The Eastern Busway is a dedicated busway, similar to the Northern Busway, for the car-dependent eastern suburbs, which includes new bus interchanges at Pakuranga and Botany and the Reeves Rd flyover.
Once built – the completion date has been pushed out from 2025 to 2027 – it is expected to carry 30,000 people a day between the rapidly growing south-eastern suburbs and the rail network at Panmure.
One of Auckland's biggest transport projects, the $1.4 billion Eastern Busway from Panmure to Pakuranga and Botany, has been put back two years following a surprise cut to Auckland's Transport budget.
Auckland councillors yesterday learned the $940 million capital budget they signed off for Auckland last month in their long-term budget no longer exists. The new budget is $820m.
Well, maybe they could ask the government for some dosh, and rather then ask for a busway tell them that you need a bicycle lane or two on the motorway to combat climate change by getting people out of the car.
One is the electorate of the allegedly anointed new Leader of the National Party, the other one is the electorate with the largest National Party majority of all electorates in the country.
Good grief! Both Sabine and you are so bloody ignorant and yet so happy to parade your ignorance here in full view. You are such time wasters; your comments are full of venomous bile and bullshit.
In addition, are you sure you don’t want to make a comparison with the North Korean government?
"In addition, are you sure you don’t want to make a comparison with the North Korean government?"
You are certainly much closer to the Parties in Government that I am. Would you say it was appropriate to equate them or have you already told us too much about the way they operate?
You most certainly are much closer to the politicians than I am, so I’ll leave it to you to consult with them on your silly and irrelevant comparisons with other regimes. Meanwhile, please ignore and cover up your ignominious ignorance.
I might be ignorant to some who don't like what i have to say, and i have no issues with that, i do not endevour to please just for the sake of pleasing.
But that comment by Ad in regards to the many different people of these two electorates – that they simply don't care about public transport – is lazy at best, callous at worst.
But then maybe Labour is not disappointing the National voters in these electorates but rather their own voters. But then everyone knows that Papakura and Botany are the two
electorate with the largest National Party majority of all electorates
and thus it is good and ok to cancel a much needed Busway, and never mind the Labour voters. They just need to move to a more appropriate area were National MPs don’t get voted in.
I might be ignorant to you Incognito, but i am not willfully blind.
Stop digging and why don’t you read the NZH link in your own comment @ 1. You may not be wilfully blind, but blind nonetheless.
Ad doesn’t comment here to please either but he does provoke people in firing up their lazy ignorant brains. Some think he’s lazy and callous, but his comments just go over their head.
And who said that cancelling the Busway is “good and ok”, except you? You’re seeing and hearing things that don’t exist AKA strawmen and tilting at windmills.
Panmure station figures are up strong. Not Pakuranga. Maurice Williamson and the local board poisoned public opinion against pt for years. And was last Labour in 1969, and never will be.
Papakura is getting a big SH1 widening, plus massive subdivisions and town centres. Train pt is small but steady. Papakura has never, ever been Labour, and never will be.
Suppose I were to approach you with a suspicious substance and offer you the choice of sniffing it, touching it, tasting it, or having it injected directly into your body, I suspect few would choose the last option.
Indeed, this is the closest I’ve seen in a while that attempts to explain the visceral-emotional reaction of some to vaccination in general and against Covid vaccination in particular. To be clear, it is not phobia of needles per se, but fear of what’s in the syringe.
Unfortunately modern vaccines aren't the sort of thing where you can give people the recipe and let them make it for themselves.
It is new biotech with low, but significant, side-effect risks (and I certainly wouldn't be touching Sputnik 5!), so the hesitant who are waiting and seeing may be be persuaded by the lack of adverse effects as their peer groups are vaccinated over the coming months. I guess, once the willing team-members are fully vaccinated, vaccine-averse kiwis can be given a few vials to play with (I am thinking in a teaching lab to demonstrate that the contents are as stated – though if they want to rub it on their skin and see what happens, that'd be expensive, but sure; if it helps increase familiarity). Really we have to distribute any unused vaccines to our neighbours more urgently.
Yep, this link suggests that if 80% of NZers were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine (which is at least 85% effective against all COVID-19 variants that have evolved to date), then that would be sufficent to realise the benefits of herd immunity.
Note that herd immunity is just what it says – in the event of Covid-19 infection, unvaccinated individuals will still be at (much) greater risk of developing a life-threatening illness than their vaccinated conterparts.
Caveat – I'm just grabbing stuff off the Internet. The R0 of the original Covid-19 virus is 2.5; the Alpha variant has an R0 of 3.75, and the Delta variant has an R0 of 5.
Don't know what % of NZers would need to be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine to achieve herd immunity against the Delta variant, but someone here will.
The over-simplistic formula just considering R0 and vaccine efficacy is that the proportion needed to be vaccinated for herd immunity is greater than (1-1/R0)/e.
So if the Delta variant has R0 of 5, and the Pfizer vaccine has 85% efficacy against it, herd immunity should be achieved when over 94% of the population is vaccinated. Or if the Pfizer vaccine has 90% efficacy, then the herd immunity threshold is 89% vaccinated.
Those thresholds appear unlikely to actually be achieved, particularly since the anti-social arsehole anti-vaxers do seem to be getting a small amount of traction. Particularly within specific communities.
Once everyone in NZ that wants vaccination has received it, it's very unlikely the borders will remain closed, or any restrictions on movements imposed. So a likely outcome is that there will be large pockets that don't reach herd immunity and will suffer local outbreaks.
Ta very much Andre; agreed it seems unlikely that NZ will achieve 94% or even 89% Pfizer vaccine coverage, but one can hope.
Depressing (although not surprising) that COVID-19 has already evolved an R0 sufficient to outsmart initial strategies to achieve herd immunity via vaccination. So it's possible that herd immunity will be achieved only once COVID variants have spread through the more concentrated pockets of unvaccinated NZers, hopefully without overwhelming public health services.
Nevertheless, those who choose to have the Pfizer vaccine will be largely protected against serious Covid-related illnesses, at least for now. which will spare our nurses and doctors. It's a no-brainer – get vaccinated people!
It was more in response to the linked newsroom piece than directly to your comment; Incognito. The WSJ is paywalled, so I can't see much on the needleless options for overcoming vaccine hesitancy. The potential (1 in 200,000) blood-clotting with the AstraZeneca vaccine in under-60s was mentioned in the linked piece, Pfizer and Moderna seem to increase heart inflammation risk in adolescents.
According to data from the US Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), there were 347 observed cases of heart inflammation in the week after the second vaccine dose in males aged 12 to 24. That compares with expectations of 12 or fewer cases for males in that age range based on US population background incidence rates, the CDC said.
So it's not like there is no rational reasons to be cautious of vaccines (though the risk-reward balance is firmly on the side of vaccination), despite what the link said:
Since the reasons for vaccine hesitancy are not rational – vaccines demonstrably work – they cannot be addressed by merely reiterating impressive statistics. It’s time to explore other factors making people reluctant to accept vaccines proven safe and effective.
I just didn't like the suggested fear tactics much, so suggested alternatives. And got a bit rambly too…
Rationality isn't assessed in a vacuum. If there was no benefit to taking a drug, no matter how small the risk, it would be irrational for anyone to take it.
In a country with half a million deaths from the disease, worrying about a few hundred non-fatal adverse events associated with the prevention is highly irrational.
Scenario:
You're being chased by a serial killer. The only route of escape is a footbridge over a gorge. the bridge is new, shiny, of apparently solid construction, and millions of other people fleeing the serial killer have run over it with barely a trip or stumble.
Question:
is it rational to demand an engineer's report on the bridge, demand to see the schematics and maintenance logs, spend hours youtube-searching bridge construction techniques, and generally express bridge-hesitancy while the serial killer is catching up to you?
One way to coax the vaccine hesitant might be to make deaths from the coronavirus seem more frightening. Something like that worked in the public health campaign against smoking
I wasn’t too sure whether you were referring to fear tactics by anti-vaxxers.
If only you had given the full quote of that thought:
But I suspect another strategy is likely to be more successful in coaxing the hesitant to vaccinate.
I’m not that keen either on fighting fire with fire and fear with fear. However, as we know, and as Agar mentioned, campaigns that confront people with the possible consequences of their bad behaviours can be quite effective in helping to change these behaviours. Agar mentioned anti-smoking campaign but equally drink-driving campaigns can be very confronting and upsetting.
In the early stages of the pandemic, Covid-19 was portrayed by some as just another flu or even a mild one compared the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918. Some fobbed off the fatalities as ‘old people who would have died soon anyway’. This was used in the context of the shocking fatalities in Lombardy-Italy but also Sweden. Interestingly, the same ‘dry wood’ metaphor has been used to bolster a vaccination strategy.
Anyway, much of Covid-19 was sometimes portrayed as mild, moderate, and almost benignly natural. The reality is that many people have suffered so-called long covid and some severe cases had their lungs destroyed to a point at which a lung transplant was the only option.
I can see some similarities with smokers dying of lung cancer except that smoking is a choice. Without necessarily pushing vaccines down people’s throats, we can at least be honest about the possible outcomes of this disease, which is still evolving, may I add.
The thing that annoys me is that private landlords have to ensure their properties are up to a certain standard (eg. heat pumps, insulation etc., often a higher standard than their own homes), whereas the government (the biggest landlord) do not.
"In a fiery exchange in Parliament yesterday, Associate Housing Minister Poto Williams confirmed just 11,345 of a total 66,000 state houses currently meet the standards."
The government has set the rules and should be the first to follow those showing how its done. It cannot be a case of do what I say not what I do. Absolutely.
However the article is about tax deduction of tax on interest. No one can do this when they have a mortgage. I would argue that, If this is right for landlords, it must be right for any owner of a home paying a mortgage.
The difference being, the landlord is producing assessible taxable income ie. the rent he's collecting, therefore, just like any business borrowing money to produce income that is taxable, they should be able to reduce the income by having the interest as a tax deduction.
Living in your own home and paying a mortgage, produces no taxable income. ie. it is a personal expense.
People who are not landlords, seem to get annoyed as some are actually running at a loss ie. the rent received is less than the mortgage interest (negative gearing).
Grant has now ring fenced this (that I agree with), ie. they cannot reduce their other taxable income by the loss.
I do not agree with the non-deductibility of interest though. If a guy borrows $500k and buys earth moving equipment and hires the equipment out, the interest is deductible. If a landlord borrows $500k for a house and rents it out, the interest is not deductible – seems wrong to me.
I maybe saw comments putting this forward when Robertson was justifying calling the usual standard of interest deduction a distortion. Its a complete piece of fiction however, I never saw any reasonable argument being made here.
Deducting interest is in virtually all cases of business legitimate. The main thing the NZ rule change favours is any business which can source funding without going directly to the bank, so larger businesses.
I agree about business. This was about pension fund investments – believe it may have been by Hickey or Easton or similar. No time to look today sorry.
One of the most important changes was little noticed at the time, but has had a huge impact over time. Before 1989 there used to be a tax break for putting money into private pension funds. Given there was no such tax break for capital gains on property and business assets, it was deemed an unfair advantage for pension funds and removed with the aim of creating a ‘level playing field’.
New Zealand is now almost completely on its own now in the western world as not providing any tax breaks or incentives for saving into managed or pension funds, which go on to invest in companies, bonds and other financial assets, and not taxing capital gains or wealth.
Thats a long bow to draw. Most business assets are depreciated. Several years ago you could depreciate your residential property too. If the intent is there to produce taxable income, eg. Rent then the business can deduct the costs including interest. Now that they have said no to residential tax deductions there is an anomoly.
All private rentals must comply within 90 days of any new or renewed tenancy after 1 July 2021, with all private rentals complying by 1 July 2024. All boarding houses must comply by 1 July 2021. All houses rented by Kāinga Ora (formerly Housing New Zealand) and registered Community Housing Providers must comply by 1 July 2023.
here is an interesting piece from the very good and reliable Consortium News on the current fracturing of the Left in the US…it is well worth a read.
"There’s been a new public fracturing of the intellectual left, typified by an essay last week from Nathan J. Robinson, editor of the small, independent, socialist magazine Current Affairs, accusing Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi of bolstering the right’s arguments. He is the more reasonable face of what seems to be a new industry arguing that Greenwald is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, setting the right’s agenda for it."
No worries, I to used to read a bit of Current Affairs and Robinson myself, but have to say I have been pretty shocked on his position on this particular important issue, his nuance on any Left/Right crossover and Left/Right populism can only be described as reactionary and short sighted…and that doesn't even get into his stand on cancel culture, which he staunchly defended, only to then promptly get cancelled himself….
Those were interesting reads, thank you. I skipped the video because I prefer written material.
I now also remember Robinson being ‘fired’ by The Guardian from his little gig.
It was hard to reconcile that both pieces were written by the same person and seemingly about the same person but then I realised that he used Robinson as a pivot for his own narrative.
I now also realise why Robinson and Current Affairs disappeared off my radar a while back. I might have a look to see if they warrant my time and attention.
President Biden appears to have figured out one big solution to Trumpism: split the hard right off and work with the centrists to get stuff done. Key players include Senators Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona Democrat), Rob Portman (Ohio Republican), Jon Tester (Montana Democrat), and Mark Warner (Virginia (democrat).
Some highlights of what's been released so far are:
Roads and bridges: The plan includes $109 billion for roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects. This is $50 billion less than Biden requested initially.
Public transit: The plan also provides $49 billion for public transit, $66 billion for rail, $25 billion for airports and $16 billion for ports and waterways.
Water and power systems: $55 billion will be invested in water infrastructure and $73 billion in the nation’s power structure. Some of this money would be used to eliminate the nation's lead service lines and pipes.
Broadband investment: The plan would provide $65 billion to make improvements to the country's broadband system. Originally, Biden wanted $100 billion to ensure citizens have reliable, high-speed internet. However, the President lowered his ask during negotiations.
Electric vehicles: The bipartisan plan also includes $7.5 billion to build a network of electric vehicle chargers along highways and in rural and disadvantaged communities. The goal is to build 500,000 electric vehicle chargers. Another $7.5 billion will go toward making thousands of school and transit buses electric.
It's not a cure for Trumpism, the package has got a bit to go, and it doesn't mean there's bipartisanship on immigration or Police or anything else. But it is Biden's promised new functioning Washington.
The established ruling elites know there is a crisis. They agreed, at least temporarily, to throw money at it with the $1.9 trillion Covid-19 bill known as American Rescue Plan (ARP). But the ARP will not alter the structural inequities, either by raising the minimum wage to $15.00 an hour or imposing taxes and regulations on corporations or the billionaire class that saw its wealth increase by a staggering $1.1 trillion since the start of the pandemic.
…This act will, at best, provide a momentary respite from the country’s death spiral, sending out one time checks of $1,400 to 280 million Americans, extending $300 weekly unemployment benefits until the end of August and distributing $3,600 through a tax credit for children under the age of 6 and $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17 starting on July 1. Much of this money will be instantly gobbled up by landlords, lenders, medical providers and credit card companies. The act does, to its credit, bail out some 1 million unionized workers poised to lose their pensions and hands $31.2 billion in aid to Native communities, some of the poorest in the nation.
But what happens to the majority of Americans who get government support for only a few months? What are they supposed to do when the checks stop arriving at the end of the year? Will the federal government orchestrate another massive relief package? I doubt it. We will be back where we started.
…The Biden administration — and Biden was one of the principal architects of the policies that fleeced the working class and made war on the poor — is nothing more than a brief coda in the decline and fall, set against which is China’s rising global economic and military clout.
The loss of credibility has left the media, which serves as courtiers to the elites, largely powerless to manipulate public perceptions and public opinion. Rather, the media has divided the public into competing demographics. Media platforms target one demographic, feeding its opinions and proclivities back to it, while shrilly demonizing the demographic on the other side of the political divide. This has proved commercially successful. But it has also split the country into irreconcilable warring factions that can no longer communicate. Truth and verifiable fact have been sacrificed. Russiagate is as absurd as the belief that the presidential election was stolen from Trump. Pick your fantasy.
Well I guess he now works in the US prison system so gets to see first hand the direct result of a broken US model of governance still following blindly an ideology that relentlessly destroys the planet along with the living things that inhabit it through it's insatiable need for endless, unsustainable growth…before then worked extensively as a war correspondent, saw and experienced the result of western imperialism on the ground..so I assume that maybe those things shaped his writing and positions in his writing that we read today?
Maybe Rachel Maddow is more you cup of tea?
A Court Ruled Rachel Maddow’s Viewers Know She’s Not Offering Facts
Greed and what they can get away with is obviously the only rule here. No exemptions. In fact, given that there are no tourists to speak off its NZlanders themselves who are the perpetrators – no more excuses.
If the Russians fire warning shots to protect their maritime territory, that's fine.
If they fire warning shots to stop other nations entering the waters of a third party, that's generally called a "blockade" and is an act of war (which is why the US avoided the term "blockade" in the cuban Missile crisis).
So the Russians are claiming they fired warning shots, while the British are saying that there was just some coincidental noisiness as their ship travelled through Ukrainian waters.
Concern raising articles, especially given the profession of two of the authors…and it will be interesting to see if Mr Bradbury is as good as his word.
Reddit banned lesbian female only subreddits (those that exclude trans women, irrespective of content), but allows groups like this to stay. This is important for understanding why gender critical feminists are doing what they are doing. This stuff from Reddit is tech bro sanctioned misogyny, and is largely accepted by the left.
The plan is part of the government's work to strengthen social cohesion, in response to the Royal Commission of inquiry into the Christchurch terror attack.
Frankly I hate the sound of this. It is so stupid to try to control speech by suppressing it. The wrong words, even spoken in jest, could become a blackmailing tactic against people afraid to lose their jobs, shown up by our increasingly witch-hunting, puritan world. Nazi propaganda brought naive children in to their service, reporting on parents!
Our governments are so pathetic and irrational – we know this by previous Labour opening us up to laissez faire trading which in centuries before was disastrous for principled civilisation. They should have recognised this but no, steam ahead, was the call. Mark Twain should have been a counter-call, that's where the depth of the river was constantly checked to prevent running into a new sandbank in the ever-changing river. But we had no practical, knowledgeable pilot in 1984 and we appear to have newbies now putting forward their notions as policy with no allowance for the unintended consequences which come with all change. On this theme I have put link to Don McGlashan singing Anchor Me with memories of Helen Kelly.
And further I find that Mr Faafoi is in charge of not only Broadcasting but Justice and Immigration as well. Is he capable of looking at what we need for Just-us or is he inflated with a desire to look big in the world – making his mark etc. He is ex-journalist with BBC and TVNZ; if we got National back in, could we end up with Mike Hosking as Min. of Justice dealing out behavioural controls on all the unsatisfactory people he picks on! Oh lordie, lordie.
Here is Anchor Me played by Don McGlashan for Helen Kelly's memory on television.
I suggest you actually read the proposals and engage with them, rather than make sweeping generalisations and personal attacks to try and support your concerns.
I suggest Nordy you think about whether it is an appropriate proposal to bring in and about the lead politician involved. Why is it that citizens are constantly having to fight legislation that is poorly thought out and which once in will have huge ramifications? I suggest that you give us a break by not supporting such proposals. It wears out thinking citizens to have to monitor supposed intelligent well-meaning pollies.
Everybody is free to make a submission and nobody should be discouraged from exercising their democratic right to make a submission. I do hope that many will make submission and I don’t expect for one second that I’d agree with all of them, if I were to see and read them all, which is extremely unlikely. A proposal such as this needs input and feedback from many quarters. Nobody has a monopoly on wisdom (an oxymoron) and/or The Truth. This site values and encourages robust debate, not the exclusion of others and their opinions.
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Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
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. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealand’s accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying “there is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-term”. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dog’s shit for others to deal with doesn’t make you a hero – it’s precious and entitled behaviour. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve stood on the shoreline of Auckland’s Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent O’Sullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kākā. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by ‘working as little as possible’. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like “what do you do for a crust?” “I teach chemistry at university,” is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a ‘rat’s derriere’ about last night’s poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the government’s action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of Māori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
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Well, maybe they could ask the government for some dosh, and rather then ask for a busway tell them that you need a bicycle lane or two on the motorway to combat climate change by getting people out of the car.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/aucklands-14b-eastern-busway-put-back-two-years-after-big-cut-to-auckland-transport-budget/IH2U62NFIG6LETBLNYGV427W6Y/
Botany and Pakuranga just don't care.
They haven't seen the pt benefits like North Shore have. Won't bother them.
Well, then, it is all good then. Labour surely won't need these votes come the next election. Next.
One is the electorate of the allegedly anointed new Leader of the National Party, the other one is the electorate with the largest National Party majority of all electorates in the country.
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2020/electorate-details-04.html
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2020/electorate-details-35.html
Both Ad and you are correct.
Next.
Well at least you are honest about the Government's approach.
If you don't vote for us you will get nothing. They are learning from the Singapore Government I see. They are notorious for this behaviour.
Good grief! Both Sabine and you are so bloody ignorant and yet so happy to parade your ignorance here in full view. You are such time wasters; your comments are full of venomous bile and bullshit.
In addition, are you sure you don’t want to make a comparison with the North Korean government?
"In addition, are you sure you don’t want to make a comparison with the North Korean government?"
You are certainly much closer to the Parties in Government that I am. Would you say it was appropriate to equate them or have you already told us too much about the way they operate?
You most certainly are much closer to the politicians than I am, so I’ll leave it to you to consult with them on your silly and irrelevant comparisons with other regimes. Meanwhile, please ignore and cover up your ignominious ignorance.
Not so fast, dear Incognito. Not so fast.
2020 election Papakura (https://www.parliament.nz/en/mps-and-electorates/historical-electorate-profiles/electorate-profiles-data/document/DBHOH_Lib_EP_Papakura_Electoral_Profile/papakura-electoral-profile)
COLLINS, Judith (NAT) 20,266 55.63
PABLA, Jesse (LAB) 12,780 35.08
GREENING, Toa (NZF) 2,778 7.63
BHANA, Raewyn Teresa (MAOR)607 1.67
Botany (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botany_(New_Zealand_electorate))
NationalChristopher Luxon 16,661 53.23
LabourNaisi Chen 11,890 38.0
I might be ignorant to some who don't like what i have to say, and i have no issues with that, i do not endevour to please just for the sake of pleasing.
But that comment by Ad in regards to the many different people of these two electorates – that they simply don't care about public transport – is lazy at best, callous at worst.
But then maybe Labour is not disappointing the National voters in these electorates but rather their own voters. But then everyone knows that Papakura and Botany are the two
and thus it is good and ok to cancel a much needed Busway, and never mind the Labour voters. They just need to move to a more appropriate area were National MPs don’t get voted in.
I might be ignorant to you Incognito, but i am not willfully blind.
sigh
Stop digging and why don’t you read the NZH link in your own comment @ 1. You may not be wilfully blind, but blind nonetheless.
Ad doesn’t comment here to please either but he does provoke people in firing up their lazy ignorant brains. Some think he’s lazy and callous, but his comments just go over their head.
And who said that cancelling the Busway is “good and ok”, except you? You’re seeing and hearing things that don’t exist AKA strawmen and tilting at windmills.
Panmure station figures are up strong. Not Pakuranga. Maurice Williamson and the local board poisoned public opinion against pt for years. And was last Labour in 1969, and never will be.
Papakura is getting a big SH1 widening, plus massive subdivisions and town centres. Train pt is small but steady. Papakura has never, ever been Labour, and never will be.
No loss either way.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/vaccines-and-our-irrational-natures
Indeed, this is the closest I’ve seen in a while that attempts to explain the visceral-emotional reaction of some to vaccination in general and against Covid vaccination in particular. To be clear, it is not phobia of needles per se, but fear of what’s in the syringe.
Unfortunately modern vaccines aren't the sort of thing where you can give people the recipe and let them make it for themselves.
It is new biotech with low, but significant, side-effect risks (and I certainly wouldn't be touching Sputnik 5!), so the hesitant who are waiting and seeing may be be persuaded by the lack of adverse effects as their peer groups are vaccinated over the coming months. I guess, once the willing team-members are fully vaccinated, vaccine-averse kiwis can be given a few vials to play with (I am thinking in a teaching lab to demonstrate that the contents are as stated – though if they want to rub it on their skin and see what happens, that'd be expensive, but sure; if it helps increase familiarity). Really we have to distribute any unused vaccines to our neighbours more urgently.
No one is safe until everyone is safe.
"No one is safe until everyone is safe." Is 80%, the so called herd immunity enough?
Maybe the anti vaxers would account to this option and leave more vaccine for 3rd world countries that might never be rid of covid19?
Yep, this link suggests that if 80% of NZers were fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine (which is at least 85% effective against all COVID-19 variants that have evolved to date), then that would be sufficent to realise the benefits of herd immunity.
https://theconversation.com/covid-is-surging-in-the-worlds-most-vaccinated-country-why-160869
Note that herd immunity is just what it says – in the event of Covid-19 infection, unvaccinated individuals will still be at (much) greater risk of developing a life-threatening illness than their vaccinated conterparts.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/herd-immunity-and-coronavirus/art-20486808
Caveat – I'm just grabbing stuff off the Internet. The R0 of the original Covid-19 virus is 2.5; the Alpha variant has an R0 of 3.75, and the Delta variant has an R0 of 5.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125530953/covid19-the-delta-variant-and-how-scarily-fleeting-encounters-can-allow-the-virus-to-spread
Don't know what % of NZers would need to be vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine to achieve herd immunity against the Delta variant, but someone here will.
The over-simplistic formula just considering R0 and vaccine efficacy is that the proportion needed to be vaccinated for herd immunity is greater than (1-1/R0)/e.
So if the Delta variant has R0 of 5, and the Pfizer vaccine has 85% efficacy against it, herd immunity should be achieved when over 94% of the population is vaccinated. Or if the Pfizer vaccine has 90% efficacy, then the herd immunity threshold is 89% vaccinated.
Those thresholds appear unlikely to actually be achieved, particularly since the anti-social arsehole anti-vaxers do seem to be getting a small amount of traction. Particularly within specific communities.
Once everyone in NZ that wants vaccination has received it, it's very unlikely the borders will remain closed, or any restrictions on movements imposed. So a likely outcome is that there will be large pockets that don't reach herd immunity and will suffer local outbreaks.
Ta very much Andre; agreed it seems unlikely that NZ will achieve 94% or even 89% Pfizer vaccine coverage, but one can hope.
Depressing (although not surprising) that COVID-19 has already evolved an R0 sufficient to outsmart initial strategies to achieve herd immunity via vaccination. So it's possible that herd immunity will be achieved only once COVID variants have spread through the more concentrated pockets of unvaccinated NZers, hopefully without overwhelming public health services.
Nevertheless, those who choose to have the Pfizer vaccine will be largely protected against serious Covid-related illnesses, at least for now. which will spare our nurses and doctors. It's a no-brainer – get vaccinated people!
I cannot make head nor tail of your comment, sorry.
It was more in response to the linked newsroom piece than directly to your comment; Incognito. The WSJ is paywalled, so I can't see much on the needleless options for overcoming vaccine hesitancy. The potential (1 in 200,000) blood-clotting with the AstraZeneca vaccine in under-60s was mentioned in the linked piece, Pfizer and Moderna seem to increase heart inflammation risk in adolescents.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/23/fda-warning-heart-inflammation-pfizer-moderna-vaccines
So it's not like there is no rational reasons to be cautious of vaccines (though the risk-reward balance is firmly on the side of vaccination), despite what the link said:
I just didn't like the suggested fear tactics much, so suggested alternatives. And got a bit rambly too…
Rationality isn't assessed in a vacuum. If there was no benefit to taking a drug, no matter how small the risk, it would be irrational for anyone to take it.
In a country with half a million deaths from the disease, worrying about a few hundred non-fatal adverse events associated with the prevention is highly irrational.
Scenario:
You're being chased by a serial killer. The only route of escape is a footbridge over a gorge. the bridge is new, shiny, of apparently solid construction, and millions of other people fleeing the serial killer have run over it with barely a trip or stumble.
Question:
is it rational to demand an engineer's report on the bridge, demand to see the schematics and maintenance logs, spend hours youtube-searching bridge construction techniques, and generally express bridge-hesitancy while the serial killer is catching up to you?
Sorry, but whose “fear tactics” are you talking about?
Agar's (in your original link at comment 2.0):
Ta
I wasn’t too sure whether you were referring to fear tactics by anti-vaxxers.
If only you had given the full quote of that thought:
I’m not that keen either on fighting fire with fire and fear with fear. However, as we know, and as Agar mentioned, campaigns that confront people with the possible consequences of their bad behaviours can be quite effective in helping to change these behaviours. Agar mentioned anti-smoking campaign but equally drink-driving campaigns can be very confronting and upsetting.
In the early stages of the pandemic, Covid-19 was portrayed by some as just another flu or even a mild one compared the Spanish Flu Pandemic in 1918. Some fobbed off the fatalities as ‘old people who would have died soon anyway’. This was used in the context of the shocking fatalities in Lombardy-Italy but also Sweden. Interestingly, the same ‘dry wood’ metaphor has been used to bolster a vaccination strategy.
Anyway, much of Covid-19 was sometimes portrayed as mild, moderate, and almost benignly natural. The reality is that many people have suffered so-called long covid and some severe cases had their lungs destroyed to a point at which a lung transplant was the only option.
https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/long-covid
Early outcomes after lung transplantation for severe COVID-19: a series of the first consecutive cases from four countries
I can see some similarities with smokers dying of lung cancer except that smoking is a choice. Without necessarily pushing vaccines down people’s throats, we can at least be honest about the possible outcomes of this disease, which is still evolving, may I add.
The vaccine averse could be left alone until they recognise it is safe, at which point they can pay for it.
Do landlords put pressure on to get exemption to find a ruse not to pay?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/125552758/call-to-exempt-longterm-tenancies-from-new-rental-tax-rules
And this is in the news:
Another deal for the rich at the expense of the taxpayer. When will the government officials realize that the tax they collect is not their money.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125551395/minister-waited-months-to-reveal-maximum-grant-given-to-amazon
The thing that annoys me is that private landlords have to ensure their properties are up to a certain standard (eg. heat pumps, insulation etc., often a higher standard than their own homes), whereas the government (the biggest landlord) do not.
"In a fiery exchange in Parliament yesterday, Associate Housing Minister Poto Williams confirmed just 11,345 of a total 66,000 state houses currently meet the standards."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/444486/govt-accused-of-double-standards-over-health-of-state-houses
The government has set the rules and should be the first to follow those showing how its done. It cannot be a case of do what I say not what I do. Absolutely.
However the article is about tax deduction of tax on interest. No one can do this when they have a mortgage. I would argue that, If this is right for landlords, it must be right for any owner of a home paying a mortgage.
The basis for the difference is that for a landlord the interest is a business expense.
The difference being, the landlord is producing assessible taxable income ie. the rent he's collecting, therefore, just like any business borrowing money to produce income that is taxable, they should be able to reduce the income by having the interest as a tax deduction.
Living in your own home and paying a mortgage, produces no taxable income. ie. it is a personal expense.
People who are not landlords, seem to get annoyed as some are actually running at a loss ie. the rent received is less than the mortgage interest (negative gearing).
Grant has now ring fenced this (that I agree with), ie. they cannot reduce their other taxable income by the loss.
I do not agree with the non-deductibility of interest though. If a guy borrows $500k and buys earth moving equipment and hires the equipment out, the interest is deductible. If a landlord borrows $500k for a house and rents it out, the interest is not deductible – seems wrong to me.
I recall reading that the fatal distortion happened when govt removed deductibility for pension funds compared with rental housing.
I maybe saw comments putting this forward when Robertson was justifying calling the usual standard of interest deduction a distortion. Its a complete piece of fiction however, I never saw any reasonable argument being made here.
Deducting interest is in virtually all cases of business legitimate. The main thing the NZ rule change favours is any business which can source funding without going directly to the bank, so larger businesses.
I agree about business. This was about pension fund investments – believe it may have been by Hickey or Easton or similar. No time to look today sorry.
Found one example from Hickey last year though I'm sure I read it in a few places now in more detail: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300175287/how-past-generations-pulled-up-the-property-ladder-on-todays-youth
Not a good analogy.
The thing is that earth moving equipment is depreciated.
And, if you sell it for more than the depreciated value, you are taxed on the difference.
Land appreciates, and, mostly isn't taxed on the gain. So long as you are careful about what you "intend".
An anomaly.
Thats a long bow to draw. Most business assets are depreciated. Several years ago you could depreciate your residential property too. If the intent is there to produce taxable income, eg. Rent then the business can deduct the costs including interest. Now that they have said no to residential tax deductions there is an anomoly.
Not at all.
You could depreciate, buildings, not land!
Yes I meant buildings only in my comment. But you can no longer depreciate residential rental buildings.
Land has never been depreciated.
https://www.tenancy.govt.nz/healthy-homes/about-the-healthy-homes-standards/
Link in RNZ article points to wrong article.
here is an interesting piece from the very good and reliable Consortium News on the current fracturing of the Left in the US…it is well worth a read.
"There’s been a new public fracturing of the intellectual left, typified by an essay last week from Nathan J. Robinson, editor of the small, independent, socialist magazine Current Affairs, accusing Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi of bolstering the right’s arguments. He is the more reasonable face of what seems to be a new industry arguing that Greenwald is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, setting the right’s agenda for it."
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/06/24/what-happened-to-glenn-greenwald/
Or watch the two main players debate their positions…
Ta
I lost sight of Robinson and I used to read Current Affairs on a regular basis. Maybe time to reacquaint myself with them again.
No worries, I to used to read a bit of Current Affairs and Robinson myself, but have to say I have been pretty shocked on his position on this particular important issue, his nuance on any Left/Right crossover and Left/Right populism can only be described as reactionary and short sighted…and that doesn't even get into his stand on cancel culture, which he staunchly defended, only to then promptly get cancelled himself….
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/02/12/guardian-reveals-its-true-face-sacking-progressive-columnist-nathan-robinson
Those were interesting reads, thank you. I skipped the video because I prefer written material.
I now also remember Robinson being ‘fired’ by The Guardian from his little gig.
It was hard to reconcile that both pieces were written by the same person and seemingly about the same person but then I realised that he used Robinson as a pivot for his own narrative.
I now also realise why Robinson and Current Affairs disappeared off my radar a while back. I might have a look to see if they warrant my time and attention.
President Biden appears to have figured out one big solution to Trumpism: split the hard right off and work with the centrists to get stuff done. Key players include Senators Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona Democrat), Rob Portman (Ohio Republican), Jon Tester (Montana Democrat), and Mark Warner (Virginia (democrat).
https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/biden-senate-infrastructure-policing-06-24-21/index.html
Some highlights of what's been released so far are:
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/24/how-the-infrastructure-deal-got-done-496121
It's not a cure for Trumpism, the package has got a bit to go, and it doesn't mean there's bipartisanship on immigration or Police or anything else. But it is Biden's promised new functioning Washington.
Don't worry Ad there is plenty of bipartisanship between Trumpism and Bidenism on immigration, The Police and funding Israel
Kamala Harris tells migrants 'do not come' during talks in Guatemala
Biden backs funding more police to fight crime wave
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57589416
Power Up: Biden administration approves $735 million weapons sale to Israel, raising red flags for some House Democrats
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/17/power-up-biden-administration-approves-735-million-weapons-sale-israel-raising-red-flags-some-house-democrats/
Well, that is one curated view of Biden.
Here is another: Bandaging the Corpse by Chris Hedges.
Good ol' Chris Hedges, never one to pull his punch's or get get suckered in by the centrist liberals masquerading as the Left…thanks for that link.
To that old catastrophist, everything is just bandage.
Well I guess he now works in the US prison system so gets to see first hand the direct result of a broken US model of governance still following blindly an ideology that relentlessly destroys the planet along with the living things that inhabit it through it's insatiable need for endless, unsustainable growth…before then worked extensively as a war correspondent, saw and experienced the result of western imperialism on the ground..so I assume that maybe those things shaped his writing and positions in his writing that we read today?
Maybe Rachel Maddow is more you cup of tea?
A Court Ruled Rachel Maddow’s Viewers Know She’s Not Offering Facts
https://scheerpost.com/2021/06/22/a-court-ruled-rachel-maddows-viewers-know-shes-not-offering-facts/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/fishermen-filmed-with-thousands-of-pink-maomao-in-bins-in-tairua/TOLOSXOST56XJTYJSU5SKUEBSU/
Greed and what they can get away with is obviously the only rule here. No exemptions. In fact, given that there are no tourists to speak off its NZlanders themselves who are the perpetrators – no more excuses.
Yes, and who is the middle man and final market?
See the little Bulldog doing some agitating sailing of their little boat in Russian waters at the behest of Uncle Sam.
Better they put their money to better use at home where it's needed to fight Covid instead of playing Paper Tiger games.
I'm not up with the play Byd. Briefly who, what, are you referring to?
Sailing a UK Navy boat to agitate in Ukraine.
Geopolitical circlejerk between regional powers.
Can't let a good ferment go off the boil eh.
Well, bojo's a dick but so is Putin.
I found the wee dance amusing, though.
If the Russians fire warning shots to protect their maritime territory, that's fine.
If they fire warning shots to stop other nations entering the waters of a third party, that's generally called a "blockade" and is an act of war (which is why the US avoided the term "blockade" in the cuban Missile crisis).
So the Russians are claiming they fired warning shots, while the British are saying that there was just some coincidental noisiness as their ship travelled through Ukrainian waters.
Disturbingly wars often appear during the demise of economic systems
Yes, unfortunately true.
Full court (no intention) press over at the Daily Blog
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/06/25/guest-blog-marie-dyhrberg-qc-false-sexual-accusers-face-little-risk/
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/06/24/guest-blog-my-son-has-been-wrongfully-convicted-of-rape-part-two/
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/06/23/guest-blog-samira-taghavi-surviving-a-sexual-prosecution-in-21st-century-salem/
Concern raising articles, especially given the profession of two of the authors…and it will be interesting to see if Mr Bradbury is as good as his word.
Reddit banned lesbian female only subreddits (those that exclude trans women, irrespective of content), but allows groups like this to stay. This is important for understanding why gender critical feminists are doing what they are doing. This stuff from Reddit is tech bro sanctioned misogyny, and is largely accepted by the left.
https://twitter.com/lilithwon_fds/status/1408146058304126977
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/445495/hate-speech-govt-plans-new-law-tougher-penalties
The plan is part of the government's work to strengthen social cohesion, in response to the Royal Commission of inquiry into the Christchurch terror attack.
Frankly I hate the sound of this. It is so stupid to try to control speech by suppressing it. The wrong words, even spoken in jest, could become a blackmailing tactic against people afraid to lose their jobs, shown up by our increasingly witch-hunting, puritan world. Nazi propaganda brought naive children in to their service, reporting on parents!
Our governments are so pathetic and irrational – we know this by previous Labour opening us up to laissez faire trading which in centuries before was disastrous for principled civilisation. They should have recognised this but no, steam ahead, was the call. Mark Twain should have been a counter-call, that's where the depth of the river was constantly checked to prevent running into a new sandbank in the ever-changing river. But we had no practical, knowledgeable pilot in 1984 and we appear to have newbies now putting forward their notions as policy with no allowance for the unintended consequences which come with all change. On this theme I have put link to Don McGlashan singing Anchor Me with memories of Helen Kelly.
And further I find that Mr Faafoi is in charge of not only Broadcasting but Justice and Immigration as well. Is he capable of looking at what we need for Just-us or is he inflated with a desire to look big in the world – making his mark etc. He is ex-journalist with BBC and TVNZ; if we got National back in, could we end up with Mike Hosking as Min. of Justice dealing out behavioural controls on all the unsatisfactory people he picks on! Oh lordie, lordie.
Here is Anchor Me played by Don McGlashan for Helen Kelly's memory on television.
+100 Grey
We are a scoldingly litigious country.
Our intelligence +defense community should just do their jobs.
I suggest you actually read the proposals and engage with them, rather than make sweeping generalisations and personal attacks to try and support your concerns.
I suggest Nordy you think about whether it is an appropriate proposal to bring in and about the lead politician involved. Why is it that citizens are constantly having to fight legislation that is poorly thought out and which once in will have huge ramifications? I suggest that you give us a break by not supporting such proposals. It wears out thinking citizens to have to monitor supposed intelligent well-meaning pollies.
Everybody is free to make a submission and nobody should be discouraged from exercising their democratic right to make a submission. I do hope that many will make submission and I don’t expect for one second that I’d agree with all of them, if I were to see and read them all, which is extremely unlikely. A proposal such as this needs input and feedback from many quarters. Nobody has a monopoly on wisdom (an oxymoron) and/or The Truth. This site values and encourages robust debate, not the exclusion of others and their opinions.