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.
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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Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myfany Turpin, Associate Professor, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and Ethnobiology, University of Sydney The act representing Australia at this year’s Eurovision contest has sadly not qualified for the grand final. Yet for Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross, the duo that makes up Electric Fields, ...
In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
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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!?":
https://twitter.com/KensingtonRoyal/status/1617975282983665664
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)
https://twitter.com/HJoyceGender/status/1617945134687211520
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)
https://youtu.be/CWlBaPXteuI?t=3400
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?