I don’t hold out much hope for a positive response from nurses to the current offer from DHBs.
Even the language from the state is dodgy.
Talking about asking the ministry about 500 extra nurses and moving forward the final ‘step’ for senior nurses.
500 extra nurses is nowhere near enough to get patient safety to a reasonable level.
For a lot of nurses the sticking point isn’t the wage rise, it is the dangerous understanding.
Pay parity in December next year is about 15 months too late.
People talk about Labour talking up pay rises, but I get the impression the Nurses union leadership has had a total overshoot on setting expectations as well.
the Nurses union leadership has had a total overshoot on setting expectations as well.
Not so much the union I suspect but a bunch of vociferous activists playing politics with the rank and file and setting the bar way higher than they know the Lab led govt. is able to immediately provide. There are other negotiations set to begin whose claims are equally as valid as the nurses.
What gets up your nose about activists, surely one of the base tennents of left wing thought. The rank and file are not easily lead, why would anyone expect us to now accept an offer that is the same as that rejected three times. Yes, negotiations of other groups has begun, they may have equal validity, but one of the base arguments Nurses make is to re-establish parity with Teachers, this offer comes nowhere near that and considering teachers have rejected 14% we are likely to be even further behind.
To link safe staffing to a wage negotiation is ridiculous, its not the employees responsibility to work for less to provide for more staff, the reason hopitals are short staffed is because nurses dont exist to fill the vacancies, its a simple matter of supply and demand. Reduced supply, high demand equals high remuneration in any other occupation.
You claim: why would anyone expect us to now accept an offer that is the same as that rejected three times.
Here is your own chief negotiator on the subject;
“What we believe is the real improvements in this latest offer is the issues around having clearer monitoring and reporting mechanisms…
“I think there is some real positives in this … that there’s some real teeth to it.” – NZNO industrial services manager Glenda Alexander…
“Also ensuring that there will be real, enforceable mechanisms now to make sure that we can get those nurses into the hospitals where they need to be and to make sure that everyone has a much better environment.”
The union also said they had gained clearer monitoring and reporting and enforceable measures on extra staffing.
Suggest you listen to the Checkpoint item yesterday evening:
Your response is an insult to your union negotiators who have been clearly working their guts out on your behalf. Hopefully it is not the majority mindset of the nurses, and they will follow the sensible course of action and acknowledge reality by accepting the latest offer.
Your response is an insult to hard working nurses who overwhelmingly supported rejecting all the previous DHB offers.
Union negotiators are clearly out of touch with their members, thus are wasting time dragging out this process accepting offers the majority of their members have so far rejected.
The union is my employee, i pay $20 per pay in fees to provide a salary that i can never achieve.
What is it with you, dont like a few uppitty women, the concept of servitude is long gone.
And that is the problem. Until you and others like you get it into your head that we are the union and we need to work together for all of us unions will be weak and toothless. The teeth or the power are the members. The unions are there to organise not magically draw agreements out of a hat.
Kia kaha. The union REPRESENTS it’s members. The union or reps don’t decide for the members, the members decide. There IS enough money imo. Nurses should be paid a lot more.
The Union’s continued recommended acceptance of unsatisfactory offers in this dispute is unnecessarily dragging out the process, thus is counterproductive to members resolve.
Well, if the nurses do reject the latest offer, that will be a real test for the government. If unionists get a sense they can just keep rejecting offers in the expectation that they will always get a better offer from the government, then that is what they will do.
However, for the government there will come a time when they say “enough is enough, we are not going any further.”
I suspect that this point has now been reached with the nurse pay negotiations.
So in that event, if the nurses say “no” to the current offer, and then they go on strike the government will just say, “you already have our best offer, we are not changing it even you do go on strike.”
If unionists get a sense they can just keep rejecting offers in the expectation that they will always get a better offer from the government, then that is what they will do.
What’s wrong with that?
We need more nurses and isn’t supply and demand what you believe in?
I think your analysis is correct Wayne. There is only so much the govt. of the day will take in situations like this. Go too far and the nurses could end up the losers.
It is not abnormal for demands to be met on an incremental basis and over a relatively short period of time. Given this present situation goes well beyond the nurses then it is inevitable there will need to be some flexibility on the part of the individual sectors when they enter their negotiations. The nurses union seems to have recognised this reality, but some of their members have yet to catch up.
“Go too far and the nurses could end up the losers.”
Rubbish.
Nurses have nothing to lose. The DHB won’t offer anything less than what has already been offered.
In fact, accepting this offer will result in the public becoming the losers as more experienced nurses head offshore compounding the local shortfall, putting patient safety at further risk.
You are correct that the nurses should not be expected to accept lower wages to enable more staff and as you note any parity with teachers is likely to be immediately lost.
The issue of inequality and unliveable income however cannot be resolved by simply increasing the wages of the low/’lower paid as nothing is surer to fuel an inflationary spiral as the relativity effect spreads to the productive sector. Both ends of the remuneration equation need to be addressed culminating in a more compressed remuneration band for ALL occupations and the logical way to achieve it is through progressive taxation with the loopholes closed. Unfortunately the coalition have closed this option off (and National have an ideology that moves in the opposite direction) and in terms of the nurses dispute it is not their concern but at some point in the not too distant future some gov will have to take this bull by the horns and probably as a component of a complete redesign of our economy which may well include UBI, life long education, retirement and god knows what else.(whatever happened with ‘the future of work’ commission ?)
Id like to think that the perfect time to address all these issues would be as we attempt to transition to a carbon neutral economy but thats probably too much to hope for as nobody, especially our politicians appears to have either a long term view nor the planning ability.
In the old days teachers got free tertiary study and then were bonded to become ‘teachers’ in NZ for a period of time. Might be time to think about this as well as all the other issues facing essential workers in the face, of rising population and less people wanting to become an essential worker aka nurse or teacher when you can do a law degree for example and earn $200+ p/h even better an environmental lawyer selling out at $500+ p/h, or Barry Hart types on $1000p/h … sadly a nation top heavy full of lawyers fighting each other might fuel another crisis… especially when they go to hospital and find not enough nurses or doctors to treat them… no police officers… no teachers… no paramedics… no social workers… etc
There are numerous graduate positions outside the public sector that pay equally poorly or worse, the problem is not solved by bonding in a few areas (and that can have a deterrent effect on entry uptake) and nor is recruitment from offshore any sort of panacea…the issues are structural and wont be solved by tinkering around the edges. The previous gov (and the one before to a lesser degree) attempted to control the inflationary impact by keeping settlements negative in real terms and covering shortfalls through immigration (along with its wage chilling effect)…we are seeing the results of that policy prescription …it is not a long term option though it can be effective for a period…that period is well and truly used up.
When successive governments and economists have moulded NZ into a low wage, high expenses economy then offer’s on paper for essential worker’s don’t exactly reflect the reality of the actual wage vs what standard of living they provide.
Nurses deserve every dollar they get. I think the circa $26 p/h as a starting wage for a registered nurse after a 3 year degree is too low.
Especially when the hospital CEO’s can be on circa $600,000 p/a…
The balance is wrong between pay rates in NZ, we need to even out the inequality of wages between the different staff running hospitals.
Likewise the pay rates between bus drivers and Auckland Transport Executives which probably have a similar discrepancy, while still the mantra is to keep those earning the least and in the coal face, earning as low a wage as possible and that is where the perceived savings should be.
It seems to be a mantra of the left that New Zealand is a low wage economy, the assertion seemingly being we are much worse than other comparable countries in that regard.
But I don’t think that really holds up.
New Zealand GDP is the middle of the OECD, a little bit lower than UK, France and Germany (around 10% lower). Australia and Canada are about 25% higher. Wages and salaries for government employees such as nurses, teachers, police officers in each of the nations I have mentioned, broadly reflect these differences in GDP.
For instance in the UK, qualified nurses start on 22,000 pounds or around $44,000. In Australia it seems to be around $50,000 for new nursing graduates. New Zealand is not put to shame by these figures. In fact we may be relatively better.
So New Zealand is not a particularly low wage economy. In relative terms we are about the same (or even better) as countries we typically compare ourselves to.
I appreciate that Auckland housing poses a particular problem with median house prices of around $810,00. Median house prices in Sydney are $1,150,000, so quite a bit higher. In London the median is 471,000 pounds or around $1,000,000. Also higher than Auckland, but there is a London allowance on most public sector salaries.
It seems to be a mantra of the left that New Zealand is a low wage economy, the assertion seemingly being we are much worse than other comparable countries in that regard.
It should read… It seems to be the mantra of some on the left…
Not all lefties subscribe to that hypothesis. We’re not a low wage economy and never have been and most people know it. What has happened in NZ is that wage/salary inequalities have developed over a long period of time under both blue and red governments, and their needs to be adjustments put in place to bring people on a level playing field again.
Gosh, this is getting serious. I’ve agreed with Wayne twice today. 😯
Agreed @ Andrew Little. Although maybe Australia is our “oldest” mate, but is no longer actually our “best” mate (except on ANZAC or Melbourne Cup day).
Depends. In politics, just as in a personal friendship, sometimes calling out your mate will just annoy them, especially if it is seen as “lecture”. And it is on a policy that they entirely control.
Jacinda certainly found out that over Manus Island, which is why she never refers to it anymore. She was tackling them on an issue that is pretty serious for them. And as such, they made it perfectly plain to her not to keep raising it if she wanted a reasonable relationship with their PM.
Ah OK. Kind of like me calling out a mate who has a policy of beating his wife when she doesn’t behave the way he wants. I should mind my own business.
It gets to a point where some friends might not be worth having
‘A pig is a highly intelligent mammal, and its fatty hairless body resembles that of a human. It cries from pain similar to humans, its’ babies are extremely similar to human babies. Most fire fighters also do not eat pig, this is because when a pig’s flesh is burnt is smells much that same as human flesh does when it burns, I would assume it tastes the same as well.’
Yes the flesh eaters have been spoilt – I just think your physical personal pleasuring to the suffering of animals is sadistic but hey I get it is essential for you so ALL good. One day a reckoning will come.
‘Stanford professor Paul Ehrlich made headlines last month when he told journalists that overpopulation and resource scarcity would eventually drive hungry humans to cannibalism.’
Yep OWTim exactly correct. Wayne won’t get that – seems some people like to pretend nothing is wrong and then usually they cry the biggest tears and sobs when the shit goes down. Fake all the way through.
Sounds like you’re setting us up to adopt the Aussie dollar or have them install a military base here. Apparently this globalism thing is still thriving…
I would rather initiate a hard conversation about where we are going as a relationship between the two countries than sit on my hands and moan about how the world isn’t fair.
So yes, let’s talk currency.
Let’s talk about easy dual citizenship.
Let’s talk military bases.
Let’s talk Federation.
Because if we don’t start talking about the kind of things that would persuade the Australian government to stop screwing us over as they will continue to do, it’s going to get worse very fast.
I know where you can see where global trade instability and the rapid breakdown of most multilateral orders is going to leave us.
Or lets talk about 4 degrees of warming and ask how Australia’s domestic food security will hold up under that stress.
And what they might do under those circumstances if NZ still had food security due to a more favourable geographic location.
The last thing you’d want to do is assume that Australians are any form of ‘mates’.
They could, and if the fabulous trio had their way, they probably would. Not too dissimilar to the motherland cutting us adrift a few decades ago. (now they’re near to grovelling as Brexit looms)
Are we still here?
And only if we continue to subscribe to the neo-liberal economic framework.
NZ has had (and is increasingly having) a kind of masochistic relationship with Australia.
Beat me Beat me! Please! Beat me.
Friends (under their current junta that’s lasted near a decade?) I think not. Though Wayne and other fossils will be going phuff phuff phuff phuff on Q+A and NewShub Nation, and even here on TS. Let’s not upset the Australians.
Remember the apples @Wayne?
Given the history, I’m struggling to understand how many of them still have any credibility (or in the okker mind, any Credlin)
“The mateship thing between the two countries is now horseshit.”
Absolutely!
But then my experience(s) of Australia (bearing in mind I once actually held an Australian passport) are that the WASPS have always had a need to find the ‘other’.
It makes them feel better, and rational beings
Those bloody Abbos have always been a problem (notice how they have stolen a paternalistic “closing the gaps” programme)
In the 60s and 70s interstate rivalry was worse than it was between Australia and NZ. In some cases, Kiwis were welcomed because they were somehow better than those from other states. There were actually policed borders between NSW and Victoria that checked the car for fruit and contraband.
And whilst at college, there was no end of hearing about bloody Greckos, Spiks and Ities.
Now they’ve been ‘assimilated into okker culcha’ and learned the Aussie way and get a fair suck of the sav, it became about bloody Ayshuns over-running Queensland and Lebboes in NSW, no matter that many were born there.
It’s not really surprising that all they’ve got left are the Kiwi criminals (code for Murrays really), or those bloody progressives at the ABC in Melbourne. OR maybe even the ‘poorer’ states like Tassie and South Straya who won’t pay their way. And get in behind Norfolk Island!
No denying it’s getting worse – whether its the authoritarian trio of Dutton, Cormann and Morrison, running Fortress Australia, or Credlin News (Skoi Newz Stray-ya) pumping out shit and sports results 24 hours a day like the Okker version of Fox.
The 4th Reich of the Liberal Party (and others) are full of shit, and more and more egged on by Credlin TV, with guest stars like the finger pointing Rowan Deane
On the one hand they strut around telling everybody that Australia is a ‘diverse Nation built on immigration’, then on the other, like Daleks screaming Assimilate! Assimilate! Assimilate! You must be just like us! Assimilate! Assimilate!
Unfortunately, some of it has rubbed of on the NuZull gNatz
We need to talk about free speech. More specifically, who it protects and who it doesn’t. Human rights are a good thing, and free speech is incredibly important within our society. But there’s an inequality at the heart of how the right applies in practice. Legal scholars have been saying this for a long time, however the clear contradiction is evident without a law degree….
[Take a bow here TRP]
…..Because rights were developed to protect against things like racism, right? Nope. Like a lot of our laws, they were developed to protect those who could afford the cost of going to court. Free speech in particular has a tumultuous history, most of which involves protecting privileged groups and minimising harms to oppressed groups.
Speech that I personally believe is discriminatory – like Nisbet’s cartoons, for example – is not ‘bad enough’ to justify a limit on the right. Despite the fact that discrimination could incite racism, which could harm deeply and pervasively. But when a wealthy person has had something slightly untrue said about them, defamation law kicks in and limits free speech to the point that the media can be sued millions for publication.
Free speech is a near-absolute right except for when a rich guy’s reputation is damaged…..
When rights don’t apply equally, as is the case with free speech, we can and should question them. The fact that someone on a platform of privilege, with money behind them, can punch down and use free speech to disadvantage and insult oppressed groups, but people like Renae Maihi risk a lawsuit if they speak out, is wrong. New Zealand needs to think deeply about what kind of speech we protect and why.
Matt Lauer’s purchase of a high country station has riled many about access. Lauer’s belief is that those wanting to traverse the station just have to phone and check that it is OK. That seems fair but the nearest DOC station are not allowed to give out the phone number of the station and even if you have the number an answer phone at the station does not have a call back. The station is managed by the previous owners whose history has been to obstruct those wanting to traverse.
So is Lauer the problem or is it his manager? Or is the OIO?
I get the feeling that there is more to run on this issue.
Ideologically, I agree with Draco on overseas owners, but real life is seldom that simple. As Chris T says, he bought the lease, not the actual physical property; and it is just not feasible to just cancel all existing overseas ownerships whether of actual properties or leaseholds.
* One thing I really like about the RNZ website is that when they run an article on a subject, the page also lists and provides links to directly related stories/articles in the right hand column – rather than lists/links to unrelated but current issues.
“and it is just not feasible to just cancel all existing overseas ownerships whether of actual properties or leaseholds.”
It is perfectly feasible to say that no future transfers can go to overseas owners. Over time all foreign-owned land would return to NZ citizen ownership.
I see the English are stockpiling foods and drugs for the probable crash-out Brexit.
Is their high commission here accepting donations anywhere? is there a drop off point?
I’ve read about the massive increase in users of food banks due to Tory austerity campaign. I never imagined that their government would now want to access food banks to care for the population post 29 March 2019.
The workings of government are beyond imaginings. Some of them can hardly lie straight in their beds at night.
When one looks at the behaviour of governments over the last 30 years, it is apparent that the present model of democracy needs its tubes cleaned out, and spark plugs changed to enable us to move towards a harsher environment in the very near future, of which we are getting regular dress rehearsals.
How they can still fart about with worrying about simple legislation when their minds should be on major matters, is beyond ordinary working minds. Quick get on with setting reasonable and ethical rules about drugs like marijuana, and illness, and extending life unreasonably, and euthanasia, and building residences to last for at least forty years with minor repairs, and encouraging colourful, cheerful groups of tiny houses in intentional communities with services guaranteed, and perhaps local money systems that can be an ajunct to the national one.
And start the Nadia Lim food plan system so you can stop wandering off into what to have for dinner. Leave more time to think about the big things and then the small ones like people down the road going out of their minds that are deteriorating from drugs and embedded sadness and emotional and physical hunger.
A vile playing of the race card by a desperate Blairite right that loathes Corbyn and will stoop to the lowest possible dirty tricks to attack him, and seeks to wedge the left with the most vile accusations possible.
A demand by Quislings in the British Labour party that Britain’s middle eastern foreign policy be decided in Washington and Tel Aviv.
An attempt by right wing, pro-Israel and anti-Corbyn Labour MPs to straight jacket any future left wing Labour government’s ability to criticise Israel, and yes – a proper left wing government WILL be a threat to policies of Netanyahu and his cronies.
The British people should not allow their foreign policy to be set by the racist and apartheid regime currently ruling in Tel Aviv.
It is so sad that the charge of anti-semitism has been cheapened and reduced to a partisan political position by a UK Jewish lobby in the U.K. that now equates criticism of the Zionist state with anti-semitism.
Just a great big PR exercise from start to finish.
People just jumped to conclusions yesterday when the court decision etc came out; whereas Pellowes made it clear yesterday that they would probably still be coming even if just as tourists.
I did not believe for one moment that they were not still looking for a venue – or had not already found one. And keeping the venue secret is just a repeat of their tactics in Melbourne which of course just heightened the intrigue and publicity etc.
For anyone who wants to “keep checkiing the website” as suggested by Pellowes, here is the link to the Axiomatic website used for the current tour. Venues already done have been Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide with Sydney and Brisbane to come this Sat and Sun. Southern and Molyneux were due to come to Auckland on Aug 3, but whether that will remain the date does not seem to have been stated yet.
You have to admit that this person put some serious effort into smashing Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. pic.twitter.com/O0HwK1eU3D— Red T Raccoon (@RedTRaccoon) July 26, 2018
Good Morning Newshub Duncan its like anything to much of most things is bad for you.
Drinking to much alcohol is bad for you it will kill you. We need to change the way we use this drug limit the access that the mokopunas have to this drug teach them that its not cool to or intelligent to binge drink teach the that a couple of drinks is ok but 10 is not. When we do this our bad stats associated with this drug will decline .
Ka kite ano
The sandflys have come up with some farcical reason to step up there attempts to intimidate Eco Maori I say bring it on muppets there is a lot of positive thing’s happening to our society because of these red necks bulling behavior . Ana to kai
Some te tangata whenua that have climbed quite high on there ladders of life in Aotearoa some kaumatua .
I see these people are in total denial of the wrong’s that are and have been dished out to tangata whenua by this system . They use words like don’t blame any one but yourself or get off your ass and go to work there plenty of work out there . There are jobs out there but when you work them the job and wages puts one in a worse position than before you started working these low wage jobs .
Because these people think tangata whenua are being treated fairly YEA RIGHT. I call for all the younger tangata whenua to step up and become the new Leaders for tangata whenua .
The evedince is out there on the propaganda some people are waging against tangata whenua MANA .
Ka kite ano P.S some one should conduct a study on the media and compare the positive and negative story’s about tangata whenua
I’m at the Rotorua hospital at the minute and te tangata Wairua are really good every one is smiling and in a good mood. It’s a stark change from about 12 months ago this shows ECO MAORI that our left coalition government te people government is doing a great job you know te tangata are much happier now. I will have more to say on the last great moves our Coalition Government has made in the last couple of days. Ka kite ano
Good evening Newshub All’s well with my whano just a little scare .
Josephs those blue nose you caught were big they are one of the sweetest fish in Tangaroa raw fish Pacific style with coconut cream its the best for that Kia kaha .
Global warming is here and now those British mp looked like they were hot lol.
Ka kite ano P.S I will go fishing with Matt one day
The Crowd Goes Wild James and Wairangi yes we got some good sports on this weekend .
The boxing is going to be awsome go Joe I will be chairing for you I use to eat fish raw straight out of tangaroa Scampi was the sweetest to Eco Maori raw . Well when one has worked for 100 hours straight on the deck you will eat anything Your old man enjoyed that fishing trip the last time I went out my son was doing what your m8 did crook as lol .
I see Horouta Wahine have been cleaning up at the Tai Waka Papatuanuku races Kia kaha wahine Ka kite ano World
Because you're magicYou're magic people to meSong: Dave Para/Molly Para.Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.A Rockel XmasChristmas morning was spent with the five of us ...
This video includes personal musings and 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). 2024 has been a series of bad news for climate change. From scorching global temperatures leading to devastating ...
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...
Dunedin’s summer thus far has been warm and humid… and it looks like we’re in for a grey Christmas. But it is now officially Christmas Day in this time zone, so never mind. This year, I’ve stumbled across an Old English version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: It has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World ...
Morena all,In my paywalled newsletter yesterday, I signed off for Christmas and wished readers well, but I thought I’d send everyone a quick note this morning.This hasn’t been a good year for our small country. The divisions caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, the cuts to our public sector, increased ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30 am include:Kāinga Ora is quietly planning to sell over $1 billion worth of state-owned land under 300 state homes in Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs, including around Bastion Point, to give the Government more fiscal room to pay for tax cuts and reduce borrowing.A ...
Hi,It’s my birthday on Christmas Day, and I have a favour to ask.A birthday wish.I would love you to share one Webworm story you’ve liked this year.The simple fact is: apart from paying for a Webworm membership (thank you!), sharing and telling others about this place is the most important ...
The last few days have been a bit too much of a whirl for me to manage a fresh edition each day. It's been that kind of year. Hope you don't mind.I’ve been coming around to thinking that it doesn't really matter if you don't have something to say every ...
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
Summer reissue: After three decades of inhaling American-dominated, disproportionately New York-based media, Sharon Lam’s first time in the city became a traipse through a collage of movie sets rather than any real place.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds ...
Summer reissue: Why do so many of us install security cameras – and are they breaching other people’s rights? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 27 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
This year has been a big one for me personally and professionally. The firm won the Litigation and Disputes Resolution Firm of the year award on November 28 and I was an Excellence Finalist in the category of firm leader for a firm with under 100 staff. I was also ...
Opinion: In 2024, 64 countries were scheduled to hold different types of national elections this year for an array of offices.Some of these, of course, were more democratic than others, but it made for a bumper year for election nerds like me.Incumbents had a bad year – more than three ...
Pacific Media Watch Five Palestinian journalists have been killed in a new Israeli strike near a hospital in central Gaza after four reporters were killed last week, reports Al Jazeera citing authorities and media in the besieged enclave. The journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel were covering events near al-Awda ...
RNZ Pacific A large 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila , shortly after 3pm NZT today. The US Geological Survey says the quake was recorded at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles). Locals have been sharing footage of serious damage to infrastructure ...
By Victor Barreiro Jr in Manila Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, has condemned the state of Israel on Christmas Eve for its relentless attacks on Gaza that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. “I can’t think of any other people in the world who live in darkness ...
By Cheerieann Wilson in Suva Veteran journalist and editor Stanley Simpson has spoken about the enduring power of storytelling and its role in shaping Fiji’s identity. Reflecting on his journey at the launch of FijiNikua, a magazine launched by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on Christmas Eve, Simpson shared personal anecdotes ...
Summer reissue: From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter ...
Summer reissue: David Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. Doug (I’ll call him ...
Summer reissue: I watched all 46 of Tom Cruise’s films over the past 12 months. The question on everyone’s lips: why?The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be ...
Summer reissue: In recent years, checking online for a green tick has become a necessary habit for Aucklanders heading to the beach. Shanti Mathias tags along with the team tasked with testing the water for pollution – and figuring out how to stop it. The Spinoff needs to double the ...
Summer reissue: After two decades of promised redevelopment, Johnsonville Shopping Centre remains neglected and half empty. Joel MacManus searches for answers in the decaying suburban mall. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter ...
Comment: I’ve been digging up dirt over the past few weekends. I plan to dig up more over summer.As global geo-politics heats up, I’ve impulsively turned to tending my wee patch of the world. The world is complex and messy. But I’m determined my quarter acre won’t be. Apparently, this is ...
Winston Peters was 47 when he founded NZ First. David Seymour is 41. “It’s probably unlikely I’ll still be in Parliament when I’m 47,” he tells Newsroom.“I always said, I have no intention of being a Member of Parliament when I’m 70-something.”In saying that, Seymour has already exceeded his own ...
Asia Pacific ReportSilent Night is a well-known Christmas carol that tells of a peaceful and silent night in Bethlehem, referring to the first Christmas more than 2000 years ago. It is now 2024, and it was again a silent night in Bethlehem last night, reports Al Jazeera’s Nisa Ibrahim. ...
Summer resissue: Has the country changed all that much in three decades? Loveni Enari compares his two New Zealands. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...
Summer reissue: Alex Casey goes on a killer journey aboard the Tormore Express.The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It was a dark and ...
Summer reissue: Speed puzzling is like a marathon for the mind – intense, demanding, surprisingly exhausting. But does turning it into a sport destroy it as a relaxing pastime? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
Summer reissue: In October, we counted down the top 100 New Zealand TV shows of the 21st century so far (read more about the process here). Here’s the list in full, for your holiday reading pleasure. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue ...
Summer reissue: Told in one crucial moment from every year, by The Spinoff’s founder Duncan Greive. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.2014: An ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 25 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Court of Appeal has dismissed Mike Smith’s “ambitious” climate claim against Attorney-General Judith Collins.Smith, a Māori climate activist, and Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Kahu elder, appealed a High Court decision that found his claims against the Crown – that its action on climate change was inadequate – untenable.The Appeal Court’s ...
Trish McKelvey is listed 139 times in the index of the New Zealand women’s cricket tome The Warm Sun On My Face, authored by Trevor Auger and Adrienne Simpson.She wrote the foreword for the book and headlines two chapters addressing crucial events in the evolution of the sport.McKelvey’s appointment as New Zealand ...
Summer reissue: The New Zealand comedy legend takes us through her life in television, including the time she hugged Elton John and the unshakeable legacy of a girl named Lyn. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please ...
Summer reissue: You really won’t guess how it ends. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published October 4, 2024. Parliament’s Economic Development, Science ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary-Rose McLaren, Professor of Teaching and Learning and Head of Program, Early Childhood Education, Victoria University Collin Quinn Lomax/ Shutterstock Some years ago, my daughter was set a maths problem: how much does it cost to drive a family of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine E. Wood, Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Swinburne University of Technology Asier Romero/ Shutterstock Christmas is coming, and with it many challenges for parents of young children. You likely have one festive event after another, late nights, party ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Nicole Driessen, Postdoctoral Researcher in Radio Astronomy, University of Sydney Tayla Walsh/Pexels With billions of children around the world anxiously waiting for their presents, Father Christmas (or Santa) and his reindeer must be travelling at breakneck speeds to deliver them ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Higgins, Professor & Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University Feeling unsure about your child going to a sleepover is completely normal. You might be worried about how well you know the host family, how they manage supervision or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Exactly 50 years ago, on Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin and left a trail of devastation. It remains one of the most destructive natural events in Australia’s history. Wind ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Irmine Keta Rotimi, Doctoral Candidate, Marketing and International Business department, Auckland University of Technology Videos of children opening boxes of toys and playing with them have become a feature of online marketing – making stars out of children as young as two. ...
I don’t hold out much hope for a positive response from nurses to the current offer from DHBs.
Even the language from the state is dodgy.
Talking about asking the ministry about 500 extra nurses and moving forward the final ‘step’ for senior nurses.
500 extra nurses is nowhere near enough to get patient safety to a reasonable level.
For a lot of nurses the sticking point isn’t the wage rise, it is the dangerous understanding.
Pay parity in December next year is about 15 months too late.
People talk about Labour talking up pay rises, but I get the impression the Nurses union leadership has had a total overshoot on setting expectations as well.
the Nurses union leadership has had a total overshoot on setting expectations as well.
Not so much the union I suspect but a bunch of vociferous activists playing politics with the rank and file and setting the bar way higher than they know the Lab led govt. is able to immediately provide. There are other negotiations set to begin whose claims are equally as valid as the nurses.
What gets up your nose about activists, surely one of the base tennents of left wing thought. The rank and file are not easily lead, why would anyone expect us to now accept an offer that is the same as that rejected three times. Yes, negotiations of other groups has begun, they may have equal validity, but one of the base arguments Nurses make is to re-establish parity with Teachers, this offer comes nowhere near that and considering teachers have rejected 14% we are likely to be even further behind.
To link safe staffing to a wage negotiation is ridiculous, its not the employees responsibility to work for less to provide for more staff, the reason hopitals are short staffed is because nurses dont exist to fill the vacancies, its a simple matter of supply and demand. Reduced supply, high demand equals high remuneration in any other occupation.
You claim: why would anyone expect us to now accept an offer that is the same as that rejected three times.
Here is your own chief negotiator on the subject;
Suggest you listen to the Checkpoint item yesterday evening:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/362630/nurses-union-recommends-dhbs-latest-offer
NZNO has recommended that the offer be accepted three times, no matter how you look at it a pig dressed in a suit is still a pig dressed in a suit.
Your response is an insult to your union negotiators who have been clearly working their guts out on your behalf. Hopefully it is not the majority mindset of the nurses, and they will follow the sensible course of action and acknowledge reality by accepting the latest offer.
Your response is an insult to hard working nurses who overwhelmingly supported rejecting all the previous DHB offers.
Union negotiators are clearly out of touch with their members, thus are wasting time dragging out this process accepting offers the majority of their members have so far rejected.
The union is my employee, i pay $20 per pay in fees to provide a salary that i can never achieve.
What is it with you, dont like a few uppitty women, the concept of servitude is long gone.
And that is the problem. Until you and others like you get it into your head that we are the union and we need to work together for all of us unions will be weak and toothless. The teeth or the power are the members. The unions are there to organise not magically draw agreements out of a hat.
Wouldn’t be the first time union leadership has appeared to be just a wee bit too chummy with the bosses Anny.
Kia kaha. The union REPRESENTS it’s members. The union or reps don’t decide for the members, the members decide. There IS enough money imo. Nurses should be paid a lot more.
The Union’s continued recommended acceptance of unsatisfactory offers in this dispute is unnecessarily dragging out the process, thus is counterproductive to members resolve.
Just up on rnz.
Chief activist, Danni Wilkinson are recommending the nurses turn down the latest offer. Why am I not surprised.
If this offer is turned down then don’t be surprised if the nurses end up with nothing and we will know who to blame.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/362671/some-nurses-still-critical-of-latest-pay-offer-from-district-health-boards
So labour are proposing cuts to public services as funding won’t keep up with demand.
Isn’t that why they were voted in? To increase public service spending to match demand so it isn’t run into the ground
Well, if the nurses do reject the latest offer, that will be a real test for the government. If unionists get a sense they can just keep rejecting offers in the expectation that they will always get a better offer from the government, then that is what they will do.
However, for the government there will come a time when they say “enough is enough, we are not going any further.”
I suspect that this point has now been reached with the nurse pay negotiations.
So in that event, if the nurses say “no” to the current offer, and then they go on strike the government will just say, “you already have our best offer, we are not changing it even you do go on strike.”
We shall see.
What’s wrong with that?
We need more nurses and isn’t supply and demand what you believe in?
I think your analysis is correct Wayne. There is only so much the govt. of the day will take in situations like this. Go too far and the nurses could end up the losers.
It is not abnormal for demands to be met on an incremental basis and over a relatively short period of time. Given this present situation goes well beyond the nurses then it is inevitable there will need to be some flexibility on the part of the individual sectors when they enter their negotiations. The nurses union seems to have recognised this reality, but some of their members have yet to catch up.
“Go too far and the nurses could end up the losers.”
Rubbish.
Nurses have nothing to lose. The DHB won’t offer anything less than what has already been offered.
In fact, accepting this offer will result in the public becoming the losers as more experienced nurses head offshore compounding the local shortfall, putting patient safety at further risk.
I would blame people with an attitude like yours.
The ‘reporting mechanisms’ involve a committee, paperwork….
All extra work, for an overworked staff, to tell administrators and bureaucrats what they have been told for the last 5 or so years.
500extra nurses when 1500 extra is the minimum.
I am curious Anne, why are you so anti this workforce requests?
You are correct that the nurses should not be expected to accept lower wages to enable more staff and as you note any parity with teachers is likely to be immediately lost.
The issue of inequality and unliveable income however cannot be resolved by simply increasing the wages of the low/’lower paid as nothing is surer to fuel an inflationary spiral as the relativity effect spreads to the productive sector. Both ends of the remuneration equation need to be addressed culminating in a more compressed remuneration band for ALL occupations and the logical way to achieve it is through progressive taxation with the loopholes closed. Unfortunately the coalition have closed this option off (and National have an ideology that moves in the opposite direction) and in terms of the nurses dispute it is not their concern but at some point in the not too distant future some gov will have to take this bull by the horns and probably as a component of a complete redesign of our economy which may well include UBI, life long education, retirement and god knows what else.(whatever happened with ‘the future of work’ commission ?)
Id like to think that the perfect time to address all these issues would be as we attempt to transition to a carbon neutral economy but thats probably too much to hope for as nobody, especially our politicians appears to have either a long term view nor the planning ability.
In the old days teachers got free tertiary study and then were bonded to become ‘teachers’ in NZ for a period of time. Might be time to think about this as well as all the other issues facing essential workers in the face, of rising population and less people wanting to become an essential worker aka nurse or teacher when you can do a law degree for example and earn $200+ p/h even better an environmental lawyer selling out at $500+ p/h, or Barry Hart types on $1000p/h … sadly a nation top heavy full of lawyers fighting each other might fuel another crisis… especially when they go to hospital and find not enough nurses or doctors to treat them… no police officers… no teachers… no paramedics… no social workers… etc
There are numerous graduate positions outside the public sector that pay equally poorly or worse, the problem is not solved by bonding in a few areas (and that can have a deterrent effect on entry uptake) and nor is recruitment from offshore any sort of panacea…the issues are structural and wont be solved by tinkering around the edges. The previous gov (and the one before to a lesser degree) attempted to control the inflationary impact by keeping settlements negative in real terms and covering shortfalls through immigration (along with its wage chilling effect)…we are seeing the results of that policy prescription …it is not a long term option though it can be effective for a period…that period is well and truly used up.
When successive governments and economists have moulded NZ into a low wage, high expenses economy then offer’s on paper for essential worker’s don’t exactly reflect the reality of the actual wage vs what standard of living they provide.
Nurses deserve every dollar they get. I think the circa $26 p/h as a starting wage for a registered nurse after a 3 year degree is too low.
Especially when the hospital CEO’s can be on circa $600,000 p/a…
The balance is wrong between pay rates in NZ, we need to even out the inequality of wages between the different staff running hospitals.
Likewise the pay rates between bus drivers and Auckland Transport Executives which probably have a similar discrepancy, while still the mantra is to keep those earning the least and in the coal face, earning as low a wage as possible and that is where the perceived savings should be.
It seems to be a mantra of the left that New Zealand is a low wage economy, the assertion seemingly being we are much worse than other comparable countries in that regard.
But I don’t think that really holds up.
New Zealand GDP is the middle of the OECD, a little bit lower than UK, France and Germany (around 10% lower). Australia and Canada are about 25% higher. Wages and salaries for government employees such as nurses, teachers, police officers in each of the nations I have mentioned, broadly reflect these differences in GDP.
For instance in the UK, qualified nurses start on 22,000 pounds or around $44,000. In Australia it seems to be around $50,000 for new nursing graduates. New Zealand is not put to shame by these figures. In fact we may be relatively better.
So New Zealand is not a particularly low wage economy. In relative terms we are about the same (or even better) as countries we typically compare ourselves to.
I appreciate that Auckland housing poses a particular problem with median house prices of around $810,00. Median house prices in Sydney are $1,150,000, so quite a bit higher. In London the median is 471,000 pounds or around $1,000,000. Also higher than Auckland, but there is a London allowance on most public sector salaries.
“It seems to be a mantra of the left that New Zealand is a low wage economy, ”
Ackshually, it was Bill English who was boasting about our low wage economy.
It should read… It seems to be the mantra of some on the left…
Not all lefties subscribe to that hypothesis. We’re not a low wage economy and never have been and most people know it. What has happened in NZ is that wage/salary inequalities have developed over a long period of time under both blue and red governments, and their needs to be adjustments put in place to bring people on a level playing field again.
Gosh, this is getting serious. I’ve agreed with Wayne twice today. 😯
Re the Avery incubators.
They seem to be capsule supplied with heat, air, and stuff for the newborn.
What are the tech issues that make them so hard to design and build?
It’s getting internationally-recognised quality certification that takes the effort – mountains of testing and paperwork.
Thanks Sasha
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/26-07-2018/andrew-little-sometimes-calling-out-your-best-mate-is-the-right-thing-to-do/
Agreed @ Andrew Little. Although maybe Australia is our “oldest” mate, but is no longer actually our “best” mate (except on ANZAC or Melbourne Cup day).
Depends. In politics, just as in a personal friendship, sometimes calling out your mate will just annoy them, especially if it is seen as “lecture”. And it is on a policy that they entirely control.
Jacinda certainly found out that over Manus Island, which is why she never refers to it anymore. She was tackling them on an issue that is pretty serious for them. And as such, they made it perfectly plain to her not to keep raising it if she wanted a reasonable relationship with their PM.
Ah OK. Kind of like me calling out a mate who has a policy of beating his wife when she doesn’t behave the way he wants. I should mind my own business.
It gets to a point where some friends might not be worth having
I would have thought its more like being an annoying vegan that keeps telling other people what to eat
An annoying vegan who keeps telling other people not to eat babies puckers.
Well meat is murder to some I suppose
Well baby meat almost certainly is pucky.
But its sooooooo tender, it just melts in the mouth
http://vegan.wikia.com/wiki/Meat_Is_Murder
‘A pig is a highly intelligent mammal, and its fatty hairless body resembles that of a human. It cries from pain similar to humans, its’ babies are extremely similar to human babies. Most fire fighters also do not eat pig, this is because when a pig’s flesh is burnt is smells much that same as human flesh does when it burns, I would assume it tastes the same as well.’
Why don’t you take your sick shit and shove it puckwit. Seedy creep.
Hey its part of my culture buddy, take your elitist viewpoint elsewhere
Perversity 101. Yeah your culture has a lot to answer for.
http://brewminate.com/the-history-and-modern-practice-of-cannibalism-as-a-sacred-ritual/
You can’t shame me with your narrow -minded middle class world view
Yes the flesh eaters have been spoilt – I just think your physical personal pleasuring to the suffering of animals is sadistic but hey I get it is essential for you so ALL good. One day a reckoning will come.
Yes. Yes it will.
https://newrepublic.com/article/118252/cannibalism-and-overpopulation-how-amazon-tribe-ate-their-dead
‘Stanford professor Paul Ehrlich made headlines last month when he told journalists that overpopulation and resource scarcity would eventually drive hungry humans to cannibalism.’
Yep OWTim exactly correct. Wayne won’t get that – seems some people like to pretend nothing is wrong and then usually they cry the biggest tears and sobs when the shit goes down. Fake all the way through.
Specially when your best mate’s a bit of a thug right wayney?
The mateship thing between the two countries is now horseshit.
We rely on Australia for so much both explicitly and implicitly.
They also own a huge chunk of our economy.
We’re lucky we don’t get asked hard questions like Taiwan does.
Which may still happen.
Sounds like you’re setting us up to adopt the Aussie dollar or have them install a military base here. Apparently this globalism thing is still thriving…
I would rather initiate a hard conversation about where we are going as a relationship between the two countries than sit on my hands and moan about how the world isn’t fair.
So yes, let’s talk currency.
Let’s talk about easy dual citizenship.
Let’s talk military bases.
Let’s talk Federation.
Because if we don’t start talking about the kind of things that would persuade the Australian government to stop screwing us over as they will continue to do, it’s going to get worse very fast.
I know where you can see where global trade instability and the rapid breakdown of most multilateral orders is going to leave us.
Or lets talk about 4 degrees of warming and ask how Australia’s domestic food security will hold up under that stress.
And what they might do under those circumstances if NZ still had food security due to a more favourable geographic location.
The last thing you’d want to do is assume that Australians are any form of ‘mates’.
Ad is correct; – and how owns our banks now – that have screwed us to the hilt?
We don’t just rely on Australia… Australia owns NZ. They could crash our economy any time they like.
They could, and if the fabulous trio had their way, they probably would. Not too dissimilar to the motherland cutting us adrift a few decades ago. (now they’re near to grovelling as Brexit looms)
Are we still here?
And only if we continue to subscribe to the neo-liberal economic framework.
NZ has had (and is increasingly having) a kind of masochistic relationship with Australia.
Beat me Beat me! Please! Beat me.
Friends (under their current junta that’s lasted near a decade?) I think not. Though Wayne and other fossils will be going phuff phuff phuff phuff on Q+A and NewShub Nation, and even here on TS. Let’s not upset the Australians.
Remember the apples @Wayne?
Given the history, I’m struggling to understand how many of them still have any credibility (or in the okker mind, any Credlin)
“The mateship thing between the two countries is now horseshit.”
Absolutely!
But then my experience(s) of Australia (bearing in mind I once actually held an Australian passport) are that the WASPS have always had a need to find the ‘other’.
It makes them feel better, and rational beings
Those bloody Abbos have always been a problem (notice how they have stolen a paternalistic “closing the gaps” programme)
In the 60s and 70s interstate rivalry was worse than it was between Australia and NZ. In some cases, Kiwis were welcomed because they were somehow better than those from other states. There were actually policed borders between NSW and Victoria that checked the car for fruit and contraband.
And whilst at college, there was no end of hearing about bloody Greckos, Spiks and Ities.
Now they’ve been ‘assimilated into okker culcha’ and learned the Aussie way and get a fair suck of the sav, it became about bloody Ayshuns over-running Queensland and Lebboes in NSW, no matter that many were born there.
It’s not really surprising that all they’ve got left are the Kiwi criminals (code for Murrays really), or those bloody progressives at the ABC in Melbourne. OR maybe even the ‘poorer’ states like Tassie and South Straya who won’t pay their way. And get in behind Norfolk Island!
No denying it’s getting worse – whether its the authoritarian trio of Dutton, Cormann and Morrison, running Fortress Australia, or Credlin News (Skoi Newz Stray-ya) pumping out shit and sports results 24 hours a day like the Okker version of Fox.
I had a lucky escape. I almost moved back in 2010
Dutton has a mouth like a prolapsing sphincter. And he’s a deeply unpleasant human being.
The 4th Reich of the Liberal Party (and others) are full of shit, and more and more egged on by Credlin TV, with guest stars like the finger pointing Rowan Deane
On the one hand they strut around telling everybody that Australia is a ‘diverse Nation built on immigration’, then on the other, like Daleks screaming Assimilate! Assimilate! Assimilate! You must be just like us! Assimilate! Assimilate!
Unfortunately, some of it has rubbed of on the NuZull gNatz
Lamprey by face, lamprey by nature.
That’s the fanciest way of calling someone an arsehole I’ve heard.
Progressive-Leftists 1 Hate Speech Coalition 0
Speaking from his gut and life experience, Te Reo Putake said it;
“There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech”
For those of a more legal bent, Villainesse makes the same point, ‘there is no such thing as free speech in an unequal society’.
Our post British Imperialist majority white, capitalist settler society has specifically designed it that way.
“Free speech is designed to protect privilege”
Villainesse – July 19, 2018
Related Posts:
Crypto-Fascists 1 New Zealand 0
There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech
Right Jenny,
There is a solid suppression of ‘free speech’ in NZ today beginning in 2008 by National..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/105762209/power-of-auckland-mayors-office-curbed-after-lashing-by-ombudsman
Not a good day for Mr Goff
Doesn’t seem to have had anything to do with Goff – at least he wasn’t mentioned in the article specifically.
And it doesn’t seem to go far enough but I think that ‘far enough’ needs to be addressed by the law-makers in central government.
IMO, any and all research done by or for the government should be released (put on a website for free viewing by anybody) within 7 days of completion.
Remembering the work of Niraz Saied
‘They killed my love’
Farar Nijjar & Linah Alsaafin – July 19, 2018
“What does Niraz Saied’s death tell us about ourselves?”
Abir Kopty – July 18, 2018
Don’t ya know, folk only give a rats about Palestinians being murdered when it’s Israel doing the murdering.
/
Die FB, die!
Matt Lauer’s purchase of a high country station has riled many about access. Lauer’s belief is that those wanting to traverse the station just have to phone and check that it is OK. That seems fair but the nearest DOC station are not allowed to give out the phone number of the station and even if you have the number an answer phone at the station does not have a call back. The station is managed by the previous owners whose history has been to obstruct those wanting to traverse.
So is Lauer the problem or is it his manager? Or is the OIO?
All three plus the government. We simply shouldn’t allow offshore owners.
I wish people would get the fact he brought the lease.
Not the actual physical thing
Good questions, ianmac. And a good summary of the latest from last night’s Checkpoint and this morning’s Morning Report.
Here is an article on the RNZ website updated at midday today with links to the various interviews on Morning Report.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/362687/access-through-lake-hawea-always-deliberately-difficult *
I get the feeling that there is more to run on this issue.
Ideologically, I agree with Draco on overseas owners, but real life is seldom that simple. As Chris T says, he bought the lease, not the actual physical property; and it is just not feasible to just cancel all existing overseas ownerships whether of actual properties or leaseholds.
* One thing I really like about the RNZ website is that when they run an article on a subject, the page also lists and provides links to directly related stories/articles in the right hand column – rather than lists/links to unrelated but current issues.
“and it is just not feasible to just cancel all existing overseas ownerships whether of actual properties or leaseholds.”
It is perfectly feasible to say that no future transfers can go to overseas owners. Over time all foreign-owned land would return to NZ citizen ownership.
I see the English are stockpiling foods and drugs for the probable crash-out Brexit.
Is their high commission here accepting donations anywhere? is there a drop off point?
I’ve read about the massive increase in users of food banks due to Tory austerity campaign. I never imagined that their government would now want to access food banks to care for the population post 29 March 2019.
The workings of government are beyond imaginings. Some of them can hardly lie straight in their beds at night.
When one looks at the behaviour of governments over the last 30 years, it is apparent that the present model of democracy needs its tubes cleaned out, and spark plugs changed to enable us to move towards a harsher environment in the very near future, of which we are getting regular dress rehearsals.
How they can still fart about with worrying about simple legislation when their minds should be on major matters, is beyond ordinary working minds. Quick get on with setting reasonable and ethical rules about drugs like marijuana, and illness, and extending life unreasonably, and euthanasia, and building residences to last for at least forty years with minor repairs, and encouraging colourful, cheerful groups of tiny houses in intentional communities with services guaranteed, and perhaps local money systems that can be an ajunct to the national one.
And start the Nadia Lim food plan system so you can stop wandering off into what to have for dinner. Leave more time to think about the big things and then the small ones like people down the road going out of their minds that are deteriorating from drugs and embedded sadness and emotional and physical hunger.
This is so sad.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/25/jewish-newspapers-claim-corbyn-poses-existential-threat
This should be seen for what it is.
A vile playing of the race card by a desperate Blairite right that loathes Corbyn and will stoop to the lowest possible dirty tricks to attack him, and seeks to wedge the left with the most vile accusations possible.
A demand by Quislings in the British Labour party that Britain’s middle eastern foreign policy be decided in Washington and Tel Aviv.
An attempt by right wing, pro-Israel and anti-Corbyn Labour MPs to straight jacket any future left wing Labour government’s ability to criticise Israel, and yes – a proper left wing government WILL be a threat to policies of Netanyahu and his cronies.
The British people should not allow their foreign policy to be set by the racist and apartheid regime currently ruling in Tel Aviv.
It is so sad that the charge of anti-semitism has been cheapened and reduced to a partisan political position by a UK Jewish lobby in the U.K. that now equates criticism of the Zionist state with anti-semitism.
I just realised the date today.
Happy Birthday to Jacinda Ardern.
What a lot has happened since her last birthday.
lol apparently the aryan agitators are still coming to NZ. I guess the freeze peach crowd pulled out too soon.
What a debacle.
Surprise, surprise – NOT.
Just a great big PR exercise from start to finish.
People just jumped to conclusions yesterday when the court decision etc came out; whereas Pellowes made it clear yesterday that they would probably still be coming even if just as tourists.
Here is the link to my comment yesterday afternoon pointing this out over on TRP’s post – https://thestandard.org.nz/hate-speech-coalition-cans-canadians-crusade/#comment-1506704
I did not believe for one moment that they were not still looking for a venue – or had not already found one. And keeping the venue secret is just a repeat of their tactics in Melbourne which of course just heightened the intrigue and publicity etc.
For anyone who wants to “keep checkiing the website” as suggested by Pellowes, here is the link to the Axiomatic website used for the current tour. Venues already done have been Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide with Sydney and Brisbane to come this Sat and Sun. Southern and Molyneux were due to come to Auckland on Aug 3, but whether that will remain the date does not seem to have been stated yet.
https://axiomatic.events/
Update – Auckland Aug 3 has just re-popped up on the website. Was not there five minutes ago.
I don’t recall this condition being stated on the website a few weeks ago.
” 1. The precise venues in each city will be advised via SMS or email to ticket holders only 24 hours prior to each event. “
Phil Goff might want to consider sending them an invoice for all the free publicity he sent their way
Oh, they would have found something else to scream victimhood about.
“I guess the freeze peach crowd pulled out too soon”
never works.
This is how it’s done.
https://twitter.com/RedTRaccoon/status/1022304416190357505
The notorious Marianne Ny gave Sweden a terrible reputation. Here, by
contrast, is a young Swedish woman who actually has integrity and courage.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/07/25/where-theres-life-a-real-live-human-being-theres-hope/
Good Morning Newshub Duncan its like anything to much of most things is bad for you.
Drinking to much alcohol is bad for you it will kill you. We need to change the way we use this drug limit the access that the mokopunas have to this drug teach them that its not cool to or intelligent to binge drink teach the that a couple of drinks is ok but 10 is not. When we do this our bad stats associated with this drug will decline .
Ka kite ano
The sandflys have come up with some farcical reason to step up there attempts to intimidate Eco Maori I say bring it on muppets there is a lot of positive thing’s happening to our society because of these red necks bulling behavior . Ana to kai
Some te tangata whenua that have climbed quite high on there ladders of life in Aotearoa some kaumatua .
I see these people are in total denial of the wrong’s that are and have been dished out to tangata whenua by this system . They use words like don’t blame any one but yourself or get off your ass and go to work there plenty of work out there . There are jobs out there but when you work them the job and wages puts one in a worse position than before you started working these low wage jobs .
Because these people think tangata whenua are being treated fairly YEA RIGHT. I call for all the younger tangata whenua to step up and become the new Leaders for tangata whenua .
The evedince is out there on the propaganda some people are waging against tangata whenua MANA .
Ka kite ano P.S some one should conduct a study on the media and compare the positive and negative story’s about tangata whenua
I’m at the Rotorua hospital at the minute and te tangata Wairua are really good every one is smiling and in a good mood. It’s a stark change from about 12 months ago this shows ECO MAORI that our left coalition government te people government is doing a great job you know te tangata are much happier now. I will have more to say on the last great moves our Coalition Government has made in the last couple of days. Ka kite ano
Good evening Newshub All’s well with my whano just a little scare .
Josephs those blue nose you caught were big they are one of the sweetest fish in Tangaroa raw fish Pacific style with coconut cream its the best for that Kia kaha .
Global warming is here and now those British mp looked like they were hot lol.
Ka kite ano P.S I will go fishing with Matt one day
The Crowd Goes Wild James and Wairangi yes we got some good sports on this weekend .
The boxing is going to be awsome go Joe I will be chairing for you I use to eat fish raw straight out of tangaroa Scampi was the sweetest to Eco Maori raw . Well when one has worked for 100 hours straight on the deck you will eat anything Your old man enjoyed that fishing trip the last time I went out my son was doing what your m8 did crook as lol .
I see Horouta Wahine have been cleaning up at the Tai Waka Papatuanuku races Kia kaha wahine Ka kite ano World