I do find it hilarious that a website publicising the prices of goods is somehow regarded by the regime as a weapon of economic sabotage. Leftist thinking is so totally screwed sometimes.
Gooseman the US prints money the EU is in the process of printing 1.4 trillion dollars.
Are they wrong.
Your a right wing fundamentalist who’s policies are being foisted on Greece their Economy has been in continual decline.
Argentina had the same policies foisted on them by the World Bank and IMF it caused a continual decline in their Economy.
So both left and right wing fundamentalist are bad for economies
Except right wing policies eventually lead to economic growth whereas left wing economic policies like that in Venezuela eventually lead to economic collapse. A simple question for you. How can you see Venezuela getting out if the mess they are in other than to ditch their leftist economic policies such as price controls and rationing and following more right wing ones?
You Are joking when do right wing policies work not ever show me an economy that hasn’t relied upon a mix of policy including printing money and stimulating their Economy.
Find an economy that relies purely on the free market.
Gooseman it doesn’t exist.
Greece is suffering as much as Venezuela, Venezuela’s command and control economy is as bad as Greece’s Right wing Austerity programming.
Trade embargoes CIA destablization the Drug lords control of 40% of Venezuela’s population fuelled by the failed war on drugs.
Greece fucked over by Goldman Sachs and their ratings agencies.
Now bailed out with printed Ponzi money at exorbitant rates.
Where is your free market Goose.
The UK printed £100s of billions .
All the big trading blocks have printed trillions to stimulate growth the minions (NZ govt borrowed $70 billion the NZ private Sector have borrowed at least $100billion on speculative investments)eventually this house of card will fall over so where eventually is your Free market economy.
Tell us all Guillible Gosman.
You can say that again. State dominated by a pack of right wing thugs aided and abetted by America. You still haven’t answered what I asked, I never asked you if the government was right wing
But I will ask again. How is the economy going in the Ukraine.
Really badly as a result of the State playing too big a role in the economy. It needs to reform the economy so that the private sector is able to operate without the corrupt and oppressive influence of government.
Venezuela is a basket case economy. With the collapse of the price of oil, Maduro’s government is desperate for cash. The country is in desperate needs of imported goods. The joys of socialism.
Under the previous right wing murderist facist dictators propped up the US before the 1950’s then by the CIA post 1950 Venezuela has been no different .
The Drug lords control large areas of Venezuela their profits help the CIA run covert operations .
Venezuela is a basket case full stop.
Because it was badly run before that excuses how badly run it is now in your mind does it?
Venezuela used to be regarded as one of the better performing nations in Latin America. No more though. Largely due to left wing policies and ideas that are very similar to those expressed by many here.
Lots of nations that rely on oil have not had their economies implode due to the fall in the price of oil. Venezuela seems to be rather unique in that regard. Might have something to do with the massive increases in government spending when the price of oil was higher. Still don’t you lefties think spending more on social services is always a good idea?
Except it is the left wing policies that are causing the economic hardship I Venezuela. What us happening there us entirely predictable. The government imposes price controls on goods. What do you think will happen? Of course there is shortages. The government subsidizes the price of oil so it us dirt cheap. What do you think will happen? Of course people smuggle it to neighbouring countries to me easy money. The government spends billions on social services when it has not money to pay for it. What do you think will happen? Of course inflation sky rockets.
Do you not see how one leads inevitably to the other?
What is your explanation for the super free market non socialist capitalist king country in the world, USA, to be in massive government debt exceeding 18 Trillion dollars ($18,000,000,000,000) with interest alone being over 3 Trillion dollars per year ($3,000,000,000,000) and its total national debt being at over $61 trillion dollars ($61,000,000,000,000,000) and growing like there is no tomorrow?
not really due to the drop in oil prices. I have a piece of research from April 2014 which showed Venezuela (at the time) needed an oil price of $121 per barrel just to break even…….
Okay, give me one nation that is a part of the global market economy where there are no levels of onerous poverty and no corresponding small ultra rich clique and where health and education and adequate shelter are equally available to all?
Venezuela is no different to any other potential examples for the question I asked above. Venezuela is a part of the global market economy, but Venezuela practices a fair amount of intervention. It isn’t a command economy though.
So, what have the interventions done? Decreased poverty and illiteracy? Increased access to health care, food, adequate shelter etc? Yes.
What has the market economy done? Gone into a recession/depression.
I was about to say there is a significant racial/class subtext in Venezuela. I ran into a bunch of all-white, well off (better off than me, anyway) Venezuelans who showed up on their own yacht in Ibiza a few years back. They were lovely, until you got to know them and then you heard a little of their views of things back home.
Based on that experience I agree with the comment in one of the articles posted above:
“…White supremacy endures in Venezuela often resembling the United States and other settler colonial countries founded on conquest and slavery…”
Those are the kinds of people who utterly despised Chavez educating ordinary people in poor towns on the importance of participating in the political process. (Which generally involved ensuring that people could read and write so that they could interpret the Venezuelan constitution and participate in elections.
Hey Gosman, You are always ranting on about Venezuela, how the socialist’s are running it in to the ground and how socialism doesn’t work, Well mate it works very well in this country for :-
Reo Tinto
Warners
Grants to private schools
and the latest bail out by Parata of a Charter School.
NZ is developing its own corrupt crony capitalist class that is enamoured with foreign corporations and foreign money, just like Venezuela, and I reckon you do support it.
A crisp millitary salute to that CV. It has sent Gosman to ground, he probably had to get into his cheerleading kit readying himself for slippery John’s interview on The Nation.
After watching Key’s half cut pitch I notice the narrative has moved strongly towards privatisation. Unfortunately for the Nats Serco has flattened the tire and the wheel has come off. Good interview with Kelvin Davis, right now I think Key would prefer that Hone had beat Kelvin in the TTT seat.
“This link highlights what the problem with Ukraine’s economy – The State.”
Yeah but they don’t say Socialist state.
Hey mate I am not going to debate with you further as you talk nothing but crap
You have a very simplistic point of view and that is right wing good left wing terrible. Anybody with an once of intelligence knows it is not as simple as that
Personally I am not a socialist though the way the world is going it is driving me more to the left, but I have a very strong social conscience, and as I have said before when I was a kid thank the fuck other right wingers thought the same. This is something this breed of greedy bastards don’t understand the word let alone practice.
http://www.putatara.net/2015/07/serco-debate/ one of the ‘Urewera 4’ writes a very thoughtful article on NZ prisons & that they are all badly run, & makes an interesting point that tax payers are funding gang training & recruitment, would now like to see the jamboree of right wing regulars here get their knickers in a twist about that!
Is it
a) the housing crisis in Auckland caused by a lack of rules to stop NZ and foreign speculators
b) the imminent collapse of our economy due to crashing dairy prices
c) prison crisis
d) the imminent signing of the TPPA
….”That’s roughly $32 billion,” says Tee. “The Canadian government said: ‘We don’t want your money anymore’ and that capital is now hitting the Sydney market.”
“There is a mountain of liquidity. China is bursting with flight capital. They can’t go to the US, they can’t get it into Singapore anymore, or Hong Kong.”
Tee’s comments come at a time of increasing concern that a generation of young Australians have been locked out of the property markets of Melbourne and Sydney due to spiralling house prices….
Tee says recent figures in the media which put Chinese investment in the Sydney property market at 25 per cent of total sales were too low. He says it might be twice this level but it is hard to tell because of the lack of transparency on ownership.
Most Chinese purchases hide behind trustees and proxies. Third parties such as friends and relatives were often used.
“Chinese students are being paid 2 per cent of the purchase price of the property to purchase property on behalf of relatives,” says Tee.
Another person au fait with Chinese property transactions in Australia told Fairfax Media it was simple for Chinese investors to get around the foreign capital restrictions.
“The money never really moves. In a simple example, Kunlun is a forex trading and money exchange company. It has bank accounts in many countries with significant cash balances. So if someone wants $40 million in Australia they put the money in a Kunlun China account and Kunlun transfers the money from their Australian accounts to the person’s friend’s Australian account.
“Kunlun is just one example – any large trading multinational will hold large reserves of cash in each country so they can effect a transfer with an internal paper transaction. No banks or government scrutiny involved. And given that they don’t do effective reporting in this country, who will ever trace it?…”Kunlun is just one example – any large trading multinational will hold large reserves of cash in each country so they can effect a transfer with an internal paper transaction. No banks or government scrutiny involved. And given that they don’t do effective reporting in this country, who will ever trace it?
“The current situation is that one of the best assets a local Chinese can have is a permanent Australian residence. They will have ‘friends’ lining up to ‘loan’ them money to buy properties in Australia.
All the government needs to do is follow the cash.”
Sadly, for a generation of young homebuyers it seems the government is not interested in following the cash. Otherwise our politicians, of both major parties, would have introduced the second tranche of AML legislation by now and real estate agents would have to prove that their clients’ funds were legitimate.
who says I am blaming the Chinese…that is your spin…I am citing facts given by Chinese
…..I am blaming this Nact Government for not getting statistics and not putting controls on overseas buy up of scarce New Zealand houses …which should be for New Zealanders
…jonkey Nact are betraying young New Zealanders and future generations of New Zealanders
…you think it is right that New Zealanders are priced out of their own country ?
….I thought you were supposed to be a Lefty!…and a supporter of the Labour Party?…seems that is all pretence
NZers were priced out of Auckland by 2005; your outrage is a decade too late. Ban foreign buyers, but houses in Auckland will stay over $500,000 and out of reach.
for your information many New Zealanders have been concerned about foreign ownership of New Zealand assets and property for a very long time…more than 35 years in the case of CAFCA ( but I guess before your time)
…I would add many Labour Party members and supporters are also concerned…especially recently when the scale of buy up has been massive and New Zealanders are being priced out of their own land
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Greek prime ministers bearing referendums as privatisation schemes move full steam ahead as billionaires and celebrities begin buying up Greek islands on the cheap.
In the second half, Max interviews Eddy Travia of Coinsilium.com about the company’s upcoming IPO on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London. Coinsilium Group facilitates the implementation of blockchain technology products and services alongside media and corporate advisory services.”
Some things are too important to sell….some things should not be sold!
I listened to this interesting TEDX talk this morning about how humans have taken over the world due to the ability to work collectively, flexibly with imagination. Everything from economic systems to money to corporations to religion are really only the result of a story which enough people believe. Perhaps we need to start imagining and telling some new stories about how the world could be.
Fairy Godmother
If you can find some new stories for us, I think we will listen and be heartened. Sp here’s hoping.
I like ones about people doing things that present problems and ask us to stir ourselves and direct our interests in the right way.
I have written about the man who comes all the way from Murchison to sell woollen socks at the local market.
There is the woman at the market whose husband died recently after being nursed through a long illness from a car crash, she is 64 and is being harried into getting a job so has some months of that before she is, thankfully, 65 and entitled to retirement. She was there on the Greens desk, because she is so solidly behind the precepts of humane and thoughtful living.
Forest and Bird have people going round trying to get funds for an onslaught on the uncaring barbarians that we have elected, to try and save the Maui dolphin off the west coast of North Island, off Taranaki. They and other sea creatures are badly affected by the nets that local and foreign fishers are using. The filaments are too fine and don’t deflect the sonar signal of the fish that swim right into them unaware.
I thought it was just the size of the mesh, but it is also the thinness of it causing the deaths. I am short of money but promised to talk about it to the young German lobbyist, who explained very well, probably gets a commission and was just a wee bit sorry that I couldn’t commit.
But perhaps we need more stories about things that are happening and changing things for the better, with humans at the forefront, and technology as an aid, not a substitute.
Oh dear – to say Mischele Boag was not pleased to see me this morning outside Sky City, where I was standing, quietly and peacefully as delegates entered the Casino for their 79th Conference, would have to be a bit of an understatement?
“Good morning Mischele!” I called, in a friendly way.
“Pay your rates Penny! Pay your rates!” was Mischele’s angry response.
“I will once the Council tells us where the money is being spent,” I replied.
“Don’t you support transparency Mischele?” I asked as she flounced off, in an obviously poisonous mood.
Maybe she didn’t like the wording on my placards?
Most National delegates were friendly, including Nick Smith, who didn’t reply to my question,
“What’s in the TPPA for dairy Nick?”
Maybe he didn’t hear the question – to be fair.
In fact – it was such fun – I think I’ll go back for the lunch break, and let my placards do the talking …..
You’re worth more than a penny, Penny. Wearing down stone is slow, but you keep persisting. Apparently a primitive method of splitting stone is to pour water and salt into a crack when the weather is freezing. So unexpected results may occur with your simple methods of fronting-up used frequently.
Good on you Penny. I admire your dedication and hard work for great causes you fight for. Wish all voters in a democracy were as clued on as you. It is people like you that really deserve national awards of honour.
I’ve been watching the newspapers for reports on the court ruling on the Problem Gambling Foundation case. I haven’t seen any news at all, has anyone else seen anything?
The absence of media coverage is mystifying because it’s big news and very much in the public interest. The judge found countless breaches of the Mandatory Rules for Procurement by Departments with the extent being so great there were strong grounds for concluding bias and conflicts of interest.
People might recall the Problem Gambling Foundation were the harshest critics of SkyCity and it was alluded at the time they were refused the new contract because of their objections against SkyCity.
Yet more fuel to the fire of the SkyCity deal so why aren’t the media reporting on it….. or has that question just answered itself?
Thanks Ergo Robertina. Either I’ve been missing what was in front of me or they were well buried, I’ve been watching both Stuff and the Herald for reports since Thursday and saw neither of those.
I’m afraid I can’t agree with the comments about prisoners being given the right to votes. As I see it, being sent to prison means being denied rights and privileges and one of the basic privileges is the right to vote. While someone is incarcerated they should not be given the right to vote, apart from anything else can you imagine the distortion that would be caused as prisoners would likely vote against the current government because it was under the current government that they were lock up! I don’t see any problems with them resuming the right to vote once released from prison though as they have returned to society with all its rights and privileges associated with that freedom.
When a person can cast a vote this can lead to better circumstances. I do not know if inmates are ever polled. It appears that some surveys are required in NZ prisons and/or some research. I do not think that Serco would be in favour of a survey or a research project.
Denise, people are sent to prison AS punishment not FOR punishment. Being locked up is punishment enough. They are still humans with human rights, including access to voting.
Although under this government people are being sent to prison for more and more punishment regardless of the severity of their original crime.
Thank-you Sirenia for saying what needs to be said.
Every person – I repeat EVERY PERSON- has the right to vote. To disenfranchise anyone is an act of treachery. There are many criminals who don’t go to prison and the majority of them are wealthy and/or powerful so can buy/blackmail their way out of punishment.
To blithely say as you have said Denise Frost that prisoners be denied their sovereign rights shows a level of ignorance which is sadly all too common among right-wing NZers.
Denise Frost. Do you mean that prisoners (who are the people in society most affected by the strong coercive powers of the state – and often the same, people most let down by the state) should also then have no say in the running of that state?
In contrast to you, I believe that a NZ prisoner remains a citizen of NZ, and there are rights which are inalienable to such a status: such as voting and as access to their local MP.
@Denise
That’s a bit simple. You stop being a citizen when you go to prison? And the simple and censorious want to stop them ever having a vote.even when they come out.
Yet how many people are out there commiting offences who aren’t yet in prison. And those who have stolen millions and been able to avoid prison, unlike someone who has done something annoying or stolen something replaceable.
We would like those in prison to come out better, not try to erase them for ever from being citizens. There is a case for withholding voting for a very few who are more bad than mad, but the rest should be encouraged to use the time to work out a new plan, get new skills, and go forth and act rightly.
Professor James Hansen, formerly of NASA and now of Columbia University, and 16 other climate scientists argue in the study that a safe limit to global warming decided by politicians in 2009 may actually lead to disastrous ice melt.
Well, I suppose those extended wharves that Auckland Ports want won’t be worth it after all.
I’ve been consulting Homer Simpson on matters of State.
Asked what I should say to Labour as to why they weren’t successful in winning the last election he suggested an oblique approach. Ooh, a graduate student huh? How come you guys can go to the moon but can’t make my shoes smell good?
He said the reply might be tedious and result in me exclaiming – Sweet Merciful Crap!
But then I became unsure of the value of his clear-sighted consideration of my problem when he asked – Hey, can you take the wheel for a second, I have to scratch my self in two places at once.
And I thought that was too similar (but more vulgar) to USA politician President Lyndon Johnson’s put-down of an opponent who, he said in a sanitised version, couldn’t do two things at once, walk and chew gum for instance.
Just back from the Book Writers Festival with Nicky Hager. When asked if he had thought about what chance National had of winning or not at the last election he said that he believed that National were having their doubts.
“So to lift their chances they tossed Judith Collins out of their hot air balloon to make it rise higher.”
So apt!
A wealthy couple who have donated generously to the National Party are cashing up more than $26 million of property in Auckland.
Zhao Wu Shen and Susan Chou have given more than $370,000 to National through their company Contue Jinwan Enterprise Group, or in the name of Ms Chou, since 2010.
Mr Shen was also the biggest shareholder in Mega until selling his 25.9 per cent stake this month and resigning from the board of the online encryption service founded by Kim Dotcom.
The sale of the Mega shares comes as the Hong Kong-based couple try sell more than $26 million of property in Auckland, including a luxury home on a cliff top in Herne Bay with a council valuation of $11.5 million, which sold last month.
Once owned by Rich Listers Colin and Jennifer Giltrap, the 2049sq m site was bought by Mr Shen and Ms Chou for $10.75 million in late 2013 – one of the most expensive homes sold in Auckland that year.
But the 695sqm mansion is just one of a number of properties Mr Shen and Ms Chou are cashing up.
Listed as students on the electoral roll, the couple also sold a clifftop mansion in Howick for $7.5 million in May and another Auckland home for $1.6 million last year.
———————————————————————————————————————
lets leave the reflexive screams of racism aside for a moment please.
SO they are listed as studends on the elctoral role, they are multimillionaire students that were Main Share holders of Mega and donors to National.
does this read like a bond novel, or is it just me?
no the thing gets me they a held the main shares of Mega aka Dotcom and own multiple million dollar properties and are students who gave 370.000 to National.
SO they are listed as students on the electoral role,… (typos fixed).
That’s enough to tell anyone that… all is NOT what it seems in certain property investment portfolios.
But even more telling… they have given more than $370,000 to the National Party. And there’s your reason why this govt. is refusing to release information that could confirm or otherwise whether Chinese foreign investors are distorting the Auckland market. I would take a guess the Nats are richer to the tune of several million dollars courtesy of foreign property speculators. You scratch our back and we’ll scratch yours. Bloody disgusting!
typos, i am so good at them. really i am bad at writing, typing is easier then hand writing tho,. thanks for fixing my butchering of ze english language 🙂
I think they need to cut their fingernails and keep their hands to themselves before the gouging and troughing spreads any more bloody disgusting stats around.
The state houses in the photo look like they’re in good condition and well looked after. What’s the bet they’re privately owned and are no longer state houses.
Yes who knows about those houses, but in that photo the third house from the left is covered in dirt or mold or both.
Drive around Glenn Innes aggressive pit bulls are it seems everywhere.
GI has so many problems that a family with kids may turn down a state house in that area for safety reasons.
Have you got a journalistic project that you want to complete, but can’t get enough money or time to do it?
If so, a Bruce Jesson journalism award may be able to help. Applications for the 2015 awards are now open, and close on Friday 18 September.
There are two awards, a senior one to fund a planned journalistic project and a journalism student award for work that has already been published.
The senior award is unique in New Zealand because it funds time and research costs of up to $4000 in advance for projects that could be newspaper or magazine articles, reports on the internet, books, films, radio or TV documentaries or “any other publication which is aimed at, and accessible by, the general public of New Zealand or any part of New Zealand”. http://www.brucejesson.com/?page_id=14
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I arrived home with a head full of fresh ideas about mindfulness and curbing impulsive aspects in my character.On the second night home I grabbed a piece of ginger and began swiftly slicing it on our industrial strength mandolin, the one I have learned through painful experience to treat with ...
Good morning, folks. Another wee note from a chilly Rotorua morning that looks much clearer than yesterday. As I write, the pink glow in the east is slowly growing, and soon, the palest of blue skies should become a bit more royal.A couple of people mentioned yesterday that I should ...
Last week, Matt looked at how the government wants to pour a huge chunk of civic infrastructure funding for a generation into one mega-road up North, at huge cost and huge opportunity cost. A smaller but no less important feature of the National Land Transport Plan devised by Minister of Transport ...
An open letter by experts about plans to raise speed limits warns the “tragic consequence will be more New Zealanders losing their lives or suffering severe injury, along with a substantial burden on the nation's healthcare and rehabilitation services”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkMy inaugural post on The Climate Brink 18 months ago looked at the year 2024, and found that it was likely to be the warmest year on record on the back of a (than forecast) El Nino event. I suggested “there is a real chance ...
Open for allYesterday, Luxon congratulated his government on a job well done with emergency housing numbers, but advocates have been saying it‘s likely many are on the streets and sleeping in cars.Q&A featured some of the folks this weekend - homeless and in cars. Yes.The government’s also confirmed they stopped ...
Hi,On most days I try to go on a walk through nature to clear my head from the horrors of life. Because as much as I like people, I also think it’s incredibly important to get very far away from them. To be reminded that there are also birds, lizards, ...
Declining trust in New Zealand politicians should be a warning to them to lift their game. Results from the New Zealand Election Study for the 2023 election show that the level of trust in politicians has once again declined. Perhaps it is not surprising that the results, shared as part ...
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster says that New Zealand’s police force will no longer respond to bomb threats, in an attempt to cut costs and redirect police resources to less boring activities. Coster said that threat response and bomb disposal was a “fairly obvious” area for downsizing, as bomb threats are ...
Since taking office, the climate-denier National government has gutted agricultural emissions pricing, ended the clean car discount, repealed water quality standards which would have reduced agricultural emissions, gutted the clean car standard, killed the GIDI scheme, and reversed efforts to reduce pollution subsidies in the ETS - basically every significant ...
Good morning, lovely people. Don’t worry. This isn’t really a newsletter, just a quick note. I’m sitting in our lounge, looking out over a gloomy sky. Although being Rotorua, the view is periodically interrupted by steam bursting from pipes and dispersing—like an Eastern European industrial hellscape during the Cold War.Drinking ...
I am part of a new team running in the Entrust election in October. Entrust is a community electricity trust representing a significant part of Auckland, set up to serve the community. It is governed by five trustees are elected every three years in an election the trust itself oversees. ...
In the UK, London is the latest of council groups to signal potential bankruptcy.That’s after Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, went bankrupt in June, resulting in reduced sanitation services, libraries cut, and dimmed streetlights.Some in the city described things as “Dickens” like.Please, Sir, Can I have some more?For families with ...
The Government is considering how to shunt elderly people out of hospitals, and also how to cut their access to other support. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāKia ora. Long stories short, here’s my top six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, ...
The so-called “Prince of the Provinces”, Shane Jones, went home last Friday. Perhaps not quite literally home, more like 20 kilometres down the road from his house on the outskirts of Kerikeri. With its airport, its rapidly growing (mostly retired) population, and a commercial centre with all the big retail ...
I have noted before that The Rings of Power has attracted its unfortunate share of culture war obsessives. Essentially, for a certain type of individual, railing on about the Wokery of Modern Media is a means of making themselves a online livelihood. Clicks and views and advertising revenue, and all ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, September 8, 2024 thru Sat, September 14, 2024. Story of the week From time to time we like to make our Story of the Week all about us— and ...
Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation.And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens!The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
The Beginning of the End:Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. ButLuxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
National continues to dismantle environmental protections in the interests of rushing through unsustainable development that will ultimately cost communities. ...
The economy has stagnated and the National Government is having to face the consequences of its atrocious lawmaking, as beneficiary numbers skyrocket past even Treasury’s predictions. ...
Today’s GDP figures combined with the injustice of our tax system will mean more pain for our lowest-income households while those at the top remain relatively unscathed. ...
Te Pāti Māori Member of Parliament for Tāmaki Makaurau is urging a full wraparound of services to intervene quickly with families affected by today's announced closure of the Penrose Mill. Seventy-five people are set to lose their jobs right on the eve of Christmas. "I want to extend my thoughts ...
Sentencing policy announced by Minister Paul Goldsmith today is anything but new, merely window dressing to make up for backwards violent crime statistics under the National Government. ...
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins will travel to the United Kingdom this week to attend the annual UK Labour Party conference in Liverpool and meet with members of the new Labour Government. ...
An imminent decision to increase the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) for snapper would be a direct violation of the first-ever Treaty Settlement and inevitably breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi, says Te Pāti Māori. Te Ohu Kaimoana has sought a High Court declaration to prevent the Minister of Oceans and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has cut grants helping overseas family of victims to attend the next phase of the Coronial Inquiry into the 15 March 2019 Christchurch Masjidain Attack. ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has released an Urgent Report on the Government’s proposed amendments to the Takutai Moana Act 2011. The report calls out Paul Goldsmith’s proposal for what it is: a “gross breach of the Treaty” and an “illegitimate exercise of kāwanatanga”. The Tribunal is recommending the Crown step down ...
The Government must abandon its Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act interventions after the Waitangi Tribunal found it was committing gross breaches of the Treaty. ...
The Government’s directive to the public service to ignore race is nothing more than a dog whistle and distraction from the structural racism we need to address. ...
Concerns have been raised that our spy arrangements may mean that intelligence is being shared between Aotearoa and Israel. An urgent inquiry must be launched in response to this. ...
Aotearoa’s Youngest Member of Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, will travel to Montreal to accept the One Young World Politician of the Year Award next week. The One Young World Politician of the Year Award was created in 2018 to recognise the most promising young politicians between ...
The Greens welcome today’s long-coming announcement by Pharmac of consultation to remove the special authority renewal criteria for methylphenidate, dexamfetamine and modafinil and to fund lisdexamfetamine. ...
Mema Paremata for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, has reflected on the decisions made by the councils of the North amidst the government’s push to remove Māori Wards and weaken mana whenua representation. “Actions taken by the Kaipara District Council to remove Māori Wards are the embodiment of the eradication ...
On one hand, the Prime Minister has assured Aotearoa that his party will not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading, but on the other, his Government has already sought advice on holding a referendum on our founding document. ...
New Zealanders needing aged care support and the people who care for them will be worse off if the Government pushes through a flawed and rushed redesign of dementia and aged care. ...
Hundreds of jobs lost as a result of pulp mill closures in the Ruapehu District are a consequence of government inaction in addressing the shortfalls of our electricity network. ...
Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru is devastated for the Ruapehu community following today’s decision to close two Winstone Pulp mills. “My heart goes out to all the workers, their whānau, and the wider Ruapehu community affected by the closure of Winstone Pulp International,” said Ngarewa-Packer. ...
National Party Ministers have a majority in Cabinet and can stop David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, which even the Prime Minister has described as “divisive and unhelpful.” ...
The National Government is so determined to hide the list of potential projects that will avoid environmental scrutiny it has gagged Ministry for the Environment staff from talking about it. ...
Labour has complained to the Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission about the high number of non-disclosure agreements that have effectively gagged staff at Te Whatu Ora Health NZ from talking about anything relating to their work. ...
The Green Party is once again urging the Prime Minister to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill as a letter from more than 400 Christian leaders calls for the proposed legislation to be dropped. ...
Councils across the country have now decided where they stand regarding Māori wards, with a resounding majority in favour of keeping them in what is a significant setback for the Government. ...
The National-led government has been given a clear message from the local government sector, as almost all councils reject the Government’s bid to treat Māori wards different to other wards. ...
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey will meet with Trade and Tourism Minister of Australia Don Farrell and Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica in Rotorua this weekend for a trilateral tourism discussion. “Like in New Zealand, tourism plays a significant role in Australia and Fiji’s economy, contributing massively to ...
The Te Puna Aonui Expert Advisory Group for Children and Young People has presented its report today on improving family and sexual violence outcomes for young people, to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour. The presentation at the Auckland event was an opportunity for ...
The Government is putting more than $18 million towards improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Minister for Children Karen Chhour say. “No one should experience crime, but for those who through no fault of their own become victims, they need to ...
For the first time, schools can use a purpose-built tool to check how a child is progressing in reading through te reo Māori. “Around 45 schools are trialling a New Zealand first te reo Māori phonics check, known as Hihira Weteoro. It will help kaiako (teachers) focus on what ākonga ...
Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say. The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced an online platform to optimise the use of New Zealand’s science and technology research infrastructure and to link the public and private sector. “This country is home to world-class science, technology, and engineering expertise. Kitmap is set to empower Kiwi innovators, ...
The Government has launched the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund (LEHVF) to promote innovation and offset the cost of hundreds of heavy vehicles powered by clean technologies, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan ...
Replacing the RMA Hon Chris Bishop: Good morning, it is great to be with you. Can I first acknowledge the Resource Management Law Association for hosting us here today. Can I also acknowledge my Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Simon Court, who is on stage with me. He has assisted me in establishing the ...
Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. ...
Legislation passed through Parliament today will provide police and the courts with additional tools to crack down on gangs that peddle misery and intimidation throughout New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “From November 21, gang insignia will be banned in all public places, courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, and ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the rates for the redesigned levy that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from July 2026. “Earlier this year FENZ consulted publicly on a 5.2 percent increase to the levy. I was not convinced that ...
The Coalition Government welcomes Police’s announcement today to deploy more police on the beat and staff to Gang Disruption Units. An additional 70 officers will be allocated to Community Beat Teams across towns and regional centres. This builds on the deployment of beat officers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CBDs ...
Proposals to strengthen the country’s vital biosecurity system, including higher fines for passengers bringing in undeclared high-risk goods, greater flexibility around importing requirements, and fairer cost sharing for biosecurity responses have been released today for public consultation. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says “The future is about resilience and the 30-year-old ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home. “When I was in Wānaka earlier this year, I announced funding for an overnight health service – ...
The Government is rolling out data collection vans across the country to better understand the condition of our road network to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is a key priority for the Government and increasing ...
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the quarter to June 2024 reinforces how an extended period of high interest rates has meant tough times for families, businesses, and communities, but recent indications show the economy is starting to bounce back, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ data released today ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay will host Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica and Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for trilateral trade talks in Rotorua this weekend. “Fiji is one of the largest economies in the Pacific and is a respected partner for Australia and New Zealand,” Mr McClay says. Australia and New Zealand ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay will meet with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua this weekend. “CER is our most comprehensive agreement covering trade, labour mobility, harmonisation of standards and political cooperation. It underpins an important trading relationship worth $32 ...
The Government is seeking the public’s feedback on two major changes to jury trials in order to improve court timeliness, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The first proposal would increase the offence threshold at which a defendant can decide to have their case heard by a jury. “The second is ...
Local businesses and industries need to be front and centre in conversations about how regions plan to grow their economies, Regional Development Shane Jones says. The nationwide series of summits aims to facilitate conversations about regional economic growth and opportunities to drive productivity, prosperity and resilience through the Coalition Government’s Regional ...
The Government is investing $16.8 million over the next four years to extend the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) Longitudinal Study. GUiNZ is New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing and has followed the lives of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010, and ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that Charter Schools will face a combination of minimum performance thresholds and stretch targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability. “Charter schools will be given greater freedom to respond to diverse student needs in innovative ways, but they will be held to a much ...
New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says. “The Israel-Palestine ...
Suffrage Day is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to ensuring we continue to be a world leader in gender equality, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “On 19 September, 131 years ago, New Zealand became the first nation in the world where women gained the right to vote. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
“Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane. “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024. First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today. Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment. The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027. “I would ...
Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation. Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak to you here today. I am honoured to be here in my capacity as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, and Minister for Children. Thank you for creating a space where we can all listen and learn, ...
The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
When Brian alerted Andy that an owl was caught in the netting, he had been puzzled, wondering how such a large bird could have got inside. Its talons had got caught on the outside. Andy guessed it was the morepork which he had heard most nights over the past year – ...
MONDAYMemo to all staff: Hope you all had wonderful weekends! Please send your encrypted messages with a detailed list of what you’re working on today and I’ll see you on an all-hands Zoom call at 0930.And just a reminder to please file your cash earnings in microwave ovens. There are ...
The first official copy books in te reo Māori; a map of Aotearoa labelled ‘New Munster’ and ‘New Ulster’; the original manuscripts capturing karakia and waiata for the first time; and a copy of The Cat in the Hat in te reo.All taonga that are part of a new exhibition, ...
Alex Casey visits the largest gemstone collection in the country, and meets the 85-year-old owner trying to Marie Kondo the lot. Despite its charming name, someone once warned me that Birdlings Flat was like a place from the Twilight Zone. Hang a right off the winding roads to Akaroa and ...
Local eateries using AI images may be at risk of duping their customers, but a lack of legislation means they’re not breaking the law. You notice something’s a bit off straight away. The macaroni looks too smooth, the miscellaneous herb is too miscellaneous and the sauce kinda looks like it’s ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. There’s something very funny about the word frick. Perhaps it’s the Christian undertones, popularised by kids who were too god-fearing to say the bad f-word (but probably just god-fearing enough to say the other bad f-word). It might sound like a milder version ...
Comedian Guy Montgomery takes us through his life in television, including a What Now nightmare and the comedic genius of Goldstein from the ASB ads. To the untrained eye, Guy Montgomery appears to be one of the busiest people in comedy right now. With both the local and Australian versions ...
Waiata Anthems singers Mohi and Chase Woods share their perfect weekend playlist. Mohi (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa) and Chase Woods (Waikato) are both friends and collaborators. Having previously teamed up on Mohi’s single ‘Hoki Mai Rā’ in July, the two will now ...
In a candid chat on When the Facts Change, Kiwibank chief executive Steve Jurkovich lays out his vision for the bank’s future – one where it can step up and truly challenge the big four Aussie-owned banks. But while he has high hopes, Jurkovich is quick to warn it won’t ...
To celebrate International Hobbit Day on September 22 (Bilbo and Frodo Baggins’ birthdays), we’ve decided who of all the furry-footed creatures is best.Concerning Hobbits and Spinoff rankings, it really feels like there is not a lot left to be said or ranked. Well, on International Hobbit Day, boy do ...
Hundreds of years ago, a man named Tara founded the first permanent human settlement in Wellington. The city still bears his name: Te Whanganui a Tara. But what do we actually know about him?If you look out at the right angle from Ray Ahipene-Mercer’s house in Breaker Bay, you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Families on bikes at a July Fourth parade in Houston’s Northside neighborhood.Jimmy Castillo, CC BY-ND Gentrification has become a familiar story in cities across the United States. The ...
Regional councillors have voted to continue work on the plan, despite ministers suggesting they hold off until the government confirms its policy direction. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benny Zuse Rousso, Research Fellow, International Water Centre, Griffith University Pvince73/Shutterstock The Pacific Islands may evoke images of sprawling coastlines and picturesque scenery. But while this part of the world might look like paradise, many local residents are grappling with a ...
Censorship can be a natural impulse to things we don’t like, but it’s better to know when hateful or offensive ideas exist. Otherwise, they’re buried underground to fester and can crop up unexpectedly. We see this legislation no differently. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wenting He, PhD candidate of International Relations, Australian National University The skyline in Shenzhen, the city that is home to many of China’s largest tech companies.asharkyu/Shutterstock According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Pony Ma, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, is once ...
RNZ Pacific The man behind the 2000 coup in Fiji, George Speight, and the head of the mutineers, former soldier Shane Stevens, have been granted presidential pardons. In a statement yesterday, the Fiji Correction Service said the pair were among seven prisoners who has been granted pardons by the President, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Wilson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney JFontan/Shutterstock With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics wrapped up, and leading Australian sports codes coming to an end of their 2024 ...
The Courts have ruled the Crown must cover the costs of customary marine title claims, but where will the money come from? A landmark Supreme Court ruling could once again ensure Māori have adequate resourcing to pursue customary marine title claims, despite the government’s recent drastic raising of the threshold ...
Public broadcaster RNZ might be struggling to stem its falls in radio listenership, but the audience for its website rnz.co.nz is soaring.In the latest Nielsen online audience figures for August, RNZ hit 1.56 million unique readers for the month, up from under a million a year ago and less than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hutchinson, PhD Candidate, International Relations, Australian National University Last month, the Taliban passed a new “vice and virtue” law, making it illegal for women to speak in public. Under the law, women can also be punished if they are heard singing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Green, Research Fellow, Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University When tickets for Green Day’s 2025 Australian tour went on sale, fans joined a queue – a ritual that has been practised for decades on footpaths, on phones, and now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David T. Hill, Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University David T. Hill You don’t have to be in India long to appreciate just how dramatic its electric vehicle revolution is. Whether it’s electric two-wheelers or trucks, ...
In a rare decision, heavy with judicial and political implications, the country’s top court has told the Crown it must give advance financial support to a group of hapū challenging it over the Marine and Coastal Areas Act.The Supreme Court’s intervention, ahead of seven appeals scheduled before it in November ...
A new poem by Freya Daly Sadgrove. ???where you wake is black and very far back behind your eyesback past your whipping branches and backerfar backer than bone and blood ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Greene Lyon by Alan Goodwin (Quentin Wilson Publishing, $38) An intriguing new local release. Here’s ...
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Venezuela’s steady economic decline is accelerating as expected due to the leftist policies of the current regime.
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21659764-government-prints-money-hyperinflation-looms-crackers-caracas
I do find it hilarious that a website publicising the prices of goods is somehow regarded by the regime as a weapon of economic sabotage. Leftist thinking is so totally screwed sometimes.
Gooseman the US prints money the EU is in the process of printing 1.4 trillion dollars.
Are they wrong.
Your a right wing fundamentalist who’s policies are being foisted on Greece their Economy has been in continual decline.
Argentina had the same policies foisted on them by the World Bank and IMF it caused a continual decline in their Economy.
So both left and right wing fundamentalist are bad for economies
Except right wing policies eventually lead to economic growth whereas left wing economic policies like that in Venezuela eventually lead to economic collapse. A simple question for you. How can you see Venezuela getting out if the mess they are in other than to ditch their leftist economic policies such as price controls and rationing and following more right wing ones?
That’s a bullshit article of a bullshit faith
Economic growth for the top 1% or top 5% maybe
+1
Right-wing policies always lead to collapse as The Great Depression and the GFC proved.
and the Asian melt down in 1999?
And not to forget 1987
You Are joking when do right wing policies work not ever show me an economy that hasn’t relied upon a mix of policy including printing money and stimulating their Economy.
Find an economy that relies purely on the free market.
Gooseman it doesn’t exist.
Greece is suffering as much as Venezuela, Venezuela’s command and control economy is as bad as Greece’s Right wing Austerity programming.
Trade embargoes CIA destablization the Drug lords control of 40% of Venezuela’s population fuelled by the failed war on drugs.
Greece fucked over by Goldman Sachs and their ratings agencies.
Now bailed out with printed Ponzi money at exorbitant rates.
Where is your free market Goose.
The UK printed £100s of billions .
All the big trading blocks have printed trillions to stimulate growth the minions (NZ govt borrowed $70 billion the NZ private Sector have borrowed at least $100billion on speculative investments)eventually this house of card will fall over so where eventually is your Free market economy.
Tell us all Guillible Gosman.
Libya?
Iraq
And other countries where your friends applied their Shock Doctrine?
Ummm…. what right wing economic policies are being followed in those places?
No silly, those are applications of the USA’s right wing policies.
How’s the economy going in the Ukraine Gosman?
Why do you think the Ukrainian government is right wing when it is in fact still very State dominated.
This link highlights what the problem with Ukraine’s economy – The State.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26767864
You can say that again. State dominated by a pack of right wing thugs aided and abetted by America. You still haven’t answered what I asked, I never asked you if the government was right wing
But I will ask again. How is the economy going in the Ukraine.
Really badly as a result of the State playing too big a role in the economy. It needs to reform the economy so that the private sector is able to operate without the corrupt and oppressive influence of government.
Still loitering like a wet fart, are you Gossip
Flaunting your Venezuelan fetish again like a pre-programmed idiot
Gossip must play the banjo
Venezuela is a basket case economy. With the collapse of the price of oil, Maduro’s government is desperate for cash. The country is in desperate needs of imported goods. The joys of socialism.
Under the previous right wing murderist facist dictators propped up the US before the 1950’s then by the CIA post 1950 Venezuela has been no different .
The Drug lords control large areas of Venezuela their profits help the CIA run covert operations .
Venezuela is a basket case full stop.
Because it was badly run before that excuses how badly run it is now in your mind does it?
Venezuela used to be regarded as one of the better performing nations in Latin America. No more though. Largely due to left wing policies and ideas that are very similar to those expressed by many here.
No solely due to the collapse in the price of oil.
Lots of nations that rely on oil have not had their economies implode due to the fall in the price of oil. Venezuela seems to be rather unique in that regard. Might have something to do with the massive increases in government spending when the price of oil was higher. Still don’t you lefties think spending more on social services is always a good idea?
But it is such a silly argument.
Country A has a socialist government.
Country A’s economy is failing.
Socialism is therefore bad.
Facetious’s argument is the same although he does admit the collapse of the oil price is part of the problem.
Although I do agree that relying on one export, be it oil or milk, is a very unsafe thing to do.
Except it is the left wing policies that are causing the economic hardship I Venezuela. What us happening there us entirely predictable. The government imposes price controls on goods. What do you think will happen? Of course there is shortages. The government subsidizes the price of oil so it us dirt cheap. What do you think will happen? Of course people smuggle it to neighbouring countries to me easy money. The government spends billions on social services when it has not money to pay for it. What do you think will happen? Of course inflation sky rockets.
Do you not see how one leads inevitably to the other?
I can certainly see how allowing greedy, sociopathic people control over the economy would result in that which is what RWNJ policies do.
What is your explanation for the super free market non socialist capitalist king country in the world, USA, to be in massive government debt exceeding 18 Trillion dollars ($18,000,000,000,000) with interest alone being over 3 Trillion dollars per year ($3,000,000,000,000) and its total national debt being at over $61 trillion dollars ($61,000,000,000,000,000) and growing like there is no tomorrow?
not really due to the drop in oil prices. I have a piece of research from April 2014 which showed Venezuela (at the time) needed an oil price of $121 per barrel just to break even…….
http://i.imgur.com/CjNUUHh.png
a little something for the mantelpiece Gosman 🙂
There’s a rather large elephant in the room too.
http://www.voanews.com/content/are-race-and-class-at-the-root-of-venezuelas-political-crisis/1886458.html
http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/10547
The elephant in the room is the elephant that is not in the room.
Where are all the successful socialist economies that prove that socialist economics work, and Venezuela’s failure is an aberration?
Where are all the market economies that work?
Okay, give me one nation that is a part of the global market economy where there are no levels of onerous poverty and no corresponding small ultra rich clique and where health and education and adequate shelter are equally available to all?
Venezuela is no different to any other potential examples for the question I asked above. Venezuela is a part of the global market economy, but Venezuela practices a fair amount of intervention. It isn’t a command economy though.
So, what have the interventions done? Decreased poverty and illiteracy? Increased access to health care, food, adequate shelter etc? Yes.
What has the market economy done? Gone into a recession/depression.
A renewed and fierce global downturn is already underway…
+1
Well said Bill.
I was about to say there is a significant racial/class subtext in Venezuela. I ran into a bunch of all-white, well off (better off than me, anyway) Venezuelans who showed up on their own yacht in Ibiza a few years back. They were lovely, until you got to know them and then you heard a little of their views of things back home.
Based on that experience I agree with the comment in one of the articles posted above:
“…White supremacy endures in Venezuela often resembling the United States and other settler colonial countries founded on conquest and slavery…”
Those are the kinds of people who utterly despised Chavez educating ordinary people in poor towns on the importance of participating in the political process. (Which generally involved ensuring that people could read and write so that they could interpret the Venezuelan constitution and participate in elections.
How’s the economy going in the Ukraine?
Hey Gosman, You are always ranting on about Venezuela, how the socialist’s are running it in to the ground and how socialism doesn’t work, Well mate it works very well in this country for :-
Reo Tinto
Warners
Grants to private schools
and the latest bail out by Parata of a Charter School.
Just to name a few.
Do you support those policies in NZ then? I know I certainly don’t.
NZ is developing its own corrupt crony capitalist class that is enamoured with foreign corporations and foreign money, just like Venezuela, and I reckon you do support it.
A crisp millitary salute to that CV. It has sent Gosman to ground, he probably had to get into his cheerleading kit readying himself for slippery John’s interview on The Nation.
After watching Key’s half cut pitch I notice the narrative has moved strongly towards privatisation. Unfortunately for the Nats Serco has flattened the tire and the wheel has come off. Good interview with Kelvin Davis, right now I think Key would prefer that Hone had beat Kelvin in the TTT seat.
“This link highlights what the problem with Ukraine’s economy – The State.”
Yeah but they don’t say Socialist state.
Hey mate I am not going to debate with you further as you talk nothing but crap
You have a very simplistic point of view and that is right wing good left wing terrible. Anybody with an once of intelligence knows it is not as simple as that
Personally I am not a socialist though the way the world is going it is driving me more to the left, but I have a very strong social conscience, and as I have said before when I was a kid thank the fuck other right wingers thought the same. This is something this breed of greedy bastards don’t understand the word let alone practice.
Do you support those policies in NZ then? I know I certainly don’t.
Are you another non society Randian fuckwit who follow the likes of Rimmer Got your Hologram sign yet?
Who gives a shit who and what I support
Very thoughtful article on what it is like in NZ prisons by one of the ‘Urewera 4’ Te Rangikaiwhiria Kemara http://www.putatara.net/2015/07/serco-debate/
http://www.putatara.net/2015/07/serco-debate/ one of the ‘Urewera 4’ writes a very thoughtful article on NZ prisons & that they are all badly run, & makes an interesting point that tax payers are funding gang training & recruitment, would now like to see the jamboree of right wing regulars here get their knickers in a twist about that!
Is there something going on in NZ that Gosman etal don’t want discussed?
This feels like desperate distraction by Gosman.
Privatisation is failing across the board just as the Left, back in the 1980s, predicted it would. Just as it did back in feudal times.
In fact, the one lesson we should draw from the last 5000 years of recorded history is that privatisation and wealth owned by the few always fails.
Is it
a) the housing crisis in Auckland caused by a lack of rules to stop NZ and foreign speculators
b) the imminent collapse of our economy due to crashing dairy prices
c) prison crisis
d) the imminent signing of the TPPA
e) The Saudi sheep gate and the coming resurrection of J. Collins.
Here is the scale of the housing problem…anyone who denies this is ignorant or disingenuous…this applies to Australia …..and New Zealand
http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/wall-of-chinese-capital-buying-up-australian-properties-20150628-ghztdf.html#ixzz3gVPV2Oew
….”That’s roughly $32 billion,” says Tee. “The Canadian government said: ‘We don’t want your money anymore’ and that capital is now hitting the Sydney market.”
“There is a mountain of liquidity. China is bursting with flight capital. They can’t go to the US, they can’t get it into Singapore anymore, or Hong Kong.”
Tee’s comments come at a time of increasing concern that a generation of young Australians have been locked out of the property markets of Melbourne and Sydney due to spiralling house prices….
Tee says recent figures in the media which put Chinese investment in the Sydney property market at 25 per cent of total sales were too low. He says it might be twice this level but it is hard to tell because of the lack of transparency on ownership.
Most Chinese purchases hide behind trustees and proxies. Third parties such as friends and relatives were often used.
“Chinese students are being paid 2 per cent of the purchase price of the property to purchase property on behalf of relatives,” says Tee.
Another person au fait with Chinese property transactions in Australia told Fairfax Media it was simple for Chinese investors to get around the foreign capital restrictions.
“The money never really moves. In a simple example, Kunlun is a forex trading and money exchange company. It has bank accounts in many countries with significant cash balances. So if someone wants $40 million in Australia they put the money in a Kunlun China account and Kunlun transfers the money from their Australian accounts to the person’s friend’s Australian account.
“Kunlun is just one example – any large trading multinational will hold large reserves of cash in each country so they can effect a transfer with an internal paper transaction. No banks or government scrutiny involved. And given that they don’t do effective reporting in this country, who will ever trace it?…”Kunlun is just one example – any large trading multinational will hold large reserves of cash in each country so they can effect a transfer with an internal paper transaction. No banks or government scrutiny involved. And given that they don’t do effective reporting in this country, who will ever trace it?
“The current situation is that one of the best assets a local Chinese can have is a permanent Australian residence. They will have ‘friends’ lining up to ‘loan’ them money to buy properties in Australia.
All the government needs to do is follow the cash.”
Sadly, for a generation of young homebuyers it seems the government is not interested in following the cash. Otherwise our politicians, of both major parties, would have introduced the second tranche of AML legislation by now and real estate agents would have to prove that their clients’ funds were legitimate.
Property boom has been going on unchecked in Sydney for more than 10 years. The Chinese are just the latest factor.
admit it….crisis by massive scale of buy up of scarce housing resources now!
…when up to 50% of your housing stock is being bought up by Chinese
….and this said by an HONEST Chinese ( this is not racism…this is fact)
…we are betraying New Zealand youth and New Zealanders to allow this to happen!
Blame the Chinese all you like, it won’t change a thing.
who says I am blaming the Chinese…that is your spin…I am citing facts given by Chinese
…..I am blaming this Nact Government for not getting statistics and not putting controls on overseas buy up of scarce New Zealand houses …which should be for New Zealanders
…jonkey Nact are betraying young New Zealanders and future generations of New Zealanders
…you think it is right that New Zealanders are priced out of their own country ?
….I thought you were supposed to be a Lefty!…and a supporter of the Labour Party?…seems that is all pretence
NZers were priced out of Auckland by 2005; your outrage is a decade too late. Ban foreign buyers, but houses in Auckland will stay over $500,000 and out of reach.
who says I am outraged….and too late…only you
for your information many New Zealanders have been concerned about foreign ownership of New Zealand assets and property for a very long time…more than 35 years in the case of CAFCA ( but I guess before your time)
eg. New Zealand First, the Greens and CAFCA
http://canterbury.cyberplace.co.nz/community/CAFCA/
http://www.historicalwatchdog.blogspot.co.nz/
…I would add many Labour Party members and supporters are also concerned…especially recently when the scale of buy up has been massive and New Zealanders are being priced out of their own land
New Zealander’s land and culture and assets are in danger of being sold for a song…like Greece
http://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/310334-episode-max-keiser-786/
“In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Greek prime ministers bearing referendums as privatisation schemes move full steam ahead as billionaires and celebrities begin buying up Greek islands on the cheap.
In the second half, Max interviews Eddy Travia of Coinsilium.com about the company’s upcoming IPO on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London. Coinsilium Group facilitates the implementation of blockchain technology products and services alongside media and corporate advisory services.”
Some things are too important to sell….some things should not be sold!
I listened to this interesting TEDX talk this morning about how humans have taken over the world due to the ability to work collectively, flexibly with imagination. Everything from economic systems to money to corporations to religion are really only the result of a story which enough people believe. Perhaps we need to start imagining and telling some new stories about how the world could be.
http://www.ted.com/talks/yuval_noah_harari_what_explains_the_rise_of_humans?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_campaign=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_content=button__2015-07-24
Fairy Godmother
If you can find some new stories for us, I think we will listen and be heartened. Sp here’s hoping.
I like ones about people doing things that present problems and ask us to stir ourselves and direct our interests in the right way.
I have written about the man who comes all the way from Murchison to sell woollen socks at the local market.
There is the woman at the market whose husband died recently after being nursed through a long illness from a car crash, she is 64 and is being harried into getting a job so has some months of that before she is, thankfully, 65 and entitled to retirement. She was there on the Greens desk, because she is so solidly behind the precepts of humane and thoughtful living.
Forest and Bird have people going round trying to get funds for an onslaught on the uncaring barbarians that we have elected, to try and save the Maui dolphin off the west coast of North Island, off Taranaki. They and other sea creatures are badly affected by the nets that local and foreign fishers are using. The filaments are too fine and don’t deflect the sonar signal of the fish that swim right into them unaware.
I thought it was just the size of the mesh, but it is also the thinness of it causing the deaths. I am short of money but promised to talk about it to the young German lobbyist, who explained very well, probably gets a commission and was just a wee bit sorry that I couldn’t commit.
But perhaps we need more stories about things that are happening and changing things for the better, with humans at the forefront, and technology as an aid, not a substitute.
Oh dear – to say Mischele Boag was not pleased to see me this morning outside Sky City, where I was standing, quietly and peacefully as delegates entered the Casino for their 79th Conference, would have to be a bit of an understatement?
“Good morning Mischele!” I called, in a friendly way.
“Pay your rates Penny! Pay your rates!” was Mischele’s angry response.
“I will once the Council tells us where the money is being spent,” I replied.
“Don’t you support transparency Mischele?” I asked as she flounced off, in an obviously poisonous mood.
Maybe she didn’t like the wording on my placards?
Most National delegates were friendly, including Nick Smith, who didn’t reply to my question,
“What’s in the TPPA for dairy Nick?”
Maybe he didn’t hear the question – to be fair.
In fact – it was such fun – I think I’ll go back for the lunch break, and let my placards do the talking …..
Penny Bright
TPPA – WALK AWAY!
+100… GO PENNY…we are with you!
You’re worth more than a penny, Penny. Wearing down stone is slow, but you keep persisting. Apparently a primitive method of splitting stone is to pour water and salt into a crack when the weather is freezing. So unexpected results may occur with your simple methods of fronting-up used frequently.
Good on you Penny. I admire your dedication and hard work for great causes you fight for. Wish all voters in a democracy were as clued on as you. It is people like you that really deserve national awards of honour.
I’ve been watching the newspapers for reports on the court ruling on the Problem Gambling Foundation case. I haven’t seen any news at all, has anyone else seen anything?
The absence of media coverage is mystifying because it’s big news and very much in the public interest. The judge found countless breaches of the Mandatory Rules for Procurement by Departments with the extent being so great there were strong grounds for concluding bias and conflicts of interest.
People might recall the Problem Gambling Foundation were the harshest critics of SkyCity and it was alluded at the time they were refused the new contract because of their objections against SkyCity.
Yet more fuel to the fire of the SkyCity deal so why aren’t the media reporting on it….. or has that question just answered itself?
DH I referred yesterday to Andrew Geddis column @ Pundit. Covers the ground very well.
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/bliss-was-it-in-that-dawn-to-be-alive
Thanks ianmac, wrong link though….
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-governments-problem-with-problem-gambling
He does cover it well and further reinforces my puzzlement over the lack of media coverage. It is genuinely newsworthy.
Thanks DH. My error.Tried to find exactly when this decision was reached. Think it was very recent so will watch MSM with interest.
It was covered on Checkpoint.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201763588/black-eye-for-health-ministry-in-big-win-for-gambling-workers
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201763610/anti-gambling-jobs-saved-by-high-court
Note National Radio acted. Papers? Not yet.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11485857
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/70497630/problem-gambling-foundation-beats-ministry-of-health-in-court
Thanks Ergo. The paper reports were pretty neutral in tone compared to the emblazing of minor Opposition errors.
Thanks Ergo Robertina. Either I’ve been missing what was in front of me or they were well buried, I’ve been watching both Stuff and the Herald for reports since Thursday and saw neither of those.
I’m afraid I can’t agree with the comments about prisoners being given the right to votes. As I see it, being sent to prison means being denied rights and privileges and one of the basic privileges is the right to vote. While someone is incarcerated they should not be given the right to vote, apart from anything else can you imagine the distortion that would be caused as prisoners would likely vote against the current government because it was under the current government that they were lock up! I don’t see any problems with them resuming the right to vote once released from prison though as they have returned to society with all its rights and privileges associated with that freedom.
When a person can cast a vote this can lead to better circumstances. I do not know if inmates are ever polled. It appears that some surveys are required in NZ prisons and/or some research. I do not think that Serco would be in favour of a survey or a research project.
Denise, people are sent to prison AS punishment not FOR punishment. Being locked up is punishment enough. They are still humans with human rights, including access to voting.
Although under this government people are being sent to prison for more and more punishment regardless of the severity of their original crime.
Thank-you Sirenia for saying what needs to be said.
Every person – I repeat EVERY PERSON- has the right to vote. To disenfranchise anyone is an act of treachery. There are many criminals who don’t go to prison and the majority of them are wealthy and/or powerful so can buy/blackmail their way out of punishment.
To blithely say as you have said Denise Frost that prisoners be denied their sovereign rights shows a level of ignorance which is sadly all too common among right-wing NZers.
The way I see it, you are a human being whether you are on the inside or on the outside.
Denise Frost. Do you mean that prisoners (who are the people in society most affected by the strong coercive powers of the state – and often the same, people most let down by the state) should also then have no say in the running of that state?
In contrast to you, I believe that a NZ prisoner remains a citizen of NZ, and there are rights which are inalienable to such a status: such as voting and as access to their local MP.
@Denise
That’s a bit simple. You stop being a citizen when you go to prison? And the simple and censorious want to stop them ever having a vote.even when they come out.
Yet how many people are out there commiting offences who aren’t yet in prison. And those who have stolen millions and been able to avoid prison, unlike someone who has done something annoying or stolen something replaceable.
We would like those in prison to come out better, not try to erase them for ever from being citizens. There is a case for withholding voting for a very few who are more bad than mad, but the rest should be encouraged to use the time to work out a new plan, get new skills, and go forth and act rightly.
A “right” is not a “privilege”.
Prison is detention for the safety of the community and, theoretically, punishment and time for reflection and rehabilitation.
Concomitant abuse of rights is just a dick move.
Simulation shows ‘unavoidable’ 3m Auckland sea level rise
Well, I suppose those extended wharves that Auckland Ports want won’t be worth it after all.
I’ve been consulting Homer Simpson on matters of State.
Asked what I should say to Labour as to why they weren’t successful in winning the last election he suggested an oblique approach.
Ooh, a graduate student huh? How come you guys can go to the moon but can’t make my shoes smell good?
He said the reply might be tedious and result in me exclaiming –
Sweet Merciful Crap!
But then I became unsure of the value of his clear-sighted consideration of my problem when he asked –
Hey, can you take the wheel for a second, I have to scratch my self in two places at once.
And I thought that was too similar (but more vulgar) to USA politician President Lyndon Johnson’s put-down of an opponent who, he said in a sanitised version, couldn’t do two things at once, walk and chew gum for instance.
I gave up after his next confidential statement –
Guys are always patting my bald head for luck, pinching my belly to hear my girlish laugh.
http://www.angelfire.com/hi3/pearly/homer/quotes-homer.html
One thing is clear from the National Party Conference…National Party is more than happy to sell NZ land to cash rich foreigners.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/279671/english-backs-lotu-iiga-at-party-conference
We are not alone.
Great video, great analysis.
Clarke and Dawe – Ineluctable
Just back from the Book Writers Festival with Nicky Hager. When asked if he had thought about what chance National had of winning or not at the last election he said that he believed that National were having their doubts.
“So to lift their chances they tossed Judith Collins out of their hot air balloon to make it rise higher.”
So apt!
I see they have found Planet Key, He will be pleased. Cheerio John.
i really would like someone to explain this too me, cause really it confuses me.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11486547
A wealthy couple who have donated generously to the National Party are cashing up more than $26 million of property in Auckland.
Zhao Wu Shen and Susan Chou have given more than $370,000 to National through their company Contue Jinwan Enterprise Group, or in the name of Ms Chou, since 2010.
Mr Shen was also the biggest shareholder in Mega until selling his 25.9 per cent stake this month and resigning from the board of the online encryption service founded by Kim Dotcom.
The sale of the Mega shares comes as the Hong Kong-based couple try sell more than $26 million of property in Auckland, including a luxury home on a cliff top in Herne Bay with a council valuation of $11.5 million, which sold last month.
Once owned by Rich Listers Colin and Jennifer Giltrap, the 2049sq m site was bought by Mr Shen and Ms Chou for $10.75 million in late 2013 – one of the most expensive homes sold in Auckland that year.
But the 695sqm mansion is just one of a number of properties Mr Shen and Ms Chou are cashing up.
Listed as students on the electoral roll, the couple also sold a clifftop mansion in Howick for $7.5 million in May and another Auckland home for $1.6 million last year.
———————————————————————————————————————
lets leave the reflexive screams of racism aside for a moment please.
SO they are listed as studends on the elctoral role, they are multimillionaire students that were Main Share holders of Mega and donors to National.
does this read like a bond novel, or is it just me?
And they are stated in the article as being Hong Kong based as well as being listed as students? forget the racism it just smells to me.
no the thing gets me they a held the main shares of Mega aka Dotcom and own multiple million dollar properties and are students who gave 370.000 to National.
Bond, my name is Bond.
that can’t be for real?
SO they are listed as students on the electoral role,… (typos fixed).
That’s enough to tell anyone that… all is NOT what it seems in certain property investment portfolios.
But even more telling… they have given more than $370,000 to the National Party. And there’s your reason why this govt. is refusing to release information that could confirm or otherwise whether Chinese foreign investors are distorting the Auckland market. I would take a guess the Nats are richer to the tune of several million dollars courtesy of foreign property speculators. You scratch our back and we’ll scratch yours. Bloody disgusting!
typos, i am so good at them. really i am bad at writing, typing is easier then hand writing tho,. thanks for fixing my butchering of ze english language 🙂
and yes, that whole article is just strange.
😉
I think they need to cut their fingernails and keep their hands to themselves before the gouging and troughing spreads any more bloody disgusting stats around.
Just read this, maybe some of the people turn down houses as they are broken down crap.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70545026/Paula-Bennett-signals-crackdown-on-state-tenants-who-turn-down-houses
The state houses in the photo look like they’re in good condition and well looked after. What’s the bet they’re privately owned and are no longer state houses.
Yes who knows about those houses, but in that photo the third house from the left is covered in dirt or mold or both.
Drive around Glenn Innes aggressive pit bulls are it seems everywhere.
GI has so many problems that a family with kids may turn down a state house in that area for safety reasons.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70546135/nick-smith-eyes-ways-to-boost-private-sector-role-in-building-resource-consents
Nick Smith eyes ways to boost private sector role in building, resource consents
Wants to allow private co to give consents.
Private building co wind up under lim liability and the liability falls on council so they are very pedantic
SO if the is a problem with private constant then they will be liable so they will then be very pendandtic or wind up.
Sound like Serco
Yup. Privatisation by stealth.
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