I hope whomever getting there subsidized tesla today is greatful to this medium income solo dad who has donated $4000 in ute tax for buying a low budget but most economical ute .
All I can suggest is take Minister Woods advice. Take a shorter shower, turn off the lights and heater to counter the governments inability to cut their own spending.
Don’t worry lad- National want single storey houses connected by single lane roads submerged in water all through the North Island. They’ll give you a dollar back on your tax and then ensure you can’t get insurance. Nothing like a party with vision, eh?
Only one Tesla model sells for under the eighty grand according the Automobile Association. This is a period of transition, moving from old to new technology has all sorts of challenges and contradictions along the way–but as the saying goes, “what planet are you on?” https://www.aa.co.nz/cars/buying-a-car/car-buying-guide/new-cars/new-car-prices/tesla/
I have had an EV for a year now, driving past gas stations–priceless.
58% of EV imports to NZ in the year to March 23 are Chinese brands. In a couple of years time I predict that this will be 80%. Elon is discounting now because he can’t compete with the Chinese.
More worrying is that EX imports rose 127% to $1.23 billion to the year March 23. NZ's current account is suffering at the moment, partly because of EV imports. We are living beyond our means.
I had a 2012 Honda Fit RS hybrid until it found the St Georges Bay River in a cyclone. I thought that was amazingly efficient at about 5.5l/100km (I usually found it to be about 6-6.5). Way better than my old ICE Caldina. Not to mention was amazingly snappy to drive in sport. Also had 40L tank compared to the 60L in the Caldina and lasted weeks longer doing my minimal around town driving.
After the insurance company wrote off the Fit because of wet carpets and possible electrics.
So I got a 2014 Honda Fit RS hybrid. That is rated at 3.9L/100km if you drove like an old man.
Drove myself, partner, and luggage to Bay of Islands – 246km starting with a full tank. Did some running around there probably another 100km. Drove back another 246km. Had quarter of a tank showing when I got home. Filled up with 25 litres. Roughly 4.1-4.2L.
I wasn’t exactly driving conservatively. Drove at speed limit on ECO except when passing. Then I’d flip into sport and pass fast. This included passing lanes going uphill at from 80km/hr to 160km/hour in a couple seconds testing the little 1500cc engine.
What's your reasoning for buying a new, or fresh import, 'budget' ute?
Would have thought going for a second hand item that will get you through a couple of years until electrics arrive, and they are certainly coming, would have been a better bet.
Although if you need the certainty / reliability of a new vehicle (not necessarily guaranteed) then it's a different story.
I miss my VE Commodore, it died about 18 months ago. Cost a bomb to keep the bloody thing on the road. In the end the steering, timing chain and transmission all needed replacing for over $7k and it didn't seem worth it any more.
Bought a 2016 Atenza (diesel turbo) a couple of months later. Damn thing was even worse. Took it for a drive to Wellington, the turbo shat itself and fscked up the engine, needing a $10k repair job (I just got rid of it).
China will cease production of all combustion vehicles by 2035.
Singapore will stop registration of all combustion vehicles in 7 years.
Australia as of last month is putting penalties on importing all combusion vehicles and bringing in much stricter emission controls.
Those three – plus Japan – are the places we get our used vehicles from.
So inside 7 years we are all going to feel your same pain as we renew vehicles.
we're going to have to wait for the big fleets like Police and rental companies before we get a proper used electric car and ute surge to help the proletariat.
If we wanted real subsidy we'd turn ourselves into a steel company.
If we wanted real subsidy we’d turn ourselves into a steel company.
That won’t make one iota of difference if we didn’t retain NZ ownership. And if we did, we would lose considerable negotiating power with the government to attract subsidies. Multinational companies simply chase the best deals & locations and have very little sympathy for the little local guys on the ground and little attachment to the land they occupy. It’s just business to them, nothing personal.
"Our" negotiating power is extremely narrow since the electricity generators are no longer able to be controlled by the state as they are now only bare-majority shareholders.
NZ has long had a Comprador Capitalist bourgeoisie, where generally the local ruling class subordinates to offshore imperialist powers and corporates, as evidenced in years gone by with the meat industry, and now with the ‘big 4’ Aussie banks.
The current account deficit also tells the story of brands that operate in NZ but export their profits to the parent company overseas. The oil industry are experts at transfer pricing and the tech companies at tax dodging.
If Labour and Greens get back in there is better chances of housing prices continuing to flatten, making asset classes other than housing more attractive …
… for those who have the money to invest.
Also for those who have saved, the rate of those withdrawing $20,000 or more from Kiwisaver over the last 6 months is now pretty high.
I am not giving advice on anything, just noticing.
Well, as some have noted a capital gains based economy for many (on property) has starved investment in other areas.
And since the union busting 1991 Employment Contracts Act, which reduced workers power substantially, some SME owners got into the Bach, boat and BMW groove rather than development and improvement–which I observe living on the coast in the Far North.
Reduced union levels make a mockery of claims that wage rises affect inflation substantially.
Those three – plus Japan – are the places we get our used vehicles from.
The Japanese have been late to the BEV market and Toyota is betting the farm on hydrogen powered ICE vehicles, which may turn out to be the betamax moment for the Japanese auto industry.
NZ is already the discounted dumping ground for unable to sell elsewhere right hand drive ICE vehicles, and that will slow electric vehicle adoption here big time.
“This forecast is actually a really big signal for Fonterra suppliers and every other dairy farmer in New Zealand to sit back and say is my business worth carrying on in this current situation or do I need to start making alternative investment decisions or system changes,” Davison said.
Plus near to $1bi for M.bovis eradication. Oh ye of short memory. “At last count some $660 million had been spent over four years tackling M.Bovis out of an allocated funding pool of just under $870 million. Around $200 million of the $660 million was compensation to farmers, Ardern said" in 2022.
Tasers were meant to be substitutes for lethal force (in the NZ cops pitch to obtain them anyway). In reality they are often used as punishment and compliance devices by more sadistic plods.
Police execution by firearm have included distressed people wielding a golf club (Steven Wallace) builders hammers, knives and the unarmed. A few shots to the torso (heart) as per police weapons training soon sorted them out.
Police culture in Australia, NZ, and USA is still largely bent, violent, racist and misogynist–which needs to change asap.
That's a tough argument to make when the MSM is splashing ramraid videos everywhere and 501s are changing the dynamic of the NZ underworld.
We ought to think carefully before disempowering cops — I'd prefer not to follow the dumb "defund the Police" movement that has ruined Portland, Oregon
Disagree with you completely, Tiger Mountain. The NZ Police have significantly tightened their act up since the 80s, when we had the Muldoon-militia Red Squad, corrupt drug squads in cahoots with dealers, and bad boy behaviour like the long-term sexual predation experienced by Louise Nicholas.
The establishment of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, and the outcome of the Louise Nichols investigation resulted in significant cultural change in the Police. A push for diversity and more women in recruiting have also had downstream effects.
The NZ Police are nothing like the self-'policing' and racist culture in Australia and the US. And England's (but not Scotland's) police can be lumped in there. I do have to say some Australian State governments, like Palaszczuk's, are having a go at improving Police culture.
There is a real cringe factor the way some NZers fawn over NZ Police, some how thinking subservience will protect them. Unless you grew up in Sunday school and have lived a very quiet life you might realise that indiscretions by the law are common, not down to ‘bad apples’.
–Rare is the day IPCA finds against a cop, or even criticises one.
–NZ Police got facial recognition technology under way without proper authority and when caught out attempted to deny it.
–They illegally photograph and cherrypick young Māori–stopped for driving a car while Māori.
–Police discriminated when targeting a group of young African men in Auckland
They have a difficult job (though paramedics, adequate mental health workers, tow truck drivers and civilian search and rescue could likely do some of their work anyway), the officers are drawn from the same society we all live in, but they should set a better example if they want wider support.
I did not mention defunding. How about just making cops more accountable for their actions and less knee jerk thuggish. What would inspire a fit young man to think a 95 year old needed a good old cardiac threatening tasering?
If mental health services were working better there might be less of the “the mad the sad and the bad” for Police to deal with in the first place.
Didn’t read the stuff article obviously. Their answer:
No, but RW trolls like frothing over something.
The pictures showing politicians holding birds before their release into the wild are done with trained handlers and not as part of a constant exploitation program done during daytime for nocturnal creatures.
Creatives are undervalued, underpaid and burned out:
CNZ and NZ On Air have combined for a second time on this body of work to produce A Profile of Creative Professionals 2023 and the reading – while important – isn't pretty.
The quick take: creatives still are nowhere near the average wage earners in Aotearoa.
The research underlines that New Zealand’s creative professionals’ median income is $37,000, compared to the median of $61,800 for salary and wage earners in this country. But that's even an inaccurate view – given that 44% of creative professionals supplement their income with 'other work'; the median income from creative pursuits alone is $19,500 a year.
Creative New Zealand CEO, Stephen Wainwright states “The research continues to paint a bleak picture of remuneration in some parts of the arts sector and the sustainability of creative careers. Income growth is very low, and it continues to be a struggle for the majority of creative professionals to plan financially and to secure important loans such as mortgages.
“It’s not surprising seeing the stats to understand why 68% of creative professionals believe their income is not fair and over half report experiencing burnout in the last year.”
As Wainwright suggests, there has been little shock in the announcement – artists underpaid? who knew?? – but there's a growing frustration that the gap isn't just not closing, it's widening. Only a quarter of creative professionals are living comfortably on their present income.
The Big Idea fielded some strong reactions to Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage's (MCH) recent report touting that arts and creative is now a $12.9 billion sector in Aotearoa. There's been plenty to suggest that's not the reality for those on the ground.
Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec, Rembrandt, El Greco, Modigliani, Vermeer, Gauguin, and Van Gough all died in poverty.
If your genius means you are called to be an artist, poet, sculptor or writer don't expect your art to generate great wealth. At least not while you are still around to enjoy it.
Creative work isn't just fine art, If you think it isn’t worth paying for I trust you don’t consume writing, television, film, games, performance, music or any other things produced by creatives then:
People who create the art you consume deserve a living for their efforts. It is an antiquated attitude to romanticise the 'starving artist' trope:
Romanticizing the idea of impoverished artists struggling to create art at the expense of financial security reinforces the notion that artists should create “for the sake of art” alone, with no expectation of compensation, and normalizes the idea that an inability to support one’s self is an inherent part of life as an artist.
That tells anyone they are marginal occupations best left to the semi-retired or rich.
Unemployment is still so low at 3.4% that there's plenty of opportunity to get out of low paid occupations and get into something more financially rewarding.
Creatives will continue to be undervalued if the elitist attitudes you express are continually promulgated.
In times of crisis, arts, culture and creative experiences play an essential role. Whether through a music gig, a performing arts festival, a visual art exhibit or a well-thumbed book—these bring joy, comfort, and relief in troubled times.
Taking part in creative activities and events boosts individual and collective wellbeing, brings communities together, and keeps our social bonds in tune.
But the full potential of arts, culture and creativity to create positive social change has been held back by cycles of crisis in Aotearoa New Zealand’s creative sector.
Over 3000 research studies inform a World Health Organisation report published in 2020 that clearly links the arts to individual and community health. Some of that research makes it clear that the arts are cheaper and more effective interventions in mental health than medical therapies. Research shows the arts helped many people cope with lockdowns. It seems ludicrous then, as we recover from Covid, in the barren wasteland of cones and $2 shops in the CBD, we have a mayor who threatens the existence of the arts as a publicly-funded good.
Research demonstrates that the arts are lifelines for many of our young people in this city. They provide the reason to get out of bed, to mix and meet with others. To cut community youth arts programmes will feel like further abandonment for those who have used the arts as gateways to return to meaningful purposeful lives. The proposed cuts in this context are both cruel and short-sighted.
Right. So your moan is you don’t think they pay you enough. Join the long line behind nurses, teachers, bus drivers, barristas etc … all providing a service people want.
Failing that, if you’re non union, suggest you have a word with your employer directly and try convince them why you think you are worth more.
Luxon has become the gift that keeps on giving. I really thought the Nats were serious about winning the election this year.
But his stupid comments around free prescriptions, flip-flop on housing intensification, $1.4 billion dollar accounting error from his alt budget, mythical tax cuts for the wealthy, etc etc… offers nothing for ordinary Kiwis.
Luxo is spending too much time talking to farmers and cadaverous Rotarians, calls them the "real people", while disrespecting Māori and complaining about Te Reo. No wonder he is losing in the polls.
I think you are right about Luxon talking only to the people he is comfortable with…that is the impression I get.
The flip flop on housing densification loses him many votes among the young who are yet to buy a house ….but he doesn't talk to them….he has 7 houses after all.
Yeah he's too focused on the landlord class. Problem is he says the quiet stuff out loud. John Key was much more subtle and deceptive by crapping on about the underclass to get elected (then doing approximately zilch for them)
Yes, John Key was sly & subtle, which is how he earned his nickname of ‘smiling assassin’. Luxon is as subtle & shambolic as a blundering bouncer on steroids, politically speaking.
Policy has always been a National Party weakness. They seem to do better with feel-good fluff pieces and minimal difficult questions, and to take pot shots at government errors while promising pie in the sky solutions.
But if the candidates are basically unlikeable the PR stuff is pushing shit uphill
He seems desperate, flailing around for something, anything that might get traction. Would have been far better to state a bunch of principles and ambitions – NZ needs a leader with vision, not some guy randomly making up policy on the hoof
No tacking for Luxon; rowing in circles and catching crabs.
I do like those Big Hairy News snippets. From 10 min onwards is a discussion with Horizon pollster of how NZers saw Luxon in Nov 2022, and of vote pattern shifts from 2020 election. At the start, this poll shows NZ First still a critical player.
He must be doing something right. According to tonights One News poll he is going to be PM after the election with a National -ACT coalition.
In this post-Budget poll National is up by 3%, ACT is steady, Labour is down by 1% and The Green Party have dropped by 4%. Meanwhile Hipkins has dropped in the PM stakes and Luxon is up.
The problem for Luxon is that most ACT supporters would prefer Seymour as PM, that keeps him lower than Hipkins
That was once a problem for Clark before becoming PM (the numbers preferring Peters as Leader of the Oppositon – problem solved when Peters went with National in 1996).
PS Polls are showing L-G-TPM 62-58, then NACT 62-58. It's a race not yet run.
You are probably correct about the PM numbers. It is only the ACT party, out of all the minor parties in Parliament, who has a leader who can even be considered as a possibility for PM.
Can you imagine anyone who thinks that Davidson, Shaw, Ngarewa-Packer or Waititi could possibly be PM?
I agree that the numbers are far too close to call.
Luxon certainly doesn't have the popular appeal of a Key or an Ardern – but, then neither did Helen Clark before being elected (IIRC – I can't find the preferred PM results that far back)
However, that's a known issue for National (he's never been Mr Popularity).
What must be concerning for Labour is that Hipkins isn't exactly resonating with the electorate either.
Of course, that only matters for people who vote for a party based on whether or not they like the leader. Perhaps we'll see an election that is more about policy and less about personality.
He might need heavy protective gear to make it that far – the entitled ones resent leaders that have no sinecures to grant. I can smell the barbecue already.
Given the extent of the offending, the planning and strategising, and the number of women assaulted, it's hard to see why they should be let out again unless they can demonstrate remorse, substantial change in attitude, and reparation. Not that NZ law allows for that.
They used a WhatsApp group to share their rape/sexual assault videos and images. Only three were on trial but dollars to donuts there were more than three group members and if there's any justice to be had, those group members will be scared to fucking death waiting for the knock on the door.
Signs for National's "Get NZ Back On Track" tour have popped up around the district over the last couple of days, seems they might be starting in Queenstown.
Have we got an guerrilla songwriters around who can come up with some images of modern trains to plaster across them… Leave the National logo in the top left, and "Get NZ Back On Track" in bottom right, but the rest a train. Much better billboard.
My local (new) barber just left Queenstown, to get that place on track they need to ban AirBNB. Normal workers cannot live anywhere nearby and end up sleeping in cars
I venture a solid health and safety case could be made against employers who leave workers living in vehicles for any length of time. Fatigue is a risk.
They're Sweeney Todding themselves and don't even realise it. Come and work in Queenstown where you will have splendid views of spectacular empty mansions from the bridge you're sleeping under. Spend your minimum wage on overpriced groceries.
There's a clear choice this election – a choice between the 'Coalition of Chaos' or a National-led government that will fix the economy to lower the cost-of-living, restore law and order, improve our schools and healthcare, and Get New Zealand Back on Track.
National has a plan to fix our economy by stopping wasteful spending, providing tax relief
The unaware irony of them. A choice, between the 'Coalition of Chaos' OR a National-led government ? !….like a Nact govt wouldnt literally be the Coalition of Chaos for the majority of NZ : (
And stopping wasteful spending? Geez yea, about that…
Getting back on track is appropriate for National because the (railway) tracks will one of the first thing that the ACT Party will demand is sold off if their junior coalition partners National win the election this year.
But as for Queenstown?
Preaching to the converted I'd say.
Incidentally, I noticed in downtown Masterton today, the National candidate Mike Butterick opened up a campaign office just a few doors down from Labour's Keiran McAnulty's existing office.
"Get NZ Back on Track" has a nice ring to it, hopefully some Government whether National or Labour will start governing for the people and not themselves and their cronies.
From Trump’s instagram account: a fake Twitter spaces video (including fake DeSantis audio) w/ DeSantis, Elon, George Soros, Hitler, the FBI, Dick Cheney, The Devil, and others.
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
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Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
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Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
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Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
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Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
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Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
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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 ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
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. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
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 ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. In 1981, Ginette McDonald stood on the stage of Auckland’s St James Theatre and directly addressed Queen Elizabeth II. It was a ...
An essay by Lily Duval from the just-released anthology Otherhood: Essays on being childless, childfree and child adjacent.I was 22 when my friend Alice gave birth in the living room of our pokey Addington flat. She laboured in the blow-up pool for hours. Garish fish swam along the inflated ...
Ella Borrie on the best books about motherhood she’s come across so far. Over the past few years I’ve been drawn to books about motherhood. I’m fascinated by the joys and horrors of becoming a parent. The question of children also feels more pressing than it used to. It’s like ...
Out of gift ideas for mum? You can’t go wrong with a bottle of toilet cleaner and a new squeegee. Emily Writes is the writer and editor of Emily Writes Weekly. This week marks five years since I published a post on The Spinoff about Mother’s Day marketing titled ‘A ...
My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I’m armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.A few days after my husband leaves, a new sex toy arrives at the front door. Nestled ...
Jaimie Baird’s new book Here Today Gone Tomorrow is a record of four decades of graffiti and street art in Wellington, told through more than 1,200 photographs. He spoke with Joel MacManus about what inspired the book. How did you first get interested in photographing street art? I remember ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at a busy week where food of all political leanings dominated. Sometimes you’re just going about your week thinking you’ve got a good handle on what might be coming as far as news topics and then someone (usually a politician) says something so ridiculous that ...
In a week of cold rain and frost, the climate in courtroom four upstairs at the Invercargill courthouse was simmering with restrained indignation. At times it felt like the famous Mexican standoff scene from Reservoir Dogs, or, as someone watching the proceedings described it, there was so much throwing of ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
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I hope whomever getting there subsidized tesla today is greatful to this medium income solo dad who has donated $4000 in ute tax for buying a low budget but most economical ute .
This country is becoming seriously screwed up.
All I can suggest is take Minister Woods advice. Take a shorter shower, turn off the lights and heater to counter the governments inability to cut their own spending.
Don’t worry lad- National want single storey houses connected by single lane roads submerged in water all through the North Island. They’ll give you a dollar back on your tax and then ensure you can’t get insurance. Nothing like a party with vision, eh?
The rebate ceiling is $80,000.
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/clean-car-programme/clean-car-discount/clean-car-discount-1-july-2023-changes/
Only one Tesla model sells for under the eighty grand according the Automobile Association. This is a period of transition, moving from old to new technology has all sorts of challenges and contradictions along the way–but as the saying goes, “what planet are you on?”
https://www.aa.co.nz/cars/buying-a-car/car-buying-guide/new-cars/new-car-prices/tesla/
I have had an EV for a year now, driving past gas stations–priceless.
Tiger-Thank you for some common sense on this issue.
Teslas made up 24% of the popular EV's sold in NZ in April, and most of these would not have qualified for a clean car discount.
https://www.canstar.co.nz/nz-car-insurance/top-selling-electric-cars-in-nz/
58% of EV imports to NZ in the year to March 23 are Chinese brands. In a couple of years time I predict that this will be 80%. Elon is discounting now because he can’t compete with the Chinese.
More worrying is that EX imports rose 127% to $1.23 billion to the year March 23. NZ's current account is suffering at the moment, partly because of EV imports. We are living beyond our means.
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202305/02/WS645097c5a310b6054fad0baf.html
Yup, I got a modern hybrid a couple of years ago and the difference in fuel efficiency is ridiculous. Our next vehicle purchase will be a pure BEV.
I had a 2012 Honda Fit RS hybrid until it found the St Georges Bay River in a cyclone. I thought that was amazingly efficient at about 5.5l/100km (I usually found it to be about 6-6.5). Way better than my old ICE Caldina. Not to mention was amazingly snappy to drive in sport. Also had 40L tank compared to the 60L in the Caldina and lasted weeks longer doing my minimal around town driving.
After the insurance company wrote off the Fit because of wet carpets and possible electrics.
So I got a 2014 Honda Fit RS hybrid. That is rated at 3.9L/100km if you drove like an old man.
Drove myself, partner, and luggage to Bay of Islands – 246km starting with a full tank. Did some running around there probably another 100km. Drove back another 246km. Had quarter of a tank showing when I got home. Filled up with 25 litres. Roughly 4.1-4.2L.
I wasn’t exactly driving conservatively. Drove at speed limit on ECO except when passing. Then I’d flip into sport and pass fast. This included passing lanes going uphill at from 80km/hr to 160km/hour in a couple seconds testing the little 1500cc engine.
Fair point, if you want to divert from the fact that it ain't all jafas buying remuera tractors,getting caught by this tax,
Elon is grateful and says ‘thank you’.
You'd have to be pretty thick or a shit stirrer if you think I think musk benifits,
So which one are ya?
Neither
The maker of your new ute likely purchased carbon credits from Musk.
https://www.green.earth/news/teslas-carbon-credit-sales-soared-to-1.78-billion-in-2022
What's your reasoning for buying a new, or fresh import, 'budget' ute?
Would have thought going for a second hand item that will get you through a couple of years until electrics arrive, and they are certainly coming, would have been a better bet.
Although if you need the certainty / reliability of a new vehicle (not necessarily guaranteed) then it's a different story.
1 piece of mind , it's the first time I've ever bought new, and that warrantee feels good.
1a I might keep this till they plant me as I don't do many KS a year now
2 been searching the 2nd hand market for awhile to get anything ghat is under 100 000 Kms is not that different from going new.
3 definitely an element of because I can.
4 my one was burning oil needed a warrantee a reg and had other spends coming and is a discontinued make, holden.
If in 5 years there's an electric that can do 500kms in my bracket I'll be in .
I miss my VE Commodore, it died about 18 months ago. Cost a bomb to keep the bloody thing on the road. In the end the steering, timing chain and transmission all needed replacing for over $7k and it didn't seem worth it any more.
Bought a 2016 Atenza (diesel turbo) a couple of months later. Damn thing was even worse. Took it for a drive to Wellington, the turbo shat itself and fscked up the engine, needing a $10k repair job (I just got rid of it).
ICE needs to die
China will cease production of all combustion vehicles by 2035.
Singapore will stop registration of all combustion vehicles in 7 years.
Australia as of last month is putting penalties on importing all combusion vehicles and bringing in much stricter emission controls.
Those three – plus Japan – are the places we get our used vehicles from.
So inside 7 years we are all going to feel your same pain as we renew vehicles.
we're going to have to wait for the big fleets like Police and rental companies before we get a proper used electric car and ute surge to help the proletariat.
If we wanted real subsidy we'd turn ourselves into a steel company.
That won’t make one iota of difference if we didn’t retain NZ ownership. And if we did, we would lose considerable negotiating power with the government to attract subsidies. Multinational companies simply chase the best deals & locations and have very little sympathy for the little local guys on the ground and little attachment to the land they occupy. It’s just business to them, nothing personal.
New Zealand does not own Blue Scope.
Nor does New Zealand own NZ Aluminium Smelter.
"Our" negotiating power is extremely narrow since the electricity generators are no longer able to be controlled by the state as they are now only bare-majority shareholders.
One of New Zealand's structural economic problems, going back since forever, has been a chronically weak capital formation.
It's has a long and complex history – and our failure to address this lies at the root of so many of the problems NZ now faces.
NZ has long had a Comprador Capitalist bourgeoisie, where generally the local ruling class subordinates to offshore imperialist powers and corporates, as evidenced in years gone by with the meat industry, and now with the ‘big 4’ Aussie banks.
The current account deficit also tells the story of brands that operate in NZ but export their profits to the parent company overseas. The oil industry are experts at transfer pricing and the tech companies at tax dodging.
If Labour and Greens get back in there is better chances of housing prices continuing to flatten, making asset classes other than housing more attractive …
… for those who have the money to invest.
Also for those who have saved, the rate of those withdrawing $20,000 or more from Kiwisaver over the last 6 months is now pretty high.
I am not giving advice on anything, just noticing.
Well, as some have noted a capital gains based economy for many (on property) has starved investment in other areas.
And since the union busting 1991 Employment Contracts Act, which reduced workers power substantially, some SME owners got into the Bach, boat and BMW groove rather than development and improvement–which I observe living on the coast in the Far North.
Reduced union levels make a mockery of claims that wage rises affect inflation substantially.
+100
Though our savings rate was still bad before that.
Bloody fed up with utes everywhere. Get a proper car.
I'm pretty sure my path and yours never cross out here in the boonies
Those three – plus Japan – are the places we get our used vehicles from.
The Japanese have been late to the BEV market and Toyota is betting the farm on hydrogen powered ICE vehicles, which may turn out to be the betamax moment for the Japanese auto industry.
NZ is already the discounted dumping ground for unable to sell elsewhere right hand drive ICE vehicles, and that will slow electric vehicle adoption here big time.
Great news: a better-functioning New Zealand market for farmers' milk.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/132117381/fonterra-cuts-this-seasons-milk-price-announces-lower-price-for-next-season
“This forecast is actually a really big signal for Fonterra suppliers and every other dairy farmer in New Zealand to sit back and say is my business worth carrying on in this current situation or do I need to start making alternative investment decisions or system changes,” Davison said.
Without factoring in the 24 billion in corporate welfare we’ll be paying for them in climate bills.
Plus near to $1bi for M.bovis eradication. Oh ye of short memory. “At last count some $660 million had been spent over four years tackling M.Bovis out of an allocated funding pool of just under $870 million. Around $200 million of the $660 million was compensation to farmers, Ardern said" in 2022.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/300580701/government-announces-strengthened-biosecurity-funding-and-mbovis-milestone
This went from bad to worse. Why oh why did a cop thinking tasering a 95 year old was a good idea?
Indeed.
Tasers were meant to be substitutes for lethal force (in the NZ cops pitch to obtain them anyway). In reality they are often used as punishment and compliance devices by more sadistic plods.
Police execution by firearm have included distressed people wielding a golf club (Steven Wallace) builders hammers, knives and the unarmed. A few shots to the torso (heart) as per police weapons training soon sorted them out.
Police culture in Australia, NZ, and USA is still largely bent, violent, racist and misogynist–which needs to change asap.
"Police culture… needs to change asap"
That's a tough argument to make when the MSM is splashing ramraid videos everywhere and 501s are changing the dynamic of the NZ underworld.
We ought to think carefully before disempowering cops — I'd prefer not to follow the dumb "defund the Police" movement that has ruined Portland, Oregon
Disagree with you completely, Tiger Mountain. The NZ Police have significantly tightened their act up since the 80s, when we had the Muldoon-militia Red Squad, corrupt drug squads in cahoots with dealers, and bad boy behaviour like the long-term sexual predation experienced by Louise Nicholas.
The establishment of the Independent Police Conduct Authority, and the outcome of the Louise Nichols investigation resulted in significant cultural change in the Police. A push for diversity and more women in recruiting have also had downstream effects.
The NZ Police are nothing like the self-'policing' and racist culture in Australia and the US. And England's (but not Scotland's) police can be lumped in there. I do have to say some Australian State governments, like Palaszczuk's, are having a go at improving Police culture.
UK confidence in Police sinks to 53% in two years
Queensland Police racism disclosed
The most recent surveys show NZers' satisfaction with Police was at 77%.
Independent survey of public satisfaction with NZ Police
Righto…Police commission own survey…
There is a real cringe factor the way some NZers fawn over NZ Police, some how thinking subservience will protect them. Unless you grew up in Sunday school and have lived a very quiet life you might realise that indiscretions by the law are common, not down to ‘bad apples’.
–Rare is the day IPCA finds against a cop, or even criticises one.
–NZ Police got facial recognition technology under way without proper authority and when caught out attempted to deny it.
–They illegally photograph and cherrypick young Māori–stopped for driving a car while Māori.
–Police discriminated when targeting a group of young African men in Auckland
They have a difficult job (though paramedics, adequate mental health workers, tow truck drivers and civilian search and rescue could likely do some of their work anyway), the officers are drawn from the same society we all live in, but they should set a better example if they want wider support.
I did not mention defunding. How about just making cops more accountable for their actions and less knee jerk thuggish. What would inspire a fit young man to think a 95 year old needed a good old cardiac threatening tasering?
If mental health services were working better there might be less of the “the mad the sad and the bad” for Police to deal with in the first place.
A lot of handwringing and hypocrisy over woke criticism of a kiwi being handled at Miami Zoo, especially from DOC.. E.g.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300887468/you-can-hold-a-kiwi-in-nz-too-do-we-have-a-double-standard
https://twitter.com/DavisAndrew88/status/1661455904787791872
Have you been reading "The Croaking Wokes" by John Wind'emup?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kraken_Wakes
LOL. John Wyndham actually wrote some pretty good books back in the day. That is one I have read. Also, the Day of the Triffids amongst others.
That user name.
/
https://maori.english-dictionary.help/maori-to-english-meaning-tikaokao-nui
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_(number)#In_neo-Nazism
The 88 is a dead giveaway, a hard right provocateur acting in bad faith
I seem to remember him being very reluctant to explain the 88. It may have been on The Malevolent Gnome's site.
Didn’t read the stuff article obviously. Their answer:
No, but RW trolls like frothing over something.
The pictures showing politicians holding birds before their release into the wild are done with trained handlers and not as part of a constant exploitation program done during daytime for nocturnal creatures.
Creatives are undervalued, underpaid and burned out:
https://thebigidea.nz/stories/lowdown-creatives-income-research-paints-grim-picture
Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec, Rembrandt, El Greco, Modigliani, Vermeer, Gauguin, and Van Gough all died in poverty.
If your genius means you are called to be an artist, poet, sculptor or writer don't expect your art to generate great wealth. At least not while you are still around to enjoy it.
Thanks for proving my point.
Creative work isn't just fine art, If you think it isn’t worth paying for I trust you don’t consume writing, television, film, games, performance, music or any other things produced by creatives then:
People who create the art you consume deserve a living for their efforts. It is an antiquated attitude to romanticise the 'starving artist' trope:
https://copyrightalliance.org/stop-romanticizing-starving-artist/
That tells anyone they are marginal occupations best left to the semi-retired or rich.
Unemployment is still so low at 3.4% that there's plenty of opportunity to get out of low paid occupations and get into something more financially rewarding.
Many people in this economy are doing it.
Yet more reinforcement of my point.
Creatives will continue to be undervalued if the elitist attitudes you express are continually promulgated.
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/news/2023/02/we-need-to-break-the-cycle-of-crisis-in-aotearoas-arts-and-culture
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/we-deserve-better-than-aucklands-art-vandal
A bit presumptuous to assume creatives “deserve a living” if you are creating content no one wants to consume.
I write copious amounts of poetry and build the odd sand castle. I certainly don’t expect to be paid, little own earn a living, from it.
As my links say, professional creatives (people making things that are paid for and consumed) are undervalued by those who consume their art.
You are once again arguing against something I never claimed.
If you were employed to write poetry then you would deserve a living for it. It's not complicated.
If you’re not earning a living, bit of a stretch to say professional me thinks.
Who’s employed to write poetry???
If someone is paying you for a skill that you possess due to your training and qualifications, that is definitionally a profession.
If you actually want to learn more: https://www.creativenz.govt.nz/-/media/Project/Creative-NZ/CreativeNZ/PublicationsFiles/2023-Profile-of-Creative-Professionals/Profile-of-Creative-Professionals—Easy-Read—PDF.pdf
Right. So your moan is you don’t think they pay you enough. Join the long line behind nurses, teachers, bus drivers, barristas etc … all providing a service people want.
Failing that, if you’re non union, suggest you have a word with your employer directly and try convince them why you think you are worth more.
It's almost as if the problem is systemic and structural; a consequence of political choices.
I do agree with you though, everyone should join their union.
Luxon has become the gift that keeps on giving. I really thought the Nats were serious about winning the election this year.
But his stupid comments around free prescriptions, flip-flop on housing intensification, $1.4 billion dollar accounting error from his alt budget, mythical tax cuts for the wealthy, etc etc… offers nothing for ordinary Kiwis.
Luxo is spending too much time talking to farmers and cadaverous Rotarians, calls them the "real people", while disrespecting Māori and complaining about Te Reo. No wonder he is losing in the polls.
I predict he will resign on election night.
I think you are right about Luxon talking only to the people he is comfortable with…that is the impression I get.
The flip flop on housing densification loses him many votes among the young who are yet to buy a house ….but he doesn't talk to them….he has 7 houses after all.
Yeah he's too focused on the landlord class. Problem is he says the quiet stuff out loud. John Key was much more subtle and deceptive by crapping on about the underclass to get elected (then doing approximately zilch for them)
Yes, John Key was sly & subtle, which is how he earned his nickname of ‘smiling assassin’. Luxon is as subtle & shambolic as a blundering bouncer on steroids, politically speaking.
Policy has always been a National Party weakness. They seem to do better with feel-good fluff pieces and minimal difficult questions, and to take pot shots at government errors while promising pie in the sky solutions.
But if the candidates are basically unlikeable the PR stuff is pushing shit uphill
Key tacked centrally. Luxon is tacking right.
Perhaps liberals in the party are done with him and he is clinging on to his leadership with the votes of the religious conservatives in his caucus.
He seems desperate, flailing around for something, anything that might get traction. Would have been far better to state a bunch of principles and ambitions – NZ needs a leader with vision, not some guy randomly making up policy on the hoof
No tacking for Luxon; rowing in circles and catching crabs.
I do like those Big Hairy News snippets. From 10 min onwards is a discussion with Horizon pollster of how NZers saw Luxon in Nov 2022, and of vote pattern shifts from 2020 election. At the start, this poll shows NZ First still a critical player.
BHN interview Graeme Colman of Horizon Research on voter poll
He must be doing something right. According to tonights One News poll he is going to be PM after the election with a National -ACT coalition.
In this post-Budget poll National is up by 3%, ACT is steady, Labour is down by 1% and The Green Party have dropped by 4%. Meanwhile Hipkins has dropped in the PM stakes and Luxon is up.
What do you base your opinion on?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132140611/national-given-budget-boost-in-latest-political-poll
The problem for Luxon is that most ACT supporters would prefer Seymour as PM, that keeps him lower than Hipkins
That was once a problem for Clark before becoming PM (the numbers preferring Peters as Leader of the Oppositon – problem solved when Peters went with National in 1996).
PS Polls are showing L-G-TPM 62-58, then NACT 62-58. It's a race not yet run.
You are probably correct about the PM numbers. It is only the ACT party, out of all the minor parties in Parliament, who has a leader who can even be considered as a possibility for PM.
Can you imagine anyone who thinks that Davidson, Shaw, Ngarewa-Packer or Waititi could possibly be PM?
I agree that the numbers are far too close to call.
Luxon certainly doesn't have the popular appeal of a Key or an Ardern – but, then neither did Helen Clark before being elected (IIRC – I can't find the preferred PM results that far back)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/leader-factor-is-what-counts/ONEDFGGKXUDINMWXNSPGVCPAJM/
However, that's a known issue for National (he's never been Mr Popularity).
What must be concerning for Labour is that Hipkins isn't exactly resonating with the electorate either.
Of course, that only matters for people who vote for a party based on whether or not they like the leader. Perhaps we'll see an election that is more about policy and less about personality.
He might need heavy protective gear to make it that far – the entitled ones resent leaders that have no sinecures to grant. I can smell the barbecue already.
A whole 8 years to bring these predators to justice.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/05/mama-hooch-danny-and-roberto-jaz-named-as-men-who-drugged-sexually-assaulted-women-in-christchurch.html?fbclid=IwAR03DbkBYQyO_dzv3VXZ-fAeGFk9VhGMrgB7gu7IMYa4DXGK_GqwW8–Gw0
do you know when sentencing is?
Given the extent of the offending, the planning and strategising, and the number of women assaulted, it's hard to see why they should be let out again unless they can demonstrate remorse, substantial change in attitude, and reparation. Not that NZ law allows for that.
sentencing is in August
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/132052656/extreme-hardship-if-mama-hooch-sexual-predators-are-named-judge-told
They used a WhatsApp group to share their rape/sexual assault videos and images. Only three were on trial but dollars to donuts there were more than three group members and if there's any justice to be had, those group members will be scared to fucking death waiting for the knock on the door.
Signs for National's "Get NZ Back On Track" tour have popped up around the district over the last couple of days, seems they might be starting in Queenstown.
Have we got an guerrilla songwriters around who can come up with some images of modern trains to plaster across them… Leave the National logo in the top left, and "Get NZ Back On Track" in bottom right, but the rest a train. Much better billboard.
Heh..!
My local (new) barber just left Queenstown, to get that place on track they need to ban AirBNB. Normal workers cannot live anywhere nearby and end up sleeping in cars
A squalid town ruled by a grasping elite
But its private property and the owners can do as they please, I know that must be very aggravating for you, but that is reality.
I wonder how much Q'town property is actually owned by New Zealanders – what I find aggravating is global capital bleeding Aotearoa dry.
I don’t know about ownership per se, although this data can be accessed, but data on property transfers is easily accessible:
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/property-transfer-statistics-march-2023-quarter/
I venture a solid health and safety case could be made against employers who leave workers living in vehicles for any length of time. Fatigue is a risk.
They're Sweeney Todding themselves and don't even realise it. Come and work in Queenstown where you will have splendid views of spectacular empty mansions from the bridge you're sleeping under. Spend your minimum wage on overpriced groceries.
The unaware irony of them. A choice, between the 'Coalition of Chaos' OR a National-led government ? !….like a Nact govt wouldnt literally be the Coalition of Chaos for the majority of NZ : (
And stopping wasteful spending? Geez yea, about that…
And of course…tax relief. For those who dont even need any. Just extra gravy…as always.
Anway Graeme…hope all good with you? Best of .
Getting back on track is appropriate for National because the (railway) tracks will one of the first thing that the ACT Party will demand is sold off if their junior coalition partners National win the election this year.
But as for Queenstown?
Preaching to the converted I'd say.
Incidentally, I noticed in downtown Masterton today, the National candidate Mike Butterick opened up a campaign office just a few doors down from Labour's Keiran McAnulty's existing office.
Too close for comfort?
Good idea. Made my day. Especially as Nats hate trains lol.
Shades of “Make Merica Great again”
"Get NZ Back on Track" has a nice ring to it, hopefully some Government whether National or Labour will start governing for the people and not themselves and their cronies.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/490626/cancer-diagnostics-company-posts-loss-after-investment
It’s very tough competing out there even when you have a sound high-value product and some help from the NZ government.
Will Luxon reverse this too? I think he might.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490627/pay-boost-for-thousands-of-gp-and-community-nurses
Hopefully from this morning's disaster De Santis has realised he can't trust Elon Musk.
Biden's comms are on their game.
@JoeBiden
This link works:
https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1661496322980028423
Trump's media team is on their game too… petty but enjoyable
https://twitter.com/EudaimoniaEsq/status/1661543467401502721?s=20
From Trump’s instagram account: a fake Twitter spaces video (including fake DeSantis audio) w/ DeSantis, Elon, George Soros, Hitler, the FBI, Dick Cheney, The Devil, and others.
Da or DeSantis – The Police investigate.