Once upon a time, tertiary education was recognised as a public good. Students were supported to study, because their education was our education; their success was the progress of our country. Those who ended up making more money on the other side paid it back through higher tax settings, in turn investing in education and support for those who came after them to flourish.
All of this changed through the "personal responsibility" era of slash and burn economic reforms, intent on instilling corporate sensibility and cost-cutting in our supposedly public institutions through the 1980s and 1990s. These were political decisions. Political decisions can change this system once again.
Yep. Those who instigated and implemented the demise of NZ free University Education….had already had theirs. (Lockjaw Smith ! )
Of course I do not absolve some of Labour…..the rogernomes were in boots and all…
However….it seems to me that we COULD have free Uni again….and I suggest maybe some means of IF you get it..agree to stay and work for the Betterment of us all in NZ ?
"Of course I do not absolve some of Labour…..the rogernomes were in boots and all…"
You know Labour is still a Third Way, Free Market political party today right?
There ain't no free Universities coming from that type of "Labour" Party any time soon…the best we can hope for is some sort of student debt relief, when the mountains of debt piled upon anyone one wanting to get further education starts effecting their own class and the economy too adversely…
Adrian…of course Labour was…and still is to an extent that way. And I proactively fight to get change. I'd like to know what do you do? I certainly see your comments. And agree with quite a few.
The problem I see is that for some….Labour is a target…for whatever reasons. But….I absolutely see national and act as a worse option.
We would be back to the 90's shit before….you could protest.
@PsyclingLeft.Always, " I'd like to know what do you do?"…I do plenty don't you worry…we (Siobhan and I) have had a bookshop in Hastings for about a decade, The Little Red Bookshop, that is a well known spot locally for political debate and conversation…and not just with Lefties I might add.
The various bands I am in nearly always have a political message either tucked into the show or for some shows are the centre piece of the show…and various other direction action methods, which I probably shouldn't go into on a public forum…
"The problem I see is that for some….Labour is a target…for whatever reasons. But….I absolutely see national and act as a worse option"
Fuck National, who cares or gives a shit about them, they do what they do, and have the right to do so…the only concern and any political energy spent by any Leftie should solely be directed at our party (Labour/Greens) and what they do…or as more often the case, don't do…Labour should be the target of our critiques, and they should hear them….loudly and relentlessly, until they start acting like an actual Labour party that we can all be proud of supporting…which isn’t this outfit today that’s for sure.
Agree with PsyclingLeftAlways. What are the results of the political debate and conversation in a bookshop? Does it lead to constructive, meaningful actions? How does this political messaging help turn Labour left? Have you joined the party to talk about your ideas to influence it's direction? You should care about what National are proposing, NZ politics is cyclic, National will ultimately gain power again at some stage in the future, but it does appear that Labour is often the target of critique, even when National are in govt.
Hi Adrian. I have given thought to your reply. As initially…it seemed as a bit of a lecture (admonishment ?)
Anyway, thinking…I did look up the Little Red Bookshop. moving quickly past the facebook one at St Pius X Catholic High school (Atlanta USA : ) and I found your one.
First …I liked that your home page Quote was Neil Gaiman !
Second. ..The Bicycle Pages….and the Shop Bike ! Is that still running? Who built ? Very cool.
I agree Labour could be more Left. And I appreciate your efforts re same. Be assured I am also trying. ( I contact Ministers…MP's etc.) And I engage with Voters potential (and disaffected others)
And with student loan relieve, some medical debt relieve for our beneficiaries, some 'winz' housing debt relieve for the homeless that were settled iwth motel housing costs under N (L charges takes 25% of bene directly to pay for that emergency housing) and so on and so forth.
Article was from February 2022 – so hardly hot news.
Basically, he (or companies under his corporate umbrella) are buying up run-down houses in lower-cost areas like Mt Wellington, on large parcels of land. The implication is that these are potential multi-unit developments (following the changes in Auckland's unitary plan opening the doors for this).
Each one has been set up as an individual company – which is pretty standard practice for developers – it ring-fences their costs – and limits their responsibility for things like leaky building (since they wind up the company, once the development is complete) [I don't agree with this, but it's standard practice – and no one is looking at changing the law]
The article implies fairly heavily that he's buying with the intention of developing multi-unit sites on the properties.
By October 2021 (when he did the buying) – it's pretty unlikely he's buying with the intention of flipping quickly for capital gain (he'd missed the boat on that one).
Why is this a bad thing?
Do you have evidence that the houses are currently sitting un-tenanted? Because the article doesn't say that. If he's planning on developing – then the tenancies might be short-term – but he's unlikely to forgo the passive revenue stream.
Stats NZ also has figures from census night. I'm guessing this is where the 40,000 figure comes from, in this table it's 39,393 for the Regional Council area that surrounds Auckland. I think somewhere they have smaller area stats? Rough and ready, and it's from 2018, but still an actual count of the night.
I like the electricity connected idea, but suspect there are barriers to that data eg privacy and it's nothing to do with councils so they won't have easy access to the data. Another small reason to nationalise power supply.
You'd think someone had done this analysis before, but I guess it ruins a good story. 'Unoccupied private dwellings' will have a specific definition for the purposes of the census. eg I don't know if it counts houses that have just been built. Obviously it counts houses where people are away for the night. Or on holiday.
An private unoccupied dwelling is one that doesn't have anyone in it at midnight on census night and for 12 hours afterwards. So census was Tuesday March 6th 2018.
Doesn't include houses under construction. However it does include houses being renovated or having remedial building with the occupants in other accommodation.
Does include all of the baches in places like Sandspit, Manakau heads, Piha, etc. There are a lot of those. You can drill down and find that there are a lot of unoccupied housing on a weekday in those kinds of areas. Generally these types of homes are useless for housing people short of housing. They are too far from work, services, and shopping.
Also includes houses on 10 acre blocks where the people live in town for work and weekend (the Auckland region has a lot of lifestyle blocks). Same high proportion of unoccupied housing in those areas as well. Ditto. Not to mention that these are usually used during weekends.
Includes flats and houses that have had tenants leave and haven't been rented yet. Most landlords expect on average a number of weeks of that happening per year. Typically about 2-3 weeks every year on average as people buy places or move suburbs, cities or countries.
So when you drill down, you find areas with large amounts of rental accommodation have higher unoccupied private dwellings – just like the areas with baches.
Includes places whose occupants who are out of town, on holiday, working at the time (think truck drivers, taxi drivers, night shift workers, etc).
What you really have to look at is the percentages and trends over time.
In the 2001 census the unoccupied private dwellings was 7.0% in the Auckland region.
in the 2006 census the unoccupied private dwellings was 7.6% in the Auckland region.
In the 2013 census the unoccupied private dwellings was 7.0% in the Auckland region. A symptom of the unfettered immigration.
And I'd put the caveat on 2018. That was probably the most poorly run census for the last century. National sliced the funding by about 50% in the 8 years after the aborted 2010 census. They wanted to have tax cuts for the already wealthy – so they cut critical services like the census.
It has been acknowledged that the 2018 census missed a lot, and much of it is conservative estimates rather the solid data. The census collection rate was well down on the 2013 census even after they rectified with post-census work. So a conservative stats approach would tend to say that a house was unoccupied rather than guess if it was occupied on census night.
But in other words this is a bouncing percentage for the Auckland region. It depends on a lot.
Going by a raw number is ridiculous stupidity and daft propaganda. Sure it is only ~12,000 private dwellings less that the total number in the Dunedin City Council – our 7th most populous urban area. But absolute numbers simply aren't that useful.
And if you look at the 2018 census for Dunedin City, the unoccupied private dwelling percentage in the 2018 census was 7.4%. Right in the normal urban range.
BTW I think that you have go back quite a while before it goes out of the 7-8% band.
I do wish people would think about 40k over 500k private dwellings actually means.
Australia came out with similar figure in 2021,there was also the point that it was when the majority of Australians were in lockdown.
Their analysis is it is with second homes in holiday areas,and empty homes in harvest areas,along with an increased availability for short term rentals (air bnb etc)
essentially its a bipartisan failure to a. capture the amount of empty houses in NZ to their full extend – i.e. how many, where, and why? and then rule/regulate/intensivice owners to open up these homes either to tenants or to new owners. Such as Gareth Morgan who a few years ago was quite open about the fact that he owned multiple homes but does not rent them.
Empty 'homes' are a manifestation of a real blight on society – inequality.
'TINA types' at the top of the table may be oblivious to the many downsides of poverty, but it's not their fault – they're dealing with a lot too.
The Side Eye’s Two New Zealands: The Table [16 August 2022]
The point is, we can improve. And the starting point for that is to get over the awkwardness and start acknowledging the problem.
Those 40,000 empty homes in Auckland need urgent attention.
Which empty homes? 40,000 is the number of unoccupied dwellings in Auckland on the night of the 2018 census. It's not the number of houses that are empty.
The Census captures information about unoccupied dwellings on Census night.
There were 191,649 unoccupied private dwellings as at Census 2018. “Unoccupied dwellings” is often misreported in the media and represented as empty homes. That's incorrect.
"Unoccupied dwellings" contains a significant number of properties where residents were temporarily away on Census night. They might have been staying with friends/family, away for business, or on vacation. To report these as empty homes is misleading as it includes a large number of properties that are usually occupied.
…
The Census further classifies “Unoccupied dwellings” into two sub-categories:
Residents away
Includes homes that were known to be temporarily unoccupied on Census night. They are not considered to be empty.
Empty dwellings
Includes properties that are determined to be empty by using both Census responses and other administrative data and processes used by StatsNZ.
Were there really 40,000 ghost houses in Auckland at the last Census?
No. Auckland is often the focus of media coverage when reporting on empty homes. It has been reported that there are nearly 40,000 “unoccupied dwellings” (or 'ghost houses') in Auckland. Claims are made that the number of empty homes are increasing.
Whilst it's true “unoccupied dwellings” is increasing, a closer look at the sub-categories tells a very different story when it comes to "empty dwellings".
Click on the link to see actual figures for empty houses in the last three census. In 2018 it was 17,130. Now take into account houses that have just been built, houses that are rentals and between tenants, houses about to be demolished. Not sure which category holiday houses fit
Grant Robertson: “It's a social democratic party, the Labour party and that social democratic tradition acknowledges obviously the role of the market, that's part of it, but it also acknowledges the role of the state, particularly where there is market failure where we do need to improve equity where we should drive towards equity and the state playing an enabling role. I think that there isn't a great internal dispute in the Labout party about that vision anymore. I think Covid shown us that the state has got an absolutely critical role when a crisis comes along but it's equally got a critical role being an enabler of innovation and a supporter of that and people like Mariana Mazzucato and the work she's done around the mission economy and those sorts of concepts. That to me is a social democratic party in the modern world, the state playing, that enabling innovating role as well as the protecting and supporting role. So I think that's a social democratic tradition and you're absolutely right, on any given announcement I will be attacked from further to my left on not having gone far enough and on the right I'm being on the path to socialism and that probably points us to the fact that we are in about the right place”
Labour has a lot of catching up to do – we have been going backwards for decades.
I will be attacked from further to my left on not having gone far enough and on the right I'm being on the path to socialism and that probably points us to the fact that we are in about the right place
NZ has stampeded to the right over the past few decades, without any popular movement to that effect, and without producing any of the promised social goods with which Labour's moral decay was ostensibly justified.
This made Labour unelectable for the whole of the 90s, and even today their grassroots support remains seriously eroded. When a party of the left finds itself level-pegging with a party as lacking in plausible policy and human qualities as National they need to ask themselves some very serious questions.
Your opinion implies the only reason "NZ has stampeded to the right over the past few decades" and voters have elected National govts is entirely the fault of the Labour party, which I doubt that is the only reason. Frankly, with the level of misinformation and hysterical anti govt rhetoric, I'm surprised Labour isn't doing worse in the opinion polls. A recent Curia poll had Labour inching ahead.
When one compares the relative effectuality of the major parties, Labour's problems seem much more likely to be self-inflicted than the result of unwonted outbreaks of Svengalian cleverness on the part of the opposition.
Like I said, there's a lot of misinformation and hysterical anti govt rhetoric, which is right up National's alley
"More importantly, by refusing to rule out working with them in the next parliament, National Party leader Christopher Luxon has potentially given Tamaki and his fellow travellers a sniff of credibility"
There's a good reason it's been removed. It was fake.
Not for the first time, those who seek confirmation bias from the Daily Mail, Spectator and other right-wing media, end up looking like fools. Inevitable result: undermining any legitimate point in the ongoing debate.
It's Open Mike, I can't/won't tell anyone what stories to try and spread here. But if you don't want to score spectacular own goals, maybe do a little homework first?
That is the great thing about Gender Identity ideology. Because it is just that – an ideology – just like a religious ideology, you can make up anything you like. There are about 6000 "gods" currently on offer around the world (and that is without an exhaustive dive into the Hindu pantheon. And soon there will be that sort of numbers of gender identities.
There will of course, still only be 2 sexes in mammals (which includes human beings.)
Fortunately, thanks to the enlightenment and the separation of Church and State, in civilised countries, people cannot be forced to believe in any one of these identities, or the whole ideology that supports them.
Well…..I was just humorously thinking..they finally done it. Went full mettle sheeple : )
Anyway…agree re gods. (gods noted). Neil Gaiman is a pretty amazing Story maker/recounter. "American Gods"…"Sandman" etc.
gods..are absolutely fictional…but still..the Idea? Very Interesting : ) And how Humans have Imagined…re-purposed and at times twisted..beyond all recognition, the original intent.
Absolutely agree re the Enlightenment . Going to burn Galileo? Monsters.!
And also with you on separation of church and State. Always.
The Gender thing..I have stayed well clear of ! As the extreme views on both sides…not something I want.
Oh and re Mr Trotter and his …"the Red Flag"….i had the luck to never hear live ! (that would maybe need therapy?) But had seen on TV. Was akin to some terrible event..which you were struggling to process. I sometimes replay (rarely mind ) …when hearing of his latest utterances.
The military angle is important. You have to have poor, uneducated soldiers go away to war to protect the wealth of the rich. Those that survive can then come home and be entertained by Republicans who voted against a bill boosting healthcare for veterans exposed to toxins during war.
Let's not call it public service, he has been very well remunerated for his work.
Some gongs are deserved, others not so much, and some don't want them anyway.
No-siree! Silence reigns over gong-refusal [19 February 2013]
The Star-Times, in its request, did not ask for the reasons given for the refusals, but many of those who have publicly declined an honour did not agree with the imperial or "titular" system – where recipients are called "Sir" and "Lady" – which was scrapped by Helen Clark's Government in 2000 and then reinstated by John Key's in 2009.
…
Bolger, a well-known republican, declined because he "didn't believe in knighthoods".
Chop off the top of the honours list. They don't need any more rewards
[31 December 2021]
The so-called lower reaches of the honours list, though – the Queen’s Service Order (QSO) and Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) – are a different story. Far and away my favourite part of the system, they actually do something useful, recognising people whose achievements would otherwise genuinely go unacknowledged. Most of them are awarded for services to the community in some form or other.
…
So much depends on unsung backroom heroes. I’m thinking here of stage managers, age-grade sports coaches, office managers who hold entire organisations together. They deserve greater accolades. Let’s celebrate not the politicians, so often in the spotlight, but the submission-makers; the roadies rather than the rock stars. Some people labour all their lives with very little light shone their way.
Let’s recognise them.
And some recipients turn out to be a mixed bag at best.
Basically committed the crime of having a different point of view on the jab. Misinformation or healthy scepticism? A healthy democracy allows healthy scepticism in my view.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
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1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
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TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
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Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
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Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
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I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
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NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
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What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
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Yep. Those who instigated and implemented the demise of NZ free University Education….had already had theirs. (Lockjaw Smith ! )
Of course I do not absolve some of Labour…..the rogernomes were in boots and all…
However….it seems to me that we COULD have free Uni again….and I suggest maybe some means of IF you get it..agree to stay and work for the Betterment of us all in NZ ?
"Of course I do not absolve some of Labour…..the rogernomes were in boots and all…"
You know Labour is still a Third Way, Free Market political party today right?
There ain't no free Universities coming from that type of "Labour" Party any time soon…the best we can hope for is some sort of student debt relief, when the mountains of debt piled upon anyone one wanting to get further education starts effecting their own class and the economy too adversely…
Turn Labour Left!
Adrian…of course Labour was…and still is to an extent that way. And I proactively fight to get change. I'd like to know what do you do? I certainly see your comments. And agree with quite a few.
The problem I see is that for some….Labour is a target…for whatever reasons. But….I absolutely see national and act as a worse option.
We would be back to the 90's shit before….you could protest.
I did give Chloe Swarbricks comment precedence….
@PsyclingLeft.Always, " I'd like to know what do you do?"…I do plenty don't you worry…we (Siobhan and I) have had a bookshop in Hastings for about a decade, The Little Red Bookshop, that is a well known spot locally for political debate and conversation…and not just with Lefties I might add.
The various bands I am in nearly always have a political message either tucked into the show or for some shows are the centre piece of the show…and various other direction action methods, which I probably shouldn't go into on a public forum…
"The problem I see is that for some….Labour is a target…for whatever reasons. But….I absolutely see national and act as a worse option"
Fuck National, who cares or gives a shit about them, they do what they do, and have the right to do so…the only concern and any political energy spent by any Leftie should solely be directed at our party (Labour/Greens) and what they do…or as more often the case, don't do…Labour should be the target of our critiques, and they should hear them….loudly and relentlessly, until they start acting like an actual Labour party that we can all be proud of supporting…which isn’t this outfit today that’s for sure.
Turn Labour Left!
Agree with PsyclingLeftAlways. What are the results of the political debate and conversation in a bookshop? Does it lead to constructive, meaningful actions? How does this political messaging help turn Labour left? Have you joined the party to talk about your ideas to influence it's direction? You should care about what National are proposing, NZ politics is cyclic, National will ultimately gain power again at some stage in the future, but it does appear that Labour is often the target of critique, even when National are in govt.
New Zealand Labour Party policy process summary
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Afr-q3ey5dg6ZtDGOcQfjtaeJGjItFeZ/view
Hi Adrian. I have given thought to your reply. As initially…it seemed as a bit of a lecture (admonishment ?)
Anyway, thinking…I did look up the Little Red Bookshop. moving quickly past the facebook one at St Pius X Catholic High school (Atlanta USA : ) and I found your one.
First …I liked that your home page Quote was Neil Gaiman !
Second. ..The Bicycle Pages….and the Shop Bike ! Is that still running? Who built ? Very cool.
Have you read this? Kennet Bros : )
https://www.kennett.co.nz/product/the-bikes-we-built
Have you heard of RAD Bikes ?
https://www.radbikes.co.nz/
I agree Labour could be more Left. And I appreciate your efforts re same. Be assured I am also trying. ( I contact Ministers…MP's etc.) And I engage with Voters potential (and disaffected others)
Best wishes Shop..and If Biking..Keep Upright : )
And with student loan relieve, some medical debt relieve for our beneficiaries, some 'winz' housing debt relieve for the homeless that were settled iwth motel housing costs under N (L charges takes 25% of bene directly to pay for that emergency housing) and so on and so forth.
Anyone saying anything about that? June 2022
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/06/10/beneficiaries-owe-record-21b-to-govt-as-cost-of-living-soars/
Or is that not sexy enough?
2.1 billion is enough to buy thousands of houses.
Those 40,000 empty homes in Auckland need urgent attention.
'Lockdown project': NZ's richest man Graeme Hart starts on Auckland house-buying spree – NZ Herald
Hi, sadly that link is paywalled… can you give a heads up what was in it?
Oh re Mr Hart….he's under the radar. Well kind of.
Article was from February 2022 – so hardly hot news.
Basically, he (or companies under his corporate umbrella) are buying up run-down houses in lower-cost areas like Mt Wellington, on large parcels of land. The implication is that these are potential multi-unit developments (following the changes in Auckland's unitary plan opening the doors for this).
Each one has been set up as an individual company – which is pretty standard practice for developers – it ring-fences their costs – and limits their responsibility for things like leaky building (since they wind up the company, once the development is complete) [I don't agree with this, but it's standard practice – and no one is looking at changing the law]
Not really seeing the downside here….
The article implies fairly heavily that he's buying with the intention of developing multi-unit sites on the properties.
By October 2021 (when he did the buying) – it's pretty unlikely he's buying with the intention of flipping quickly for capital gain (he'd missed the boat on that one).
Why is this a bad thing?
Do you have evidence that the houses are currently sitting un-tenanted? Because the article doesn't say that. If he's planning on developing – then the tenancies might be short-term – but he's unlikely to forgo the passive revenue stream.
I don't know where to go for the figures but I thought a good proxy for empty houses would be:
Number of dwellings – number of dwellings connected to grid = empty houses.
We might miss a few that have gone off grid – but the city should have those figures too?
Stats NZ also has figures from census night. I'm guessing this is where the 40,000 figure comes from, in this table it's 39,393 for the Regional Council area that surrounds Auckland. I think somewhere they have smaller area stats? Rough and ready, and it's from 2018, but still an actual count of the night.
https://datafinder.stats.govt.nz/layer/103904-2018-census-occupied-and-unoccupied-private-dwellings-by-regional-council/
I like the electricity connected idea, but suspect there are barriers to that data eg privacy and it's nothing to do with councils so they won't have easy access to the data. Another small reason to nationalise power supply.
You'd think someone had done this analysis before, but I guess it ruins a good story. 'Unoccupied private dwellings' will have a specific definition for the purposes of the census. eg I don't know if it counts houses that have just been built. Obviously it counts houses where people are away for the night. Or on holiday.
ah, some good people have indeed done this work.
https://emptyhomes.co.nz/Numbers
An private unoccupied dwelling is one that doesn't have anyone in it at midnight on census night and for 12 hours afterwards. So census was Tuesday March 6th 2018.
Doesn't include houses under construction. However it does include houses being renovated or having remedial building with the occupants in other accommodation.
Does include all of the baches in places like Sandspit, Manakau heads, Piha, etc. There are a lot of those. You can drill down and find that there are a lot of unoccupied housing on a weekday in those kinds of areas. Generally these types of homes are useless for housing people short of housing. They are too far from work, services, and shopping.
Also includes houses on 10 acre blocks where the people live in town for work and weekend (the Auckland region has a lot of lifestyle blocks). Same high proportion of unoccupied housing in those areas as well. Ditto. Not to mention that these are usually used during weekends.
Includes flats and houses that have had tenants leave and haven't been rented yet. Most landlords expect on average a number of weeks of that happening per year. Typically about 2-3 weeks every year on average as people buy places or move suburbs, cities or countries.
So when you drill down, you find areas with large amounts of rental accommodation have higher unoccupied private dwellings – just like the areas with baches.
Includes places whose occupants who are out of town, on holiday, working at the time (think truck drivers, taxi drivers, night shift workers, etc).
What you really have to look at is the percentages and trends over time.
In the 2001 census the unoccupied private dwellings was 7.0% in the Auckland region.
in the 2006 census the unoccupied private dwellings was 7.6% in the Auckland region.
In the 2013 census the unoccupied private dwellings was 7.0% in the Auckland region. A symptom of the unfettered immigration.
In the 2018 census it was 7.9%.
And I'd put the caveat on 2018. That was probably the most poorly run census for the last century. National sliced the funding by about 50% in the 8 years after the aborted 2010 census. They wanted to have tax cuts for the already wealthy – so they cut critical services like the census.
It has been acknowledged that the 2018 census missed a lot, and much of it is conservative estimates rather the solid data. The census collection rate was well down on the 2013 census even after they rectified with post-census work. So a conservative stats approach would tend to say that a house was unoccupied rather than guess if it was occupied on census night.
But in other words this is a bouncing percentage for the Auckland region. It depends on a lot.
Going by a raw number is ridiculous stupidity and daft propaganda. Sure it is only ~12,000 private dwellings less that the total number in the Dunedin City Council – our 7th most populous urban area. But absolute numbers simply aren't that useful.
And if you look at the 2018 census for Dunedin City, the unoccupied private dwelling percentage in the 2018 census was 7.4%. Right in the normal urban range.
BTW I think that you have go back quite a while before it goes out of the 7-8% band.
I do wish people would think about 40k over 500k private dwellings actually means.
Australia came out with similar figure in 2021,there was also the point that it was when the majority of Australians were in lockdown.
Their analysis is it is with second homes in holiday areas,and empty homes in harvest areas,along with an increased availability for short term rentals (air bnb etc)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-29/census-finds-1-million-empty-houses-amid-affordability-crisis/101190794
Some solutions.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-20/homeless-crisis-million-homes-vacant-in-australia/101234424
at what point does a newly built house become an unoccupied dwelling in the census?
there's this too,
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-26-08-2022/#comment-1907764
They reckon the rate of empty houses (as distinct from unoccupied on census night) has been decreasing.
They have been around for a while now.
from 2016 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/rise-of-the-ghost-homes-more-than-33000-auckland-dwellings-officially-classified-empty/3JXSEQNUK36SBG7UBQMJ3VUPGU/
from 2015 https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2015/05/28/are-vacant-homes-adding-to-aucklands-housing-shortage/
here is Phil Twyford 2018
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/latest/103962397/minister-of-housing-blames-national-for-empty-ghost-houses
essentially its a bipartisan failure to a. capture the amount of empty houses in NZ to their full extend – i.e. how many, where, and why? and then rule/regulate/intensivice owners to open up these homes either to tenants or to new owners. Such as Gareth Morgan who a few years ago was quite open about the fact that he owned multiple homes but does not rent them.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/04/19/gareth-morgan-and-multiple-empty-houses/
Whether its 40,000 or 25,000…this is how you deal with it.
'Properties deemed or declared empty in the 2021 reference year will be subject to a tax of 3% of the property’s 2021 assessed taxable value. '
Empty Homes Tax | City of Vancouver
Vancouver real estate: Impact of tripled empty homes tax | CTV News
Vancouver mayor proposes hiking Empty Homes Tax to 5% of property value | Urbanized (dailyhive.com)
'implied'…indeed!
That buying residential properties and leaving them vacant was a viable ,rational exercise has been proven over the last 5 years.
I have been past two of his properties recently-Kawiti Ave and Elstree Ave…no sign of development.
But were they vacant?
Really, it seems as though this was a poor article to choose to support your claim that there are vast numbers of Auckland properties sitting vacant.
People have provided links to support the fact.
Those 2 looked' vacant…did not stop and knock on the door.
Empty 'homes' are a manifestation of a real blight on society – inequality.
'TINA types' at the top of the table may be oblivious to the many downsides of poverty, but it's not their fault – they're dealing with a lot too.
Which empty homes? 40,000 is the number of unoccupied dwellings in Auckland on the night of the 2018 census. It's not the number of houses that are empty.
https://emptyhomes.co.nz/Numbers
Click on the link to see actual figures for empty houses in the last three census. In 2018 it was 17,130. Now take into account houses that have just been built, houses that are rentals and between tenants, houses about to be demolished. Not sure which category holiday houses fit
Census haha. Why on earth didn't I think of that.
By the trend the real number (of vacant but habitable [sic] dwellings in Auckland) is likely between 10 – 15K.
These are not the headlines we was looking for!
Still, even 10K more houses in the rental market would help a great deal. Could help, by my calculations, up to 10K households.
Grant Robertson: “It's a social democratic party, the Labour party and that social democratic tradition acknowledges obviously the role of the market, that's part of it, but it also acknowledges the role of the state, particularly where there is market failure where we do need to improve equity where we should drive towards equity and the state playing an enabling role. I think that there isn't a great internal dispute in the Labout party about that vision anymore. I think Covid shown us that the state has got an absolutely critical role when a crisis comes along but it's equally got a critical role being an enabler of innovation and a supporter of that and people like Mariana Mazzucato and the work she's done around the mission economy and those sorts of concepts. That to me is a social democratic party in the modern world, the state playing, that enabling innovating role as well as the protecting and supporting role. So I think that's a social democratic tradition and you're absolutely right, on any given announcement I will be attacked from further to my left on not having gone far enough and on the right I'm being on the path to socialism and that probably points us to the fact that we are in about the right place”
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1049-money-talks-75256600/episode/grant-robertson-money-plays-such-a-99858530/?keyid%5B0%5D=Money%20Talks&keyid%5B1%5D=Grant%20Robertson%3A%20%27Money%20plays%20such%20a%20big%20role%20in%20the%20way%20we%20live%20our%20lives%27&sc=podcast_widget
Complacency is a pretty poor argument when you've built the fastest growing inequality in the OECD.
I didnt see Grant's view on the Labour party as being complacent at all.
Labour has a lot of catching up to do – we have been going backwards for decades.
I will be attacked from further to my left on not having gone far enough and on the right I'm being on the path to socialism and that probably points us to the fact that we are in about the right place
NZ has stampeded to the right over the past few decades, without any popular movement to that effect, and without producing any of the promised social goods with which Labour's moral decay was ostensibly justified.
This made Labour unelectable for the whole of the 90s, and even today their grassroots support remains seriously eroded. When a party of the left finds itself level-pegging with a party as lacking in plausible policy and human qualities as National they need to ask themselves some very serious questions.
Your opinion implies the only reason "NZ has stampeded to the right over the past few decades" and voters have elected National govts is entirely the fault of the Labour party, which I doubt that is the only reason. Frankly, with the level of misinformation and hysterical anti govt rhetoric, I'm surprised Labour isn't doing worse in the opinion polls. A recent Curia poll had Labour inching ahead.
entirely the fault of the Labour party
When one compares the relative effectuality of the major parties, Labour's problems seem much more likely to be self-inflicted than the result of unwonted outbreaks of Svengalian cleverness on the part of the opposition.
"problems seem much more likely to be self-inflicted" But you could easily say the same about National.
National have indeed got the proverbial 99 problems.
So why aren't Labour eating them alive? I can think of a few reasons.
Like I said, there's a lot of misinformation and hysterical anti govt rhetoric, which is right up National's alley
"More importantly, by refusing to rule out working with them in the next parliament, National Party leader Christopher Luxon has potentially given Tamaki and his fellow travellers a sniff of credibility"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/473596/refusing-to-rule-out-working-with-brian-tamaki-luxon-gives-nz-s-populist-right-a-sniff-of-credibility
Three days ago on Open Mike. there was a link to a story about a girl identifying as a "cat" in Australia. The story was picked up by the NZ Herald:
Here is that story now:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/year-8-girl-identifying-as-cat-at-school-in-melbourne/7P32HKJLU6KI4RKYAX2JSSCYUU/
There's a good reason it's been removed. It was fake.
Not for the first time, those who seek confirmation bias from the Daily Mail, Spectator and other right-wing media, end up looking like fools. Inevitable result: undermining any legitimate point in the ongoing debate.
It's Open Mike, I can't/won't tell anyone what stories to try and spread here. But if you don't want to score spectacular own goals, maybe do a little homework first?
https://twitter.com/davidfarrier/status/1562865811827539970
also the Herald.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/year-8-girl-identifying-as-cat-at-school-in-melbourne/7P32HKJLU6KI4RKYAX2JSSCYUU/
story deleted lol.
It is so hard to tell truth from satire these days. Is Pizza a gender?
https://www.lgbtqia.wiki/wiki/Pizzagender
Not always hard. Good faith helps. Not having an agenda helps.
If you want to believe something because it fits your prejudices, you probably will.
Try the link I provided. A lot more useful than yours.
Wait until they hear about these people.
https://twitter.com/emikusano/status/1561333918858887168
🙄
OMG..its the actual sheeple !
That is the great thing about Gender Identity ideology. Because it is just that – an ideology – just like a religious ideology, you can make up anything you like. There are about 6000 "gods" currently on offer around the world (and that is without an exhaustive dive into the Hindu pantheon. And soon there will be that sort of numbers of gender identities.
There will of course, still only be 2 sexes in mammals (which includes human beings.)
Fortunately, thanks to the enlightenment and the separation of Church and State, in civilised countries, people cannot be forced to believe in any one of these identities, or the whole ideology that supports them.
Well…..I was just humorously thinking..they finally done it. Went full mettle sheeple : )
Anyway…agree re gods. (gods noted). Neil Gaiman is a pretty amazing Story maker/recounter. "American Gods"…"Sandman" etc.
gods..are absolutely fictional…but still..the Idea? Very Interesting : ) And how Humans have Imagined…re-purposed and at times twisted..beyond all recognition, the original intent.
Absolutely agree re the Enlightenment . Going to burn Galileo? Monsters.!
And also with you on separation of church and State. Always.
The Gender thing..I have stayed well clear of ! As the extreme views on both sides…not something I want.
Oh and re Mr Trotter and his …"the Red Flag"….i had the luck to never hear live ! (that would maybe need therapy?) But had seen on TV. Was akin to some terrible event..which you were struggling to process. I sometimes replay (rarely mind ) …when hearing of his latest utterances.
Gives a perspective : ) …
I posted that link…..from news.com.au-'Australia's leading news source'.
I suggest you contact them with your …advice.
"Australia's leading news source" is how the Murdoch press describes itself.
"Fair and balanced" is how Fox News describes itself. Again, it's Murdoch.
It's up to each of us to decide if we want to treat them as credible sources of information. Not a difficult choice for me.
Hardly a 'spectacular home goal'….anyway keep doing your…homework.
I won't quote the definition of 'hyperbole'…you may not like the…source.
Those complaining about student debt forgiveness in the US curiously silent on PPP loan forgiveness:
https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/1562509000494968832
Sanders remains a voice of reason:
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1562166080365334528
Perhaps there’s another reason for their complaints?
https://twitter.com/GravelInstitute/status/1562929280132255744
The military angle is important. You have to have poor, uneducated soldiers go away to war to protect the wealth of the rich. Those that survive can then come home and be entertained by Republicans who voted against a bill boosting healthcare for veterans exposed to toxins during war.
Meet Teddy-boy Greg. He likes Russia.
https://twitter.com/letmetakectrl/status/1562853616951906307
Re: Trevor Mallard
The opposition are graceless bunch of pricks.
Mallard has given over 40 to public service. First as a teacher and then as a politician. If anyone deserves a gong, Mallard does.
National MP Sir David Carter got his gong and he was the most biased Speaker I have seen.
Ol' Sir Lockjaw Smith certainly had his moments…. And really whats that list that has Sir Key's lies ? Quite a few…
Let's not call it public service, he has been very well remunerated for his work.
He's also at times behaved extremely poorly
Some gongs are deserved, others not so much, and some don't want them anyway.
And some recipients turn out to be a mixed bag at best.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Shipley#Life_after_politics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Abbott
If Brisbane flood-risked towns can do quick and effective 'managed retreat', so can we.
Relocation should be considered for flood-prone towns – environmental engineer | RNZ
Te Hapua. Kaeo. Awanui. Rangiputa.
Thames. Paeroa.
Ashburton. Rakaia.
Aranui and New Brighton. Waikuku Beach.
Kairaki. Kaitangata.
Dargaville.
Westport. Fox Glacier.
South Dunedin. Henley.
Coastal Nelson. Otatara.
Northern Napier.
Coastal Tauranga and The Mount.
Auckland such as Parakai and Helensville, and Clevedon.
Heads up Tauranga – Jabfree Jesus is here to save you!
"said she helped a woman who had failed to conceive with IVF become pregnant through meditation"
OMMMM, or is it UMMMMM?
I have questions!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/300671598/mayoral-hopeful-spread-false-medical-claims-lied-about-emmy-award
Basically committed the crime of having a different point of view on the jab. Misinformation or healthy scepticism? A healthy democracy allows healthy scepticism in my view.
You selectively read very often?