If there ever was a day which showed up the utter mediocrity of the mainstream media in New Zealand, today would be a contender.
In the past 24 hours, after the collapse of the share prices in China, NZ’s largest market, stock markets round the world have plummeted the worst since 2007.
And NZ’s largest selling daily leads with stories about car washers and a blonde NZer in London looking for jobs.
on the China stockmarket correction. from what I’ve read it doesn’t seem to hold a great deal of significance for the rest of the world.
here are the guys I follow and trust on the Chinese economy:
George Magnus ~ @georgemagnus1, georgemagnus.com
Patrick Chovanec ~ @prchovanec
Victor Shih ~ @vshih2
Michael Pettis ~ mpettis.com
I’d appreciate if anyone could reply with names of other solid writers on China’s economy.
I was in suzhou recently. it’s a great city, well preserved by Chinese standards. a few economic observations :
1. commerce, at least of the brick and mortar variety, appears to be in serious distress, judging by tenancy rates in “popular” shopping areas.
2. Chris Patten has pointed out that China was the richest place in the world for 18 of the past 20 centuries. suzhou was a key part of that story, being an important city since at least the Han. but that’s the rub: cities are probably a better rubric than empires through which to view history. they possess the advantage of concreteness for one. at any rate, it’s better to say of China that it was extremely poor for much of its history, with a few fantastically wealthy cities dotted around the place (though google 清明上河图 for an indication that it wasn’t all the 1% vs the 99).
3. if you observe renaissance art closely you can sometimes encounter surprisingly lucid foreshadowings of modern styles like expressionism, tucked away inconspicuously on the sidelines of the major action. likewise in the suzhou museum I was surprised by artwork dating from the qing which possessed elements I’d always associated with the mid 20th century: minimalism, relatively wild experimentation, and some ceramics with funky patterning that put me in mind of Len Lye. and all this put,means in mind of that famous observation of Karl Marx that every step of human progress is afforded from the suffering of the vast majority of humanity. I’m not saying that to be a buzzkill, but because of the profound importance as I see it of trying to conceptually tie the human experience into a coherent whole.
Very interesting. On point three, if you take out the Western understanding found with Marx and insert a Chinese perspective (my very general summary) the conclusion changes:
From,
“…every step of human progress is afforded from the suffering of the vast majority of humanity…”
to
“…every expression of human endeavour is reflective of the nature of heaven, and heaven reflects all that cannot be reflected…”
which is a sort of a riddle (that I’ve made up to attempt encompass a lot of metaphysical explanation) that implies if we stand here in the Western world and look over there into the history of “Chinese art” we see that we are either part of the past because we are dragging our feet by focussing and elevating material things and restrictive ideas to the detriment of everything else, or/and, that art is timeless and has no development or “period”; and to “access it” – which is a very Western concept – we need better balance in our attentions. While “human suffering” from a historical chinese philosphical perspective during those “18 to 20 centuries” was simultaneously acknowledged, lamented, venerated and dismissed as irrelevent by Chinese thinkers (more in the earlier than later part of that huge period), it’s important to notice that the perspective of something being only good/bad wasn’t as dominant as Western thinkers like to consider it when they see human suffering, or anything, for that matter.
No doubt this will enrage you in some way, but bear in mind it is only my opinion based on what I think I have learned, inspired by the topic you raised, and not addressed as a challenge to you specifically.
China has been a bureaucracy for the better part of 2000 years.
Lesson: Kings and emperors come and go, the bureaucracy remains.
Largely what the RWNJs want to do is to get rid of the bureaucracy and just have the kings. This doesn’t work as it’s the bureaucracy that actually gets things done. 30+ years of neoliberalism and the attack on government bureaucracy and we now have more bureaucracy than we ever had before – it’s just that it’s now in the private sector.
Want more competition? Then we need more bureaucracy to manage it.
Want more courses at uni? Then we need more bureaucracy to manage that as well.
Want National Standards? Then more bureaucracy and having the teachers do it is still an increase in bureaucracy and a subsequent decrease in teaching.
Getting rid of the back office so as to have more front office doesn’t work as the front office can only work because of what the back office does and the back office, the bureaucracy, is more important as it’s what ensures that everything is in place to allow the front office to do it’s job. Of course, the workers that create the material objects that the bureaucracy ensures is in place are more important again.
When the right-wing try to get rid of the bureaucracy it just adapts around them and both the front office (MPs) and the back office forget about the workers.
well, the bureaucracy was by no means in stasis over that period.
new zealand has lost its way, amongst many other countries. i find largely monocultural societies fascinating because their culture is an identity that they can rally publicly around to try to fight some of this rot. simply can’t be done in migrant nations cos they’re too diffuse.
Some on the standard might find this interesting.
it touches on basic needs capitalism failing to meet them and touches on renationalisation of some services with highly automated public sector vs privatisation.
Thanks Coffee, I think LPrent has been pointing some of this stuff out. Given the lack of desire of many to share, it is a little scary to contemplate much of what the writer is suggesting. Actually, VERY scary.
TheBMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) is carrying a feature comparing different nations’ laws around assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia (with definitions provided). This is part of the debate in UK and Wales about impending Law changes.
No, they can’t. That’s because everything that National have done in power is to make it so that people can’t refuse to work. Nationals attacks on beneficiaries and workers have made it so that if you’ve got a job, no matter how much it costs you and the government, you do everything to keep that job because otherwise National can, and will, make it worse for you.
Exactly Draco. Had to laugh at Michael Woodhouse on the news last night when he said that. What a clueless statement. (Who can forget other gems, such as zero hour contracts are casual contracts).
He really is out of touch with the lives of retail and hospo workers if he thinks you can simply ask for the public holiday off and your boss will give it to you, or even negotiate a different public holiday off in it’s place – especially when some businesses function on a perpetually short staffed roster. That’s along side the “compelled to work or else” fear that hangs over workers heads these days, as you’ve mentioned.
Point two: The fact that he previously voted against Jackie Deans’ bill in 2012 clearly shows this announcement was nothing more that a PR stunt to distract from his disastrous management of the H&S amendment bill. What a cynical move from some one so out of his depth.
Some hospitality industry players can’t abide by current industrial law requirements and are trialing new workers without employment agreements and providing wages in the form of drink vouchers.
Not satisfied with low wages they now believe it’s their right to pay no wages.
They want it all.
Hi Atiawa. I think I read a post by you on this previously. It didn’t surprise me sadly. I’ve read newspaper articles about restaurants that MBIE eventually caught up with over the issue of the non payment of staff.
My last boss, in retail, paid people, reluctantly, when they reminded him their wages hadn’t turned up in their accounts. He only did that to me once and never did it again once I expressed my feelings about it and reminded him of his obligations. After I left that place I heard that some of the young ones simply didn’t get paid for up to a week, and missed pay cycles entirely.
I’ve had some bad bosses in my work life but never have I not been paid, until then.
I have a young friend who got his first job about 6 months ago. Prior to that WINZ sent him out on a “trial” with a charity that was going door to door. He was given a form to sign. It was a waiver saying he wouldn’t be paid. He signed it because he didn’t want any trouble from WINZ. If he didn’t sign he feared he could be sanctioned.
Blackmail and exploitation rolled into one. What a start to the working life it was for him.
“KUALA LUMPUR: There are only a handful of issues to be resolved in the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, said US Trade Representative Michael Froman.
“The Hawaii ministerial meeting was productive and we closed a dozen difficult issues, and at the end of the day there are now a handful of issues which needed further work,” he said on the sidelines of the Third East Asia Summit here yesterday.
…….
“Since the Hawaii meeting, negotiating countries have to go back and sort with their stakeholders, cabinet and parliament.”
Let us remind Tim Groser and John Key that WE, the Citizens of NZ/Aotearoa ARE STAKEHOLDERS.
We will not be sorted by being insulted. We, the payers of their salaries, do not give them permission to trade away our sovereignty.
The Prime Minister states “I kind of love everything American – sports, food, golf courses, there’s nothing I don’t like.”
Great. Let him emigrate to his Hawai’i home.
Sacrificing the sovereignty of NZers by stealth is ….treason in my opinion.
I read a comment the other day that eluded to the Treason Laws having been recently changed in NZ. I wasn’t aware of this with the exception of the removal of Sedition or is this what they would have been talking about.
Can anyone shed any light on this in relation to our laws on treason?
https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/New_Zealand_repeals_sedition_law
At a time when many countries are tightening anti-terrorism legislation and discussing on whether to “crack-down” on freedom of speech, New Zealand has repealed its sedition law. The Crimes (Repeal of Seditious Offences) Amendment Bill was passed by the New Zealand Parliament by an overwhelming majority of 114 to 7.
Sedition is the crime of inciting insurrection against the state. New Zealand’s sedition law criminalised speech intended to “bring into hatred or contempt” or “excite disaffection” against the monarch or the government or to incite or encourage “violence, lawlessness, or disorder”. The law had been widely criticised following the conviction of Timothy Selwyn in 2006 – the first sedition prosecution in 75 years – and repeal had been recommended by the New Zealand Law Commission.
Minister of Justice Mark Burton criticised the law as an infringement on freedom of speech and a tool of political persecution – a view widely echoed by MPs from across the house. Green Party MP Keith Locke noted that “the roll-call of those charged is a roll call of our political heroes”. However, New Zealand First MP Ron Mark advocated retaining the law in light of current fears about terrorism. New Zealand First was the only party to vote against the bill.
The bill repeals all seditious offences, and will come into effect on January 1, 2008.
The house itself seems unremarkable, it’s just another Auckland house, so the odds of this being a unique event appear low to none. We can reasonably assume many Auckland houses are being regularly onsold.
If the statements are taken as gospel we can also believe that a high proportion of Auckland home buyers are forced to sell again within weeks due to changed circumstances. The forced sale of course precluding the need to pay tax on any gains made.
I’m also wondering how the RE spokesperson can be so sure of the sellers motives. He’s just an agent, not a confidante, so how would he know the real reasons for selling?
What’s the chances of the IRD or any other authority investigating this?
Dunno, it all looks a bit odd. If we take this on face value it’s a random Auckland house with random samples of buyers from the Auckland market. You can’t really establish a strong pattern from one house but you can rule it out as a one-off event, the (alleged) randomness of house & buyers says it can’t be unique.
Having said that I very much doubt a large proportion of Auckland houses are being resold up to four times within months of being put on the market for the first time. I’d think it more likely something was going on there and that it would behoove the authorities to find out what.
there is a house right accross from where i have been sitting that has sold three times in 6 month.
surely all the previous owners bought the house and then promptly went bankrupt, forcing to sell the house for a tidy profit each time for about 70.000, considering that the first time it sold for about 690.000 and it is now being readied again to go one the market, expectations now are 1.000.000, and likely to get it. So sold for 690.000, sold for 780.000, sold for 900.000 and again…
Yeah, right no speculation here ….none what so ever.
Just poor schlops having over extended themselvs and now making a buck. Btw. the between the 690.000 and 900.000 the house was empty.
there are a few more houses in my street that have sold several times per year. Funny, it is always the same, either empty or tenanted properties that go up for sale, like clockwerk every few month.
“My understanding is that the person who sold it is a member of our property staff,” he said.
But Mr Thompson said that person had a genuine reason to sell the vacant property, in wanting to raise funds for a family member who had bought a larger home, in Epsom.
Is not wanting to raise funds by buying and selling not trading ???? Mr Thompson IMO has destroyed any defense of not being a trader away from HIS staff member.
Also from the timeline 6 weeks for Xiaoli Zhen to buy then have a change of intentions and re market the property and sell& settle for a second time is in a very crammed timeline.
What is not mentioned was a: when did the property re-enter the market
and b: when did the “trust” that purchased the property entered into a S&P agreement ?
A few years ago the house next door to mine was sold to a Hong Kong businessman. He told the previous owners he was buying it for his mother who would be arriving in a few months time. Yeah right. Mother never turned up. House has been rented ever since – raking in $800 plus per week.
Have just tuned in to Radio Live 12.45pm to see if they may be discussing the financial stock markets melt down – Willie isn’t averse to chatting politics but Alison Mau is not the fun JT used to be – they are discussing facial tattooing and how it impinges on people’s lives who have them. I rarely listen to any radio these days but thought today may be interesting. Lord save us now I know why I cancelled the Herald 12 months, the Listener is on death watch and going to go the same way – Karyn Hay in the 8-midnight slot is now a waste of time. Why cannot anybody on MSM just talk about things which are actually important to us all – its just all fluff and nonsense. Now I know why there used to be underground newspapers back in the day – I can see it happening again here one day, at least we do have the net with its many sites we can visit thank goodness. How people can listen to this drivel I cannot fathom. My whinge for today.
MSM radio is a wasteland for the ears but we still have alternate independent radio, first and foremost for indy music lovers but also for social and political commentary and interviews. Check out this doco that was on a while ago: Radio Punks.
Cool, I’ve been wanting to see that Radio Punks doco by Jeremy Wells too. That’s good you don’t need to have a Sky subscription, you can just sign up to Sky Go and watch it for free it says in your link: http://www.skygo.co.nz/product/857507.aspx
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick often talks about his dream of the perfect Uber trip. “It’s the perpetual trip, the trip that never ends,” he said at the Digital-Life-Design conference in Europe last October. “The driver picks one passenger up, picks another passenger up, drops off the first passenger, but then picks up passenger number three and drops off passenger number two.”
This week in San Francisco, Uber took a first step toward realizing the vision that Kalanick described. The ride-hail company began experimenting with a new ride option called Smart Routes. The idea is drivers will be able to both pick up and drop off passengers along a specific route, which in turn allows them to quickly pick up their next passenger. For now the company is experimenting with only two routes: Fillmore Street between Haight and Bay, and Valencia Street between 15th and 26th.
Buying a house as an older person? Some banks are refusing to offer a mortgage as, it was said, they say that people will not be able to pay the loan back. I though that was why they take the house as security, making sure it is valued correctly if they do their job. A further madness in their approach, on top of other lending practices for buying businesses on a leverage basis with small deposit inputs, and having money for foreign buyers. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/282366/the-mid-life-mortgage-crisis
The news is on its not live weve seen it about 10 times to day yeah just another show nothing to get up about Strawberry fields forever
Just axe it and save the country millions to put into railways
I viewed a news story about a number of Wellingtonians enduring a 38-hour wait through two chilly nights queueing for the latest version of Kanye West-designed shoes.
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National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
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If there ever was a day which showed up the utter mediocrity of the mainstream media in New Zealand, today would be a contender.
In the past 24 hours, after the collapse of the share prices in China, NZ’s largest market, stock markets round the world have plummeted the worst since 2007.
And NZ’s largest selling daily leads with stories about car washers and a blonde NZer in London looking for jobs.
Beyond satire.
Yes I noticed the exact same
Do not trust mainstream media for an accurate picture of what is going on in the world.
You could try here.
http://www.aljazeera.com/watch_now/
Or here
http://eveningreport.nz/
The NZ MSM is a joke.
Is that hardcopy or online Paul?
I saw it online in the Herald and Stuff. I don’t know about MSN or Yahoo xtra home pages
We know he’s a yanker but is John Key a Yank?
Interesting piece of speculation: https://aotearoaawiderperspective.wordpress.com/2014/10/16/is-john-key-an-american-will-you-help-us-find-out/
on the China stockmarket correction. from what I’ve read it doesn’t seem to hold a great deal of significance for the rest of the world.
here are the guys I follow and trust on the Chinese economy:
George Magnus ~ @georgemagnus1, georgemagnus.com
Patrick Chovanec ~ @prchovanec
Victor Shih ~ @vshih2
Michael Pettis ~ mpettis.com
I’d appreciate if anyone could reply with names of other solid writers on China’s economy.
I was in suzhou recently. it’s a great city, well preserved by Chinese standards. a few economic observations :
1. commerce, at least of the brick and mortar variety, appears to be in serious distress, judging by tenancy rates in “popular” shopping areas.
2. Chris Patten has pointed out that China was the richest place in the world for 18 of the past 20 centuries. suzhou was a key part of that story, being an important city since at least the Han. but that’s the rub: cities are probably a better rubric than empires through which to view history. they possess the advantage of concreteness for one. at any rate, it’s better to say of China that it was extremely poor for much of its history, with a few fantastically wealthy cities dotted around the place (though google 清明上河图 for an indication that it wasn’t all the 1% vs the 99).
3. if you observe renaissance art closely you can sometimes encounter surprisingly lucid foreshadowings of modern styles like expressionism, tucked away inconspicuously on the sidelines of the major action. likewise in the suzhou museum I was surprised by artwork dating from the qing which possessed elements I’d always associated with the mid 20th century: minimalism, relatively wild experimentation, and some ceramics with funky patterning that put me in mind of Len Lye. and all this put,means in mind of that famous observation of Karl Marx that every step of human progress is afforded from the suffering of the vast majority of humanity. I’m not saying that to be a buzzkill, but because of the profound importance as I see it of trying to conceptually tie the human experience into a coherent whole.
Very interesting. On point three, if you take out the Western understanding found with Marx and insert a Chinese perspective (my very general summary) the conclusion changes:
From,
“…every step of human progress is afforded from the suffering of the vast majority of humanity…”
to
“…every expression of human endeavour is reflective of the nature of heaven, and heaven reflects all that cannot be reflected…”
which is a sort of a riddle (that I’ve made up to attempt encompass a lot of metaphysical explanation) that implies if we stand here in the Western world and look over there into the history of “Chinese art” we see that we are either part of the past because we are dragging our feet by focussing and elevating material things and restrictive ideas to the detriment of everything else, or/and, that art is timeless and has no development or “period”; and to “access it” – which is a very Western concept – we need better balance in our attentions. While “human suffering” from a historical chinese philosphical perspective during those “18 to 20 centuries” was simultaneously acknowledged, lamented, venerated and dismissed as irrelevent by Chinese thinkers (more in the earlier than later part of that huge period), it’s important to notice that the perspective of something being only good/bad wasn’t as dominant as Western thinkers like to consider it when they see human suffering, or anything, for that matter.
No doubt this will enrage you in some way, but bear in mind it is only my opinion based on what I think I have learned, inspired by the topic you raised, and not addressed as a challenge to you specifically.
China has been a bureaucracy for the better part of 2000 years.
Lesson: Kings and emperors come and go, the bureaucracy remains.
Largely what the RWNJs want to do is to get rid of the bureaucracy and just have the kings. This doesn’t work as it’s the bureaucracy that actually gets things done. 30+ years of neoliberalism and the attack on government bureaucracy and we now have more bureaucracy than we ever had before – it’s just that it’s now in the private sector.
Want more competition? Then we need more bureaucracy to manage it.
Want more courses at uni? Then we need more bureaucracy to manage that as well.
Want National Standards? Then more bureaucracy and having the teachers do it is still an increase in bureaucracy and a subsequent decrease in teaching.
Getting rid of the back office so as to have more front office doesn’t work as the front office can only work because of what the back office does and the back office, the bureaucracy, is more important as it’s what ensures that everything is in place to allow the front office to do it’s job. Of course, the workers that create the material objects that the bureaucracy ensures is in place are more important again.
When the right-wing try to get rid of the bureaucracy it just adapts around them and both the front office (MPs) and the back office forget about the workers.
well, the bureaucracy was by no means in stasis over that period.
new zealand has lost its way, amongst many other countries. i find largely monocultural societies fascinating because their culture is an identity that they can rally publicly around to try to fight some of this rot. simply can’t be done in migrant nations cos they’re too diffuse.
Serco is under the gun from Kelvin Davis (and rightfully so) but will Kelvin Davis say anything about this: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/corrections-apologises-to-family-of-sick-patient-who-died-q07278.html
Some on the standard might find this interesting.
it touches on basic needs capitalism failing to meet them and touches on renationalisation of some services with highly automated public sector vs privatisation.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1508/S00254/why-tppa-could-rob-our-children-of-a-truly-prosperous-future.htm
Thanks Coffee, I think LPrent has been pointing some of this stuff out. Given the lack of desire of many to share, it is a little scary to contemplate much of what the writer is suggesting. Actually, VERY scary.
TheBMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) is carrying a feature comparing different nations’ laws around assisted dying, assisted suicide and euthanasia (with definitions provided). This is part of the debate in UK and Wales about impending Law changes.
http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4481
Minister voted against earlier Easter trading bill
No, they can’t. That’s because everything that National have done in power is to make it so that people can’t refuse to work. Nationals attacks on beneficiaries and workers have made it so that if you’ve got a job, no matter how much it costs you and the government, you do everything to keep that job because otherwise National can, and will, make it worse for you.
The other issue is are the govt going to pay the councils for the service. HA
Councils should just refuse to take on the extra admin
Exactly Draco. Had to laugh at Michael Woodhouse on the news last night when he said that. What a clueless statement. (Who can forget other gems, such as zero hour contracts are casual contracts).
He really is out of touch with the lives of retail and hospo workers if he thinks you can simply ask for the public holiday off and your boss will give it to you, or even negotiate a different public holiday off in it’s place – especially when some businesses function on a perpetually short staffed roster. That’s along side the “compelled to work or else” fear that hangs over workers heads these days, as you’ve mentioned.
Point two: The fact that he previously voted against Jackie Deans’ bill in 2012 clearly shows this announcement was nothing more that a PR stunt to distract from his disastrous management of the H&S amendment bill. What a cynical move from some one so out of his depth.
Some hospitality industry players can’t abide by current industrial law requirements and are trialing new workers without employment agreements and providing wages in the form of drink vouchers.
Not satisfied with low wages they now believe it’s their right to pay no wages.
They want it all.
Yeah.
Friend of mine didn’t even get vouchers. Fortunately she got a paying job elsewhere.
If that is what it has become, then these people do not have a business. At all.
Hi Atiawa. I think I read a post by you on this previously. It didn’t surprise me sadly. I’ve read newspaper articles about restaurants that MBIE eventually caught up with over the issue of the non payment of staff.
My last boss, in retail, paid people, reluctantly, when they reminded him their wages hadn’t turned up in their accounts. He only did that to me once and never did it again once I expressed my feelings about it and reminded him of his obligations. After I left that place I heard that some of the young ones simply didn’t get paid for up to a week, and missed pay cycles entirely.
I’ve had some bad bosses in my work life but never have I not been paid, until then.
I have a young friend who got his first job about 6 months ago. Prior to that WINZ sent him out on a “trial” with a charity that was going door to door. He was given a form to sign. It was a waiver saying he wouldn’t be paid. He signed it because he didn’t want any trouble from WINZ. If he didn’t sign he feared he could be sanctioned.
Blackmail and exploitation rolled into one. What a start to the working life it was for him.
This is your brighter futures workers!
“KUALA LUMPUR: There are only a handful of issues to be resolved in the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, said US Trade Representative Michael Froman.
“The Hawaii ministerial meeting was productive and we closed a dozen difficult issues, and at the end of the day there are now a handful of issues which needed further work,” he said on the sidelines of the Third East Asia Summit here yesterday.
…….
“Since the Hawaii meeting, negotiating countries have to go back and sort with their stakeholders, cabinet and parliament.”
http://www.nst.com.my/node/97618
Let us remind Tim Groser and John Key that WE, the Citizens of NZ/Aotearoa ARE STAKEHOLDERS.
We will not be sorted by being insulted. We, the payers of their salaries, do not give them permission to trade away our sovereignty.
The Prime Minister states “I kind of love everything American – sports, food, golf courses, there’s nothing I don’t like.”
Great. Let him emigrate to his Hawai’i home.
Sacrificing the sovereignty of NZers by stealth is ….treason in my opinion.
I feel certain the stakeholders have been sorted… 😉
I read a comment the other day that eluded to the Treason Laws having been recently changed in NZ. I wasn’t aware of this with the exception of the removal of Sedition or is this what they would have been talking about.
Can anyone shed any light on this in relation to our laws on treason?
https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/New_Zealand_repeals_sedition_law
At a time when many countries are tightening anti-terrorism legislation and discussing on whether to “crack-down” on freedom of speech, New Zealand has repealed its sedition law. The Crimes (Repeal of Seditious Offences) Amendment Bill was passed by the New Zealand Parliament by an overwhelming majority of 114 to 7.
Sedition is the crime of inciting insurrection against the state. New Zealand’s sedition law criminalised speech intended to “bring into hatred or contempt” or “excite disaffection” against the monarch or the government or to incite or encourage “violence, lawlessness, or disorder”. The law had been widely criticised following the conviction of Timothy Selwyn in 2006 – the first sedition prosecution in 75 years – and repeal had been recommended by the New Zealand Law Commission.
Minister of Justice Mark Burton criticised the law as an infringement on freedom of speech and a tool of political persecution – a view widely echoed by MPs from across the house. Green Party MP Keith Locke noted that “the roll-call of those charged is a roll call of our political heroes”. However, New Zealand First MP Ron Mark advocated retaining the law in light of current fears about terrorism. New Zealand First was the only party to vote against the bill.
The bill repeals all seditious offences, and will come into effect on January 1, 2008.
How interesting. Thanks Tautoko Mango Mata.
Can make some interesting observations about odds & chances from this titbit….
“Sold four times in 13 weeks – price jumps $153,000”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11501777
The house itself seems unremarkable, it’s just another Auckland house, so the odds of this being a unique event appear low to none. We can reasonably assume many Auckland houses are being regularly onsold.
If the statements are taken as gospel we can also believe that a high proportion of Auckland home buyers are forced to sell again within weeks due to changed circumstances. The forced sale of course precluding the need to pay tax on any gains made.
I’m also wondering how the RE spokesperson can be so sure of the sellers motives. He’s just an agent, not a confidante, so how would he know the real reasons for selling?
What’s the chances of the IRD or any other authority investigating this?
zero.
speculators doing as speculators do?
and you expect the IRD to investigate?
Why that would upset the Landlord class, would it not?
“speculators doing as speculators do? ”
Dunno, it all looks a bit odd. If we take this on face value it’s a random Auckland house with random samples of buyers from the Auckland market. You can’t really establish a strong pattern from one house but you can rule it out as a one-off event, the (alleged) randomness of house & buyers says it can’t be unique.
Having said that I very much doubt a large proportion of Auckland houses are being resold up to four times within months of being put on the market for the first time. I’d think it more likely something was going on there and that it would behoove the authorities to find out what.
there is a house right accross from where i have been sitting that has sold three times in 6 month.
surely all the previous owners bought the house and then promptly went bankrupt, forcing to sell the house for a tidy profit each time for about 70.000, considering that the first time it sold for about 690.000 and it is now being readied again to go one the market, expectations now are 1.000.000, and likely to get it. So sold for 690.000, sold for 780.000, sold for 900.000 and again…
Yeah, right no speculation here ….none what so ever.
Just poor schlops having over extended themselvs and now making a buck. Btw. the between the 690.000 and 900.000 the house was empty.
there are a few more houses in my street that have sold several times per year. Funny, it is always the same, either empty or tenanted properties that go up for sale, like clockwerk every few month.
Mentioned a house less than 100 metres away from me that sold for the third time in six months about a month ago. Guess what, it’s up for sale again!
“My understanding is that the person who sold it is a member of our property staff,” he said.
But Mr Thompson said that person had a genuine reason to sell the vacant property, in wanting to raise funds for a family member who had bought a larger home, in Epsom.
Is not wanting to raise funds by buying and selling not trading ???? Mr Thompson IMO has destroyed any defense of not being a trader away from HIS staff member.
Also from the timeline 6 weeks for Xiaoli Zhen to buy then have a change of intentions and re market the property and sell& settle for a second time is in a very crammed timeline.
What is not mentioned was a: when did the property re-enter the market
and b: when did the “trust” that purchased the property entered into a S&P agreement ?
A few years ago the house next door to mine was sold to a Hong Kong businessman. He told the previous owners he was buying it for his mother who would be arriving in a few months time. Yeah right. Mother never turned up. House has been rented ever since – raking in $800 plus per week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-ZRwqBbdaE
Bernie Sanders Surges Past Hillary In Polls
I don’t know too much about him but it must be a better option then having Hillary as president
If you’re left leaning and you see a bit of him then you’ll want to see more. Refreshing.
Greece is struggling to secure a 370 billion bailout.
But there was no problem with taxpayers bailing out the banks.
Citygroup 2.5 trillion
Morgan Stanley 2 trilion
Merril lynch 1.9 trillion
… the list of bank bailouts with tax dollars goes on….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/noel-leeming/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503808&objectid=11500725
I’m sure it makes the Herald good money but i’m also equally sure it drives people away from getting the newspaper in the first place
oh that is good
Why are they so greedy? That’s a bloody good question.
Have just tuned in to Radio Live 12.45pm to see if they may be discussing the financial stock markets melt down – Willie isn’t averse to chatting politics but Alison Mau is not the fun JT used to be – they are discussing facial tattooing and how it impinges on people’s lives who have them. I rarely listen to any radio these days but thought today may be interesting. Lord save us now I know why I cancelled the Herald 12 months, the Listener is on death watch and going to go the same way – Karyn Hay in the 8-midnight slot is now a waste of time. Why cannot anybody on MSM just talk about things which are actually important to us all – its just all fluff and nonsense. Now I know why there used to be underground newspapers back in the day – I can see it happening again here one day, at least we do have the net with its many sites we can visit thank goodness. How people can listen to this drivel I cannot fathom. My whinge for today.
MSM radio is a wasteland for the ears but we still have alternate independent radio, first and foremost for indy music lovers but also for social and political commentary and interviews. Check out this doco that was on a while ago: Radio Punks.
https://www.facebook.com/PrimeTV/videos/vb.152231559987/10154321232504988/?type=2&theater
I wouldn’t be without my Radio Active – It keeps me sane 🙂
Cool, I’ve been wanting to see that Radio Punks doco by Jeremy Wells too. That’s good you don’t need to have a Sky subscription, you can just sign up to Sky Go and watch it for free it says in your link:
http://www.skygo.co.nz/product/857507.aspx
Finally some justice…
Mobil to pay $10m for tank farm cleanup
You have to wonder why this wasn’t found in the first place.
Or is it ok to leave contamination on public land after you vacate?
The CEO of UBER is on to it:
Or, as this person put it, A bus. This man is describing a bus.
So glad that we have these over-paid morons to tell us how to do things we already know how to do…
a bus with highly exploited workers.
Buying a house as an older person? Some banks are refusing to offer a mortgage as, it was said, they say that people will not be able to pay the loan back. I though that was why they take the house as security, making sure it is valued correctly if they do their job. A further madness in their approach, on top of other lending practices for buying businesses on a leverage basis with small deposit inputs, and having money for foreign buyers.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/282366/the-mid-life-mortgage-crisis
The news is on its not live weve seen it about 10 times to day yeah just another show nothing to get up about Strawberry fields forever
Just axe it and save the country millions to put into railways
I viewed a news story about a number of Wellingtonians enduring a 38-hour wait through two chilly nights queueing for the latest version of Kanye West-designed shoes.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/fashion/71318756/kanye-wests-shoes-see-dozens-line-up-for-chance-to-buy
Which reminded me of this (documentary below)
I assume most here will remember the controversy surrounding it: http://tinyurl.com/pza6bbw but have you actually viewed it?
https://youtu.be/9tLK449NdmA