The TVNZ poll last night would have to be a concern for Labour. Sure, Labour only dropped 1%, well within the margin of error. However, of more concern will be the drop in support for the Greens.
The reason why this would be a concern, is that it is probably reasonable to assume that the drop in support for the Greens will have mainly resulted in those potential votes migrating to Labour.
Hence, the drop for the overall left vote is what is of main concern. So, a 5% drop for the combined left is quite a big drop. Contrast that with the 3% uptick for the right, and that is an 8% swing in favour of the right.
And DPF gives quite an interesting analysis of the leadership ratings:
Turns out that Luxon is the fourth most popular opposition leader for this time in the election cycle and Hipkins is the fourth most unpopular leader, according to the analysis.
Hence, comparisions of relative popularity are missing this point.
Your choice of a te reo alias is interesting, given you're quoting National lines, when their increase in support appears predicated on a platform of kicking Maori back down to a position of political non-representation.
[Please correct your e-mail address in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Hold up, you realize loads more Maori vote National than vote fot the Maori party right?
Many, many Maori don't agree with Labour, The Greens or the Maori partys interpretation of the treaty or want co-governance.
Many Maori are farmers and vote National or NZ First . In fact it's a total mistake that the Tory's and NZ First don't run candidates in the Maori electorates anymore, because with the left splitting their votes between lab, tpm and the Greens National or NZf could sneak in, national have held Maori seats before and NZF once held all of them.
Golly, if lefties think all Maori are left wing, some people are going to be shook, especially if the right ever seriously goes after the Maori seats again.
If National managed to sneak a couple Maori seats by vote splitting, the meltdowns on election night from pakeha liberals would be entertaining af.
National's underlying theme in this election year is not the cost of living or the supposed rise in crime – or indeed the climate crisis. It is all about racism.
The cost of living is rising. Blame it on the Labour government who are giving all our money to the 'Mowries'.
Ram raids and burglaries are increasing. Definitely the 'Mowries'.
All other problems as they arise – well if the 'Mowries' weren't being given special treatment we'd be okay.
Racism, racism and more racism. Middle income earners and old age pensioners are the primary culprits. Not all of them, but a substantial number are politically ignorant and feed off the likes of Hosking, HDPA and the rest of the ZB gang of Maori haters… along with the Hootons and Prebbles and that smarmy piece of work, David Seymour.
I don't know what you do about it, but you don't fall into the trap Michael Wood fell into the other day. Has he forgotten the outburst fanned by the Nats in 2008 when Helen Clark made a similar plea to voters?
Here's what was said in a very recent National newsletter. It seem that we are "driven by the influence of woke socialists who seek to advance their own agenda'. They are the problem, being racists……
"Infiltrating institutions and leveraging race-related issues in the current environment is a frighteningly easy path to take, as few are willing to risk being labelled a racist. It is crucial that we all oppose this agenda as those that hurl the racist label about are the racists. If we choose to look the other way New Zealand will be a racially divided nation which will undoubtedly bring on civil unrest."
I have a feeling I have somehow been side-shuffled into an Orwellian-style dystopian universe where newspeak replaces logic and facts.
And Winston also promoting the same message according to your (and my) Stuff citation. It contains this quote "the NZ First leader took aim at bilingualism and “woke social engineering” to laughter and cheers from the Grey Power congregation."
I think to blame racism for Labour being behind ignores a lot of other relevant factors that are contributing to the decline for Laboujr. For instance, the cost of living and the rampant crime at the moment.
Personally, I think the government has to take a lot of blame for any perceived racism in that they have handled the whole co-governance question really badly, and have not communicated at all well what is meant by that. This has meant a lot of the population have felt quite threatened.
Plus, the radical demands from TMP such as revoking full and final treaty settlements and establishing a Maori parliament are naturally going to cause a lot of resistance amongst the general population.
Note I said "underlying" theme tsmithfield. I don't deny other factors are at play but for many I believe it boils down to racism. I am mindful of family members whenever political subjects are introduced into a conversation… it always ends with a rant about 'mowries'.
When I throw it back in their faces I get left off the social calendar for a bit.
In any sort of area, not only race, we tend to view people in an outgroup negatively and with suspicion. We also tend to view them as very similar in their characteristics. That is because we tend to notice the common traits of members of outgroups, and not notice their differences so much. This is a fairly universal, almost subconscious effect that we find it hard to get away from.
I know a lot of my attitudes have been challenged being on the board of Crossroads Youth with a Future which works in one of the poorest areas of Christchurch which has a fairly high Maori and Polynesian population.
I realised, after becoming friends with a number of wonderful Maori people through my role in the trust that I could no longer justify holding general negative attitudes towards Maori people. That is, because I realised that if I was going to hold general negative attitudes towards Maori people, I was also holding those attitudes about people I very much liked.
So, I think that is a good way to overcome some of those negative attitudes. That is, to actually get to know some of the people in the group that might be an outgroup at the moment.
Unfortunately, a lot of people who hold these attitudes often are living in a completely different world, and have little contact with Maori people. Hence, they see Maori people as very much part of an outgroup.
Ts, yet Act want to stop the gun register and allow some awful weapons. They are a larger party than the Maori Party… why not target that proposition? rather than thinking 3 people have exaggerated influence? Surely the Act Party are at greater risk of shifting the norms?
I am not an ACT voter personally. But, I think a lot of these sorts of policies arise from frustration a voting base feels due to the fact that the existing system doesn't function properly.
I know my son was wanting to get into hunting. He had an impeccable record, but had to wait several years before his gun licence came through.
Also, I guess there is frustration because, despite the changes the government made to gun laws that were supposed to make it harder for criminals to get guns, gun violence seemed to have been increasing.
And, also, it seemed that the changes made to gun laws were targeting people who weren't causing the problem.
So, I can understand why ACT might be pushing for relaxation of some of the gun laws. Though, it isn't something I have given a lot of thought to as it isn't really an area that affects me personally.
Hunters don't need assault weapons. So what is the problem with having a gun register and tighter gun control laws? If you are a law-abiding citizen, it should not be a problem, right?
Posted this before, but the Police are very keen on the gun registry. Since monitoring guns in crimes after Mosque shooting, they found that the guns come mostly from legal gun licence holders who onsell to middle-men servicing crims.
You can see how a gun registry would close down this lucrative legal-to-illegal movement of guns (and maybe ammo).
Labour never campaigned on the issue of co-governance, so it is little wonder many people are objecting to the government's efforts to implement it in the new water legislation and the revised RMA rules. It really amounts to a covert attack on democracy.
Some outside the government think they can see which way the wind is blowing. There is an attempt by someone in the NZ Law Society to subject lawyers to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
That might make sense if we all agreed on what those principles are, but as far as I can see no-one can define them because there has been no open debate.
Ok but what about the many many Maori, pasifica, indian and asian voters who are angry with labour, the greens and find the idea of adding TPM to the mix toxic?
Because of the ethnic make up of NZ, a lot of brown people are voting for Nat/act/NZf, (more than vote for the Maori party and the greens combined) and I don't think they are voting for the right because they are racist.
More like they are sick of prices going out of control, noone being able to afford a house to rent and they live in the areas with all the crime and they are god damned sick of it.
A lot of maori are disgusted with the left atm, when watching the news with my whanau and hearing life long Maori labour voters shout "racist" and change the channel when Marama comes on was eye opening.
White people and may have appreciated Maramas comments but noone else did and considering they insulted about 30+% of their own voters …sheesh
A lot of maori support the lefts position on Maori issues, but just as many support nationals position on the treaty.
Heads would explode on the left if national actually ran in all the Maori seats, cos they'd win a couple.
The poll shows that Greens actually performing is critical to a left victory at the election.
Fortunately, the troublemaking Green faction that seems full of the same malcontents, defeatists and saboteurs that flocked to, and destroyed, the parties of the Alliance before decamping to Internet/Mana and then heading off to the mad hatter faction of the Green party appear to have been dealt a severe blow if the Green party list is anything to go by.
Having dealt with the distraction, the Green party is on notice to pull finger and get out there and do it's job. No more excuses.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Greens get their votes back. But, the point I was making, is that the votes they recover will likely be mainly at the expense of Labour. So, the overall left block may not be much better off as a result.
Saint Swarbrick will keep the Greens alive at worst.
The critical difference between this election campaign and the 2005 election when Labour were in a similar position, is that Dr Cullen was prepared to pull out a major populist policy deep into the campaign.
But there's no sign that Robertson has that in the tank.
The lesson of multiple post-2005 campaigns is that the Greens fuck up and Labour has to pull themselves up to win government.
Ad, I have always thought that the Greens would be much stronger if they could move away from the far left stuff, and become more centrist economically, and focus more on environmental issues. And also more effective.
Given history shows that right wing parties have been in power the the majority of time since 1950., then they would be in a position to have a postive effect on Green outcomes, regardless of which of the major parties was in power. And, in my mind, the ability to achieve positive change for the environment trumps any ideological political stuff.
Heck, even I could be tempted to vote Greens in that situation. Probably not with my party vote, to be fair. But, I could well vote for a Greens electorate candidate.
And, in my mind, the ability to achieve positive change for the environment trumps any ideological political stuff.
That is my view too. We need a party with an unabashed focus on the environment.
Hopefully the Greens have the time to pull away from 'weirdo', to me, causes aand focus on the environment, climate change, putting people in the equation for low cost housing/housing. This sector is crying out for new ideas, a focus etc.
There has been a bit of hysteria on twitter with Russian trolls claiming that Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Army, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, was killed or badly injured in a Russian missile strike, and that the Ukrainians have been covering it up for PR reasons. This has been fuelled by the fact that Zaluhnyi hasn't been seen in public for awhile.
Well today, the Ukrainians put out this video. Hilarious trolling of the Russians. Lol.
Muldoon is a famous ex-old boy of Mt Albert Grammar, the school in the article. A friend said he was in sixth form there when Prime Minister Muldoon came to speak at his old school. This was a little after the Springbok tour. My friend stood up and threw a meat pie at Muldoon, hitting him square on. Boys being boys, the assembly burst out laughing.
While my friend wasn't expelled for his action, he was shunned, and left the school a little later.
I have a vague memory of that incident having grown up in Mt Albert.
Another facet of the Muldoon years was – and still is – under wraps. He was not averse to having anyone he perceived as an enemy (whether they were or not) being ostracised, covertly harassed and intimidated – and their careers destroyed.
He was the arsehole of arseholes and should have been publicly outed for his conduct but instead he was shielded by those who should have known better – but didn't.
I went to a school up the road from Parliament, and we certainly knew in fourth form that Muldoon slept around with women looking to add a notch to their bedposts.
Wellington was the sort of town where political gossip zipped round pretty quick. The mistresses goss came up when he rushed legislation for no-fault divorce, and back-dated it so that he was no longer cited as co-respondent in the architect Athfield's divorce. Blatant misuse of the legislature, although the end product was a plus to NZ society.
All this was local knowledge, but of course suppressed in the media. It's not so much the personal morality, it's the back-dating that made Muldoon a corrupt politician.
You clearly know about some of Muldoon's nefarious activities so you will remember the Colin Moyle Affair.
In 1975 while working late in his ministerial office, Moyle received an anonymous phone call from someone claiming to possess documents that proved corruption of some sort occurring inside the Defence Force. The caller (male) arranged to meet Moyle on an inner city street corner to pass over the documents. Moyle went to the rendezvous but the caller never turned up. Instead along came a police patrol car and he was taken in for questioning for suspected homosexual activity. (Homosexuality as it was called then was illegal.)
While Muldoon was not involved in the original set-up, he got to hear about it and he used the information to destroy Moyle's political career. Moyle was being tipped as a future Labour leader. Moyle kept quiet about the phone call – presumably because he knew he would not be believed.
Years later I came to know the identity of the anonymous caller and that is another interesting story. He eventually fled to Australia in strange circumstances where he remained for the rest of his life. He and a close associate (whom I knew well) had been conducting all manner of political pranks and hoaxes – a few of them amusing which were boasted about – but others had a sinister aspect to them. The Moyle Affair was the latter.
It provides a little sunlight into what was going on behind the scenes throughout the Muldoon years in particular.
Hi Anne. How are you? Well, from the small amount you have put on The Standard over the time I have read…you have certainly had some "interesting" (right word? ) life experience. I hope you have come out of it all ok?
No book in a future time?
I rate your comments here pretty highly. FYI I stopped posting on The Standard for quite a while (you prob know why..the sad loss of some awesome posters : (
But there are a few still that make it worthwhile : )
Yes, I nearly parted company permanently with TS over the toxic atmosphere being created. I hope some of those driven away will eventually return.
The plight I found myself engulfed in left their mark. I suffered PTSD for a few years but that is in the past.
It still upsets me though that the culprits were never brought to justice. A lot of people were adversely affected by the appalling behaviour which included among them a few well known cases.
The latest poll showing Nat/ACT can just form a government should be seen in this context where the rolling average shows Lab/Gr/TMP could form a government.
I am not sure of all this so I am seeking information from those who might know.
The recent Horizon poll was a large one with 1500 respondents and a 10% don't know. Also, and most importantly (?), the respondents were those on the roll and practising voters. And again, was the Horizon poll comparable in its methodology- on-line, cell phones , land lines, etc?
Gives info about political polling, which is independent and uncommissioned by any political party, and tries to balance across NZ geography and demography. However, they do solicit for survey members on their website (might sign up!), so they may be polling the same population of respondents. There is a contact email there, so you could always ask them directly.
Yes soliciting survey members creates bias. Horizon's results have usually been different to the main pollsters over many years. I mean while I would love to believe that National is polling 26% per their latest poll, I find this hard to believe.
Crammer's piece on the defunding of DoC is a fucker:
Following last week’s budget, alarm bells have been rung by the Department of Conservation. Just after 5pm on Wednesday, Deputy Director-General for Operations, Mike Tully, sent an email to senior staff advising them of discussions that took place on Monday with the senior leadership team relating to the 2023/24 financial baseline information for the department.
In the leaked email Tully stated, “In summary, it did not paint the desired picture we might have hoped for. To be transparent, the initial view shows that we do not have sufficient funding to cover our basic running costs.”
“There is now alot of urgent work underway to seek clarity on our position,” he wrote.
The immediate effect, as set out in the email, is the introduction of a hiring freeze and a review by Deputy Director-Generals in the department to identify, “how fixed operating cost commitments fit within available funding before budget envelopes are confirmed”.
….
In a NZ Herald article in February, Audrey Young wrote, “Māori hate the Department of Conservation, MPs on the Māori affairs select committee were told this morning by former Conservation Minister Poto Williams.
She said that was what she had been told by Māori Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis last year when she was first appointed minister in charge of the Department of Conservation.
“One of the first things that Minister Davis said to me was that Māori hate DoC,” she told the committee.
“‘They have a really poor relationship with the department so good luck to you sister,” he had said.
Which in my mind confirms that Labour are complicit in the now obvious plan to privatise the Conservation Estate entirely into the hands of a tiny ticket clipping elite.
The idea of nefarious Maori is simply Cranmer on message. Part of the GA orbit towards The Platform and the Wright brothers circling over white children like crows on the cradle.
Do you have an argument? Or just a 'shoot the messenger'?
Is the quoted article wrong in any fashion? Is DoC funding actually increasing? And given the Maori caucus's obviously cosy relationship with TMP – is there any doubt that the plan to privatise the Conservation Estate is still shuffling forwards?
Because if that was the plan, then this relentless defunding of DoC would be an obvious step along the way.
As for the seabed and foreshore – what fraction of that was held by foreign overseas private owners? Compared to say the fraction of New Zealand that would be privatised if we lost public control of the Conservation Estate?
I'd simply point out that most budgets got limited increases (part from for wage increases to staff) for the year ahead. Conservation was/is no exception.
To try and connect that to some conspiracy theory with a bit of gossip is hardly a serious case. It's peddling a dubious narrative because it suits an agenda.
Some people are susceptible to that, some are not.
You made the claim of relentless defunding – on what basis?
In the leaked email Tully stated, “In summary, it did not paint the desired picture we might have hoped for. To be transparent, the initial view shows that we do not have sufficient funding to cover our basic running costs.”
“There is now alot of urgent work underway to seek clarity on our position,” he wrote.
All the evidence this is the end point of a process that has been going on for a lot longer than just this year:
The department is known to have been chronically underfunded for years but it has now reached crisis point as the government has required DoC to deliver on an increasing number of core programmes and take responsibility for the maintenance of a third of New Zealand’s total land, whilst not matching the annual increases in wages and inflation.
A reality confirmed by my own connections with the hunting and tramping community who report an obvious rundown of many backcountry huts, especially those that do not have a local community looking after them.
And it is not a lack of money that seems to be the problem:
Jobs for Nature is unaffected by this current squeeze as its funding is ring-fenced. The controversial programme is described by the government as a $1.2 billion programme that manages funding across multiple government agencies, including the Department of Conservation, to benefit the environment, people and the regions. It is part of the Covid-19 recovery package. The programme was created in 2020 and is intended to run for four years.
That raises an obvious question – if $1.2b is not enough to keep DoC's core functions going – exactly where is this money going? And into whose pockets?
To read the full article, I would have top pay "Cranmer" $100.
The article stating the "underfunding has been going on for years" – is not evidence.
A lot of ECE's also report a problem with lack of funding – some fund-raise to get around that.
It's likely a lot of the huts came from the community in the first place.
And it is not a lack of money that seems to be the problem:
It is, if the Department cannot perform core functions because of a lack of it. But this appears to be a new problem for the year ahead.
The Jobs for Nature programme was for job creation in local communities to prevent unemployment from COVID. It has no connection to DOC core function funding.
They have a diverse history originating over time from within tramping and hunting clubs, the old NZFS, the National Park Service and so on. But they are now all legally owned by DoC. Some huts continue to be looked after by local clubs or in some cases just groups of individuals who put their own time and sometimes funds into looking after them. DoC will usually create some kind of 'management plan' with this group.
I cannot put an exact fraction that are maintained in this manner, but I would hazard a guess that it is less than 200 nationally.
You can see the contrast in the Tararua's. Huts such as Blue Range, Mitre Flats and Roaring Stag that are community maintained are doing well – even when they're 70yrs old like Blue Range. By contrast the DoC maintained Tarn Ridge which is just a few km deeper into the range and was built in 2003 is now listed as unsafe by DoC :
Water damaged in a storm three years ago – recently I spotted a YT clip that briefly revealed serious mold and water damage. DoC clearly aren't able to fix this.
And this is just one representative glimpse of a much larger problem Anyone who has any knowledge of the situation on the ground recognises DoC has been underfunded for ages. But what we're seeing now is a government with senior Ministers expressing open hostility toward it – to the point where even it's core functions are under threat.
And yes why was Jobs for Nature separated out in the first place? $1.2b is a lot of money – and now COVID is over and NZ is running short on labour the justification has evaporated. Exactly where is this ‘ring-fenced’ four year funding going to?
the initial view shows that we do not have sufficient funding to cover our basic running costs.
and the problem of historic lack of funding
The new hut in 2003 indicates an extension of provision while Clark was PM and United was a support partner.
The DOC budget pressure 2023-2024 appears to be a new development, unrelated to problems in maintaining DOC assets.
Presumably DOC focuses on maintaining assets used by tourists and the cost of this is going up (pressure of numbers) and the constant creation of new walks for such purposes and also locals adds new costs. It may be that consequent from that resources for existing huts (tramper and hunter use) are becoming more limited.
The new hut in 2003 indicates an extension of provision while Clark was PM and United was a support partner.
My bad – I misread an entry on Hutbagger – the actual date was 1993. By contrast similarly exposed Blue Range – the two huts are almost within sight of each other – was built in 1954 and is still in good nick having been looked after all that time by a local tramping club.
It doesn't take too much, just a couple of guys with basic building and handyman skills to fix leaks, broken doors, windows and fireplaces. Done it myself a few times. DoC being a govt dept does tend to overcook these things, but then that's govt for you.
Tarn Ridge was perfectly fine when I was last there in 2011 when I was stuck there on my own for three nights in relentlessly bad weather. But clearly storm damage in 2020 has not been fixed and the place is going downhill fast. This is a well used hut that sees thousands of people annually; three years later and still nothing. It's diagnostic of a problem under this govt.
Under this government? Historic underfunding did not occur 2008-2017?
There are two ways of managing the problem of funding maintenance of DOC assets
1 contract out the job to a an agency working for DOC – the contract specifies an obligation to fund the bill for the maintenance services (based on need, such as damage by weather). The work is then not dependent on there being available finance.
2 DOC actively seeks out "community" partners to assist in managing huts used by hunters and trampers.
Well at least we both agree DoC has been chronically underfunded by a series of govts – except I would say under Helen Clark whose well known love for our outdoors might well have made a difference.
But the evidence is there that under this Labour govt there is downright hostility toward DoC and that a chronically poor situation has now become critically bad.
And I have focused on hut maintenance because I am moderately familiar with this aspect – but DoC have a much wider remit than this. What other wheels are falling off the DoC machine that we are not seeing? What other programs are being quietly shelved or wound down in ways that are not obvious to the public?
All the while $1.2b of funding is being thrown at a temporary make work scheme, which might well be doing some short term good, but no-one can tell us whether it was good value or not.
I don't accept that there is downright, or any other, hostility to DOC.
Costs of maintenance are clearly going up (worker costs and regulatory) and weather events are worse, and in that environment budget constraint is problematic.
That then exposes long held concerns about resourcing to a new level – what is called a critical moment in time. That is either resolved by the public service doing an internal administration review or a political party does it for them.
At the moment, it would seem that isolated huts (or where there are two only one is kept up to standard) are being left to die on the vine because they cost more than the others to maintain.
Tarn Ridge is not 'isolated' – it has long been a well used, important point of safety for three decades. As I said when I was there in 2011 and it was 20yrs old it was perfectly fine – and was absolutely instrumental in saving my life on that occasion. Letting it 'die on the vine' makes no sense whatsoever to anyone slightly familiar with the context.
That after three years DoC have not been able to fix water leaks caused by a storm three years ago before they go on to cause serious and much more expensive damage, is diagnostic of a much wider problem. This is basic stuff any asset manager knows how to deal with in the normal course of events; there will be a R&M budget for exactly this work.
But now it seems there is not. And that is not normal at all.
It is hard to know, but it is likely there was no immediate response at Tarn Ridge because of the pandemic. That would have led to a subsequent greater cost. The budget would still be there, but if there is a budget under stress and if one can do 4 other huts for the major cost at one, guess what happens.
At some point someone will make the case that Tarn Ridge and X, Y and Z damaged in 2020 were not fixed because of the pandemic and make a case for extra funding. Or otherwise wait for community activism to help them out of a hole.
Well that is well and good, but senior public servants do not write emails saying this when things are normal:
Following last week’s budget, alarm bells have been rung by the Department of Conservation. Just after 5pm on Wednesday, Deputy Director-General for Operations, Mike Tully, sent an email to senior staff advising them of discussions that took place on Monday with the senior leadership team relating to the 2023/24 financial baseline information for the department.
In the leaked email Tully stated, “In summary, it did not paint the desired picture we might have hoped for. To be transparent, the initial view shows that we do not have sufficient funding to cover our basic running costs.”
“There is now alot of urgent work underway to seek clarity on our position,” he wrote.
It's obvious from this an already thin and stretched Department is going to be once again gutted of skilled and capable staff. Damage that might take a decade to recover from – if ever.
Given that we know the problem is not a lack of govt funding they're willing to spend in this area – the obvious question is why is this govt apparently determined to strangle DoC to the point of failure?
Nah – we've seen all of this before. Certain Ministers in this govt are laying the conditions for the Conservation Estate to be privatised.
Given that we know the problem is not a lack of govt funding they're willing to spend in this area – the obvious question is why is this govt apparently determined to strangle DoC to the point of failure?
The COVID spending was not evidence of that, if there had been previous under funding (no compensation for higher regulatory costs?) over decades – multiple administrations.
Nah – we've seen all of this before.Certain Ministers in this govt are laying the conditions for the Conservation Estate to be privatised.
What is the connection between what we have seen before and certain Ministers in the current government – you've only named one and based your opinion on a singular meaning of what was reportedly said?
The last time a two term Labour administration went into an election, National under the leadership of the future ACT leader, Brash, ran the iwi or Kiwi campaign – to get into power and allocate surpluses out as tax cuts (and under invest in infrastructure – delayed to 2008 – and so here we are).
This time it's the threat of privatising the Conservation Estate or Maori co-governance of public assets – both cannot be true can they?
This time it's the threat of privatising the Conservation Estate or Maori co-governance of public assets – both cannot be true can they?
Co-governance is a trojan horse. The most cursory examination of what is being openly said is that the goal is to privatise the entire estate into the hands of the tribal elites.
The issue is then based on Labour preferring co-governance arrangements (as a convenience to balance sheet separation – which allows easier and cheaper finance and also plays its part in meeting indigenous rights obligations – UN Declaration) and ambition among Maori to recover public land assets to iwi.
And by linking one to the other, re-visit Iwi or Kiwi. Because TPM would prefer a co-governance partner in government to National.
However if National do get in, do not be surprised if they do a co-governance arrangement themselves – they signed the UN Declaration, they set up whanau ora, they reversed the F and S legislation.
As one involved a million years ago with the environmental restructuring in 1987 it was well known that back then DoC started out with a basic underfunding and has had to work with this and addtional underfunding since then.
DoC has been under constant watch/fear of losing more funding, of losing staff, etc etc. This has manifested itself in constant restructruings, pulling back from regular maintenance so that yearly plans become two yearly plans. DoC have had staff who have worked had and been nimble in their actions to get/keep a presence.
I would venture that the old settler mentality of using everything is alive and well in NZ. So the concept of national parks, of ecological reserves, empty spaces ete, the Conservation estate, the lungs of NZ's world, is not known or appreciated.
I think it would be instructive if we could get some of the old stagers to advise on the 1987 underfunding and bring it forward through to the present day.
I would agree with much of this. DoC have always been a bit of a Cinderella Dept.
So the concept of national parks, of ecological reserves, empty spaces ete, the Conservation estate, the lungs of NZ's world, is not known or appreciated.
The same cannot be said for the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders and the even larger numbers of visitors to this country – who deeply and passionately value the Conservation Estate. I agree we could do so much better than we are.
So how galling would it have been for DoC watch $1.2b of funding get dished out – all over the place it seems – while the peak body responsible for conservation in this country seems to have gotten only crumbs?
No more galling than for health and education workers wanting a wage increase or those who wanted a house at income related rent.
Cranmer and National want to discredit the continuance of 4 year Jobs for Nature and other COVID spending programmes because they want the money to fund their tax cuts. They do not intend to place the money with DOC.
Why should this Jobs for Nature scheme be immune to scrutiny? It was a lot of ding that has clearly come at a cost to DoC who are in principle the long-term manager of the estate.
Or maybe some Ministers in this govt are happy to see them fail.
Clearly it's not possible to convince someone, who wants to believe in a conspiracy theory, that it is not true.
All I can do is identify the motives of those who created it, and what their purpose is.
The provision of COVID money was for temporary use, not the funding of longer term government programmes. It is either spent for that purpose, or not spent at all. It does not get re-allocated.
National understands that point, even if you do not.
Ring fencing funds is an entirely political decision. Clearly the original justification for the fund – a make work scheme under supposedly emergency conditions – is now well passed.
If the "Jobs for Nature" funds are not spent, no-one piles up a stack of $100 notes and sets fire to them. The funds might not be 're-allocated' in a direct sense, but the General Fund that is now better off can readily re-use the funds elsewhere.
The money not used is for debt repayment or general economic purpose – such as post COVID inflation cost management. The chance of it being placed into department spending (funded out of annual finance resources) is zero. At best a capital project, or now to flood damage assistance.
I am quite aware that govt Budgets are subject to arcane, complex and intentionally confounding processes – but ultimately it is a political decision to starve DoC of funds.
Yes agree…..'Maori elite' to me means that they've well and truly quaffed the Koolaid from sources like Brash, Hide, Julian Batchelor….maybe the same ones that are having trouble finding Govt Depts to complain too because they have all got 'Mowree' names now.
Not too sure what you are meaning RL. But the numbering seems to be a criticism of my view of the RW trope of the so-called Maori Elite. I view this as an attempt to be divisive/smearing.
Time at a marae, does not come into it.
Of course the Maori who want to use Treaty payouts to feed the family now and in the future are always going to get bad press from the ones who would rather have it now and spend it now……always have, always will.
Why not? If memory serves me it was about 9 different marae in very rural settings spread over the King Country, Urewera and the East Coast. Probably every third weekend or so over most of a decade in the 80's.
Usually stayed the Friday and Saturday night, longer if it was a tangi. Many important memories and experiences, and much of what I learned shaped the views I am expressing here.
Like being vehemently told off by a kaumatua for trying to pretend to be something I was not. A part of me still smarts a bit typing that out.
It is staggering that DoC hasn't absorbed the massive private sector efforts for conservation when private individuals of means are clearly able to put up serious money to do so.
There's the Tasti Products guy retoring 24,000 hectares:
DoC's engagement with conservation and maintenance oriented communities has been a bit hit and miss. For the most part local staff seem to have been very receptive – but Head Office syndrome seems to be the handbrake all too often.
So yes it makes sense that where they had the resources some groups have struck out on their own. But then again without the long-term backing and security of the state you have to wonder how many of these fine efforts will still be around in 100 yrs time?
The point you make about a lack of coordination is a good one, but this conversation goes back decades. Hell groups like Permolat were founded sometime in the early 2000's – the real question here is the evident hostility toward DoC from senior Ministers in this govt who seem quite happy for DoC to be seen to fail.
Well if you had been reading the thread – the quote above mentions Kelvin Davis for one. Of course we could speculate on the context , but the underlying hostility seems plain enough.
The warning can be taken in more ways from one. PW has Cook Island ancestry and was informed that Maori electorate MP's worked with local iwi and their relationships with DOC made the Minister's position more complicated when Labour was in government, more so since TPM was around as competition.
One of the problems is the red tape. There are plenty of eager volunteers wanting to help, but because of Health and Safety they must be supervised and there must be RAMS for each job, the cost of staff to do this must be found out of budget.
Yes. This is a long standing challenge – the interface between well-meaning people wanting to do the right thing and a govt department that has legal and public accountability is naturally full of tensions.
I can have some understanding for DoC – imagine the horrendous blowback on them if as a result of some poorly controlled volunteer work something catastrophic happened. Think something like Cave Creek. Looking back that was a pivotal moment that forever swept away a lot of the old school – get in, get it done, she'll be right attitude that made the old NZFS such a legend for those of us old enough to remember them.
But then again govts never quite seem to be able to apply commonsense to these matters, which is why you get the ludicrous spectacle of prominent "Fire Exit" signs in tiny bivs with just two bunks and one door just a few paces away.
Maybe someone should form a national trust for the purposes of supporting various campaigns – information about the legal issues and red tape and access to legal and other support provided free of charge.
You have railed against the Urewera settlement as privatisation. But that was considered through the tribunal process to be a fair settlement for a much larger loss of traditional lands, and assorted skullduggery by Seddon's government in nabbing the Urewera estate in the first place.
"The Crown apologises to Tūhoe for past dealings that breached the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi. These include:
indiscriminate raupatu, wrongful killings, and years of scorched earth warfare
denying Tūhoe the right of a self governing Urewera Reserve by subverting the Urewera District Native Reserve Act 1896
excluding Tūhoe from the establishment of Te Urewera National Park over their homelands
wrongly treating Lake Waikaremoana as Crown property for many years. "
'Privatisation' or 'return to rightful owners'. My bet's on the second.
Yes. It took medicine about 300 years to properly recognise the impact of Vitamin C in eliminating scurvy. These days the pace seems only a little quicker.
Royal Navy surgeon James Lind was the first westerner to join the dots.
Since antiquity in some parts of the world, and since the 17th century in England, it had been known that citrus fruit had an antiscorbutic effect. John Woodall (1570–1643), an English military surgeon of the British East India Company recommended them[7] but their use did not become widespread. John Fryer (1650–1733) too noted in 1698 the value of citrus fruits in curing sailors of scurvy.[8] Although Lind was not the first to suggest citrus as a cure for scurvy, he was the first to study its effect by a systematic experiment in 1747.[9] It was one of the first reported, controlled, clinical experiments in history, particularly because of its use of control groups.[2]
At some point the return to apprenticeships will include public service worker training, if only to ensure the capability to deliver services.
In the meantime, I would end the requirement to repay TL to those working in Enzed health and education (this maintains the incentive to work here after training) – that with increasing wages to the Oz level (and keeping housing costs to no higher or less than that across the ditch).
In a global shortage environment we have to focus on maintaining first world society standards.
The shortage has been artificially accentuated by removing 4-5 years of productive working life from the future workforce…all based on some theoretical increase in our bodies ability to work to an ever expanding timeframe. That functional working life (for the overwhelming majority) is around 40 years…or 80,000 hours…and we chose to reduce it in many instances by around 10-12%.
Tertiary trainee nurses get a lot of in-hospital training especially in years 2 and 3, the main difference is that they dont get paid for it but the hospitals get money for having them there as it soaks up a bit of "buddy "time from full time nurses guiding them along. Young nurses used to be used as arse wipers and cleaner uppers but a lot of that appears to be done by nurse aids now. Year 1 is a lot of getting them up to speed on the maths and science. Nurses now do quite a bit of the care that doctors used to do hence the requirement for a high level of competency in the science etc.
The ability for those with the desire and ability to expand their 'qualifications' existed under the in house regime and senior nursing staff were able to lighten the load of more "qualified' medical professionals…as it ever was.
It did and does make sense to move to use nurse aides and cleaners rather than nurse interns. That said, it did allow the interns some paid work/free board in hostels during their training period.
The CEO has cost the council a lot of money getting rid of staff – so they could call the cost of his removal an investment to improve the council as place to work.
"One of the men at the centre of the stand-off at Gore District Council was given a two-year contract extension just two days before the new council was elected"
Gore is intent on outing itself as an urban hovel run by incumbents who are incompetent.
A secret decision before the election to renew the contract that was not due for renewal until September this year … this is the sort of thing that occurs when corrupt things have been swept under the carpet and they do not want anyone to find out. That, or the CEO is a sociopath and has them all cowered.
"the council issued a statement to Newsroom in Parry's name confirming it had paid $413,000 in severance payments to around 20 staff between 2005 and 2022"
"in late 2007 Parry made a surprise visit to the London home of one of the complainants, former chief financial officer Doug Walker. It resulted in Walker seeking a restraining order against Parry for threatening behaviour"
Bad blood feud as well, in that small-town way. The new Mayor's mother was one of the senior council staff who left/was pushed out in the previous term. It is highly likely she encouraged her son to run, and past events possibly spoiled the chance for a professional working relationship from the start.
Read a little further into the article you link to for the very reasonable reason why government did not agree to Spark's diversion of $24 mi from rapid 5G roll-out to weather-proofing existing plant.
"Digital Economy and Communications Minister Ginny Andersen said the Government did not want to upset the three linked contracts – with Spark, 2degrees and One NZ (formerly Vodafone) – to improve provincial and rural connectivity.
“To re-open negotiations with all three telcos to consider Spark’s proposal would have held up the acceleration of 5G rollout and other important rural connectivity initiatives,” she said in a statement on Thursday."
Perhaps Spark should cough up a little more of its own money for future-proofing equipment?
Waka Kotahi contract out local road maintenance, and clearly this contractual relationship is breaking down, in part probably due to increased rainfall in many regions.
Ues for gods sake that rapist is no woman. I really feel for his victim, a man, who endured a sadistic rape. And now his attacker/rapist is referred to as a she.
The polls are so close and are constantly within the margin of error they could go either way but this feels like a throw the bums out election.
Its too close and the lefts voters, especially young people are notoriously bad at showing up to vote and Hipkins is not a popular, Luxon is actually doing ok as an opposition leader, they never poll well, but Hipkins as an incumbent? Awful.
If labour wanted an everyman working class bloke, they should have gone with Kieren McNulty, who is insanely likeable and real and doesn't seem like an ai robot calculating a response whenever asked a question like Chris.
And then you've got the fact labour has delivered bugger all in two terms, with a majority so noone young believes a damn thing will change if they get a third term so there's no passion at all in campaigning or turning out the vote.
Annnnd a labour/green govt having to rely on the votes of a separatist radical party like TPM is going to make people stay home, protest vote or hold their noses and privately vote for the Tory's while they publicly say they voted Lab/green.
I hope TOP and NZF both win and electorate, I hope National has to rely on them both to form a govt to moderate Act…and I think both have a place in parliament…
I also hope …one day…. We can get a party that represents workers and renters and the poor cos all we currently have a parties that represent upper middle class urban liberals and upper middle class rural moderate conservative liberals
Open access notables Multiple studies indicate changes in the properties of Antarctic bottom water (AABW) over the past half century. These changes involve density and hence will affect both local and distant circulation of the oceans, not least overturning effects that are vital for marine biology but also climate and ...
Completed reads for May: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by Jules Verne Round the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne The Secret of the Island, by Jules Verne From the Earth ...
Ben Roberts-Smith is apparently "Australia’s most decorated living soldier", having won a Victoria Cross for killing people in Afghanistan. But today, after a stupendous self-own defamation case, he's also been proven to be a war criminal who committed multiple murders: Ben Roberts-Smith VC, Australia’s most decorated living soldier, has ...
Hey Uncle Dave, My house got wrecked in the summer floods. Do you know if the government’s got any plans to help me, or are they too busy making bilingual road signs?Noah InsuranceYou picked a good day to ask, Noah, the Govt has just announced there’ll be an offer of ...
The government has looked at imposing a tax on nitrogen fertiliser, used heavily in NZ agriculture, but yesterday Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor conceded he had not convinced farming leaders to go ahead with it. ACT”s Mark Cameron claimed credit in Parliament for “killing” the plan. Both Federated ...
Are women the new Māori?Since Christopher Luxon has been leader National have shown they’re prepared to throw Māori under a bus. Be it not wanting them to have a seat at the table on water management, referring to the Treaty as a “little experiment”, or the monocultural candidate selection polices ...
Are women the new Māori?Since Christopher Luxon has been leader National have shown they’re prepared to throw Māori under a bus. Be it not wanting them to have a seat at the table on water management, referring to the Treaty as a “little experiment”, or the monocultural candidate selection polices ...
Buzz from the Beehive An email from Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta had yet to be posted on the government’s official website, when Point of Order made its morning check on our ministers and what they are (officially) up to. She was providing us with an account – a ...
Multiple reviews are examining options to address a $25M to $40M funding hole in its operating budget and a reported $300M, 70,000 hour maintenance backlog for huts, tracks and visitor assets.Thomas Cranmer writes – Following Friday’s revelation that Budget 2023has left the Department of Conservation ...
Property values fell a further 0.7% in May from April across Aotearoa, but Core Logic sees evidence in the data “the current downturn is winding up.” Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: There are fresh signs this morning the housing market-with-bits-tacked-on economy is brightening up going into winter, and just ...
This is a cross post by Malcom McCracken at Better things are possible. It was from between when National signalled their change in housing policy but before they announced it but highlights why the Medium Density Residential Standards are important. Yesterday, the leader of the National Party, Christopher Luxon, ...
Do the global climate models (GCMs) we use for describing future climate change really capture the change and variations in the region that we want to study? There are widely used tools for evaluating global climate models, such as the ESMValTool, but they don’t provide the answers that I ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). The world is getting hotter and the headlines are scary. So does climate change mean the world is about to pass ...
Politik (paywalled) reports that He waka eke noa, the farmers' scam to have the rest of us subsidise their emissions forever, so they can keep on destroying the planet, is dead: Reality appears to be about to shatter Jacinda Ardern's dream that New Zealand could lead the world in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two ministerial press statements today draw attention to the Government’s incorporation of mātauranga Māori in its science policies and programmes. One of these announced the launch of the national space policy, which will oblige our space boffins to bring indigenous knowledge into their considerations. The ...
The Stations of the Cross, as all of us know from our devout and Godly ways, is a series of fourteen stations that depict the final hours in the story of Christ our Lord - appearing before Pilate, shouldering the wooden cross, whistling the Monty Python tune, so on and ...
The Stations of the Cross, as all of us know from our devout and Godly ways, is a series of fourteen stations that depict the final hours in the story of Christ our Lord - appearing before Pilate, shouldering the wooden cross, whistling the Monty Python tune, so on and ...
The Herald reports on a trivial but telling incident from Parliament: Labour Cabinet Minister Kiri Allan read the wrong speech at the third reading of a freedom camping bill in Parliament last night. She re-read almost word for word a speech given at the Self-contained Motor Vehicles Legislation bill’s ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Very well-intentioned politicians, judges and others have taken New Zealand down into a Treaty rabbit hole, from which few know how to exit without creating more social divisions. The modern interpretations of the Maori version of Treaty have set aside a common understanding of ...
It’s like deja-vu all over again. House prices are primed to surge 10-20% soon after any clear National-ACT win on October 14. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: There are increasing signs in economists’ forecasts, auction clearance rates, migration rates, divergent tax policies and house building rates that a clear ...
I did something yesterday that I hadn’t done in ages. Watch Oral Questions in parliament. I’m not sure what happened in all the episodes I missed, but nothing much seemed to have changed.For those unfamiliar, Question Time takes place in parliament at 2pm each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the ...
Slow Learner: Effective leaders develop a political “muscle memory” of their own. The National Party should get one.SPEAKING IN PUBLIC tops most people’s list of fearful situations. There are some careers, however, for which public fluency is a non-negotiable pre-requisite. There’s little point in pursuing an acting career, for example, ...
Reality appears to be about to shatter Jacinda Ardern’s dream that New Zealand could lead the world in showing how to deal with farm emissions. The Government is facing a breakdown in negotiations over its much-vaunted He Waka Eke Noa deal with farmers to price greenhouse gas emissions and ...
Hi,Webworm won a Voyager media award over the weekend for “Best Team Investigation”! This would not have been possible without readers. Without you. Thank you.Also, there’s a new Flightless Bird out today, where I look at drug rehab clinics in Florida. I talk to three former addicts, and their stories ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive The Government is coy about some aspects of its relationship with China – and with the United States. Earlier this month, the PM spent a hectic 23 hours in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, where he responded to the superpower security deal just ...
What do Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and your daily newspaper all have in common? They all tell tales of imaginary worlds.In Game of Thrones the honourable Stark family find themselves in deadly conflict with the ruthless House of Lannister.In the NZ Herald the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins finds himself ...
What do Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and your daily newspaper all have in common? They all tell tales of imaginary worlds.In Game of Thrones the honourable Stark family find themselves in deadly conflict with the ruthless House of Lannister.In the NZ Herald the Rt Hon Chris Hipkins finds himself ...
In 2022 the government announced a periodic review of the Intelligence and Security Act, the legislation governing New Zealand's spies. Yesterday the review presented its report, Taumaru: Protecting Aotearoa New Zealand as a Free, Open and Democratic Society. Its a chunky read, and I'm not finished yet, but from the ...
The Charities Services decision to require the Waipareira Trust to claw back $385,000 of interest-free loans from John Tamihere brings renewed attention to the links between Whānau Ora and the Trust.Thomas Cranmer writes – Revelations earlier this month in the Herald that the social services charity Waipareira ...
National has developed a novel election strategy. It involves being both for and against almost every issue that comes down the pike. The use of te reo on public signage? Recently National Party leader Christopher Luxon came out against the bi-lingual use of te reo in the naming of government ...
Anti-densification residents’ and ratepayers’ groups are cock-a-hoop over National’s partial backflip on MDRS over the weekend and have ramped up their campaigns to stop densification in their areas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: NIMBY groups are cock-a-hoop this morning, calling on councils and the Government to completely abandon the MDRS housing ...
It’s been two months but today the Auckland Transport board meet for again. There’s a lot on the agenda so I can’t cover it all in this post but here are some of the highlights from their regular board papers. The open session starts at 9am and can be watched on ...
This story by Aaron Cantú was originally published in Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Monic Uriarte was thrilled to get approved for an affordable apartment in Los Angeles’ University Park, close to USC. But soon after she and her ...
This incomplete picture speaks of everything we love most about a summer holiday in Aotearoa: The bach, the beach, the barbecue, the sand, the christmas ham sandwiches, the serenity.We love it, don’t we, Aotearoa? Getting away to somewhere warm and quiet with a high tide and a hammock. And if ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers who took time out from the Labour Party congress to attend to portfolio duties were focused largely on promoting the country’s interests overseas. The statements with the widest implications dealt with: Trade – Damien O’Connor joined ministerial representatives at a meeting in Detroit, USA, ...
In the last year of a second term in government. the election outcome shouldn’t even be close. All that’s required for a competent Opposition to be streets ahead in the polls, is an ability to look like a credible government-in-waiting. Instead, we’ve got a very tight contest. There’s a reason ...
The Herald reports that WINZ debt has reached the staggering total of $2.4 billion, with the usual racism and sexism in who owes and how much they pay: Anti-poverty groups say the poorest Kiwis are caught in a debt trap as the total amount of money owed to the ...
There was a poll last week which asked if now was the right time for a tax cut. Which is quite an odd thing to ask really, don’t you think?We’ve got to pay back the money used to keep paying people and stop businesses going under during the pandemic. Our ...
The Treasury released its budget economic forecasts. What do they say about the economy over the next four months?Brian Easton writes – Let me begin me with an irritation. One post-budget headline was ‘Treasury optimistic over recession risk in Budget 2023‘. Treasury being optimistic is almost an ...
As a politician swallowing a rat under a very public spotlight, Chris Bishop gave a spirited and relatively smooth account of himself yesterday. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Chris Bishop has detailed National’s new housing policy for Election 2023 that confirms a National Government would not force councils ...
After signalling it a week ago, yesterday National launched their new housing policy which abandons their support for the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) that they had worked with the government to deliver back in 2021 and shifts the focus to more sprawl. Overall there are three key areas National ...
The audacity of National’s “u-turn” over housing intensification is an extraordinary slap in the face for Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis. If it does nothing else, it raises questions about their political judgement, not for the first time.. Some in the Caucus have still not forgiven them for their ...
As the general election approaches, the Association of Former Members of the Parliament of New Zealand has organised an essay competition to to foster democracy. Secondary school students are being challenged to identify the important elements of a successful democracy, explain their value and consider whether they can be improved ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: For paying subscribers, here's my pick of the week’s top six news developments, quotes and charts of the week with my personal reflections, plus my suggestions for Sunday reading and listening. There’s also one fun thing. In summary this week, my six takeaways were:Christopher ...
With Open Arms: Is it at all reasonable to suppose that a colonial society in which whites traditionally occupied all the upper rungs of the ethnic hierarchy, and where the colonised were relegated to the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, will respond positively to a concerted indigenous push from below, ...
Hi,Just a quick online-only update that Webworm won “Best Team Investigation” last night at the Voyagers.This means a lot, especially considering we were up against giant newsrooms like Stuff and TVNZ:WINNER: David Farrier and Hayden Donnell | Webworm – The Downward Spiral of Arise ChurchJUDGES: Alan Sunderland and Ali Ikram“This ...
May 28, 2025.Ladies and gentlemen. It’s a beautiful clear morning here in Auckland City. We’re heading for a maximum temperature of 14 degrees, and the local time is now 10:30am. Please remain seated if you’d like to, or get up and walk around the plane if you prefer. New regulations ...
Somebody has made a new survey and it tells us this little waterlogged nation of ours is rocketing up the misery charts. Maybe they took it before the sun came back out.Or maybe they took it any time in the last two years. Because negativity is quite surely the new ...
The appointment of Elizabeth Longworth as Chair of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO was one of just two press statements on the government’s official website today. Perhaps that’s because ministers have been busy preparing speeches for the Labour Party faithful who have gathered in Wellington for the party’s ...
Alarm bells have been rung by the department after its Deputy Director-General for Operations warns, ‘the initial view shows that we do not have sufficient funding to cover our basic running costs’.Thomas Cranmer writes – Following last week’s budget, alarm bells have been rung by the Department ...
Luxon went after the NIMBY vote, declaring National’s 2021 bipartisan deal with Labour to make it much easier to put three townhouses on a regular section ‘wrong’. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: The week’s news in Aotearoa’s political economy I covered via The Kākā for subscribers included:The Labour ...
Hello! This is the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the week.Here’s what you may have missed.Last Sunday’s column was about the budget A big chunk of this year’s budget coverage was brought to us by the words crass, gauche and venal. The big questions ...
Hi,Usually Webworms are quite focussed — this one is the opposite. No rhyme or reason. A bit like my brain: sometimes ultra-focussed, other times utterly unable to settle on a goddamn thing. And as we head into the weekend, there are a bunch of things buzzing around in my head ...
The Mainstream Media, and especially the New Zealand Herald, regularly carry misinformed columns on the causes of the country’s low-grade economic performance over recent years. One old codger, John Gascoigne, who describes himself as “a Cambridge-based economic commentator” (not the university, alas!) correctly told us early this week that New ...
The Treasury released its budget economic forecasts. What do they say about the economy over the next four months?Let me begin me with an irritation. One post-budget headline was ‘Treasury optimistic over recession risk in Budget 2023'. Treasury being optimistic is almost an oxymoron. They fire down the centre.It is ...
Photo by Ron Fung on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with special guests:5.00 pm ...
1. Who most likely gave LOTO Luxon the idea to pull the rug on the urban density policy?a. A leading thinker on affordable housing b. A leading thinker on 15 minute cities c. A leading thinker on sustainable urban planning d. National-Party-supporting property developers2 . With what was this illustration made?a. Artificial inseminationb. ...
Buzz from the BeehivePoint of Order tallied $314.4 million of spending in the latest ministerial statements posted on the government’s official website. This includes a lump of money to – yes, really – help identify businesses in tourism and hospitality which treat their staffs well and to fund the ...
It’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour from midday (my apologies for the late start today), including:the Government’s payment of $130 million of Climate Emergency Fund money to NZ Steel to help it cut ...
National/ACT would have 62 seats in a 120 seat Parliament if the latest poll results were replicated in the October election, but micro-movements around the median and the size of Te Pāti Māori’s caucus will decide who governs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: National/ACT could govern alone after October ...
Welcome to Friday – again! Hard to believe we’re almost in June. Here’s our latest roundup of stories that caught our eye this week. The Week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt covered the transport highlights from this year’s Budget. On Tuesday, Matt asked if the end is ...
What should one make of the Reserve Bank Governor’s extraordinary donation of a hostage to fortune in forecasting an end to interest rate hikes? Conspiracy theorists will be scratching their tinfoil hats and mumbling about positioning for a whacking great payoff on being forced out by a new government. ...
Shocking The Pakeha: An entirely forgivable impulse, some might say, given how easily so many Pakeha are shocked. Merely to suggest that Te Tiriti o Waitangi should be taken seriously is sufficient to set some Pakeha off. Others are shocked by the inclusion of more than a word or two ...
During New Zealand First coalition negotiations our policy was to train and resource 1800 new frontline police. We secured this coalition policy win to ensure our streets had a police force that could tackle crime - after years of neglect. Remember those previous nine years of neglect saw a ‘tag ...
Katie Kenny from Stuff published an article today with a lazy attempt at so-called ‘fact checking’ my recent comments on the World Health Organisation’s concerning new regulations being developed. What is most surprising is that throughout this entire ‘fact checking’ process, Kenny never once rang me asking for my side ...
The National Party has released another confused and rushed policy that will only further worsen the inequality that is driven by unaffordable housing. ...
Welcome to sunny and calm Wellington, which I know those of you who are visiting would of course expect to be the case. It’s been a busy week since we put forward the 2023 Budget. Labour MPs have been out across the motu giving the good oil on the Budget. ...
Kia orana, Talofa lava, Mālo e lelei, Taloha ni, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Noa’ia e mauri, Ni sa bula vinaka, Kia ora, Tena Koutou Katoa. Labour Party President Jill Day, Prime Minister Hipkins, Party faithful, delegates and comrades, whānau and friends, it’s a privilege to be here today. I begin my ...
One of my kaumātua up North stood before the Waitangi Tribunal and said: ‘He aha kē ahau, te tangata kore hara i mua i te Atua, e tu nei kia whakawaatia e koe, te tangata tāhae, te tangata hara, te tangata kore tikanga?Ko koe kē te tika, kia tū ...
New Zealanders will be highly concerned that the World Health Organisation proposes to effectively take control of independent decision making away from sovereign countries and place control with the Director General. W.H.O International Health Regulations on future outbreaks of disease aim to give the Director General extraordinary and wide-sweeping powers. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take responsibility for reducing inflation by taxing wealth instead of leaving RBNZ to continue hiking the Official Cash Rate. ...
The Green Party has released its list of candidates for the 2023 election. With a mix of familiar faces, fresh new talent, and strong tangata whenua voices, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to set the direction of the next Government. ...
Thank you for your invitation to be here, after yesterday's budget, and for the opportunity to talk with you. In the economic and social turmoil following the arrival of COVID 19 in New Zealand many concerns emerged. How would we keep our economy going and maintain our exports which are ...
At the heart of Budget 2023 is a cost of living package, designed to ease the pressure on New Zealanders in the face of global inflation and the challenges of rebuilding from extreme weather events. It provides practical cost of living relief across some of the core expenses facing Kiwis ...
A long standing Green Party policy has been extended yet again in this year’s Budget. This will deliver warmer homes for thousands of people, lower power bills, and cut climate pollution. ...
The Green Party is fully on board with free bus and train travel for under 12s and half price travel for under 25s - next stop, free travel for all under 18s, students, and apprentices. ...
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced a billion dollar flood and cyclone recovery package as part of Budget 2023. This is about doing the basics - repairing and rebuilding what has been damaged and making smart investments, including $100 million of protection funding to ensure future events don’t cause ...
The Fuel Industry (Improving Fuel Resilience) Amendment Bill would: boost New Zealand’s fuel supply resilience and economic security enable the minimum stockholding obligation regulations to be adapted as the energy and transport environment evolves. “Last November, I announced a six-point plan to improve the resiliency of our fuel supply from ...
The Government is making sure those on low incomes will no longer have to wait five weeks to get the minimum weekly rate of ACC, and improving the data collected to make the system fairer, Minister for ACC Peeni Henare said today. The Accident Compensation (Access Reporting and Other Matters) ...
A compulsory code of conduct will ensure school board members are crystal clear on their responsibilities and expected standard of behaviour, Minister of Education Jan Tinetti said. It’s the first time a compulsory code of conduct has been published for state and state-integrated school boards and comes into effect on ...
Tena koutou katoa and thank you, Mayor Nadine Taylor, for your welcome to Marlborough. Thanks also Doug Saunders-Loder and all of you for inviting me to your annual conference. As you might know, I’m quite new to this job – and I’m particularly pleased that the first organisation I’m giving a ...
The Government will enter into a funding arrangement with councils in cyclone and flood affected regions to support them to offer a voluntary buyout for owners of Category 3 designated residential properties. It will also co-fund work needed to protect Category 2 designated properties. “From the beginning of this process ...
The Government has announced changes to strengthen requirements in venues with pokie (gambling) machines will come into effect from 15 June. “Pokies are one of the most harmful forms of gambling. They can have a detrimental impact on individuals, their friends, whānau and communities,” Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds said. ...
The total Police workforce is now the largest it has ever been. Police constabulary stands at 10,700 officers – an increase of 21% since 2017 Māori officers have increased 40%, Pasifika 83%, Asian 157%, Women 61% Every district has got more Police under this Government The Government has delivered on ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta met with Korea President Yoon, as well as Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, during her recent visit to Korea. “It was an honour to represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the first Korea – Pacific Leaders’ Summit. We discussed Pacific ambitions under the ...
The Government’s Research and Development Tax Incentive has supported more than $2 billion of New Zealand business innovation – an increase of around $1 billion in less than nine months. "Research and innovation are essential in helping us meet the biggest challenges and seize opportunities facing New Zealand. It’s fantastic ...
The next ‘giant leap’ in New Zealand’s space journey has been taken today with the launch of the National Space Policy, Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds announced. “Our space sector is growing rapidly. Each year New Zealand is becoming a more and more attractive place for launches, manufacturing space-related technology ...
A new Year 7-13 designated character wharekura will be built in Pāpāmoa, Associate Minister of Education Kelvin Davis has announced. The wharekura will focus on science, mathematics and creative technologies while connecting ākonga to the whakapapa of the area. The decision follows an application by the Ngā Pōtiki ā Tamapahore ...
Protecting the environment by establishing a stronger, more consistent system for freedom camping Supporting councils to better manage freedom camping in their region and reduce the financial and social impacts on communities Ensuring that self-contained vehicle owners have time to prepare for the new system The Self-Contained Motor Vehicle ...
A new law passed last night could see up to 25 percent of Family Court judges’ workload freed up in order to reduce delays, Minister of Justice Kiri Allan said. The Family Court (Family Court Associates) Legislation Bill will establish a new role known as the Family Court Associate. The ...
New Zealand businesses will begin reaping the rewards of our gold-standard free trade agreement with the United Kingdom (UK FTA) from today. “The New Zealand UK FTA enters into force from today, and is one of the seven new or upgraded Free Trade Agreements negotiated by Labour to date,” Prime ...
The Government will reform outdated surrogacy laws to improve the experiences of children, surrogates, and the growing number of families formed through surrogacy, by adopting Labour MP Tāmati Coffey’s Member’s Bill as a Government Bill, Minister Kiri Allan has announced. “Surrogacy has become an established method of forming a family ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little departs for Singapore tomorrow to attend the 20th annual Shangri-La Dialogue for Defence Ministers from the Indo-Pacific region. “Shangri-La brings together many countries to speak frankly and express views about defence issues that could affect us all,” Andrew Little said. “New Zealand is a long-standing participant ...
Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall and the Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang met in Wellington today and affirmed the two countries’ long-standing science relationship. Minister Wang was in New Zealand for the 6th New Zealand-China Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation. Following ...
5 percent uplift clearer and simpler to navigate Domestic productions can access more funding sources 20 percent rebate confirmed for post-production, digital and visual effects Qualifying expenditure for post-production, digital and visual effects rebate dropped to $250,000 to encourage more smaller productions The Government is making it easier for the ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs (Pacific Region) Carmel Sepuloni will represent New Zealand at Samoa’s 61st Anniversary of Independence commemorations in Apia. “Aotearoa New Zealand is pleased to share in this significant occasion, alongside other invited Pacific leaders, and congratulates Samoa on the milestone of 61 ...
The Government is continuing to support retailers with additional funding for the highly popular Fog Cannon Subsidy Scheme, Police and Small Business Minister Ginny Andersen announced today. “The Government is committed to improving retailers’ safety,” Ginny Andersen said. “I’ve seen first-hand the difference fog cannons are making. Not only do ...
The Government has received the first independent review of the Intelligence and Security Act 2017, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The review, considered by the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, was presented to the House of Representatives today. “Ensuring the safety and security of New Zealanders is of the utmost ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has expressed condolences on behalf of New Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga following the death of Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili. “New Zealand sends it’s heartfelt condolences to the people of Tonga, and to His Majesty King Tupou VI at this time ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has expressed condolences on behalf of New Zealand to the Kingdom of Tonga following the death of Her Royal Highness Princess Mele Siu’ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili. “New Zealand sends it’s heartfelt condolences to the people of Tonga, and to His Majesty King Tupou VI at this time ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta have today announced the extension of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) deployment to Solomon Islands, as part of the regionally-led Solomon Islands International Assistance Force (SIAF). “Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of working alongside the Royal Solomon ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to the Republic of Korea today to attend the Korea–Pacific Leaders’ Summit in Seoul and Busan. “Korea is an important partner for Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific region. I am eager for the opportunity to meet and discuss issues that matter to our ...
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor joined ministerial representatives at a meeting in Detroit, USA today to announce substantial conclusion of negotiations of a new regional supply chains agreement among 14 Indo-Pacific countries. The Supply Chains agreement is one of four pillars being negotiated within the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework ...
Our most spoken Pacific language is taking centre stage this week with Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa – Samoa Language Week kicking off around the country. “Understanding and using the Samoan language across our nation is vital to its survival,” Barbara Edmonds said. “The Samoan population in New Zealand are ...
Over 90 per cent of New Zealanders are expected to receive this year’s nationwide test of the Emergency Mobile Alert system tonight between 6-7pm. “Emergency Mobile Alert is a tool that can alert people when their life, health, or property, is in danger,” Kieran McAnulty said. “The annual nationwide test ...
ENGLISH: Whakatōhea and the Crown sign Deed of Settlement A Deed of Settlement has been signed between Whakatōhea and the Crown, 183 years to the day since Whakatōhea rangatira signed the Treaty of Waitangi, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little has announced. Whakatōhea is an iwi based in ...
Elizabeth Longworth has been appointed as the Chair of the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, Associate Minister of Education Jo Luxton announced today. UNESCO is the United Nations agency responsible for promoting cooperative action among member states in the areas of education, science, culture, social science (including peace and ...
Tourism and hospitality employer accreditation scheme to recognise quality employers Better education and career opportunities in tourism Cultural competency to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces Innovation and technology acceleration to drive satisfying, skilled jobs Strengthening our tourism workers and supporting them into good career pathways, pay and working conditions ...
Tourism and hospitality employer accreditation scheme to recognise quality employers Better education and career opportunities in tourism Cultural competency to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces Innovation and technology acceleration to drive satisfying, skilled jobs Strengthening our tourism workers and supporting them into good career pathways, pay and working conditions ...
Greater access to primary care, including 193 more front line clinical staff More hauora services and increased mental health support Boost for maternity and early years programmes Funding for cancers, HIV and longer term conditions Greater access to primary care, improved maternity care and mental health support are ...
Greater access to primary care, including 193 more front line clinical staff More hauora services and increased mental health support Boost for maternity and early years programmes Funding for cancers, HIV and longer term conditions Greater access to primary care, improved maternity care and mental health support are ...
The Government continues progress on the survivor-led independent redress system for historic abuse in care, with the announcement of the design and advisory group members today. “The main recommendation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Abuse in Care interim redress report was for a survivor-led independent redress system, and the ...
Aotearoa New Zealand is providing NZ$7.75 million to respond to urgent humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Horn of Africa is experiencing its most severe drought in decades, with five consecutive failed rainy seasons. At least 43.3 million people require lifesaving and ...
Health Minister Ayesha Verrall has opened two new state-of-the-art mental health facilities at the Christchurch Hillmorton Hospital campus, as the Government ramps up its efforts to build a modern fit for purpose mental health system. The buildings, costing $81.8 million, are one of 16 capital projects the Government has funded ...
The Government is continuing to invest in our regional economies by announcing another $24 million worth of investment into ten diverse projects, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. “Our regions are the backbone of our economy and today’s announcement continues to build on the Government’s investment to boost regional economic ...
An $8 million boost to New Zealand Māori Tourism will help operators insulate themselves for the future. Spread over the next four years, the investment acknowledges the on-going challenges faced by the industry and the significant contribution Māori make to tourism in Aotearoa. It builds on the $15 million invested ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the first 18 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles for the New Zealand Army, alongside personnel at Trentham Military Camp today. “The arrival of the Bushmaster fleet represents a significant uplift in capability and protection for defence force personnel, and a milestone in ...
A new poem by Wellington poet Victoria Lewis. Carmine well – the cherries appeared quietly there on the kitchen bench as if to smile and say i love you,and you dared to forget those gleaming fruit form a prayer, a devotion bloody on the inside, taut on the out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra nitpicker/Shutterstock By coincidence, the furore around the consultancy firm PwC is raging just as the National Anti-Corruption Commission is gearing up for its start of business on July 1. The PwC scandal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ricardo Villegas, Senior Lecturer of Law, University of South Australia Today, Federal Court Justice Anthony Besanko handed down his long-awaited judgment in the defamation case that Ben Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated living former SAS soldier, brought against the Age, the Sydney Morning ...
Wayne Brown has named and attempted to shame councillors who oppose the sale of the council's airport shares, but some are returning fire, saying he does not have the votes to pass his plan. ...
Some certainty has arrived for those impacted by severe weather events earlier this year but the bulk of the detail for a buyout scheme affecting at least 700 homes is a work in progress, writes political editor Jo Moir.Analysis: Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson has been determined since February ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Rolph, Professor of Law, University of Sydney At the heart of the spectacular defamation trial brought by decorated Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith were two key questions. Had the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times damaged his reputation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Bateson, Professor of Practice, University of Sydney Shutterstock Australians’ access to a range of contraceptive options depends on where they live and how wealthy they are. A recent parliamentary inquiry recommends ways to end this “postcode lottery” for people ...
Labour's campaign chair is standing by a social media post which likens National's prescriptions policy to dystopian TV show and novel The Handmaid's Tale. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition’s decision to oppose the Voice to Parliament has put its moderate members in a jam. Some moderates are active yes advocates, while others are trying to keep low profiles. Bridget Archer, the outspoken ...
Greenpeace Aotearoa is calling out the agriculture industry’s "undue influence" over the Government’s agricultural emissions policy, saying that " predatory denial and delay " have stalled the development of plans to price and reduce ...
“The huge fire in South Auckland illustrates the serious human health risks of incinerating flock, the residual material left over from the scrap metal process. It is one reason we will be opposing the building of a waste incinerator in Te Awamutu ...
It’s reassuring to think that by paying for private treatment you’re ‘freeing up a bed’ in a public hospital. But the reality is private beds don’t free up public beds, they replace them. Ethicists argue that healthcare is special. Unlike other consumer goods, its availability and accessibility should be based ...
The office of mayor Wayne Brown has hit back at criticism journalists were “cherry-picked” for this morning’s budget announcement. A number of media outlets, including The Spinoff, Stuff, TVNZ and Newshub, were not invited to hear Brown’s budget address. Some, however, made it into the room after Brown had started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Klugman, Research Fellow, Institute for Health & Sport, member of the Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and Co-convenor of the Olympic Research Network, Victoria University Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains mention of the Stolen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sudyumna Dahal, PhD Student, Australian National University Shutterstock The human costs of tobacco and smoking worldwide are huge. 1.3 billion people use tobacco, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. More than 8 million people die prematurely because of tobacco, at ...
Today, the Government released a discussion document: Safer Online Services and Media Platforms. It aims to reduce people’s exposure to harmful content, and create a system that is easier to navigate if people need to report harmful content. The ...
The Act Party’s compared a proposal to improve online safety to the government’s doomed hate speech laws, and pledged to “kill” it off as well. Consultation is set to begin on a Department of Internal Affairs proposal to change how online content is regulated in New Zealand. But David Seymour ...
A new report from the Auditor-General on four initiatives to improve outcomes for Māori has highlighted the importance of strong relationships between public organisations and Māori, and of taking the time needed to build these relationships. However, ...
The Broadcasting Standards Authority welcomes today’s launch of the public discussion document, Safer Online Services and Media Platforms, on a proposed new content regulation framework. The Authority has long been an advocate for a more flexible regulatory ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Clement, Research Associate in the College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University Virtual Australian Museum of Palaeontology, Author providedPalaeontology is the study of evolution and prehistoric life, usually preserved as fossils in rocks. It combines aspects of geology ...
Inclusive Aotearoa Collective Tāhono welcomes the release of the Safer Online Services and Media Platforms report from Te Tari Taiwhenua, dealing with content regulation for media and social media. “We welcome the move to an independent regulator that ...
The drearily titled “Safer Online Services and Media Platforms” document has just been released. Here’s a TLDR summary from The Spinoff’s Shanti Mathias: The suggested changes are pretty different from what we have right now. All digital industries that publish content, including overseas companies like Meta and Google and local ...
The drearily titled “Safer Online Services and Media Platforms” document has just been released. Here’s a TLDR summary from The Spinoff’s Shanti Mathias: The suggested changes are pretty different from what we have right now. All digital industries that publish content, including overseas companies like Meta and Google and local ...
The Safer Online Services and Media Platforms document has just been released by the government’s Content Regulatory Review. It does more than capitalise nouns – here’s what you need to know about what’s inside. What is this document with the world’s most boring name?It’s a proposal from the Department ...
The Safer Online Services and Media Platforms document has just been released by the government’s Content Regulatory Review. It does more than capitalise nouns – here’s what you need to know about what’s inside. What is this document with the world’s most boring name?It’s a proposal from the Department ...
The 2010s musical theatre phenomenon has finally made it to Spark Arena. Does does it live up to the years of expectation? This Angelica Schuyler is transcendent Full disclosure: I am overly familiar with Hamiton without being a full-on Hamilstan. I’ve listened to the cast recording countless times, watched it ...
The 2010s musical theatre phenomenon has finally made it to Spark Arena. Does does it live up to the years of expectation? This Angelica Schuyler is transcendent Full disclosure: I am overly familiar with Hamiton without being a full-on Hamilstan. I’ve listened to the cast recording countless times, watched it ...
Members of the press being turned away from the door distracted from the announcement of asset sales and inflation-pegged rates in Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s final budget proposal Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown didn’t mince words at a fiery press conference this morning where he confirmed he’d be calling for a ...
During New Zealand First coalition negotiations our policy was to train and resource 1800 new frontline police. We secured this coalition policy win to ensure our streets had a police force that could tackle crime - after years of neglect. Remember those ...
The government and councils will offer a buyout option to property owners whose land is too risky to rebuild on, and co-fund protection works for those who need it. ...
The government will work with councils to offer a “voluntary buyout” for owners of homes written off by Cyclone Gabrielle and other recent severe weather. About 700 category three properties – those where it’s deemed the risk of future severe weather cannot be sufficiently mitigated – are expected to be ...
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposed budget presents a dangerous false choice between cutting public services and privatising Auckland’s assets. The proposal to councillors offers to reinstate funding for public services and increase the pay ...
A leaked consultation document from the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) shows plans to draft and introduce legislation that would entirely restructure the New Zealand censorship regime, bringing online speech, such as material on social media ...
A crucial day for the future of the city, and the mayor’s message to hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders: I don’t want to talk to you. Wayne Brown was right. The media is awash with drongos. I personally have behaved drongoistically – to borrow a Winstonism – at least twice ...
The PSA is pleased Te Whatu Ora has listened to its concerns and is seeking further consultation with unions on a major restructuring as it seeks to remove duplication and centralise services. "This will be a huge relief for workers," said ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images When TVNZ cancelled reality TV show Police Ten 7 earlier this year, it certainly rattled some law-and-order cages. The show’s former host Graham Bell, who described suspects variously ...
A new survey from Consumer NZ has once again found customer’s prefer the country’s smaller power providers. For the third year in a row, Powershop has come out on top with a satisfaction score of 74% – the sixth time overall it has achieved the accolade. Frank Energy received a ...
Applications to mine in the ocean could begin in July. Why are scientists and activists so concerned?Far from the light of the surface, animals are pale; some glow in the dense darkness, have translucent shells; grow very big or very small. Even the most comprehensive list of deep ocean ...
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that a Police dog handler was not justified in using his dog to bite a man who was resisting arrest but was justified in using the dog against a second man who threatened Police. At a Whanganui suburb ...
The interdisciplinary artist from Te Whanganui-a-Tara shares all the mahi that happens behind the scenes. Ana (Ngāti Tāwhaki, Ngāi Tūhoe) has won multiple awards for her theatre work, and has been the recipient of the Te Tumu Toi New Zealand Arts Foundation Springboard Award, where she was mentored by ...
Sustainable Tarras (ST) supports today’s commitment from the new Christchurch City Holdings (CCHL) board seeking increased transparency and community engagement on the Tarras airport, as debated with Christchurch City Council (CCC) at today’s ...
This Sunday, 4 June, Wellington and Christchurch will join over 300 cities worldwide in observing the National Animal Rights Day. The events remember the billions of animals who lose their lives each year due to human actions, and acknowledge the ...
EDS has lodged its submission on “ Strengthening National Direction on Renewable Electricity Generation and Electricity Transmission ”, a consultation document prepared by the Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment and the Ministry ...
Auckland’s mayor snubbed most journalists from a morning launch of his new budget. While the Herald was among a select few allowed in the room, reporters from outlets like Stuff weren’t sent an invitation. In a story headlined “Wayne Brown snubs Stuff readers on major Auckland Council budget update”, a ...
A nationwide poll on pay gaps shows nearly 2 out of every 3 New Zealanders consider pay gaps to be a ‘significant’ or ‘very significant’ issue (64%), with a similar number supporting new pay transparency policies to address the issue (63%). ...
I said we could still be friends but now I just want him to leave me alone.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to [email protected]Dear HeraTowards the end of last year, I was surprised to see a university acquaintance from a different city – we’d had one tutorial together – at ...
Wayne Brown’s proposed budget will see rates increases pegged to inflation – but it requires his desired sell-off of Auckland Airport shores. The mayor is presenting his budget in Auckland today. Few were invited to witness the moment live, with media like Stuff reportedly left out (The Spinoff was not ...
When it was first unveiled, the government’s extension in this year’s Budget of 20 hours free early childhood education to 2-year-olds from next March was hailed as a masterstroke. The Minister of Finance said it would save qualifying households ...
I didn’t know this but because we have reciprocal health agreements with Australia and the United Kingdom, visitors from those countries will not have to pay for prescriptions once the $5 fee is removed here in July. Naturally that means New Zealanders enjoy reciprocity in their experience of local health ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Pang, Research Fellow in Psychology, Monash University Shutterstock The human brain is made up of around 86 billion neurons, linked by trillions of connections. For decades, scientists have believed that we need to map this intricate connectivity in detail ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gapps, Historian and Conjoint Lecturer, University of Newcastle Benjamin Duterrau, The Conciliation 1840, oil on canvas. Purchased by the Friends of TMAG and the Board of Trustees, 1945. Collection: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, AG79.Note of warning: This article ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena Plebanski, Professor of Immunology, RMIT University Philippe Leone/Unsplash Influenza, or the flu, is a virus transmitted by respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing. It can cause the sudden onset of a fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, headache, muscle ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven J Lade, Resilience researcher at Australian National University, Australian National University Shutterstock People once believed the planet could always accommodate us. That the resilience of the Earth system meant nature would always provide. But we now know this is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vera Weisbecker, Associate Professor, Flinders University Shutterstock Australia’s dingo fence is an internationally renowned mega-structure. Stretching more than 5,600 kilometres, it was completed in the 1950s to keep sheep safe from dingoes. But it also inadvertently protects some native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Reza M. Monem, Professor of Accounting, Griffith University In 2008 Australia’s federal, state and territory governments set the goal of halving the employment gap between First Nations Australians and others within a decade. That required, by 2018, lifting the employment rate for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Associate Professor in Commercial Law and Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images It’s no secret that Revenue Minister David Parker has long been interested in tax reform in New Zealand. In 2022, he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lily Moore, PhD Candidate in Classics and Archaeology, The University of Melbourne A Woman Drinking, Andrea Mantegna. about 1495-1506 The National Gallery, London. The ancient Romans venerated wine. It was accessible to the masses, a fundamental staple of mainstream life ...
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown is making a list ditch appeal to councillors he claims are holding up a potential sell-off of airport shares. The Herald’s reported that councillors were called to two confidential meetings yesterday, one on the sale of the airport shares and another to discuss a draft of ...
Time is running out to nail down an alternative pricing scheme before the election. Ministers are said to be fed up with the lack of movement and the sector is calling for a delay, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive ...
Objectors continue to push for the canning of a mooted new Central Otago airport as the company pushing it buys the critical final piece of the site A Christchurch City Council committee has expressed concern about one of its subsidiary companies, Christchurch International Airport, pushing ahead with a proposed airport ...
While your grocery bills suggest otherwise, high inflation is not all bad news – especially if you’ve got a New Zealand student loan, Emma Vitz explains. High inflation sucks. The price of lettuce appears to be doubling every time you go to the supermarket. People who bought into the property ...
Welcome to the authors, illustrators and publishers on the shortlist for this year’s New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Books editor Claire Mabey offers her thoughts, alongside comments from student readers.It’s hard to write a great children’s book. The kind that will be reprinted and re-gifted ...
Why would – and how does – a bank get involved in dealing with private capital? In our final podcast in conjunction with BNZ, we meet a woman who introduces fledgling businesses with committed, long-term investors. Head of Private Capital, BNZ, Linda Sturgess tells Emile Donovan why paying it forward is a ...
‘Kia kaha, kia māia, be brave and lean into it.' Newsroom speaks to Spark's Māori development lead Riki Hollings about what it means to be on a te ao Māori journey – and the best way to support that | Content Partnership Riki Hollings is a descendant of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngai ...
It’s unclear why AI-generated images in advertising are more or less deceptive or ethically questionable than using modelsOpinion: There has been a recent furore about the use of AI-generated images featuring people used by the National Party in a political advertisement. My immediate reaction was that this was a storm in ...
The TVNZ poll last night would have to be a concern for Labour. Sure, Labour only dropped 1%, well within the margin of error. However, of more concern will be the drop in support for the Greens.
The reason why this would be a concern, is that it is probably reasonable to assume that the drop in support for the Greens will have mainly resulted in those potential votes migrating to Labour.
Hence, the drop for the overall left vote is what is of main concern. So, a 5% drop for the combined left is quite a big drop. Contrast that with the 3% uptick for the right, and that is an 8% swing in favour of the right.
And DPF gives quite an interesting analysis of the leadership ratings:
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2023/05/leaders_in_preferred_pm_ratings.html
Turns out that Luxon is the fourth most popular opposition leader for this time in the election cycle and Hipkins is the fourth most unpopular leader, according to the analysis.
Hence, comparisions of relative popularity are missing this point.
Get NZ Back on Track.
Your choice of a te reo alias is interesting, given you're quoting National lines, when their increase in support appears predicated on a platform of kicking Maori back down to a position of political non-representation.
[Please correct your e-mail address in your next comment, thanks – Incognito]
Mod note
Hold up, you realize loads more Maori vote National than vote fot the Maori party right?
Many, many Maori don't agree with Labour, The Greens or the Maori partys interpretation of the treaty or want co-governance.
Many Maori are farmers and vote National or NZ First . In fact it's a total mistake that the Tory's and NZ First don't run candidates in the Maori electorates anymore, because with the left splitting their votes between lab, tpm and the Greens National or NZf could sneak in, national have held Maori seats before and NZF once held all of them.
Golly, if lefties think all Maori are left wing, some people are going to be shook, especially if the right ever seriously goes after the Maori seats again.
If National managed to sneak a couple Maori seats by vote splitting, the meltdowns on election night from pakeha liberals would be entertaining af.
Ngungukai- rite tonu ki tenei ara?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/132148491/christopher-luxon-worries-its-hard-to-understand-mori-names-what-bubble-is-he-in
National's underlying theme in this election year is not the cost of living or the supposed rise in crime – or indeed the climate crisis. It is all about racism.
The cost of living is rising. Blame it on the Labour government who are giving all our money to the 'Mowries'.
Ram raids and burglaries are increasing. Definitely the 'Mowries'.
All other problems as they arise – well if the 'Mowries' weren't being given special treatment we'd be okay.
Racism, racism and more racism. Middle income earners and old age pensioners are the primary culprits. Not all of them, but a substantial number are politically ignorant and feed off the likes of Hosking, HDPA and the rest of the ZB gang of Maori haters… along with the Hootons and Prebbles and that smarmy piece of work, David Seymour.
I don't know what you do about it, but you don't fall into the trap Michael Wood fell into the other day. Has he forgotten the outburst fanned by the Nats in 2008 when Helen Clark made a similar plea to voters?
Thanks, Anne.
Here's what was said in a very recent National newsletter. It seem that we are "driven by the influence of woke socialists who seek to advance their own agenda'. They are the problem, being racists……
"Infiltrating institutions and leveraging race-related issues in the current environment is a frighteningly easy path to take, as few are willing to risk being labelled a racist. It is crucial that we all oppose this agenda as those that hurl the racist label about are the racists. If we choose to look the other way New Zealand will be a racially divided nation which will undoubtedly bring on civil unrest."
I have a feeling I have somehow been side-shuffled into an Orwellian-style dystopian universe where newspeak replaces logic and facts.
And here is the racism cunningly disguised as a worry for elderly people who may not know the Govt Dept to expect because of the "Mowree' names…..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/132148491/christopher-luxon-worries-its-hard-to-understand-mori-names-what-bubble-is-he-in
Following on from the NZ tour by this bloke
https://www.stopcogovernance.kiwi/
And Winston also promoting the same message according to your (and my) Stuff citation. It contains this quote "the NZ First leader took aim at bilingualism and “woke social engineering” to laughter and cheers from the Grey Power congregation."
Alleluia!
Hi Anne,
I think to blame racism for Labour being behind ignores a lot of other relevant factors that are contributing to the decline for Laboujr. For instance, the cost of living and the rampant crime at the moment.
Personally, I think the government has to take a lot of blame for any perceived racism in that they have handled the whole co-governance question really badly, and have not communicated at all well what is meant by that. This has meant a lot of the population have felt quite threatened.
Plus, the radical demands from TMP such as revoking full and final treaty settlements and establishing a Maori parliament are naturally going to cause a lot of resistance amongst the general population.
Note I said "underlying" theme tsmithfield. I don't deny other factors are at play but for many I believe it boils down to racism. I am mindful of family members whenever political subjects are introduced into a conversation… it always ends with a rant about 'mowries'.
When I throw it back in their faces I get left off the social calendar for a bit.
Hi Anne,
I think a lot of that sort of stuff is more down to ingroup-outgroup type biases rather than outright racism.
In any sort of area, not only race, we tend to view people in an outgroup negatively and with suspicion. We also tend to view them as very similar in their characteristics. That is because we tend to notice the common traits of members of outgroups, and not notice their differences so much. This is a fairly universal, almost subconscious effect that we find it hard to get away from.
I know a lot of my attitudes have been challenged being on the board of Crossroads Youth with a Future which works in one of the poorest areas of Christchurch which has a fairly high Maori and Polynesian population.
I realised, after becoming friends with a number of wonderful Maori people through my role in the trust that I could no longer justify holding general negative attitudes towards Maori people. That is, because I realised that if I was going to hold general negative attitudes towards Maori people, I was also holding those attitudes about people I very much liked.
So, I think that is a good way to overcome some of those negative attitudes. That is, to actually get to know some of the people in the group that might be an outgroup at the moment.
Unfortunately, a lot of people who hold these attitudes often are living in a completely different world, and have little contact with Maori people. Hence, they see Maori people as very much part of an outgroup.
Ts, yet Act want to stop the gun register and allow some awful weapons. They are a larger party than the Maori Party… why not target that proposition? rather than thinking 3 people have exaggerated influence? Surely the Act Party are at greater risk of shifting the norms?
Hi Patricia,
I am not an ACT voter personally. But, I think a lot of these sorts of policies arise from frustration a voting base feels due to the fact that the existing system doesn't function properly.
I know my son was wanting to get into hunting. He had an impeccable record, but had to wait several years before his gun licence came through.
Also, I guess there is frustration because, despite the changes the government made to gun laws that were supposed to make it harder for criminals to get guns, gun violence seemed to have been increasing.
And, also, it seemed that the changes made to gun laws were targeting people who weren't causing the problem.
So, I can understand why ACT might be pushing for relaxation of some of the gun laws. Though, it isn't something I have given a lot of thought to as it isn't really an area that affects me personally.
Hunters don't need assault weapons. So what is the problem with having a gun register and tighter gun control laws? If you are a law-abiding citizen, it should not be a problem, right?
Posted this before, but the Police are very keen on the gun registry. Since monitoring guns in crimes after Mosque shooting, they found that the guns come mostly from legal gun licence holders who onsell to middle-men servicing crims.
You can see how a gun registry would close down this lucrative legal-to-illegal movement of guns (and maybe ammo).
Herald headline of middleman who onsold to crims
I actually think a gun registry is a good idea.
So long as it doesn't take two years to get through the process, it should be good.
Labour never campaigned on the issue of co-governance, so it is little wonder many people are objecting to the government's efforts to implement it in the new water legislation and the revised RMA rules. It really amounts to a covert attack on democracy.
Some outside the government think they can see which way the wind is blowing. There is an attempt by someone in the NZ Law Society to subject lawyers to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.
That might make sense if we all agreed on what those principles are, but as far as I can see no-one can define them because there has been no open debate.
Ok but what about the many many Maori, pasifica, indian and asian voters who are angry with labour, the greens and find the idea of adding TPM to the mix toxic?
Because of the ethnic make up of NZ, a lot of brown people are voting for Nat/act/NZf, (more than vote for the Maori party and the greens combined) and I don't think they are voting for the right because they are racist.
More like they are sick of prices going out of control, noone being able to afford a house to rent and they live in the areas with all the crime and they are god damned sick of it.
A lot of maori are disgusted with the left atm, when watching the news with my whanau and hearing life long Maori labour voters shout "racist" and change the channel when Marama comes on was eye opening.
White people and may have appreciated Maramas comments but noone else did and considering they insulted about 30+% of their own voters …sheesh
A lot of maori support the lefts position on Maori issues, but just as many support nationals position on the treaty.
Heads would explode on the left if national actually ran in all the Maori seats, cos they'd win a couple.
When you and your bedfellows (as in allies) recover your memories and stop blaming the government for:
the pandemic.
the global financial crisis caused by the pandemic aftermath.
the domestic difficulties for many caused by the pandemic aftermath.
the racist attitudes which are on the increase in response to the pandemic aftermath.
and become rational beings again then I will engage with you.
No-one has blamed the government for the cyclones yet – or their aftermath – but no doubt it is coming.
The poll shows that Greens actually performing is critical to a left victory at the election.
Fortunately, the troublemaking Green faction that seems full of the same malcontents, defeatists and saboteurs that flocked to, and destroyed, the parties of the Alliance before decamping to Internet/Mana and then heading off to the mad hatter faction of the Green party appear to have been dealt a severe blow if the Green party list is anything to go by.
Having dealt with the distraction, the Green party is on notice to pull finger and get out there and do it's job. No more excuses.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Greens get their votes back. But, the point I was making, is that the votes they recover will likely be mainly at the expense of Labour. So, the overall left block may not be much better off as a result.
Saint Swarbrick will keep the Greens alive at worst.
The critical difference between this election campaign and the 2005 election when Labour were in a similar position, is that Dr Cullen was prepared to pull out a major populist policy deep into the campaign.
But there's no sign that Robertson has that in the tank.
The lesson of multiple post-2005 campaigns is that the Greens fuck up and Labour has to pull themselves up to win government.
What does Labour have left?
Ad, I have always thought that the Greens would be much stronger if they could move away from the far left stuff, and become more centrist economically, and focus more on environmental issues. And also more effective.
Given history shows that right wing parties have been in power the the majority of time since 1950., then they would be in a position to have a postive effect on Green outcomes, regardless of which of the major parties was in power. And, in my mind, the ability to achieve positive change for the environment trumps any ideological political stuff.
Heck, even I could be tempted to vote Greens in that situation. Probably not with my party vote, to be fair. But, I could well vote for a Greens electorate candidate.
Have NACT ever shown a willingness to place the environment before business interests/economy/-small government and tax cuts?
Perhaps they would more if they were relying on a Green vote to keep them in power.
That the point so many people don't understand.
Sharples and Turia showed what can be achieved if you jump into bed with you political opponents.
The way to make National do things they wouldn't ordinarily do, is make them rely on you for power.
Usually the best reason, in terms of getting results, anyway.
That is my view too. We need a party with an unabashed focus on the environment.
Hopefully the Greens have the time to pull away from 'weirdo', to me, causes aand focus on the environment, climate change, putting people in the equation for low cost housing/housing. This sector is crying out for new ideas, a focus etc.
Key led Clark 36-28 in 2008
Hipkins CS 27 lead Luxon Seymour 25
There has been a bit of hysteria on twitter with Russian trolls claiming that Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Army, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, was killed or badly injured in a Russian missile strike, and that the Ukrainians have been covering it up for PR reasons. This has been fuelled by the fact that Zaluhnyi hasn't been seen in public for awhile.
Well today, the Ukrainians put out this video. Hilarious trolling of the Russians. Lol.
A story about a school setting the right sort of example on drugs because the safety of the pupils who go there is the most important thing.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/education/the-headline-grabbing-headmaster-in-charge-of-aucklands-mount-albert-grammar-school/WPY5BKDH7PVNZRBIGYOJWUWYTE/
Muldoon is a famous ex-old boy of Mt Albert Grammar, the school in the article. A friend said he was in sixth form there when Prime Minister Muldoon came to speak at his old school. This was a little after the Springbok tour. My friend stood up and threw a meat pie at Muldoon, hitting him square on. Boys being boys, the assembly burst out laughing.
While my friend wasn't expelled for his action, he was shunned, and left the school a little later.
I have a vague memory of that incident having grown up in Mt Albert.
Another facet of the Muldoon years was – and still is – under wraps. He was not averse to having anyone he perceived as an enemy (whether they were or not) being ostracised, covertly harassed and intimidated – and their careers destroyed.
He was the arsehole of arseholes and should have been publicly outed for his conduct but instead he was shielded by those who should have known better – but didn't.
I went to a school up the road from Parliament, and we certainly knew in fourth form that Muldoon slept around with women looking to add a notch to their bedposts.
Wellington was the sort of town where political gossip zipped round pretty quick. The mistresses goss came up when he rushed legislation for no-fault divorce, and back-dated it so that he was no longer cited as co-respondent in the architect Athfield's divorce. Blatant misuse of the legislature, although the end product was a plus to NZ society.
All this was local knowledge, but of course suppressed in the media. It's not so much the personal morality, it's the back-dating that made Muldoon a corrupt politician.
Hi tWiggle
You clearly know about some of Muldoon's nefarious activities so you will remember the Colin Moyle Affair.
In 1975 while working late in his ministerial office, Moyle received an anonymous phone call from someone claiming to possess documents that proved corruption of some sort occurring inside the Defence Force. The caller (male) arranged to meet Moyle on an inner city street corner to pass over the documents. Moyle went to the rendezvous but the caller never turned up. Instead along came a police patrol car and he was taken in for questioning for suspected homosexual activity. (Homosexuality as it was called then was illegal.)
While Muldoon was not involved in the original set-up, he got to hear about it and he used the information to destroy Moyle's political career. Moyle was being tipped as a future Labour leader. Moyle kept quiet about the phone call – presumably because he knew he would not be believed.
Years later I came to know the identity of the anonymous caller and that is another interesting story. He eventually fled to Australia in strange circumstances where he remained for the rest of his life. He and a close associate (whom I knew well) had been conducting all manner of political pranks and hoaxes – a few of them amusing which were boasted about – but others had a sinister aspect to them. The Moyle Affair was the latter.
It provides a little sunlight into what was going on behind the scenes throughout the Muldoon years in particular.
Hi Anne. How are you? Well, from the small amount you have put on The Standard over the time I have read…you have certainly had some "interesting" (right word? ) life experience. I hope you have come out of it all ok?
No book in a future time?
I rate your comments here pretty highly. FYI I stopped posting on The Standard for quite a while (you prob know why..the sad loss of some awesome posters : (
But there are a few still that make it worthwhile : )
Anway..all the best.
Thanks PLA.
Yes, I nearly parted company permanently with TS over the toxic atmosphere being created. I hope some of those driven away will eventually return.
The plight I found myself engulfed in left their mark. I suffered PTSD for a few years but that is in the past.
It still upsets me though that the culprits were never brought to justice. A lot of people were adversely affected by the appalling behaviour which included among them a few well known cases.
The latest poll showing Nat/ACT can just form a government should be seen in this context where the rolling average shows Lab/Gr/TMP could form a government.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2023_New_Zealand_general_election#Subnational_polling
Have to say that the Horizon Poll is a bit of an outlier here though. It's all to play for.
I am not sure of all this so I am seeking information from those who might know.
The recent Horizon poll was a large one with 1500 respondents and a 10% don't know. Also, and most importantly (?), the respondents were those on the roll and practising voters. And again, was the Horizon poll comparable in its methodology- on-line, cell phones , land lines, etc?
Did you catch the Big Hairy News interview I posted yesterday?
BHN interviews Horizon pollster
I aplogise if you got the info from there already.
https://www.horizonpoll.co.nz/AboutUs
Gives info about political polling, which is independent and uncommissioned by any political party, and tries to balance across NZ geography and demography. However, they do solicit for survey members on their website (might sign up!), so they may be polling the same population of respondents. There is a contact email there, so you could always ask them directly.
Yes soliciting survey members creates bias. Horizon's results have usually been different to the main pollsters over many years. I mean while I would love to believe that National is polling 26% per their latest poll, I find this hard to believe.
Crammer's piece on the defunding of DoC is a fucker:
https://cranmer.substack.com/p/department-of-conservation-hit-by
Which in my mind confirms that Labour are complicit in the now obvious plan to privatise the Conservation Estate entirely into the hands of a tiny ticket clipping elite.
The idea of nefarious Maori is simply Cranmer on message. Part of the GA orbit towards The Platform and the Wright brothers circling over white children like crows on the cradle.
https://twitter.com/CranmerWrites/status/1520948214282678272
The solution being National's Massey cossacks riding to the rescue – once upon a tine a super fund was seen as a threat to private property ownership.
PS the real threat as to public access to the foreshore and seabed was and is private ownership (and not necessarily local ownership at that).
Do you have an argument? Or just a 'shoot the messenger'?
Is the quoted article wrong in any fashion? Is DoC funding actually increasing? And given the Maori caucus's obviously cosy relationship with TMP – is there any doubt that the plan to privatise the Conservation Estate is still shuffling forwards?
Because if that was the plan, then this relentless defunding of DoC would be an obvious step along the way.
As for the seabed and foreshore – what fraction of that was held by foreign overseas private owners? Compared to say the fraction of New Zealand that would be privatised if we lost public control of the Conservation Estate?
I'd simply point out that most budgets got limited increases (part from for wage increases to staff) for the year ahead. Conservation was/is no exception.
To try and connect that to some conspiracy theory with a bit of gossip is hardly a serious case. It's peddling a dubious narrative because it suits an agenda.
Some people are susceptible to that, some are not.
You made the claim of relentless defunding – on what basis?
Read the article.
All the evidence this is the end point of a process that has been going on for a lot longer than just this year:
A reality confirmed by my own connections with the hunting and tramping community who report an obvious rundown of many backcountry huts, especially those that do not have a local community looking after them.
And it is not a lack of money that seems to be the problem:
That raises an obvious question – if $1.2b is not enough to keep DoC's core functions going – exactly where is this money going? And into whose pockets?
To read the full article, I would have top pay "Cranmer" $100.
The article stating the "underfunding has been going on for years" – is not evidence.
A lot of ECE's also report a problem with lack of funding – some fund-raise to get around that.
It's likely a lot of the huts came from the community in the first place.
It is, if the Department cannot perform core functions because of a lack of it. But this appears to be a new problem for the year ahead.
The Jobs for Nature programme was for job creation in local communities to prevent unemployment from COVID. It has no connection to DOC core function funding.
It's likely a lot of the huts came from the community in the first place.
There are about 1880 backcountry huts in the NZ of which DoC manage 1073:
https://hutbagger.co.nz/?doc=true
They have a diverse history originating over time from within tramping and hunting clubs, the old NZFS, the National Park Service and so on. But they are now all legally owned by DoC. Some huts continue to be looked after by local clubs or in some cases just groups of individuals who put their own time and sometimes funds into looking after them. DoC will usually create some kind of 'management plan' with this group.
I cannot put an exact fraction that are maintained in this manner, but I would hazard a guess that it is less than 200 nationally.
You can see the contrast in the Tararua's. Huts such as Blue Range, Mitre Flats and Roaring Stag that are community maintained are doing well – even when they're 70yrs old like Blue Range. By contrast the DoC maintained Tarn Ridge which is just a few km deeper into the range and was built in 2003 is now listed as unsafe by DoC :
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/wellington-kapiti/places/tararua-forest-park/things-to-do/huts/tarn-ridge-hut/
Water damaged in a storm three years ago – recently I spotted a YT clip that briefly revealed serious mold and water damage. DoC clearly aren't able to fix this.
And this is just one representative glimpse of a much larger problem Anyone who has any knowledge of the situation on the ground recognises DoC has been underfunded for ages. But what we're seeing now is a government with senior Ministers expressing open hostility toward it – to the point where even it's core functions are under threat.
And yes why was Jobs for Nature separated out in the first place? $1.2b is a lot of money – and now COVID is over and NZ is running short on labour the justification has evaporated. Exactly where is this ‘ring-fenced’ four year funding going to?
There is a disconnect between
and the problem of historic lack of funding
The new hut in 2003 indicates an extension of provision while Clark was PM and United was a support partner.
The DOC budget pressure 2023-2024 appears to be a new development, unrelated to problems in maintaining DOC assets.
Presumably DOC focuses on maintaining assets used by tourists and the cost of this is going up (pressure of numbers) and the constant creation of new walks for such purposes and also locals adds new costs. It may be that consequent from that resources for existing huts (tramper and hunter use) are becoming more limited.
My bad – I misread an entry on Hutbagger – the actual date was 1993. By contrast similarly exposed Blue Range – the two huts are almost within sight of each other – was built in 1954 and is still in good nick having been looked after all that time by a local tramping club.
It doesn't take too much, just a couple of guys with basic building and handyman skills to fix leaks, broken doors, windows and fireplaces. Done it myself a few times. DoC being a govt dept does tend to overcook these things, but then that's govt for you.
Tarn Ridge was perfectly fine when I was last there in 2011 when I was stuck there on my own for three nights in relentlessly bad weather. But clearly storm damage in 2020 has not been fixed and the place is going downhill fast. This is a well used hut that sees thousands of people annually; three years later and still nothing. It's diagnostic of a problem under this govt.
Under this government? Historic underfunding did not occur 2008-2017?
There are two ways of managing the problem of funding maintenance of DOC assets
1 contract out the job to a an agency working for DOC – the contract specifies an obligation to fund the bill for the maintenance services (based on need, such as damage by weather). The work is then not dependent on there being available finance.
2 DOC actively seeks out "community" partners to assist in managing huts used by hunters and trampers.
Well at least we both agree DoC has been chronically underfunded by a series of govts – except I would say under Helen Clark whose well known love for our outdoors might well have made a difference.
But the evidence is there that under this Labour govt there is downright hostility toward DoC and that a chronically poor situation has now become critically bad.
And I have focused on hut maintenance because I am moderately familiar with this aspect – but DoC have a much wider remit than this. What other wheels are falling off the DoC machine that we are not seeing? What other programs are being quietly shelved or wound down in ways that are not obvious to the public?
All the while $1.2b of funding is being thrown at a temporary make work scheme, which might well be doing some short term good, but no-one can tell us whether it was good value or not.
I don't accept that there is downright, or any other, hostility to DOC.
Costs of maintenance are clearly going up (worker costs and regulatory) and weather events are worse, and in that environment budget constraint is problematic.
That then exposes long held concerns about resourcing to a new level – what is called a critical moment in time. That is either resolved by the public service doing an internal administration review or a political party does it for them.
At the moment, it would seem that isolated huts (or where there are two only one is kept up to standard) are being left to die on the vine because they cost more than the others to maintain.
Tarn Ridge is not 'isolated' – it has long been a well used, important point of safety for three decades. As I said when I was there in 2011 and it was 20yrs old it was perfectly fine – and was absolutely instrumental in saving my life on that occasion. Letting it 'die on the vine' makes no sense whatsoever to anyone slightly familiar with the context.
That after three years DoC have not been able to fix water leaks caused by a storm three years ago before they go on to cause serious and much more expensive damage, is diagnostic of a much wider problem. This is basic stuff any asset manager knows how to deal with in the normal course of events; there will be a R&M budget for exactly this work.
But now it seems there is not. And that is not normal at all.
It is hard to know, but it is likely there was no immediate response at Tarn Ridge because of the pandemic. That would have led to a subsequent greater cost. The budget would still be there, but if there is a budget under stress and if one can do 4 other huts for the major cost at one, guess what happens.
At some point someone will make the case that Tarn Ridge and X, Y and Z damaged in 2020 were not fixed because of the pandemic and make a case for extra funding. Or otherwise wait for community activism to help them out of a hole.
Well that is well and good, but senior public servants do not write emails saying this when things are normal:
It's obvious from this an already thin and stretched Department is going to be once again gutted of skilled and capable staff. Damage that might take a decade to recover from – if ever.
Given that we know the problem is not a lack of govt funding they're willing to spend in this area – the obvious question is why is this govt apparently determined to strangle DoC to the point of failure?
Nah – we've seen all of this before. Certain Ministers in this govt are laying the conditions for the Conservation Estate to be privatised.
The COVID spending was not evidence of that, if there had been previous under funding (no compensation for higher regulatory costs?) over decades – multiple administrations.
What is the connection between what we have seen before and certain Ministers in the current government – you've only named one and based your opinion on a singular meaning of what was reportedly said?
The last time a two term Labour administration went into an election, National under the leadership of the future ACT leader, Brash, ran the iwi or Kiwi campaign – to get into power and allocate surpluses out as tax cuts (and under invest in infrastructure – delayed to 2008 – and so here we are).
This time it's the threat of privatising the Conservation Estate or Maori co-governance of public assets – both cannot be true can they?
This time it's the threat of privatising the Conservation Estate or Maori co-governance of public assets – both cannot be true can they?
Co-governance is a trojan horse. The most cursory examination of what is being openly said is that the goal is to privatise the entire estate into the hands of the tribal elites.
The issue is then based on Labour preferring co-governance arrangements (as a convenience to balance sheet separation – which allows easier and cheaper finance and also plays its part in meeting indigenous rights obligations – UN Declaration) and ambition among Maori to recover public land assets to iwi.
And by linking one to the other, re-visit Iwi or Kiwi. Because TPM would prefer a co-governance partner in government to National.
However if National do get in, do not be surprised if they do a co-governance arrangement themselves – they signed the UN Declaration, they set up whanau ora, they reversed the F and S legislation.
The act was repealed and replaced by the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act in 2011.
As one involved a million years ago with the environmental restructuring in 1987 it was well known that back then DoC started out with a basic underfunding and has had to work with this and addtional underfunding since then.
DoC has been under constant watch/fear of losing more funding, of losing staff, etc etc. This has manifested itself in constant restructruings, pulling back from regular maintenance so that yearly plans become two yearly plans. DoC have had staff who have worked had and been nimble in their actions to get/keep a presence.
I would venture that the old settler mentality of using everything is alive and well in NZ. So the concept of national parks, of ecological reserves, empty spaces ete, the Conservation estate, the lungs of NZ's world, is not known or appreciated.
I think it would be instructive if we could get some of the old stagers to advise on the 1987 underfunding and bring it forward through to the present day.
I would agree with much of this. DoC have always been a bit of a Cinderella Dept.
So the concept of national parks, of ecological reserves, empty spaces ete, the Conservation estate, the lungs of NZ's world, is not known or appreciated.
The same cannot be said for the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders and the even larger numbers of visitors to this country – who deeply and passionately value the Conservation Estate. I agree we could do so much better than we are.
So how galling would it have been for DoC watch $1.2b of funding get dished out – all over the place it seems – while the peak body responsible for conservation in this country seems to have gotten only crumbs?
No more galling than for health and education workers wanting a wage increase or those who wanted a house at income related rent.
Cranmer and National want to discredit the continuance of 4 year Jobs for Nature and other COVID spending programmes because they want the money to fund their tax cuts. They do not intend to place the money with DOC.
Why should this Jobs for Nature scheme be immune to scrutiny? It was a lot of ding that has clearly come at a cost to DoC who are in principle the long-term manager of the estate.
Or maybe some Ministers in this govt are happy to see them fail.
Clearly it's not possible to convince someone, who wants to believe in a conspiracy theory, that it is not true.
All I can do is identify the motives of those who created it, and what their purpose is.
The provision of COVID money was for temporary use, not the funding of longer term government programmes. It is either spent for that purpose, or not spent at all. It does not get re-allocated.
National understands that point, even if you do not.
Ring fencing funds is an entirely political decision. Clearly the original justification for the fund – a make work scheme under supposedly emergency conditions – is now well passed.
If the "Jobs for Nature" funds are not spent, no-one piles up a stack of $100 notes and sets fire to them. The funds might not be 're-allocated' in a direct sense, but the General Fund that is now better off can readily re-use the funds elsewhere.
You've never worked in government finance.
It's not even in the DOC orbit, it's in no departments orbit for their spending.
Timed out.
The money not used is for debt repayment or general economic purpose – such as post COVID inflation cost management. The chance of it being placed into department spending (funded out of annual finance resources) is zero. At best a capital project, or now to flood damage assistance.
I am quite aware that govt Budgets are subject to arcane, complex and intentionally confounding processes – but ultimately it is a political decision to starve DoC of funds.
"Messenger"????
"Stirrer in chief" is my view of your contributions, which often have a projected scare tactic. "Maori Elite" is sooo right wing.
Yes agree…..'Maori elite' to me means that they've well and truly quaffed the Koolaid from sources like Brash, Hide, Julian Batchelor….maybe the same ones that are having trouble finding Govt Depts to complain too because they have all got 'Mowree' names now.
I'm reasonably certain I have spent more time on more marae than you have. Sly accusations of racism are pointless.
Not too sure what you are meaning RL. But the numbering seems to be a criticism of my view of the RW trope of the so-called Maori Elite. I view this as an attempt to be divisive/smearing.
Time at a marae, does not come into it.
Of course the Maori who want to use Treaty payouts to feed the family now and in the future are always going to get bad press from the ones who would rather have it now and spend it now……always have, always will.
Why not? If memory serves me it was about 9 different marae in very rural settings spread over the King Country, Urewera and the East Coast. Probably every third weekend or so over most of a decade in the 80's.
Usually stayed the Friday and Saturday night, longer if it was a tangi. Many important memories and experiences, and much of what I learned shaped the views I am expressing here.
Like being vehemently told off by a kaumatua for trying to pretend to be something I was not. A part of me still smarts a bit typing that out.
It is staggering that DoC hasn't absorbed the massive private sector efforts for conservation when private individuals of means are clearly able to put up serious money to do so.
There's the Tasti Products guy retoring 24,000 hectares:
https://www.forestlifeforce.org.nz/
There's the staggeringly large QE2 Trust which covers 190,000 hectares of private land by private landowners.
https://qeiinationaltrust.org.nz/
There's 136,000 hectares at Mahu Whenua between Wanaka and Arrowtown.
https://mahuwhenua.co.nz/
There's 2,300 hectares and thousands of volunteers at Ark in the Park in Auckland.
https://arkinthepark.org.nz/
And yes, the public don't have the right to walk all over them. Much of it is private land and some of it is super-highly managed.
The lack of coherence about conservation and the collective effort that could be organised and expressed as a whole is just …. sad.
DoC's engagement with conservation and maintenance oriented communities has been a bit hit and miss. For the most part local staff seem to have been very receptive – but Head Office syndrome seems to be the handbrake all too often.
So yes it makes sense that where they had the resources some groups have struck out on their own. But then again without the long-term backing and security of the state you have to wonder how many of these fine efforts will still be around in 100 yrs time?
The point you make about a lack of coordination is a good one, but this conversation goes back decades. Hell groups like Permolat were founded sometime in the early 2000's – the real question here is the evident hostility toward DoC from senior Ministers in this govt who seem quite happy for DoC to be seen to fail.
What senior Ministers?
Well if you had been reading the thread – the quote above mentions Kelvin Davis for one. Of course we could speculate on the context , but the underlying hostility seems plain enough.
The warning can be taken in more ways from one. PW has Cook Island ancestry and was informed that Maori electorate MP's worked with local iwi and their relationships with DOC made the Minister's position more complicated when Labour was in government, more so since TPM was around as competition.
One of the problems is the red tape. There are plenty of eager volunteers wanting to help, but because of Health and Safety they must be supervised and there must be RAMS for each job, the cost of staff to do this must be found out of budget.
Yes. This is a long standing challenge – the interface between well-meaning people wanting to do the right thing and a govt department that has legal and public accountability is naturally full of tensions.
I can have some understanding for DoC – imagine the horrendous blowback on them if as a result of some poorly controlled volunteer work something catastrophic happened. Think something like Cave Creek. Looking back that was a pivotal moment that forever swept away a lot of the old school – get in, get it done, she'll be right attitude that made the old NZFS such a legend for those of us old enough to remember them.
But then again govts never quite seem to be able to apply commonsense to these matters, which is why you get the ludicrous spectacle of prominent "Fire Exit" signs in tiny bivs with just two bunks and one door just a few paces away.
There are the occasional campaigns to preserve places, sometimes just beaches from being bought up by private owners.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/308359/publicly-bought-beach-officially-ours
Or campaigns to save holiday camps.
Maybe someone should form a national trust for the purposes of supporting various campaigns – information about the legal issues and red tape and access to legal and other support provided free of charge.
Perhaps RedLogix, you confuse the word 'privatise' with 'return to owners'.
Do you think Labour should take that policy into the election?
You have railed against the Urewera settlement as privatisation. But that was considered through the tribunal process to be a fair settlement for a much larger loss of traditional lands, and assorted skullduggery by Seddon's government in nabbing the Urewera estate in the first place.
"The Crown apologises to Tūhoe for past dealings that breached the Crown’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi. These include:
'Privatisation' or 'return to rightful owners'. My bet's on the second.
Back to the future!
Calls for 'apprentice' mental health workers to help ease staff shortages.
I recall the disappointment in the hospital system when the 'in house on the job' nursing training was replaced by tertiary institution trained staff.
40 years is long time to take to recognise an error
Yes. It took medicine about 300 years to properly recognise the impact of Vitamin C in eliminating scurvy. These days the pace seems only a little quicker.
Wasn't that Captain James Cook Reg Logix?
Royal Navy surgeon James Lind was the first westerner to join the dots.
Since antiquity in some parts of the world, and since the 17th century in England, it had been known that citrus fruit had an antiscorbutic effect. John Woodall (1570–1643), an English military surgeon of the British East India Company recommended them[7] but their use did not become widespread. John Fryer (1650–1733) too noted in 1698 the value of citrus fruits in curing sailors of scurvy.[8] Although Lind was not the first to suggest citrus as a cure for scurvy, he was the first to study its effect by a systematic experiment in 1747.[9] It was one of the first reported, controlled, clinical experiments in history, particularly because of its use of control groups.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lind#Prevention_and_cure_of_scurvy
At some point the return to apprenticeships will include public service worker training, if only to ensure the capability to deliver services.
In the meantime, I would end the requirement to repay TL to those working in Enzed health and education (this maintains the incentive to work here after training) – that with increasing wages to the Oz level (and keeping housing costs to no higher or less than that across the ditch).
In a global shortage environment we have to focus on maintaining first world society standards.
The shortage has been artificially accentuated by removing 4-5 years of productive working life from the future workforce…all based on some theoretical increase in our bodies ability to work to an ever expanding timeframe. That functional working life (for the overwhelming majority) is around 40 years…or 80,000 hours…and we chose to reduce it in many instances by around 10-12%.
Tertiary trainee nurses get a lot of in-hospital training especially in years 2 and 3, the main difference is that they dont get paid for it but the hospitals get money for having them there as it soaks up a bit of "buddy "time from full time nurses guiding them along. Young nurses used to be used as arse wipers and cleaner uppers but a lot of that appears to be done by nurse aids now. Year 1 is a lot of getting them up to speed on the maths and science. Nurses now do quite a bit of the care that doctors used to do hence the requirement for a high level of competency in the science etc.
The ability for those with the desire and ability to expand their 'qualifications' existed under the in house regime and senior nursing staff were able to lighten the load of more "qualified' medical professionals…as it ever was.
It did and does make sense to move to use nurse aides and cleaners rather than nurse interns. That said, it did allow the interns some paid work/free board in hostels during their training period.
100% Pat!
The petition against the Gore Council Chief Executive is nearly 5,000 people.
Gore has a total population of about 8,000.
Gore's council to consider petition asking for its chief executive to resign | Stuff.co.nz
The elected Mayor democractically elected must win this contest.
I guess the mayor has the moral victory here. But, can the council actually force the CE to resign? He might just decide to brazen it out.
The CEO has cost the council a lot of money getting rid of staff – so they could call the cost of his removal an investment to improve the council as place to work.
I've seen it done so it's not impossible, but you have to get the CE Performance Review Committee really lined up in advance.
CEO obviously looking for a healthy redundancy ?
A local government CE contract written 20 years ago like his was, will be gold plated. That will get its own story.
But that's the political price you pay for ousting them.
Probably easier to just not reappoint at the expiry of his fixed-term agreement.
And certainly a lot easier to than the Minister appointing a Commissioner.
If the current council has renewed his contract since the election that would be a story alright.
"One of the men at the centre of the stand-off at Gore District Council was given a two-year contract extension just two days before the new council was elected"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/487413/questions-over-timing-of-gore-council-chief-executive-s-reappointment
Gore is intent on outing itself as an urban hovel run by incumbents who are incompetent.
A secret decision before the election to renew the contract that was not due for renewal until September this year … this is the sort of thing that occurs when corrupt things have been swept under the carpet and they do not want anyone to find out. That, or the CEO is a sociopath and has them all cowered.
Both?
"the council issued a statement to Newsroom in Parry's name confirming it had paid $413,000 in severance payments to around 20 staff between 2005 and 2022"
"in late 2007 Parry made a surprise visit to the London home of one of the complainants, former chief financial officer Doug Walker. It resulted in Walker seeking a restraining order against Parry for threatening behaviour"
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/gore-allegations-pre-date-new-mayor
Bad blood feud as well, in that small-town way. The new Mayor's mother was one of the senior council staff who left/was pushed out in the previous term. It is highly likely she encouraged her son to run, and past events possibly spoiled the chance for a professional working relationship from the start.
Sounds like a toxic environment to work at reading between the lines ?
So next question time in parliament about a resilient infrastructure is becoming predictable.
What does work to making our infrastructure look like if it does not include … communications?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/government-rejected-sparks-offer-to-invest-millions-in-disaster-proofing-networks/T4FYH2DH2JFOHEVOKETSWKOE74/
Read a little further into the article you link to for the very reasonable reason why government did not agree to Spark's diversion of $24 mi from rapid 5G roll-out to weather-proofing existing plant.
"Digital Economy and Communications Minister Ginny Andersen said the Government did not want to upset the three linked contracts – with Spark, 2degrees and One NZ (formerly Vodafone) – to improve provincial and rural connectivity.
“To re-open negotiations with all three telcos to consider Spark’s proposal would have held up the acceleration of 5G rollout and other important rural connectivity initiatives,” she said in a statement on Thursday."
Perhaps Spark should cough up a little more of its own money for future-proofing equipment?
There is an expression walking and chewing gum at the same time – why not do both?
All they are seeking is a partner for some regional areas.
lol
@five15design
for every single fucking 'National accuses Labour of …' story, there's a graph to embarrass them.
https://twitter.com/five15design/status/1661908379667939328
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FxBI0a6agAAG7GY?format=jpg&name=large
SPC Yes !!!!
Waka Kotahi contract out local road maintenance, and clearly this contractual relationship is breaking down, in part probably due to increased rainfall in many regions.
Not our crimes.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/132137960/dunedin-alleyway-sex-attack-offenders-release-imminent
Ues for gods sake that rapist is no woman. I really feel for his victim, a man, who endured a sadistic rape. And now his attacker/rapist is referred to as a she.
#not our crimes.
The polls are so close and are constantly within the margin of error they could go either way but this feels like a throw the bums out election.
Its too close and the lefts voters, especially young people are notoriously bad at showing up to vote and Hipkins is not a popular, Luxon is actually doing ok as an opposition leader, they never poll well, but Hipkins as an incumbent? Awful.
If labour wanted an everyman working class bloke, they should have gone with Kieren McNulty, who is insanely likeable and real and doesn't seem like an ai robot calculating a response whenever asked a question like Chris.
And then you've got the fact labour has delivered bugger all in two terms, with a majority so noone young believes a damn thing will change if they get a third term so there's no passion at all in campaigning or turning out the vote.
Annnnd a labour/green govt having to rely on the votes of a separatist radical party like TPM is going to make people stay home, protest vote or hold their noses and privately vote for the Tory's while they publicly say they voted Lab/green.
I hope TOP and NZF both win and electorate, I hope National has to rely on them both to form a govt to moderate Act…and I think both have a place in parliament…
I also hope …one day…. We can get a party that represents workers and renters and the poor cos all we currently have a parties that represent upper middle class urban liberals and upper middle class rural moderate conservative liberals