Open mike 25/09/2024
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6:00 am, September 25th, 2024 - 43 comments
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- 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #51
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...7 hours ago - Dance Magic
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...19 hours ago - Government Forces Universities to Enforce “Free Speech” While Limiting Universities̵...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...19 hours ago - Fact brief – Are we heading into an ‘ice age’?
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- As Our Power Lessens: Published
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...1 day ago - By Any Other Name.
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...2 days ago - Bernard’s last Saturday Soliloquy for 2024
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...2 days ago - Bernard’s Picks ‘n’ Mixes for Saturday, December 21
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Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...3 days ago - Climate Change: A perverse incentive
The government published its first Biennial Transparency Report under the Paris Agreement yesterday, and the media has correctly noted that it is missing any plan to actually meet our target. While it hypes domestic emissions reductions so far - which have been good, but will likely get worse thanks to ...3 days ago
- Economic Bulletin December 2024
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The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...3 days ago
- ZB’s Power Couple
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...3 days ago - Austerity thumps GDP most since 1991
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...3 days ago
- Weekly Roundup 20-December-2024
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The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...3 days ago
- The baby-boomers’ last gasp
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...3 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #51 2024
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...3 days ago
- Join us at 5pm for 2024’s last Hoon
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...4 days ago - Christmas Gifts: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...4 days ago
- GDP Figures No Christmas Present for New Zealand
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...4 days ago
- Cheeseburgers and Stunt Monkeys
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...4 days ago - MSD rejecting 220 pleas for food grants each day
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...4 days ago
- The Wing Parties’ Economic Policies.
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...4 days ago - Back on Track
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...4 days ago - Book Review: How Big Things Get Done
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- Gordon Campbell On Why We Can’t Survive Two More Years Of This
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...4 days ago - Dragging our way towards the finish line, the end of this year can’t come soon enough for many…
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...4 days ago - Handling Democracy.
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- Open letter to the Minister of Dwindling Finances
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...5 days ago - Open Government: The joke ends
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This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...5 days ago - NZCTU: Minister needs to listen to the evidence on engineered stone ban
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- Wednesday 18 December
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...5 days ago
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The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...5 days ago
- Notes from Afar: Will Luxon Attend Waitangi Day? And Opposition Calls Out Nicola Willis for “C...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...5 days ago - Member’s morning
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...5 days ago
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We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...5 days ago - Blaming Treasury & Labour, Willis looks for even more Austerity
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...5 days ago
- December-24 AT Board Meeting
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...5 days ago
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Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...5 days ago - It could have been worse
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...5 days ago
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Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...5 days ago
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- Join us for a pop-up Hoon at 5pm on HYEFU
6 days ago - ‘Ideas Worth Saving’: A Call for Papers
Some years ago, I found myself pondering the power of literature to endure. Or at least the power of some of it to endure, while the rest vanishes in mere decades: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair-the-literary-future/. I have similarly had fun with the subject in some of my short stories, such as Another Alexandria ...6 days ago - Corrections is torturing prisoners again
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...6 days ago
- HYEFU and BPS data shows New Zealand is way off track
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...6 days ago
- “Better economic management”
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...6 days ago
- Shameless, clueless
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...6 days ago - Minimum wage ‘increase’ is an effective cut
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...6 days ago
- Crazy ’bout a Sharp-dressed Man
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...6 days ago - How much should you worry about a collapse of the Atlantic conveyor belt?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob Henson In this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...6 days ago
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In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...6 days ago - When austerity worsens public debt & cuts GDP
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...6 days ago
- Govt to double number of toll roads
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The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...6 days ago
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- More public service contempt of parliament
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And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...7 days ago - A Lipstick Government
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Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...7 days ago
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- Thank You
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...1 week ago - 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #50
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...1 week ago
- Making Gravy
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...1 week ago - Nothing here but the shadows
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...1 week ago - The United Right: the FSU’s Continued Efforts to Undermine Academia
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Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...1 week ago
- 2 Men, 1 Haircut
Hi,“What I love about New Zealanders is that sometimes you use these expressions that as Americans we have no idea what those things mean!"I am watching a 30-something year old American ramble on about how different New Zealanders are to Americans. It’s his podcast, and this man is doing a ...1 week ago - Chris Penk’s Hate Parade
What Chris Penk has granted holocaust-denier and equal-opportunity-bigot Candace Owens is not “freedom of speech”. It’s not even really freedom of movement, though that technically is the right she has been granted. What he has given her is permission to perform. Freedom of SpeechIn New Zealand, the right to freedom ...1 week ago - Tell me a story
All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago
- National’s Greatest Misses 2023-4
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...3 days ago - Release: Minister’s plan for tertiary sector a backwards step
Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...3 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...3 days ago
- Release: Rule-Czar bill a right-wing power grab
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...3 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...4 days ago
- Govt’s ‘free speech’ legislation stokes fear, not freedom
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...4 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...4 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...5 days ago
- ECE no place to cut corners
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...5 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...5 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...6 days ago
- Release: Visa changes let migrant workers be paid less
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...6 days ago
- Release: Nightmare before Christmas for Nicola Willis
With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...6 days ago
- Warning to Fast-Track Applicants – ‘Exploit the Whenua, Face the Consequences’
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 days ago
- Govt’s miserly 1.5% minimum wage will take workers backwards
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt shirking responsibility for rate hikes
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
- Luxon’s ‘localism’ strikes again
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt breaks promise on EV chargers
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...7 days ago
- Greens call for end to subsidies for Methanex
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...7 days ago
- Govt child poverty targets allow for increase in poverty
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
- Govt’s emissions plan for measly 1% reduction
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
- Govt gifts renters housing anxiety for Christmas
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
- Release: National Party urged to support modern slavery legislation
Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour has lost confidence in the Speaker
The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Bill to sanction unlawful occupation of Palestine
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fully supports greyhound racing ban
The Government has done the right thing in moving to ban greyhound racing. ...2 weeks ago
- Greyhound racing industry ban marks new era for animal welfare
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...2 weeks ago
- Rangatahi voices must be centred in Government’s Relationship and Sexuality Education refresh
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt introduces archaic anti-worker legislation
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...2 weeks ago
- Winston Peters – Kinleith Mill Speech
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- He Ara Anamata: Greens launch Emissions Reduction Plan
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- Internationally-trained doctors jump at chance to boost health workforce
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- New intelligence oversight appointments
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- New housing developments able to progress more quickly
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- Reducing the environmental impact of synthetic refrigerants
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- Appointments to the ENZ board
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- Government to celebrate Waitangi Day around NZ
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- More gangs added to Gangs Act list
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- Judicial appointment announced
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- New appointments to the Charities Registration Board
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- Building consent processing times improve
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"Disconnected from reality"? Isnt that NACT1 summed?
The lunacy of fast track, roads we need, and the literal urgency behind all that NACT1 are pushing..belies any sense, or rationality.
Further to the Future is Rail and links I have earlier given…
here is a positive action.
Napier-Wairoa rail ain't coming back and the Ruapehu mills are gone, so they're getting rid of almost all rail staff at Napier.
The Napier-Wairoa rail was one of the NZF regional growth fund promises from 2017 (IIRC). In the most recent election, they've promised to investigate the route through to Gisborne (although, I don't think that will happen – it's simply not economic).
NZF have been traditionally supportive of rail as a regional support initiative.
I wouldn't be surprised if re-opening the Wairoa rail line was still on the cards.
Money lost when they cut TREC.
Looks as though Peters and NZ First (yes, I know the two are synonymous) still want rail on ferries.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/interislander-winston-peters-wants-rail-on-ferries-national-isnt-so-sure/JUISSIRWSZEYNJONAEMD4SLJ3Q/
I guess it seems difficult to see Peters as the White Knight for rail services in NZ….
The RNZ story and the Treasury and MoT advice within is a public service nightmare of massive proportions. It's on previous and current governments.
NACT1st turning into a right "Dog's Breakfast" pushing things through as quickly as possible without much thought. Cancel the ferries without a Long Term Strategic Plan is not Super Smart IMHO.
Theres definitely a strategic plan IMHO.
Luxon, seymour, jones, bishop, Willis and co are the managers tasked with execution and will be rewarded based on that.
Youve already seen those who arent team players being moved aside. Coster, Lee, Simmonds, various others like NZH board etc
Absolutely. Mountain Tui and Mickey Savage have done detailed Posts on same , the involvement of Taxpayers union, Atlas Network et al, many here have also commented to it.
And as you say..
Directorships, Board memberships, etc etc coming .
Still doesnt belie their lack of sense and rationality for us the rest of NZ…..
Yup no surprise to see shonky era ministers with well paid roles in the plunder as they have proven themselves.
Can you shed a little light on that? They will be rewarded by who or what? Do you have details?
Science? We dont need no frickin' science !
Of course! " sustainable management of the environment and effective adaptation to climate change" is not any part of NACT1's program !
NACT1 taking us into a new Dark age….: (
Gathering real data about "sustainable management of the environment and effective adaptation to climate change" might imply some onus on governments to plan for such things. If there is no plan, and the cards simply lie where they fall, there will be interesting opportunities for the private sector to profit from whatever eventuates on the climate front.
Are you bankrupted by losing your home in a flood and insurance won't pay out? No worries, come to our exclusive trailer park, shop at the on-premises company store and enjoy our vibrant 'community'.
As the definitive user(loser?) pays… come to pass.
And re your second paragraph….maybe satirical, or, welcome to a possible Future NZ.
The deluded mugs that voted for change, will find out that survival of the fittest, did not include them.
I feel much empathy and sadness for the rest of us.
Luxton's Press Secretary Resign's – I wonder why, he wouldn't be fricken easy to work with IMHO ??? Probably throw a few wobbly's and throw his toys around.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/528968/christopher-luxon-s-chief-press-secretary-resigns
It’s no secret that Nicola Willis is also in (urgent) need of a Senior Press Secretary.
They’re entitled, but Willux could consider setting an example by sharing a secretary
If far right-wing sop Hamish Rutherford couldn't cope in Luxon's office then you know how extreme this mob's policies are. When Rutherford was a reporter you could more often than not guess the pieces he wrote just going by the headline.
A fubar mess in the middle east led by the rouge state of Israel. War crimes are now normal from this Crazy State, and governments in the West shrug.
So we all get to sit, and watch Israel kill more civilians, blast the last vestiges of the Lebanon economy to dust – all the while our own government does nothing.
I do wonder what would happen if people started to remove Israeli products from the shelves, would the government act then?
I gather that there has been an informal consumer boycott on buying Israeli consumer goods for some time, by pro-Palestine activists. Of course, we don't actually import much, so it's had little effect.
According to this, the largest value trade is in gas turbines – not something the average consumer can purchase (or not, as the case may be)
https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-country/isr/partner/nzl
The gutless EU in particular could do much more to get something happening, US Imperialism will not turn the money and arms tap off in the short/medium term, so it is up to the worlds people to stick it to the Zionists via BDS–Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hit the Israelis where it hurts–economically and culturally as we did with Apartheid South Africa.
There is a massive international solidarity movement around the world in support of Palestine, but it may tragically be too late given the IDF butchers starvation policy, which is backed up by various Mid East Authoritarian rulers such as the Egyptians that will not open the border for substantial aid.
NZ activists are targeting Israeli humus in supermarkets for example with stickers, which is a start, don’t buy Sodastream, there are alternatives now. BDS has a lot of info on how those of us at this distance can help.
https://bdsmovement.net
Thanks for that link TM.
https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/join-a-bds-campaign?country=New+Zealand
Good to know I can actually do (boycott) something, no matter how small.
http://www.bdsnz.org.nz
https://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/
I stopped buying Sodastream CO2 gas refills a couple of years back because Sodastream is based in Israel.
After purchasing a commercial type gas cylinder I could buy 9kg of gas for $65 instead of paying a pre-rise price of $35 for a 400gm Sodastream refill.
That changed a bit when Marsden Refinery closed and left Todd Group as the only supplier of NZ produced CO2. The 9kg refill went up to $120. The cylinder and an adapter are not a cheap outlay. However even at the new price the 20 odd refills I made from the more expensive CO2 have covered the cost of the outlay and left me ahead.
Israel will not notice one individuals effort, but at least I have stopped supporting what amounts to a terrorist state that is constantly transgressing established borders to terrorise citizens of other states.
Hear, Hear.
Looks as though there are plenty of alternatives to SodaStream in the market.
https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/the-best-soda-maker-for-the-sparkliest-water-and-the-bubbliest-cocktails-article
“ Of course we have no need for seismologists, what do they do anyway, just look into holes to see when earthquakes happened hundreds of years ago, what I’m saying to you is we need more go-getters, team people, dynamic people, people to take us forward going forward, not backwards like Labour looking in holes , Im saying to you they must have been employed under Labour making those holes financial ones that’s where the 150 billion went, in holes. Labour spending wasteful amounts on looking in holes. What’s a seismologist anyway.. oh a what?, earthquake scientist ! …No need for them not dynamically forward looking team members going forward that’s what I’m saying to you. What I’m say to you, we’ve had our earthquakes they are in the past, we won’t have any more under National, we are going to ban them, they cost too much I’m saying to you the scientists probably wear patches with names on them, under National, they,re gone and I’ll personally be looking in their wardrobes for anything with insignias on them, that’s dynamism leadership for you, whatever that is I’m saying to you, now don’t start me on volcanologists, they just fly round in spaceships with funny ears right ? They’re gone too, no need for them I’m saying to you.”
Remind you of anyone? Looks like an arse , is an arse, talks the stuff that comes out of an arse.
Thank God, I feel better now I’ve got that off my chest.
Hoots Adrian. Somehow captures Luxon chatter
FIFY
Oh! and don't forget.. "We are working immensely hard …"
But at what? is the question.
Well done.
In reacting to the head of ANZ saying the time had come for a CGT, I heard the Prime Conflict of Interest, the Minister of Entitlement say something about an bankers wanting to take money away from us.
Ironic much, when one has just made a few $100,000 tax free capital gains from selling one of the spare properties from the portfolio.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/home-property/350425447/christopher-luxon-sells-onehunga-auckland-investment-property
To Tiger Mountain, the Egyptians do allow aid in, the IDF blocks most of it. Egypt does not want to be compliant with the Israelis genocide and emptying Palestine so they can sieze all the land. Egypt is not wealthy it could not possibly feed an house an entire nation.
Egypt does not want to appear compliant with the Israeli genocide,
But it is. And has been, for a long time.
The PA leader Mahmoud Abbass asked the Egyption leader Al Sisi if he could lead an international delegation into Gaza through Egypt to break the Israeli blockade. Al Sisi replied, Yes, but only if the Israelis approve it.
The military regime Abdel Al Sisi, and the military regime of Hosni Mubarak before him are longstanding backers of Israel's illegal siege of Gaza.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour in a speech before the UN Security Council told the UNSC that the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, was going to lead a delegation to Gaza to stand by the Palestinian people. Abbas is calling for all leaders to go with them to Gaza
"Who is stopping you from doing this?" Riyad Mansour
When your troops run from the mushroom clouds, you better do what the crazy government wants.
A plan to disenfranchise Americans – called the Save Act – that the GOP tried to include in a government funding package has not succeeded.
It would have required proof of citizenship to vote, it would have created a roadblock for women (where the name on electoral roll is not the name on their birth certificate).
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4889074-hakeem-jeffries-election-rules-government-funding/
Emma Goldman
The fact they even put the Save Act on the table is shit. But the far right have won in the West. So we get use to it, or we stand up and push back.
Mitt Romney hopes the kids are alright.
.
As our conversation in the spring wound down, I decided to ask Romney a question I’d somehow neglected to bring up in our dozens of interviews before: What—if anything—gave him hope about the future?
[…]
When I put it to Romney in his office, he told me about a book he’d recently read, The Age of Acrimony. The book chronicled America from 1865 to 1915, a period in which the country was exploding with political energy, much of it destructive. Torch-carrying mobs held massive rallies that turned into riots. Political assassinations were widespread. Many people were predicting a second civil war. Then, in relatively short order, “the air went out of the balloon,” Romney told me. Presidential-election turnout rates plunged from 80 percent in 1896 (when many people were bribed for their vote) to less than 50 percent two decades later. Romney invited the author, a historian at the Smithsonian, to his office. He wanted to know what had changed. How had a nation addicted to partisan tribalism and political violence managed to break the cycle? The author told him that members of the generation that had come of age during this “age of acrimony” simply decided they didn’t want to live that way anymore.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/09/mitt-romney-trump/679994/?gift=otEsSHbRYKNfFYMngVFweJRyM6zVmiDMVs-lJxkjpjs&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social
Oh dear, Luxon is not happy about a CGT tax. and his happy clappy finance minister agrees with him. I wonder if the gullible amongst us who hang on to his//hers every word will be able to figure out the real reason why:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/529018/luxon-takes-crack-at-anz-boss-antonia-watson-over-capital-gains-tax-support
Mammonites Rule, Christian's Fooled.
National party oppose any tax which will hurt their greedy mates. This the core of the evil theological position our PM is a sucker to. As for the happy clappy fool of finance minister, needs lessons in Greek and Armamic that one – with a good dose of non-Euclidean geometry added.
Daddy Luxbucks knows …
“As an alpha male, I understand what she’s doing…”
Gideon Brown telling another lie.
He said the new Manawatu road is being tolled because of the addition of cycle lanes, which were not budgeted – trying to tell us that motorists will have to pay tolls all because of those commie greenie cyclists
He really has a pathological hatred of cycles, it seems. Perhaps he should see a professional about that. Scary that we should have such an unbalanced character as this with so much power.
What he didn't say was that the cost overruns were mostly because the new road was initially going to be a single lane each way, but later was changed to double lanes for a lot of the way, obviously will cost more. Double lanes for cars – that is.
Also didn't say anything about the fact that all the costings were done long before Covid was even a rumour. Anything being built at the time was subject to huge increases in costs that had not been anticipated.
Anything. Not just roads.
But no, its the cyclists fault.
Divide and rule, that is what National do, and have always done.
Perhaps he should install a donation box at each end of the new road so that cyclists can thoughtfully make a contribution and pay their fair share.
I hoped to provide a link to the article but can longer find it.
found the link:
http://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/528916/manawatu-highway-s-200m-cost-blow-out-shows-need-for-toll-minister