Eye watering amounts have already been spent on 5 waters (as it is now) with the new 'authorities' set up and staffed up to eight months before the legislation was passed in Parliament. Councils were instructed this week to remove water assets from their balance sheets for the 2024 financial year – so locals were informed yesterday. (no link just verbal from the council).
No doubt HUGE compensation and redundancy will be demanded if it is cancelled.
Personally, I don't think they can scrap 3/5 Waters now.
But, Hipkins might tinker with the co-governance aspect as that seems to be causing a lot of agnst about the policy. Though, that would likely buy a big fight with the Maori Caucus.
Yeah…that is a sad but true. On that….I read this. History an all…
For the first time in 76 years, the 28th Māori Battalion Battle Honours memorial flag will be fully displayed and recognised in Rotorua for Waitangi Day.
Great !….but then I read on….: (
Soldiers who fought in the battalion weren't allowed to enter RSAs, hotels and other public places, and were told to leave.
BTW, Quite a lot of WW2 Veterans never received their Gongs besides the 28th.
A large number & I mean a large number of the 3rd NZ Div never received theirs & nor did those serving with NZ Homes Forces Command who were mobilise during the Japanese Scare between December 41 to early 43 when the last Units were stood down.
And that's before we start looking at the rest from WW2 or even further back to WW1.
There are Thousands of Thousands of unclaimed Gongs sitting in a vault somewhere in Trentham from WW1 to WW2.
In many cases, like those assign to NZ Home Forces Command in WW2 like my NZ Grandfather was, he didn't even know he had a couple of Gongs until the RSA change their membership Rules in the late 90's as he need his War Services Records & 2 or 3 Gongs arrived with War Service Records. Needless to say, he & Grandma were a tad shock & so was Mr Gladstone their neighbours in Bronte St in Nelson who ex 27th MG Battalion 1939-45 who finished up in Italy with a Italian war wife.
His brother was in 3 NZ Div and the way that was treated during its draw down in late 43-44 was quite shocking and it no surprising that most of them never got their respective gongs.
Then you have the Next Of Kin who had Family members KIA or WIA never received their Gongs either.
As the Willie Walker Former RSM-A & ex Tankie (not of Long Tan Fame), who I last spoke in Nov 2017. Who was in charge of the NZDF Medals & Awards Dept. Said it's a Kiwi thing most, as Kiwi Families rather forget the about the Wars etc & they got on with life post conflict. Because in the end, the average Kiwi Male is Pacifist as we only to war when we need too as we rather be working, playing sport, fishing/ hunting, going to the races or doing whatever as we find war a bloody inconvenience.
Thence NZ's fighting reputation, even though Peacekeeping as Nation that you don't Fuck with unless you have signed your own death warrant.
But we need to keep them, because eventually someone does write in too claim pops or uncle's gongs etc. As attitudes do change or one is doing a family history etc.
They came on a bit of a roadshow to several small towns around Wellington eg Otaki.
I am sure that genealogists could help locate families of unclaimed medals. Genealogists worked with Nat Lib to locate families of many soldiers whose pictures were taken at photographic studios before they embarked to go overseas.
I do know that there will be the ones like my sister's father in law who refused to claim his medals. Apparently there was a process to go though and his words were:
'They know my address, it is on my enlistment documents, they should send them to me I shouldn't have to apply for them.'
I am not sure whether to this day anyone from the family has claimed
I am not sure what the process entailed, possibly a form & witnessed declaration.. There seemed to be some sort of signed form on the documents that came from NZDF when we applied for our dad's service records.
1) Fresh [White?] Water 2) Storm Water 3) Brown [Grey?] Water to which were added 4) Coastal Water and 5) Geothermal Water at the Select Committee stage.
The original "3 Waters" was Freshwater (the stuff that comes out of your tap), Wastewater (the stuff that comes out of your sinks, baths, toilet etc) and Stormwater (the stuff that falls out of the sky).
The first 2 you can charge for either providing, or taking away. The last one is a bit of a nuisance as it just arrives and has to be managed without providing any sort of return. It is however, very important as the others all depend on it eventually!
"critics (including former deputy prime minister Winston Peters, and the National Party) that the government's reforms aren't Three Waters, but "Five Waters."
But the prime minister insisted that was not the case.
"I've read the legislation, it does not change the scope. It's a reference to the impact that if you pump for instance wastewater into the ocean, it has an impact on coastal water," Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday.
But she acknowledged that part of the bill could be clarified.
"It has caused potentially some confusion. So we'll ask the drafters whether there's a way to make it much clearer."
Well the truth is certainly not coming from you Maurice. Three waters reforms will make it harder to a future National govt to flog it off.
How can communities be sure these assets will not be privatised?
"Continued public ownership of these water services is a bottom line for the Government. Safeguards against future privatisation will be written into legislation to maintain ongoing ownership of the new entities by local authorities elected by communities. Beyond that, the Government will make communities the ultimate guardians of public ownership through a public referendum with any future proposal for privatisation requiring 75 per cent of votes in favour to carry it.
Additionally, any surpluses would have to be reinvested in water services to address significant infrastructure deficits, making the entities an unattractive proposition for investors. The involvement of iwi/Māori, with councils, in the strategic oversight and direction of the entities will enhance these protections"
"Councils will collectively own the water services entities providing services for their district, on behalf of their communities.
Communities will therefore retain an influence on three waters assets and services through their council and through other consumer and community interest forums"
they don't have to ditch 3 Waters, they just need to make sure the process brings people along instead of enforcing change that people either object to or don't understand. Remember the 80s? Yeah, let's not do that again.
I don't know if Labour or the central government departments understand how to do this. Or maybe they've been thinking they can force it through. Hope the lesson has been learned.
Three waters legislation is too far along to be pulled back. Water Services Entities Bill has already passed and the remaining pieces of legislation are at the committee stage.
Morning Report and what a swamp for Luxon to get caught in! Poor chap was totally confused about his anti-co-governence position. Corin Dann showed the terrible inconsistency of his position. Luxon did his usual word salad in defence.
Thanks Grey. Maybe that it was because it was Espiner that Luxon was being held to account. On reflection Dann would have helped Luxon get a more coherent answer.
John Key's head just exploded. "I went to your wedding and this is how you treat me!?":
Thank you @jacindaardern for your friendship, leadership and support over the years, not least at the time of my grandmother’s death. Sending you, Clarke and Neve our best wishes. W & C
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) January 24, 2023
Yesterday Mike the Lefty at #11 in the post about Jacinda Ardern's 5 years being remembered said that John Key left the PMship because his flag referendum was negative. Might it have offended the Royals having their symbols removed in a move towards a republic?
this needs pointing out. There are at least five problems here
1. A rapist (i.e. a man) decides to use self ID to get send to women's prison instead of men's prison. Whether that's because he will be safer in a women's prison, or because it gives him access to women to rape, or both, we don't know.
2. Self ID is being used as intended. Any man can say they are a woman at any time, and society will be expected to then treat him as a woman. Including institutions.
3. The Mail headline is a hot nonsensical mess and a gross insult to the women who were raped and women generally.
4. None of that serves transsexual women, men with extreme gender dysphoria, or gender non-conforming males. It probably does serve AGP males, and sexual offenders.
5. Gender ideology activists will argue that either he's not really trans and thus this is nothing to do with their politic, or he is trans and should be referred to as she and allowed to be in a women's prison. Wish they'd make up their minds.
the mail does as they are told to by their DEI advisor lest they get a shitshow for 'misgendering'
all of that actually actively hurts these people as it hurts women
Gender kultis will say what they need to say to keep this gravy train going.
The backlash to this will be extreme conservatism. The Handmaids tale only talks about the effects after the 'revolution' it does little to address what came before. I think it might have been unfettered liberalism coupled with extreme capitalism that now views the human body as the only profit center left and want to appropriately exploit that resource. We have fully gone down the rabbit hole. Good intentions badly applied lead to misery everywhere.
Don't know if this is accurate or not (only the vulnerability of the male is assessed before transfer), but if it is, the situation regarding the female prison estate in Scotland is worse than reported:
Wayne Brown is clearly out of his depth, so is kept on a tight leash by Matthew Hooten. He doesn't need to talk to non-Auckland based media, and fortunately he currently has an uncritical platform at the Herald to give his views unfiltered by any sort of pesky questioning. The other way he gets his views out is via "sources" giving press breiefings to the likes of Bernard Orsma, who is nothing but delighted that his sources have been upgraded from a few right wing councillors leaking documents to the mayors PR handlers giving him stuff.
The comments section of the linked article above indicates the Herald is basically the house journal of the sort of pricks who voted for him so as long as he dogwhistles them and they continue to block vote for him, democratic accountability can get fucked.
The tragedy is you can see that the CCO's have already decided that at 76 years old and not in the best of health they can afford to stonewall him for three years and see who comes along next, and the council itself is on a knife edge as to whether or not his agenda of cutting any service not used by well off boomers will succeed.
Wilson said Brown had two modes of talking to people, one being an off-the-record chat and the other, that he was good at telling people what to do.
Talking to the media did not fit into either of those, he said.
Wilson said Brown simply was "not good at talking to media" and believed a decision had been made that doing so risked him "looking less than he would like to".
Sooo anyone in IT working for a govt department get the memo today about offshoring IT jobs.
Despicable.
We spent billions on bureaucratic reforms to the health system, and not one new operation, not one new nurse or doctor will be provided, all it did was empower a shit load of overpaid middle management bureaucrats.
And now nz's health systems IT workers all have to prove that we are worth our meager pay or our jobs will be offshored so they can pay foreigners peanuts to access our health infrastructure critical information.
Thanks Jacinda. Thanks Chippie.
Bugger this country.
We had to work throughout COVID lockdowns, we had to work even if we were sick and now this country takes our jobs overseas.
Team of five million what a joke.
I'm so angry for my friends. This govt and this country stabbed us all in the back.
I feel bad for people who can't skip country but every young nurse, doctor and it worker should gtfo of dodge.
They like to throw around $$$ for foreign consultants so why not save a few billion and pay someone from india 25cents an hour to manage a national service desk
They’re quite obviously trying to copy the failed NHS mod that took 10 years to complete and they’re STILL having problems!
<blockquote>
ir Keir Starmer has publicly committed the Labour Party to the further privatisation of the National Health Service (NHS).
Writing in the <em>Sunday Telegraph</em>, the house organ of the ruling Conservative Party, Starmer declared in an op-ep that nothing was “off limits” when it came to the NHS. It should not be “treated as a shrine”, he said, repeating the formula employed earlier by his Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
</blockquote>
John Key’s asset sales outed by his own Minister [Nov 2014]
On Saturday, Paula Bennett, the Minister for Social Housing admitted, in a televised interview, that the sale of state houses by the Government was in fact an asset sale.
Nats treat public assets as their own, to flog off as they please – if it's not contributing to private profits it's worthless. Health/Education/Water could be good little earners.
Hollow Men confirm hidden agendas – asset sales [Oct 2007]
National leader John Key said today that New Zealand doesn't need to "rush in and sell its assets" – in stark contrast to the recent utterances of Bill English who confirmed the party would sell New Zealanders' assets down the road – as per the revelations in The Hollow Men.
The Nat party's masters will be salivating at the prospect of another good carve-up – it's been a long time between asset sales. Just don't scare the horses voters.
Ill thought-out restructurings are always 'pretty shit'.
In my working life I went through at least 8 though some masqueraded as some thing less by being called realignments (that made us feel soooo much better). Others that I started my working life with had been through 11 when I rejoined them in 2000.
I can say honestly that not a single one was well thought out and, dare I say, necessary.
Ironic really as when the first restructuring started back around 1985/86/87 (Envrionmental restructuring) started I had just finished doing management papers through Massey. One of these was fiercely saying that people who found themselves having to do abrupt shifts and changes in direction were poor managers as they had not been keeping their eyes one the ball. It was desirable & respectful of staff & markets to move in an incremental and slow-ish way respecting the value of staff knowledge and staff themselves. .
Funny that Stan Rogers, Richard Prebble, Roger Douglas and the eminence gris behind them from Treasury, Graeme Scott, did not seem to have read this stuff and treated the PS with absolute disdain.
Later I met one of my former restructured out staff members (with me in her first job out of Uni) in London where she was working in a Govt dept and she said her managers were agog (in a negative way) at the stuff that was happening in NZ and one said they were going to wait until the dust settled before seeing if they could learn anything but at first glance he felt an more incremental approach was usually better. (obviously having read the same types of management studies that I had!)
An incremental approach does not work for those wanting huge change, as part of an ill thought-out (ACT) or invisible (Nats) manifesto and who neither respect the PS nor the people who work there.
NZ decimated it's PS in the neo lib era (error) and though we have had some good years in the PS since there is a high degree of inherent suspicion of places like SSC/Treasury and their OTT influence on things, and a feeling that we may be slightly more politicised than is necessary. The importation of CEs from overseas increased the turmoil/churn with the restructurings.
Also to remember that it was Labour who started this neo lib madness and we should always be keeping an eye on them too.
Corey I am feeling for your friends in PS IT. I am feeling also for my young cousin who is part of a cohort of techies who were employed in the PS to provide a future/positive place to work across several departments. Hopefully he is not affected. It is so demoralising seeing those in their first jobs being swung around and spat out as part of terrible restructurings.
Think about the waste of lives and the slow down in departments as new entities tried to do what the old ones had been doing…what a complete and utter shambles this time was.
I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization
Having been through several local government restructures myself – this really resonated.
"An incremental approach does not work for those wanting huge change,"
It seemed that the majority of the managers on the restructure treadmill wanted to 'stamp their mark' on the organization – and it was change for changes sake, rather than actual improvements.
The general trend was to remove decision-making and responsibility (and therefore salary/pay) from the front-line site managers – to back-room people – nicely insulated from the consequences of their decisions.
The fact that you then have considerable 'churn' in those less-attractive front-line jobs (all of the stress, little responsibility, pay or job growth prospects) – all incurring ongoing hiring and training costs – never seems to get considered in the bottom line….
Waka Kotahi being doing this very same front-line to back-room shuffle under an Aussie CEO. Shame on Labour's government for weakening the Public Service.
[Please use the correct e-mail address in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Obviously Sanctuary has not been subject to an ill thought out and possibly unnecessary restructuring…..if so are you qualified to give any sort of opinion let alone a sneering dismissive one.
Oh, I've been restructured many times – it was practically a sport after the dotcom boom fell apart. First they come for the least productive, then they amputate whole departments and finally they fire the HR staff who made it possible to sack everyone in the first place.
The thing is a restructure/outsourcing isn't (usually) personal and they are always bad for the business, particularly harsh ones when everyone's morale falls off a cliff. They are shitty as, but you develop a bit of resilience and you realise you don't hang around waiting for the redundancy cheque if you've had a gutsful. Don't moan, just spend company time looking for a new job and leave. And if your leaving means they are in the shit because they planned on keeping you, tough luck.
They are shitty as, but you develop a bit of resilience and you realise you don't hang around waiting for the redundancy cheque if you've had a gutsful. Don't moan, just spend company time looking for a new job and leave.
And there is another myth, that you develop resilience. In the charts about life stressors losing one's job is in one of the 10 most stressful eg in the Holmes and Rahe scale.
Death of a spouse (or child*):
Divorce:
Marital separation:
Imprisonment:
Death of a close family member:
Personal injury or illness:
Marriage:
Dismissal from work:
Marital reconciliation
Retirement:
So imagine it happens once, at the same time as a marital break-up. Bad, so two years later it happens again and your dad dies, then again and again. I used to say to these outside consultant companies
'Please write your procedures so that there is recognition that losing one's job may not be the only sad or stressful thing happening to our staff'…..all to no avail.
This only plan only works if there are jobs 'outside' that are similar. Some PS jobs involve incredibly specialist work, that is hard to match in the private sector let alone even in the wider PS. I have been involved in some of the point matching jobs with others within yr dept and outside yr dept.
Some times the points matching comes down to a similarity only on generic attributes. Sometimes the resilience is to something akin to weekly beatings, or an inhumane living or home life, like the boiled frog syndrome. These are not necessarily good adaptations.
The damage to people, on going and the waste of potential is incredible. The NZ Govt must have spent/wasted $NZ billions on this.
One of my dad's wartime mates developed shell shock or PTSD 30 years after his war service ended. My dad was told that this was not unusual. I wonder if as retirement comes along for many of these folk involved in these restructurings if there will be a blip in the numbers seeking help for unresolved injuries to self now that the mind is free.
I know that many of us had much less to retire on than we were anticipating after raiding super and other savings after our redundancy monies were all gone. We were not eligible for any benefits, most of us, as we had 'earned too much', and spent it keeping family, hearth & home together.
I took early retirement once I became aware that I was not going to get a job in the last restructuring, too old (55) and had too much 'corporate baggage" I was told. You know the stuff they called 'goodwill' like having skilled, stable staff with a knowledge of the business where people pay money to secure it was labelled 'baggage' in this restructuring.
There is no good restructuring, it is a myth. The only 'restructuring' that is good is the ones we initiate ourselves as Jacinda Ardern did, and as happened in our workplaces, often after a long holiday.
With good training, good performance management/pay and good management much of the knee jerk obliteration of workplaces can be avoided.
If NAct gets it they are likely to use any cruel and unnecessarily damaging restructuring methods, wholesale, and 40 or so years after the last cut swathes through the PS we will have it again for our people.
It is ghastly to see it happening now under Labour.
I had some wonderful jobs after being restructured out, none in the skills I had been specifically trained in though. But it was wonderful to come back to the rump of the Dept I had been restructured out of all those years ago for 5 years before I took (forced) early retirement during a restructuring on account of my decrepitude
On another note related to misogyny/sexism/racism when I did come back all the corporate knowledge & goodwill about these 'isms' had been lost in the mists of time. We had CEs who had no working knowledge of concepts such as equal pay for equal work let alone evolving concepts such as equal pay for work of equal value (the police versus nurses pay), the glass ceiling, etc
"And now nz's health systems IT workers all have to prove that we are worth our meager pay or our jobs will be offshored so they can pay foreigners peanuts to access our health infrastructure critical information.
Sooo anyone in IT working for a govt department get the memo today about offshoring IT jobs.
…
And now nz's health systems IT workers all have to prove that we are worth our meager pay or our jobs will be offshored
I know people working in government IT (not Ministry of Health though) or are fully aware of all major IT projects in Wellington, so this is news to me.
Do you have some more information and/or a link to a news report?
I just listened to Neale Jones on the Kathryn Ryan RNZ show, saying 1 out of every 11 houses in NZ was built by the Ardern Govt. The biggest housebuilding scheme in NZ history. Is this right? Why the hell didn't I know that? Why doesn't everyone know that?
Just sad that no one can afford the loans at the high interest rates. So Yei, more houses, but sad high interest loans, inflation, high cost of living and a fair chance of high unemployment in the future. Never mind that what ever the number is, it is woefully inadequate.
State Houses new builds barely keep up with the amount sold.
As per the government from last year, they are happy to have overseen the build of 10.000 'permanent' public housing which comes to about 1800 per year, and is woefully inadequate to keep up demand.
There were 67,000 state houses in 2017, and now there are in 69,000 in 2022 (it was 68,000 in 2021).
They are also renovating old stock, so that they meet rental standards *.
Houses demolished are often on land for future state house building ** or for KiwiBuild *** or the sale for money (for * and ** and ***). That said they are also increasing capital invested in Kainga Ora.
My area with 1% of NZ's population will have 40 Kainga Ora houses go and 57 built. There are also initiatives being supported for house building by NGOs such as the Sustainable Housing Trust, and three local churches are building houses. Iwi also have some 4 ha of repatriated land that had been earlier donated by local iwi for hospital building being developed for housing. Abbeyfield is interested to build locally.
Rental houses locally are snapped up with but 16 houses available recently. Emergency housing continues to be built. Our area has a waiting list of 234 on the Housing Register, which contains applicants not currently in public housing who have been assessed as eligible and who are ready to be matched to a suitable property.
State houses go for all sorts of reasons- dilapidation, depopulation,- the big thing is that they are replaced with dry, warm houses in greater number and more suited for the aize of families who will live there.
There is still need but all is not gloom.
Dealing with our local Nat MP pre-2017 taught us that more state houses were being sold than built, even though the official line was that they would be replaced……
Hilarious … move onto a National government that sees holding down wages as the way to deal with inflation and wants to increase inequality by returning to mortgage interest deductability for multiple property owners.
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A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): “bananas” (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) “cave” dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet another day has passed without Ministers of the Crown posting something to show they are still working for us on the Beehive website. Nothing new has been posted since January 17. Perhaps the ministers are all engaged in the bemusing annual excursion ...
Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system “fairer”. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning in its favour, given Labour’s support in the last months of the Ardern era had been ...
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...
Labour has begun 2023 with the centre-left bloc behind in the polls and losing ground. That being so, did his colleagues choose Chris Hipkins as the replacement for Jacinda Ardern because they think he has a realistic shot at leading them to victory this year, or because he‘s the best ...
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at Māori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
You’ve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists haven’t even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealand’s new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his party’s currently suicidal political course. If Chris “Chippy” Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkins’ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become “too woke” on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardern’s response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Musk’s sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? That’s one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation. There’s an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry – including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US – and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga Whānui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
Open access notables Bad news delivered by an all-star cast of familiar researchers: Another Year of Record Heat for the Oceans. From the abstract: In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by OHC, were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum. According to IAP/CAS data, ...
The resignation of Jacinda Ardern has already made more global headlines than you might expect for that of the PM of a small commonwealth nation like say Sierra Leone (population 6.5 million) or Singapore (population 5.5 million). But international observers might not be too surprised by Ardern’s announcement that ...
One of my earliest political memories is the resignation of Prime Minister David Lange in August 1989. I remember this because of a brown felt-tipped pen drawing I did of the Beehive, the building that houses the Executive of the New Zealand Government. More than thirty years later, we ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hard on the heels of our Buzz from the Beehive earlier today, the PM has made two announcements – the 2023 general election will be held on Saturday 14 October and she will not be campaigning to win a third term as Prime Minister. She will ...
Jacinda Ardern had an outsized impact on New Zealand’s international relations. While all Prime Ministers travel internationally, Ardern’s calendar was fuller than most. Ardern’s first major foreign trip came within weeks of her election in 2017, to the APEC summit in Vietnam. The meeting gave Ardern her first in-person encounter ...
She gave it her all. No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers. No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from ...
Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement today has left a lot of us with a lot of complicated feelings. In my case, while I've been highly critical of Ardern's government, I'm still sorry to see her go. We've had far too many terrible things happen during her term as Prime Minister ...
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task of a centre-left government winning re-election this year from difficult to nigh on impossible. No-one else among the Labour caucus has Ardern’s ability to explain ...
Jacinda Ardern’s first press conference as Labour leader in August 2017 was a defining moment in the past decade of New Zealand politics. A young woman (by the standards of politics) who had long been tipped for higher office, she had underperformed as a minister and Andrew Little’s noble resignation ...
An Astonishing Rapport: Jacinda Ardern's "Politics of Kindness" raised so many progressive possibilities. Her own tragedy, and New Zealand's, is that so few of them were realised.MUCH WILL BE WRITTEN in the coming days about "The Ardern Years", some of it sympathetic and insightful, most of it spiteful and wrong.For ...
Buzz from the Beehive We drew another blank, when we checked the Beehive website this morning for ministerial announcements, pronouncements or denouncements. Nothing has been posted since January 16, when Damien O’Connor announced he was travelling to Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change ...
Kiwis returning to work after their summer breaks and scanning the economic horizon may find few encouraging signals. Even the agricultural sector, which proved to be the mainstay at the height of the Covid pandemic, is now having to navigate the inflation raging in the domestic sector. As well, ...
The Herald this morning reports on the rich's efforts to buy this year's election. And you'll never guess who their chosen vehicle is: The National Party may start election year with a $2.3 million war chest raised from 24 big donors in 2022, while Labour has declared just $150,000 ...
Here’s more from the “no news today” file. Under the heading Wellbeing of missing Marokopa children huge question mark – psychologist, RNZ reminds us that three children have been missing with their father for a year. Marokopa father Thomas Phillips and his three children Jayda, Maverick, and Ember have not ...
Buzz from the Beehive Our visit to the Beehive website this morning found nothing new since Damien O’Connor posted the announcement of his journey to Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. No news, of ...
DR BRYCE EDWARDS writes – Christopher Luxon’s National Party are the odds-on favourites to win the general election this year. They have been consistently ahead of Labour in the polls in recent months, and have a firm coalition partner in Act, which is often polling about 10 per cent. Betting ...
Christopher Luxon’s National Party are the odds-on favourites to win the general election this year. They have been consistently ahead of Labour in the polls in recent months, and have a firm coalition partner in Act, which is often polling about 10 per cent. Betting agencies can’t take bets on ...
Disruptions to public transport have long been a frustrating fact of life in Auckland, but the last year has taken this to a whole new level, with the ongoing longterm rail shutdowns with bus replacement services, plus thousands of bus cancellations a day becoming a regular occurrence. Things are currently so ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler You walk into your kitchen to make pasta. After filling a pot with water, you place a small silicone mat in the middle of your counter, then set the pot above it and open a stovetop app on your phone. ...
The extreme right-wing conspiracy theorist and anti-vaxer who was outed in Nicky Hagar’s “Dirty Politics”, Cameron “Whaleoil” Slater, has resurrected himself and is now promoting a campaign for his sometime-associate, Simon Lusk, to disrupt National’s candidate selection for the Tukituki electorate. ...
You know it as well as I, the famous Ring Verse from The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien: Three Rings for the Elven Kings under the sky Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their halls of stone Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die One ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Members of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have today written to Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to condemn the ongoing violence and killing of women’s rights and democracy protesters, and to call on him to intervene immediately. ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien O’Connor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. “We’re making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,” ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Tairāwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “While Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, Tairāwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien O’Connor has classified this week’s Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the Tairāwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. “We’re making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
Te Tai Hauāuru MP and Speaker of the House Adrian Rurawhe will not stand for the Māori electorate in October's general election and will instead move to the Labour Party list. ...
Auckland Central MP Chlöe Swarbrick has written to the new prime minister, thanking him for making Auckland one of his first priorities as leader. Chris Hipkins spent the day in Tāmakai Makaurau meeting with business leaders, as well as attending the tangi for Māori activist Titewhai Harawira. In the letter ...
RNZ Pacific The Indonesian military says a tribunal has sentenced an army major to life in prison for his involvement in the brutal murder of four Papuan civilians in the Mimika district. Their mutilated bodies were found in August 2022. Benar News reports that human rights activists and victims’ relatives ...
Forest & Bird is deeply disappointed that bottom trawling, dredging and Danish seining will still be allowed under the Hauraki Gulf Fisheries Plan , released in draft form last week . “We need to move beyond ripping up the seafloor to catch ...
Before a fresh group of Treasure Island castaways wash ashore next week, we predict what their go-to words of wisdom might say about how their gameplay. When the Treasure Island: Fan v Faves castaways find themselves marooned on a deserted Fijian beach, it’s likely they’ll need to call on some ...
By Meri Radinibaravi in Suva Fiji’s Constitution does not require everything related to the government to be called Fijian, says Attorney-General Siromi Turaga. Speaking during a media conference, he said there was no right or wrong way to describe a title or name a government. He said FijiFirst party general ...
Alice Webb-Liddall has watched a lot of netball in her life. This was hands down the most confusing five minutes she’s ever seen.This morning at the crack of dawn, I and presumably no more than 10 or so other New Zealand netball tragics woke up to watch the Silver ...
Pacific Media Watch A prominent Papuan journalist has said a recent bombing near his home is the latest in a string of attacks against him, reports ABC Pacific Beat. Victor Mambor said he heard motorbikes ride past his home before a bomb exploded about 3 metres from his house on ...
RNZ Pacific Police interviewing of FijiFirst Party general secretary and former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has reportedly been suspended but will continue later. FBC News reports the interview with Sayed-Khaiyum will continue. The police Chief of Intelligence and Investigations, Assistant Commissioner Surend Sami, told the state broadcaster the suspension is to ...
Councils representing more than a million New Zealanders are calling on the new Prime Minister to take a fresh look at a model for water reform that works. The member councils of Communities 4 Local Democracy He hapori mō te Manapori (C4LD) said that ...
The new prime minister enjoyed what he described as a “constructive” meeting with senior members of the business community in Auckland this morning. The hour-long, closed doors discussion was Chris Hipkins’ first engagement since being elected leader of the Labour Party and, therefore, prime minister. Speaking to media after the ...
His groundbreaking work conducted in Christchurch in the 1960s was never pursued. Now a legal loophole could make NZ a global leader in LSD research.This story was first published on Stuff. When Mark Livingstone was going through his father’s possessions after his death in 1970, he discovered a small ...
CPAG has long thought that Working for Families (WFF) needed to be renamed to put children at its centre, not work. In a letter to the editor today (26 January) Chris Brown of Tauranga came up with a title that accurately reflected the reality of low ...
New prime minister Chris Hipkins is meeting with Auckland business leaders this morning at a roundtable event – his first official engagement in the top job. Greeted by Auckland Business Chamber head Simon Bridges, the former National Party leader, Hipkins gave opening remarks before media were ushered out of the ...
From eggs to houses and (almost) everything in between.If there’s one thing New Zealand doesn’t currently have a shortage of, it’s shortages. It’s a word so commonly seen at the supermarket or in the news at the moment that it’s stopped looking like a real word. For a while, ...
*This story was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission* Prime Minister Chris Hipkins speaks to media after meeting with business leaders in Tāmaki Makaurau this morning. Hipkins says Auckland is incredibly important to the New Zealand economy, and our gateway to the world. He says his meeting with business ...
Do people who live in regions of lower seismic activity in Aotearoa New Zealand think about and prepare well for earthquakes in their regions? A research project funded by Toka Tū Ake EQC will provide a better understanding about what influences ...
It’s Thursday, January 26 and welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates with me, Stewart Sowman-Lund. Reach me on [email protected] The agenda New prime minister Chris Hipkins is in Auckland today for his first official engagement in the job. He’ll meet with CEOs at an Auckland Business Chamber ...
Where does all the power and influence in world rugby lie? Increasingly, with an exclusive group of top international coaches.This is an excerpt from The Bounce, a Substack newsletter by Dylan Cleaver. A learned, rugby-loving friend of mine believes the sport is, to its detriment, being slowly and systematically controlled ...
Labour’s leadership transition was a masterclass in how to pass the reins of power. Part of that was the lack of contenders willing to put themselves forward. One of those who chose not to go for the top job, despite expectations he would, was Grant Robertson. The former deputy PM ...
Good attempt here by the Herald’s Thomas Coughlan (paywalled) to work out whether those most impacted by rising interest rates are a significant enough voting bloc to shift the election. Those most impacted will be those who have bought in the last couple of years. Data on average mortgages and household net ...
Chris Hipkins got straight to work yesterday as new prime minister, chairing his first cabinet meeting and then reiterating to the media that he plans to rein in certain government projects and focus on the cost of living. He heads to Auckland today where he’ll meet with business leaders at ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayRĀTANA, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): After Ratana Thomas Manch (Stuff): Could Three Waters be on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Brand, Senior Beamline Scientist – Powder Diffraction, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Image of Gosses Bluff taken from the ISS.NASA I think all craters are cool, I’m just going to start with that. I am very biased. Impact craters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University “Australia Day”, January 26, brings an annual debate of whether celebrations should continue or be moved to a different date. This clash of views means Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Senior Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia January 26 is a date that sparks mixed emotions in Australia. For some, it’s a day to celebrate all the good things about living in Australia. For others, it’s a painful reminder of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Unsplash, CC BY Doctors are reportedly concerned about a spike in the number of kids with gastroenteritis – when tummy infections can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, abdominal pain, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Shutterstock Does your cat or dog suddenly get a burst of energy and perform athletic feats around the house that would make even a gold medallist jealous? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Wes Mountain/The Conversation/ShutterstocklAm I not pretty enough? This article is part of The Conversation’s series introducing you to unloved Australian animals that need ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University Madman EntertainmentReview: You Can Go Now, directed by Larissa Behrendt. A new documentary from Larissa Behrendt, You Can Go Now, highlights the life, ...
Eleven of New Zealand’s leading academics have written an open letter to business leaders and politicians stating that the proposed new international airport in Central Otago “should not proceed”, as it runs against prevailing research. The letter, ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins reiterated yesterday that the “bread and butter” issue of inflation is the number one focus for the government and a new poll demonstrates why, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, ...
Sport Northland, a community organisation funded by local and central government, has blocked a group from hiring a public venue, because of the political views they hold. Julian Batchelor from ‘Stop Co-Governance’ said Sport Northland has acted ...
"New polling shows growing public support for calls to cut fertiliser, regulate the dairy industry to protect water and, while not yet a majority, lower dairy cow numbers," says Greenpeace Aotearoa senior campaigner Steve Abel. The polling ...
Jacinda Ardern and Sir John Key have set a new standard for New Zealand Prime Ministers. Too often Prime Ministers have clung to their position, often through thick and thin, until they have been either been tossed out by the electorate or dumped by their ...
New Zealand Government representatives will today present to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child as part of the sixth review on the country’s progress in upholding children’s rights. This review is the first since 2016. A New Zealand ...
Chris Hipkins has promised to ‘run a ruler’ over Labour’s extensive policy agenda. So what’s likely to be on the chopping block? And what could be brought back from the dead?New Zealand’s new prime minister had a busy first day in the job. Fresh from being sworn in shortly ...
Are helmets a necessary safety measure, a cause of health issues, a government cop out – or something more complex?I usually wear a helmet on my bike commute to work. Recently, however, I’ve discovered a new, safer route that mostly keeps me away from rush hour car traffic. My ...
Small businesses across Aotearoa aren't confident the new prime minister will address their issues in time to win them over before the general election. ...
Chris Hipkins' first big meetings as prime minister are a series of charm offensives with Auckland businesses, as he seeks to understand what their priorities and issue are. ...
Chris Hipkins' first big meetings as prime minister are a series of charm offensives with Auckland businesses, as he seeks to understand what their priorities and issue are. ...
The more that students study maths to a higher level, the better for society. No financial literacy course can replace understanding the fundamental mathematical conceptsOpinion:The announcement by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of a plan to boost the mathematical capacity of their high school graduates by making maths compulsory up ...
A daughter's memoir Younger people may be tired of hearing what an exciting time the 70s was for women. But it remains true, and no less so for those within and on the edges of the literary world. At the time, I was an avid reader – of Atwood, Drabble, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Taryn Brumfitt, a body image campaigner whose work has been recognised internationally, is the 2023 Australian of the Year. A writer and film maker from Adelaide, Brumfitt’s 2016 documentary Embrace, about women’s body loathing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney Pin Rada/AAP Since colonisation, “interventions” to curb Aboriginal “crime” and alcohol have been deployed to control and harm First Nations communities and people. Nowhere is this more true than in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Crock, Professor of Public Law, University of Sydney Evan Agostini/AP Just one year after then-Immigration Minister Alex Hawke moved to expel tennis star Novak Djokovic from Australia on character grounds, his Labor successor, Andrew Giles, is faced with another ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Isaac Gross, Lecturer in Economics, Monash University Interest rates are almost certain to rise again in February, after the latest Consumer Price Index figures showing inflation hit 7.8% in 2022 – its highest rate in 33 years. The data from the Australian ...
New prime minister Chris Hipkins has reiterated his plan to rein in some government projects over the coming weeks. But, he would not comment on what projects could be on the chopping block. Speaking at his first post-cabinet press conference, Hipkins once again said his government would be focused on ...
Fresh from being sworn in as our new prime minister, Chris Hipkins will answer questions from media after a cabinet meeting was held this afternoon. You can tune in below, thanks to RNZ. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathalie Collins, Senior Lecturer, Edith Cowan University Tech companies are always in the news, usually touting the next big thing. However, the tech news cycle recently hasn’t been dominated by the latest gadget or innovation. Instead, layoffs are in the headlines. In ...
Chris Hipkins has put the "bread and butter" issue of inflation at the top of his government's agenda, saying today's figures confirm that's the right approach. ...
With the biggest news in entertainment that I somehow forgot to include this morning, here is Sam Brooks: Nominations for the 95th Academy Awards were announced this morning, with indie breakout Everything Everywhere All At Once leading with 11, trailed by both The Banshees of Inisherin and All Quiet on ...
Linda Burgess devours the royal memoir that’s already been half-spilled across the internet to feed those of us – you know who you are – who love to lap it all up.In recent days, in between real news, like changing prime ministers, there’ve been a few laconic locals from ...
News that Vic Books is closing down on March 31 has been met with an outpouring of grief, confusion and some existential grappling about what its absence means for Wellington’s very soul.Well, double fuck. After 48 years, Vic Books Kelburn (situated on campus at Victoria University of Wellington) is ...
“Congratulations to Chris Hipkins on becoming the new Prime Minister of New Zealand. We applaud his stated aim to “focus on bread and butter issues” like the cost of living and the economy” says Sue Harrison, President of the NZ Property Investors’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A federal Resolve poll for Nine newspapers, conducted January 17-22 from a sample of 1,606 people, has given Labor 42% of the ...
Watch live: Hipkins says at his first Cabinet meeting as prime minister he reiterated his expectation that reprioritisation work will be the government's absolute priority over the coming weeks. ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown accepted just two interview requests from media during his first month of office. That’s despite 108 requests made by journalists. RNZ’s obtained figures showing the total breakdown of requests to Brown’s office, revealing 54 out of the 108 were declined outright, while statements were provided in ...
Statistics New Zealand made its quarterly announcement about the consumer price index (CPI) this morning. A percentage number and the word ‘inflation’ always feature in the headlines about these announcements – but what does the CPI actually measure, and why is that about inflation?What is that percentage?Right now ...
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Conservative writer for and about Asian perspectives, Dileepa Fonseka, has an issue with Chris Hipkins already.
The incoming PM spoke too much about where he comes from and not enough about the Lunar New Year!
Mr Fonseka feels immigrants new and old are being ignored because they don't know where the Hutt Valley is, therefore it is exclusionary to mention it. Why then does he spend half his article on referencing 1981 play Foreskin's Lament and the apparent dangers of Labour government borrowing 50 years past? Hardly accessible concepts for his audience.
He infers parallels between this government and the pace of change by the Kirk government and the upset that caused conservative voters, and references the apparent rise of Paul Spoonley's "working-class conservative". I suspect Dileepa's real audience are voters Asian and non-Asian who might like the spread the word that Hipkins is no good.
The writer complains about the new PM mentioning his local Cossie Club, but it might be worth him looking up the word, "cosmopolitan", and see what it says about diversity:
cosmopolitan
adjective
"immigration transformed the city into a cosmopolitan metropolis"
Similar: international, multiracial, worldwide, global, universal
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131051861/dileepa-fonseka-chris-hipkins-saying-cossie-clubs-misses-the-new-working-class
Fonseka is just a writer trying to find an angle to justify being in work.
Maybe today one of his colleagues will fashion a piece about Hopkins being 'anti sports' and not interested in sports people because he hasn't included those in his initial comments.
Or doesn't care about old people as shown by not referring to retirement villages.
@ Muttonbird (1) Thanks for this …
Here we go … and we are off to a nit picking start already, before PM Chris Hipkins has even been sworn in as our Prime Minister! For crying out loud.
Amongst other things, our poor Jacinda wore herself down, trying to be everything to everyone in NZ!
Fonseca is a shill for the migrant worker pipeline to business class interest.
An apologetic that the migrant worker is the new working class is of a design to obstruct labour focus on worker training, fair pay/industry awards, standards/regulations for businesses employing migrant labour.
Utter tosh, what pace of change? This is a specious effort to imply a comparison to the here and now (the only one is inflation). There was some economic insecurity because the loss of the UK market (EEC) and this together with the oil price shock impacted the BOP (and because this was pre floating the currency it was hard to make the right economic adjustment). National had no response either and thus 75-84 was a waste of 9 years (they needed to float and NAFTA 1967 to CER by 1978, not 1984).
Here Fonseca is a shill for a business class who covet a generation of working class people who pay rent rather than own homes, because they do not want to pay people enough to own homes – they want a constant supply line of low wage migrant labour to exploit.
A future where National and a migrant labour supply on tap are the future of our economic and political society is a nightmare scenario.
Posing labour as of the past for getting in the way is classic apologetic for neo-liberalism global market hegemony.
Well summed ! Queenstown be the epitome of that, but theres nowhere to even rent …to paraphrase that famous song "Work and pray, live on hay"… and in a tent : (
Cheers for that.
This is why I comment here, to get ideas down on paper so others more knowledgeable can pick it up and expand.
Always been suspicious about Fonseka's motivations and wanted to make that point so everyone can see and understand when they read him next time that his loyalties lie with NACT and open tap rather than managed immigration.
Hipkins intends to reprioritise the government's focus this year likely away from some of the policies that have been unpopular or controversial.
One major problem for Hipkins in this strategy, is that it leaves the government open to a very simple and compelling response from National. That is:
"If you want to be sure that the policies you hate aren't regurgitated after the election, then vote National."
I imagine policies such as the RNZ/TVNZ merger will get the chop. But one of the tricky policies will be Three Waters. This is already a long way down the track with a lot set up. So, it is going to be very difficult to ditch this policy now.
How will voters know what National Party policies they like or hate?
There simply aren't any.
Not so much core National voters. More swing voters who hate some of those policies for whatever reason.
Indeed. Eye watering amounts have already been spent on 5 waters (as it is now) with the new 'authorities' set up and staffed up to eight months before the legislation was passed in Parliament. Councils were instructed this week to remove water assets from their balance sheets for the 2024 financial year – so locals were informed yesterday. (no link just verbal from the council).
No doubt HUGE compensation and redundancy will be demanded if it is cancelled.
Personally, I don't think they can scrap 3/5 Waters now.
But, Hipkins might tinker with the co-governance aspect as that seems to be causing a lot of agnst about the policy. Though, that would likely buy a big fight with the Maori Caucus.
Yes, consensus left and right is that water reform is necessary, just no Maoris please.
Yeah…that is a sad but true. On that….I read this. History an all…
Great !….but then I read on….: (
I get that "most" NZers are 100% different in attitudes now.
But there is still a racist chunk..who arent. As shown daily….
BTW, Quite a lot of WW2 Veterans never received their Gongs besides the 28th.
A large number & I mean a large number of the 3rd NZ Div never received theirs & nor did those serving with NZ Homes Forces Command who were mobilise during the Japanese Scare between December 41 to early 43 when the last Units were stood down.
And that's before we start looking at the rest from WW2 or even further back to WW1.
There are Thousands of Thousands of unclaimed Gongs sitting in a vault somewhere in Trentham from WW1 to WW2.
Well..thats pretty sad ? Surely some few could be assigned to sort that out? I'd say there would be Interest..even from an Historical point.
In many cases, like those assign to NZ Home Forces Command in WW2 like my NZ Grandfather was, he didn't even know he had a couple of Gongs until the RSA change their membership Rules in the late 90's as he need his War Services Records & 2 or 3 Gongs arrived with War Service Records. Needless to say, he & Grandma were a tad shock & so was Mr Gladstone their neighbours in Bronte St in Nelson who ex 27th MG Battalion 1939-45 who finished up in Italy with a Italian war wife.
His brother was in 3 NZ Div and the way that was treated during its draw down in late 43-44 was quite shocking and it no surprising that most of them never got their respective gongs.
Then you have the Next Of Kin who had Family members KIA or WIA never received their Gongs either.
As the Willie Walker Former RSM-A & ex Tankie (not of Long Tan Fame), who I last spoke in Nov 2017. Who was in charge of the NZDF Medals & Awards Dept. Said it's a Kiwi thing most, as Kiwi Families rather forget the about the Wars etc & they got on with life post conflict. Because in the end, the average Kiwi Male is Pacifist as we only to war when we need too as we rather be working, playing sport, fishing/ hunting, going to the races or doing whatever as we find war a bloody inconvenience.
Thence NZ's fighting reputation, even though Peacekeeping as Nation that you don't Fuck with unless you have signed your own death warrant.
But we need to keep them, because eventually someone does write in too claim pops or uncle's gongs etc. As attitudes do change or one is doing a family history etc.
Just recently TPK (Te Puna Kokiri) had initiated work to track down the recipients of unclaimed Maori batallion medals
https://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/mo-te-puni-kokiri/our-stories-and-media/returning-unclaimed-war-medals-to-whanau
They came on a bit of a roadshow to several small towns around Wellington eg Otaki.
I am sure that genealogists could help locate families of unclaimed medals. Genealogists worked with Nat Lib to locate families of many soldiers whose pictures were taken at photographic studios before they embarked to go overseas.
I do know that there will be the ones like my sister's father in law who refused to claim his medals. Apparently there was a process to go though and his words were:
'They know my address, it is on my enlistment documents, they should send them to me I shouldn't have to apply for them.'
I am not sure whether to this day anyone from the family has claimed
I am not sure what the process entailed, possibly a form & witnessed declaration.. There seemed to be some sort of signed form on the documents that came from NZDF when we applied for our dad's service records.
what are the other two waters?
"Holy' and 'swamp'.They seem to resonate with the belief systems of our disaffected. Or am I just taking the piss/
😂
1) Fresh [White?] Water 2) Storm Water 3) Brown [Grey?] Water to which were added 4) Coastal Water and 5) Geothermal Water at the Select Committee stage.
Ta. Funny, because when I first heard about 3 Waters I assume they meant something like fresh water, oceans, and human uses.
The original "3 Waters" was Freshwater (the stuff that comes out of your tap), Wastewater (the stuff that comes out of your sinks, baths, toilet etc) and Stormwater (the stuff that falls out of the sky).
The first 2 you can charge for either providing, or taking away. The last one is a bit of a nuisance as it just arrives and has to be managed without providing any sort of return. It is however, very important as the others all depend on it eventually!
It is not 5 waters.
"critics (including former deputy prime minister Winston Peters, and the National Party) that the government's reforms aren't Three Waters, but "Five Waters."
But the prime minister insisted that was not the case.
"I've read the legislation, it does not change the scope. It's a reference to the impact that if you pump for instance wastewater into the ocean, it has an impact on coastal water," Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday.
But she acknowledged that part of the bill could be clarified.
"It has caused potentially some confusion. So we'll ask the drafters whether there's a way to make it much clearer."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/479301/government-moves-to-address-three-waters-confusion
Ah! The One Source of Truth …. that's it then
Or perhaps ALL WATERS?
Gathering it all together and removing it from Council balance sheets makes it so much easier to privatise/sell surely?
Well the truth is certainly not coming from you Maurice. Three waters reforms will make it harder to a future National govt to flog it off.
How can communities be sure these assets will not be privatised?
"Continued public ownership of these water services is a bottom line for the Government. Safeguards against future privatisation will be written into legislation to maintain ongoing ownership of the new entities by local authorities elected by communities. Beyond that, the Government will make communities the ultimate guardians of public ownership through a public referendum with any future proposal for privatisation requiring 75 per cent of votes in favour to carry it.
Additionally, any surpluses would have to be reinvested in water services to address significant infrastructure deficits, making the entities an unattractive proposition for investors. The involvement of iwi/Māori, with councils, in the strategic oversight and direction of the entities will enhance these protections"
https://www.dia.govt.nz/three-waters-reform-programme-frequently-asked-questions
From the same link
"Councils will collectively own the water services entities providing services for their district, on behalf of their communities.
Communities will therefore retain an influence on three waters assets and services through their council and through other consumer and community interest forums"
they don't have to ditch 3 Waters, they just need to make sure the process brings people along instead of enforcing change that people either object to or don't understand. Remember the 80s? Yeah, let's not do that again.
I don't know if Labour or the central government departments understand how to do this. Or maybe they've been thinking they can force it through. Hope the lesson has been learned.
Three waters legislation is too far along to be pulled back. Water Services Entities Bill has already passed and the remaining pieces of legislation are at the committee stage.
Morning Report and what a swamp for Luxon to get caught in! Poor chap was totally confused about his anti-co-governence position. Corin Dann showed the terrible inconsistency of his position. Luxon did his usual word salad in defence.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018874960
Guyon Espiner. But yes Luxon was flapping around like a fish out of water.
Thanks Grey. Maybe that it was because it was Espiner that Luxon was being held to account. On reflection Dann would have helped Luxon get a more coherent answer.
NZ ratepayers deserve to know how much their rates will go up if National scraps Three Waters but Luxon doesn't want to talk about that.
Ahuh….theres still "some" (how many?) haters out there. Sad : (
this shit is getting out of control.
Its pretty messed up
John Key's head just exploded. "I went to your wedding and this is how you treat me!?":
Yesterday Mike the Lefty at #11 in the post about Jacinda Ardern's 5 years being remembered said that John Key left the PMship because his flag referendum was negative. Might it have offended the Royals having their symbols removed in a move towards a republic?
Her Penis ….will be send to a prison full of vaginas.
Holy Inclusivity!
https://twitter.com/HJoyceGender/status/1617945134687211520/photo/1
was just about to post this, from the 'it will never happen' files (again)
I will never figure out how to get the image to show. I am pathetic when it comes to that sort of stuff! Thanks.
use the tweet not the tweet picture. The former will embed, the latter won't.
this needs pointing out. There are at least five problems here
1. A rapist (i.e. a man) decides to use self ID to get send to women's prison instead of men's prison. Whether that's because he will be safer in a women's prison, or because it gives him access to women to rape, or both, we don't know.
2. Self ID is being used as intended. Any man can say they are a woman at any time, and society will be expected to then treat him as a woman. Including institutions.
3. The Mail headline is a hot nonsensical mess and a gross insult to the women who were raped and women generally.
4. None of that serves transsexual women, men with extreme gender dysphoria, or gender non-conforming males. It probably does serve AGP males, and sexual offenders.
5. Gender ideology activists will argue that either he's not really trans and thus this is nothing to do with their politic, or he is trans and should be referred to as she and allowed to be in a women's prison. Wish they'd make up their minds.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11670803/Transgender-woman-guilty-raping-two-women-man.html
The backlash to this will be extreme conservatism. The Handmaids tale only talks about the effects after the 'revolution' it does little to address what came before. I think it might have been unfettered liberalism coupled with extreme capitalism that now views the human body as the only profit center left and want to appropriately exploit that resource. We have fully gone down the rabbit hole. Good intentions badly applied lead to misery everywhere.
Don't know if this is accurate or not (only the vulnerability of the male is assessed before transfer), but if it is, the situation regarding the female prison estate in Scotland is worse than reported:
(Have time started at the relevant point)
Same as for Canada and the US.
In a radio interview with Kellie Jay Keen the interviewer told her about rape in prison by males – he mentioned two inmates and a warden.
Holy Inclusivity, here are your human offerings to keep you peaceful.
Yea…
His minders….dont want him making any more "gaffes"
Any idea which day will be the weekly morning interview with Mike Hosking?
Dont know. But I'm sure it'll be a mutual admiration show…
Wayne Brown is clearly out of his depth, so is kept on a tight leash by Matthew Hooten. He doesn't need to talk to non-Auckland based media, and fortunately he currently has an uncritical platform at the Herald to give his views unfiltered by any sort of pesky questioning. The other way he gets his views out is via "sources" giving press breiefings to the likes of Bernard Orsma, who is nothing but delighted that his sources have been upgraded from a few right wing councillors leaking documents to the mayors PR handlers giving him stuff.
The comments section of the linked article above indicates the Herald is basically the house journal of the sort of pricks who voted for him so as long as he dogwhistles them and they continue to block vote for him, democratic accountability can get fucked.
The tragedy is you can see that the CCO's have already decided that at 76 years old and not in the best of health they can afford to stonewall him for three years and see who comes along next, and the council itself is on a knife edge as to whether or not his agenda of cutting any service not used by well off boomers will succeed.
Simon Wilson…(He of nearly Urinal "fame")
And yea you are right…those who voted for him..could care less what he says or does. As long as he's in the tent….
Sooo anyone in IT working for a govt department get the memo today about offshoring IT jobs.
Despicable.
We spent billions on bureaucratic reforms to the health system, and not one new operation, not one new nurse or doctor will be provided, all it did was empower a shit load of overpaid middle management bureaucrats.
And now nz's health systems IT workers all have to prove that we are worth our meager pay or our jobs will be offshored so they can pay foreigners peanuts to access our health infrastructure critical information.
Thanks Jacinda. Thanks Chippie.
Bugger this country.
We had to work throughout COVID lockdowns, we had to work even if we were sick and now this country takes our jobs overseas.
Team of five million what a joke.
I'm so angry for my friends. This govt and this country stabbed us all in the back.
I feel bad for people who can't skip country but every young nurse, doctor and it worker should gtfo of dodge.
They like to throw around $$$ for foreign consultants so why not save a few billion and pay someone from india 25cents an hour to manage a national service desk
They’re quite obviously trying to copy the failed NHS mod that took 10 years to complete and they’re STILL having problems!
NZ can get f***ed
Thanks Andrew Little the great Union Man.
In the meantime in the UK the NHS is being set up to be sold – one brick at a time.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/22/jsic-j22.html
<blockquote>
ir Keir Starmer has publicly committed the Labour Party to the further privatisation of the National Health Service (NHS).
Writing in the <em>Sunday Telegraph</em>, the house organ of the ruling Conservative Party, Starmer declared in an op-ep that nothing was “off limits” when it came to the NHS. It should not be “treated as a shrine”, he said, repeating the formula employed earlier by his Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
</blockquote>
That's was a big
promiselie – can't trust 'em.Nats treat public assets as their own, to flog off as they please – if it's not contributing to private profits it's worthless. Health/Education/Water could be good little earners.
The Nat party's masters will be salivating at the prospect of another good carve-up – it's been a long time between asset sales. Just don't scare the
horsesvoters.Well lucky i am not a National voter 🙂
Oh no! A restructure! How can life BE so CRUEL??? Who knew your employer might kick you in the teeth?????
HOW DID WE LET THIS HAPPEN????
Will no one think of the children?
You know where the airport is. Less whiney talkie talkie and more walkie walkie!
I am sure foreign employers will be far more considerate of your views when making decisions.
Lol a big restructure so a bunch of jobs can be sent offshore… sounds like something Act would do… maybe Labour's just getting in first…
For the record if true its pretty shit.
Ill thought-out restructurings are always 'pretty shit'.
In my working life I went through at least 8 though some masqueraded as some thing less by being called realignments (that made us feel soooo much better). Others that I started my working life with had been through 11 when I rejoined them in 2000.
I can say honestly that not a single one was well thought out and, dare I say, necessary.
Ironic really as when the first restructuring started back around 1985/86/87 (Envrionmental restructuring) started I had just finished doing management papers through Massey. One of these was fiercely saying that people who found themselves having to do abrupt shifts and changes in direction were poor managers as they had not been keeping their eyes one the ball. It was desirable & respectful of staff & markets to move in an incremental and slow-ish way respecting the value of staff knowledge and staff themselves. .
Funny that Stan Rogers, Richard Prebble, Roger Douglas and the eminence gris behind them from Treasury, Graeme Scott, did not seem to have read this stuff and treated the PS with absolute disdain.
Later I met one of my former restructured out staff members (with me in her first job out of Uni) in London where she was working in a Govt dept and she said her managers were agog (in a negative way) at the stuff that was happening in NZ and one said they were going to wait until the dust settled before seeing if they could learn anything but at first glance he felt an more incremental approach was usually better. (obviously having read the same types of management studies that I had!)
An incremental approach does not work for those wanting huge change, as part of an ill thought-out (ACT) or invisible (Nats) manifesto and who neither respect the PS nor the people who work there.
NZ decimated it's PS in the neo lib era (error) and though we have had some good years in the PS since there is a high degree of inherent suspicion of places like SSC/Treasury and their OTT influence on things, and a feeling that we may be slightly more politicised than is necessary. The importation of CEs from overseas increased the turmoil/churn with the restructurings.
Also to remember that it was Labour who started this neo lib madness and we should always be keeping an eye on them too.
Corey I am feeling for your friends in PS IT. I am feeling also for my young cousin who is part of a cohort of techies who were employed in the PS to provide a future/positive place to work across several departments. Hopefully he is not affected. It is so demoralising seeing those in their first jobs being swung around and spat out as part of terrible restructurings.
Think about the waste of lives and the slow down in departments as new entities tried to do what the old ones had been doing…what a complete and utter shambles this time was.
Got it in one! In fact that came though to a secluded fax during one of the restructurings, mass-sent all around NZ to trusted faxes.
I used to keep a collection of these but I think I threw them out as it got beyond a joke.
Having been through several local government restructures myself – this really resonated.
"An incremental approach does not work for those wanting huge change,"
It seemed that the majority of the managers on the restructure treadmill wanted to 'stamp their mark' on the organization – and it was change for changes sake, rather than actual improvements.
The general trend was to remove decision-making and responsibility (and therefore salary/pay) from the front-line site managers – to back-room people – nicely insulated from the consequences of their decisions.
The fact that you then have considerable 'churn' in those less-attractive front-line jobs (all of the stress, little responsibility, pay or job growth prospects) – all incurring ongoing hiring and training costs – never seems to get considered in the bottom line….
Waka Kotahi being doing this very same front-line to back-room shuffle under an Aussie CEO. Shame on Labour's government for weakening the Public Service.
[Please use the correct e-mail address in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Obviously Sanctuary has not been subject to an ill thought out and possibly unnecessary restructuring…..if so are you qualified to give any sort of opinion let alone a sneering dismissive one.
Or is this some heavy irony I am not getting?
Oh, I've been restructured many times – it was practically a sport after the dotcom boom fell apart. First they come for the least productive, then they amputate whole departments and finally they fire the HR staff who made it possible to sack everyone in the first place.
The thing is a restructure/outsourcing isn't (usually) personal and they are always bad for the business, particularly harsh ones when everyone's morale falls off a cliff. They are shitty as, but you develop a bit of resilience and you realise you don't hang around waiting for the redundancy cheque if you've had a gutsful. Don't moan, just spend company time looking for a new job and leave. And if your leaving means they are in the shit because they planned on keeping you, tough luck.
this is a political blog. I think pointing to the politics of this situation is warranted beyond 'stop moaning and get another job'.
And there is another myth, that you develop resilience. In the charts about life stressors losing one's job is in one of the 10 most stressful eg in the Holmes and Rahe scale.
So imagine it happens once, at the same time as a marital break-up. Bad, so two years later it happens again and your dad dies, then again and again. I used to say to these outside consultant companies
'Please write your procedures so that there is recognition that losing one's job may not be the only sad or stressful thing happening to our staff'…..all to no avail.
This only plan only works if there are jobs 'outside' that are similar. Some PS jobs involve incredibly specialist work, that is hard to match in the private sector let alone even in the wider PS. I have been involved in some of the point matching jobs with others within yr dept and outside yr dept.
Some times the points matching comes down to a similarity only on generic attributes. Sometimes the resilience is to something akin to weekly beatings, or an inhumane living or home life, like the boiled frog syndrome. These are not necessarily good adaptations.
The damage to people, on going and the waste of potential is incredible. The NZ Govt must have spent/wasted $NZ billions on this.
One of my dad's wartime mates developed shell shock or PTSD 30 years after his war service ended. My dad was told that this was not unusual. I wonder if as retirement comes along for many of these folk involved in these restructurings if there will be a blip in the numbers seeking help for unresolved injuries to self now that the mind is free.
I know that many of us had much less to retire on than we were anticipating after raiding super and other savings after our redundancy monies were all gone. We were not eligible for any benefits, most of us, as we had 'earned too much', and spent it keeping family, hearth & home together.
I took early retirement once I became aware that I was not going to get a job in the last restructuring, too old (55) and had too much 'corporate baggage" I was told. You know the stuff they called 'goodwill' like having skilled, stable staff with a knowledge of the business where people pay money to secure it was labelled 'baggage' in this restructuring.
There is no good restructuring, it is a myth. The only 'restructuring' that is good is the ones we initiate ourselves as Jacinda Ardern did, and as happened in our workplaces, often after a long holiday.
With good training, good performance management/pay and good management much of the knee jerk obliteration of workplaces can be avoided.
If NAct gets it they are likely to use any cruel and unnecessarily damaging restructuring methods, wholesale, and 40 or so years after the last cut swathes through the PS we will have it again for our people.
It is ghastly to see it happening now under Labour.
I had some wonderful jobs after being restructured out, none in the skills I had been specifically trained in though. But it was wonderful to come back to the rump of the Dept I had been restructured out of all those years ago for 5 years before I took (forced) early retirement during a restructuring on account of my decrepitude
On another note related to misogyny/sexism/racism when I did come back all the corporate knowledge & goodwill about these 'isms' had been lost in the mists of time. We had CEs who had no working knowledge of concepts such as equal pay for equal work let alone evolving concepts such as equal pay for work of equal value (the police versus nurses pay), the glass ceiling, etc
"And now nz's health systems IT workers all have to prove that we are worth our meager pay or our jobs will be offshored so they can pay foreigners peanuts to access our health infrastructure critical information.
Thanks Jacinda. Thanks Chippie."
Neo-liberals gotta neo-liberal.
Yes got it in one gsays
I know people working in government IT (not Ministry of Health though) or are fully aware of all major IT projects in Wellington, so this is news to me.
Do you have some more information and/or a link to a news report?
Angry, mean and spite are words too.
I just listened to Neale Jones on the Kathryn Ryan RNZ show, saying 1 out of every 11 houses in NZ was built by the Ardern Govt. The biggest housebuilding scheme in NZ history. Is this right? Why the hell didn't I know that? Why doesn't everyone know that?
All houses / dwellings or state houses?
I don't think we're talking all dwellings in NZ, which is over 2 million. And NZ builds around 25,000 to 30,000 houses a year.
For state housing: Kainga Ora manages 69,000 homes and around 1,500 are build a year.
I find that hard to believe
Which is why you immediately did some fact checking, right? Oh, wait …
Isn’t that bloody Labour through and through, building too many houses so the market falls by 20%! Bastards!
Just sad that no one can afford the loans at the high interest rates. So Yei, more houses, but sad high interest loans, inflation, high cost of living and a fair chance of high unemployment in the future. Never mind that what ever the number is, it is woefully inadequate.
State Houses new builds barely keep up with the amount sold.
Daily Blog is providing a nice run down here. https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/11/14/hundreds-of-millions-in-state-house-land-sold-by-labour-in-the-middle-of-a-housing-catastrophe-for-people-on-low-and-middle-incomes/
As per the government from last year, they are happy to have overseen the build of 10.000 'permanent' public housing which comes to about 1800 per year, and is woefully inadequate to keep up demand.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/10000-more-permanent-public-homes-added-under-labour-government
we also bought houses and i would guess that they are in the 'more permanent public homes' https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kainga-ora-spends-1b-buying-state-homes-in-five-years/2AOGBWVRXTBFA4KP6VYX45Z65Q/
we also sold or demolished at least 2000 by April 2021 so feel free to guess how many we have sold or demolished by now.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/04/government-has-sold-or-demolished-nearly-2000-state-houses-since-july-2018.html
The whole housing mess has just gotten progressively worse, and to be honest i think it is going to get 'worser'.
There were 67,000 state houses in 2017, and now there are in 69,000 in 2022 (it was 68,000 in 2021).
They are also renovating old stock, so that they meet rental standards *.
Houses demolished are often on land for future state house building ** or for KiwiBuild *** or the sale for money (for * and ** and ***). That said they are also increasing capital invested in Kainga Ora.
My area with 1% of NZ's population will have 40 Kainga Ora houses go and 57 built. There are also initiatives being supported for house building by NGOs such as the Sustainable Housing Trust, and three local churches are building houses. Iwi also have some 4 ha of repatriated land that had been earlier donated by local iwi for hospital building being developed for housing. Abbeyfield is interested to build locally.
Rental houses locally are snapped up with but 16 houses available recently. Emergency housing continues to be built. Our area has a waiting list of 234 on the Housing Register, which contains applicants not currently in public housing who have been assessed as eligible and who are ready to be matched to a suitable property.
State houses go for all sorts of reasons- dilapidation, depopulation,- the big thing is that they are replaced with dry, warm houses in greater number and more suited for the aize of families who will live there.
There is still need but all is not gloom.
Dealing with our local Nat MP pre-2017 taught us that more state houses were being sold than built, even though the official line was that they would be replaced……
Don't you love the good Kiwi girl who has a column in the New York Times, to explain the failings of our out-going PM
Hilarious … move onto a National government that sees holding down wages as the way to deal with inflation and wants to increase inequality by returning to mortgage interest deductability for multiple property owners.
who is jenna lynch?
Where is Godot?