"It's getting worse. When Labour was elected, less than one in 10 patients waited longer than six hours to be seen at an emergency department. Now, nearly one in four wait longer than six hours."
Yes Andrew, it is a crisis. You have made it worse.
"Dr Sandy Richardson, the former chair of the College of Emergency Nurses, said the situation is now dangerous."
I must admit to feeling sad then a little pissed off yesty.
Sad to hear of the plight of a wee 4 yr old and his parents being failed by our health system. ( In no way is this a criticism of the front line workers.)
Then pissed off hearing Reti and Dr Doolittle squabble in the house.
Decades of underfunding, and DHB governance overseen by accountant types worshipping the $ and serving the budgets.
Kiddies dying and Robertson is proud of his surplus….
The problem for Andrew is, it has got so much worse under his (and David Clark's) watch over the last 5 years. You cant keep blaming "9 years of neglect". You may as well blame the Muldoon govt back in the seventies!
Well before the virus, when the previous govt deliberately ran down the health system, you mean? Sure was. Takes many years to turn it around. Now health workforce is in demand all over the world and a dangerous job.
in the last four decades our population has doubled, health costs have blown out hugely(go into an operating theatre(p.n. hospital has ten) and figure out how much all the gizmo's cost, you wont be anywhere near correct). all meds have ballooned in costs, all western countries are short staffed medically. fun fact, the asthma inhaler that costs me $5 because the gov subsidizes it costs $100 u.s. in the u.s.. the health system is a black hole that swallows up as much money as you can throw in it. getting rid of the different health boards is a big forward step, but NO government will EVER keep ahead of the problem. the english voted for brexit fooled by the lie that the money saved would bail out their health system. hows that working out????
"You cant keep blaming "9 years of neglect". You may as well blame the Muldoon govt back in the seventies!" Jimmy
As the old joke goes:
“George Washington is the only US president who didn’t blame the previous administration for all his difficulties”
Considering that this administration is the first administration to have full control of the house since the introduction of MMP. This administration can't trot out the "handbrake" excuse.
Writing in 2020 before the last election, Bernard Hicky proves presentiment in laying out this adminstration’s chosen trajectory:
A painful handbrake? Or a perfect alibi?
Bernard Hicky, August 26 2020
….Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will have to decide soon whether she wants the second term of her Labour-led coalition to be about policy reform or simply about managing the status quo, and whether she is confident enough in Labour's popularity to propose 'transformational' policies….
She will have to decide if she is a true Labour reformer, or just a manager of the status quo, MMP-style. ….
Wednesday's confirmation that New Zealand First has blocked Labour's preference for a NZ Superannuation-led 'Public Public Partnership' to build a $6 billion transformational rail-led redevelopment of the Auckland isthmus is just the latest of a series of handbrake turns.
They include: commercial rent relief for smaller retailers; a vehicle feebate scheme to encourage new electric car purchases; 90-day trials for new employees for smaller businesses; welfare reform; benefits for jobless migrants; blocking visa variations to allow out-of-work migrants to switch employers; delaying a second round of gun reforms; blocking reforms to sexual violence law reforms; stopping cameras from being rolled out on fishing boats; stopping farming's inclusion in the emissions trading scheme; tougher water quality rules; and reform of the 'three strikes' law reform.
That's not forgetting the ultimate handbrake on Labour's Capital Gains Tax reform,…
Will the new Maori Health Authority be the solution to the problem? Or is it just another bureaucratic restructuring combined with political virtue-signaling?
I suspect we will get more highly-paid officials sitting in Wellington as the hospital waiting lists grow longer, but only time will tell. Economist Brian Easton has described the government policy as a "redisorganisation."
Hunter Thompson 11. The answer to your first two questions: No and Yes.
We are already getting more highly paid officials sitting in Wellington and the hospital lists are growing longer by the day. Time is already telling us, Little and Labour think if they set up a new authority, ministry, whatever then this will magically translate into solutions. Brian Easton is right. But the worst part of all this is that our health system will deteriorate further and further.
But wait Jimmy………we have a brand new lovely Health Authority that is going to bring health equity to all! Andrew Little to the rescue! As health professionals leave the sinking ship, the shiny new NZ Health (with their drag Queen kaoreke evenings because they are so inclusive) are in a meeting right now to discuss…….god knows what, but I hear NZ Health is in absolute chaos.
And probably Mr Little will bring health equity to all NZders, because the lack of health staff will mean we all get equally bad health options eg longer wait times across all ED in the country.
So, what are you doing to save the health system? Are you still wearing masks so you don't pass covid-19 around? Are you still cleaning your hands before entering and leaving any new location?
Hospitals are under stress because covid-19 hasn't magically gone away, in fact we are at the start of another upswing.
There is not a lot money can do at the moment because we can't magic up a medical workforce and facilities to deal with the extra peaks in sickness due to covid-19. The only way to deal with it is to do all you can not to get covid-19 and not to spread covid-19.
But people are happy to make it someone else's problem because caring for the welfare of others, by even the simplest of strategies, is too hard.
The workforce is part of the solution, and all the minister can come up with is … getting more migrants
Howzabout offering complimentary training and support payments to those we need in the health workforce. Maori and P.I. Stay on for 2/3/5 years and you owe nothing.
Here in Palmy, we have a high Bhutanese population. These migrant's children don't see a way for them to upskill to nursing because the cost is a barrier
We can't wait 3-5 years time when college kids leaving school this term get through a nursing program and are competent enough to work. Or in 20 years when immigrant kids starting school now get through a medical degree and are competent doctors.
Covid has nothing to do with the pay parity negotiations dragging on.
Covid is a weak cop-out excuse for systemic, ideological underfunding of our health services.
If the answer was to get migrants to do the job, it would have been solved 3 or 4 administrations ago. Plus where are these people going to live? We haven't sorted out the infrastructure needed for the last 10 years of the migration tap being left on.
Let's get these local people started training now so in 3-5 years Tu Whatu Ora has a staff worthy of it's name.
But unlike Truss, Luxon et al will cut govt spending, not fund the tax cuts through borrowing. So your billboard AB would be a little misleading.
TOP in my opinion has the best tax policy. Tax cuts starting at the bottoms so the first 15 k are not taxed. And then a tax on land (which is very hard to avoid paying tax on)
Probably most people don't want tax cuts, but I wouldn't put any store on the Stuff poll……it would be unwise to do so.
drowsy, I have heard, both Act and National say the cuts won't apply to health education or police.
I did hear Nicola W say they will go through Govt provided services with a fine tooth comb and if they don't provide good outcomes they will be cut. This imo is good. People providing services with govt money should be accountable. Having been around this area I can tell you there are a lot of services that only serve the providers. I think Willis said they would boost what works, but don't quote me on this.
“Christopher Luxon’s refusal to say if he would pay nurses more, means nurses face a real term pay cut under a National Government, while the richest few benefit the most,” says Marama Davidson.
I did hear Nicola W say they will go through Govt provided services with a fine tooth comb and if they don't provide good outcomes they will be cut.
Hmm – there have been reports that our publicly-funded health services aren't providing good outcomes for some Kiwis. I do hope that these services won't be cut if NAct get their way – still, maybe Seymour will give me a voucher.
"Luxonomics = Trussonomics, Stick it on a billboard"…come election time some of those might well make an appearance on some local political billboards…not put there by me of course!
I just want the tax brackets adjusted for inflation. Paying 30% on earnings over $48k is ridiculous. Raise the brackets but bring in another rate of say 45% for high earners.
Me too. Self balancing within the rates to start then having a look at how much extra those over say $180,000 are to pay, as suggested by Jimmy. Or should that be over $296,000pa that small amount earned by Wayne Brump, sorry Wayne Trown no sorry Wayne Brown of Auckland?
Me too. Robertsons refusal to do this in a sustained period of rampant inflation and his continual criticism of National for wanting to index tax brackets to inflation is just insane.
As I have said before, in my opinion, National also should have changed these brackets at least in their last 3 year term as government back in 2015,2016.
There was an article on stuff 2 days ago(just looked can't find it again)
The jist of it was thus ,due to benifit abatement rates ,any benefit to low income earners by a tax free bracket is gobbled up by said abatement rates. Leading to only the wealthy benefiting from a tax free bracket.
Yes IMO they need to change the benefit abatement rate as it discourages people trying to earn more and get ahead (as well as adjust the tax brackets for inflation).
"…But Newshub understands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern deliberately toned down her criticism to avoid upsetting the regime and jeopardising the release of the two Kiwis…"
Well what that story tells me: there is one response for the rich and famous and another for the rest of us. That does not mean to say NZ officials wouldn't bother to rescue us poor folk, but maybe not with the same level of determination?
Mind you the rest of us wouldn't be so stupid as to go there in the first place given the Foreign Office has warned NZers to stay away from Iran since 2020.
"…there is one response for the rich and famous and another for the rest of us…"
I don't agree – you are asking to prove a negative.
I mean, you go off and be a completely unhinged fucking arsehole like Martyn Bradbury – a man blinded by an irrational hatred of anyone on a higher income than him, which is basically anyone with a job that isn't minimum wage – with that assertion but I would contend that any pair of young NZer's would get exactly the same level of concern from MFAT (not the foreign office, that is the poms) & the government.
And we shouldn't concern ourselves with the blame game until they are safely out of Iran, after all being idiots should not be a crime punishable by indefinite incarceration in some Iranian black hole.
Yes. I should have said MFAT. Been watching too much British news of late.
You are the one going off on some unhinged rant.
Of course MFAT would look to ensure the safety of anyone who found themselves in dangerous territory. But I stand by my impression that the more wealth and influence you have, the greater the chance your request for assistance will be swiftly expedited by officialdom. It seems high level activity has been occurring for months now and it has worked. The pair are out of Iran safe and well.
They will have to answer the question… what the hell were they doing there given there has been two years of official warnings not to go to Iran.
I saw a clip of the story on TV1 just now, and although Jacinda Ardern was being very diplomatic (as always) I had the feeling she's not happy with them. The young travellers came across to me as two spoilt, selfish young people who didn't give a thought to the trouble they cause other people from their own actions.
Perhaps this experience will be a good lesson for them.
It aimed to encourage students to speak more “inclusively” and not fall foul of those who may be offended by sex-specific pronouns. But the University of Cambridge’s decision to say Auf Wiedersehen to teaching gendered German has prompted warnings from linguists that students risk making a fool of themselves when talking with native speakers.
Undergraduates paying £9,250 a year have been urged to use “inclusive language” and “to use gender- and non-binary-inclusive language when we address or refer to students and colleagues, both in writing and in speech in English and in German”.
Course managers said they encouraged students and staff to choose newer forms with plural nouns.
When writing, they may render feminine nouns unisex by inserting an asterisk before the suffix — a nonstandard usage known as the “gender star”.
They noted that “in extended German texts grammatical structures can inhibit inclusivity . . . relative and other pronouns, for example, are obligatorily marked for grammatical gender, so going gender-free is difficult to achieve”.
Das Mensch – used to denote uppity women with ideas
Die Menschen – The Humans – Humankind
'der' (masculine) Mensch – The Human.
In saying that "Mensch" is also a term for a human with empathy, heart and soul.
As in 'Das ist ein mensch', or 'Der ist ein mensch'. The first is neutral, the second is masculine, die ist ein mensch – feminin. Die sind Menschen – plural.
Maybe the guys need to study German again.
But the German language, and many other languages are sexed or gendered, but then, its all just mind fuckery now and up is down, black is white and ain't the sky a lovely shade of green.
Someone needs a job on the grievance and horribly marginalised minority train or something and this is a way of doing it for i guess some useless academics that find working in the private industry to hard. Also with children being unable to learn how to read it might make sense dumbing down language to emoticons and txt wrtng.
die Macht and die Kraft is plural rather then feminine. Die is for die…Die die Macht haven – those that have power, die die Kraft haben – those that have force.
Or you could say – Er hat die kraft – He has the force, or – Er hat die Macht – he has the power. Er – him, you could replace this with Sie – her, or even with Das.
To de-sex the german language would be to destroy it, but then, maybe that is the expected/desired outcome. If you want to destroy a culture and destroy belonging to a group you destroy their language first. Hence why in NZ you currently have a revival of Te Reo.
Four years of high school Deutsch and still occasionally remember the neutered articles for nouns, but fast disappearing…
It seems a particularly weird explanation for an institution like Cambridge University to give for not actually teaching students the language they were enrolled to learn.
Universities are creating de-sexed gender ideologists of tomorrow. We all have no longer a sex, but we get to choose a meaningless identity instead. Our bodies will be the farms of tomorrow. We are all dairy cows now.
And the Transcult is still out there shouting about how marginalised and victimised they are – while demanding that we change the very language we use to describe our own bodies.
Here is a very good overview at China today..from Defense Politics Asia, who also happen to do the best and without doubt the most neutral/unbiased daily coverage of the Ukraine conflict……
Waiheke marina security guard convicted of assaulting protester
A security consultant has been convicted of assaulting a protester at the Kennedy Point Marina construction site on July 7, 2021.
Construction of the marina on Waiheke Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf is opposed by a group known as Protect Pūtiki. The group's members – who call themselves protectors because they see their role as kaitiaki, or guardians of the area – have been protesting at the marina for years, saying mana whenua were not adequately consulted and kororā, little blue penguins, could be harmed by the construction.
Note the policeman and photographer are more interested in the real boss of No 10. He’s always there for the big moments to make sure people know who really runs the show.
I got an email from one of our suppliers yesterday warning of the future shortage of eggs in NZ due to the phasing out and then illegalising of battery hens/laying farms by the end of this year. This will then be followed by colony hens in 2027. It is called the 'Layer Hens Code of Welfare'.
Personally i am not a great fan of battery hens and their eggs, but i understand that for many on low income or benefits these types of eggs are often the only protein they get as they don't buy meat.
The suppliers forsees shortages of eggs essentially due to a. the shut down of these factories, b. the shortage of grains coming into NZ to be used as feed.
I really don't want to sound like Kassandra, but i would suggest that people buckle up as prices for pretty much anything containing eggs will go trough the roof, as i will expect bakeries to shut next as dairy, butter and now eggs are too expensive to create a product that can still be retailed at an affordable price.
I don't actually care that some will be able to afford imported food in the future. There will always be rich people or those with the good connection that will afford food even if the rest of the population eats grass – north korea and such places come to mind.
This affects our local food production, and as bad as battery farming is (i am not unhappy seeing it go, my father in law adopts battery hens and has a bout 60 of them) for some cheap food is the only food they can afford, and those that can afford imported food can also afford organic and thus legal eggs.
I also doubt that many people are aware of the changes coming.
I would have thought it obvious that the imported battery farming eggs (Oz still allows this) would be cheaper than that produced locally, just as the imported pork is.
I'll repost my original comment more slowly this time.
<blockquote>
If there is no ban on importing eggs from nations with a lower standard in animal care, it will just result in imports (as with pork).
</blockquote>
You had noted a consequence of the policy change, without apparently realising there was the option of using imports. Those using eggs (say bakeries) and with customers sensitive to price will seek to do this and so might supermarkets (if one does then they gain customers, so all do).
again, slowly for you as you don't seem to understand.
Why are we outsourcing pollution and animal abuse to different countries? As the purported welfare of the animals that is the reason we are banning it for and probably the pollution that comes with it? And why are we ok with flying or shipping in eggs from battery hens, when we find the practice so horrendous that we make these eggs illegal under the Layer Hens Code of Welfare'
It is hypocritical to say the least. Oh, look we so virtuous and so green that we outlaw the abuse of hens and the resulting pollution that comes from it here in loverly NZ, but we are happy to import the product of these practices that we so abhor from elsewhere like OZ?
Oh but you ok with that.
And lastly, are you gendering me? Are you sexing me? Kindly abstain from that shit. You might actually get it wrong and then that would make your last comment offensive as fuck. 🙂 Misgendering is actual violence, don't forget that.
We should encourage, by whatever means possible our local growers to step up to rearing poultry in best for birds conditions. perhaps ,,,,(whispers) subsidies or low cost loans for growers.
I have not seen Chinese grown pork in my local supermarket for ages and actively avoided when it was on the shelves. The price differential between locally grown and imported was not of a magnitude to encourage me to turn to Chinese produced.
The Chinese pig herd got culled because of disease. The price of pork is currently the leading cause of their food inflation (ahead of fruit and veg because of drought).
Why? A ban on importing eggs might mean shortages. And to limit the price inflation resulting from the decline in supply.
The higher bird poultry livestock management standards result in higher priced eggs – the evidence is in the cartons in front of every shopper. It's because they do not get the same production, lower supply.
The cage folk will move onto barn eggs so the supply will not collapse. But it will be higher priced. That will impact bakeries and others using ingredients – unless they supply cage eggs from offshore (maybe OZ, though they sometimes have shortages).
From 2027 there will be no barn eggs, rinse and repeat.
I believe that with the continuation of the special military operation, it becomes more and more urgent to carry out the de-Satanization of Ukraine, or, as the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov aptly put it , its “complete de-Satanization”
One of the most eye-catching appointments was the return of Suella Braverman as home secretary.
She resigned just days ago from the role after a security breach, when she sent a government document to someone not authorised to receive it.
She endorsed Mr Sunak to be the new leader two days ago, a move seen as a massive boost for his campaign as it represented support from the right-wing of the party.
Some sources in government speculate that endorsement may well have been an ask for something in return. There was a hint of that in her article for the Daily Telegraph backing Mr Sunak – where she said we will "only stop boats crossing the Channel" if the UK passes new laws to limit the impact of Modern Slavery laws, the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Such a move would be controversial, and face legal and political challenges – especially in the House of Lords. But is her appointment a signal Mr Sunak has agreed it is the way forward? It looks likely.
Former No 10 pollster James Johnson tweeted that the tougher approach on immigration provides an opening for the Tories among swing voters in so-called Red Wall seats.
Ms Braverman was a key figure in the ERG – the group of pro-Brexit Tory MPs
"Suella Braverman's reappointment is the most eye-catching," says Sir Craig.
"There's a lot he is going to be doing that the right of the party will be uncomfortable with – for example around the budget and economy.
"So this [signal of a harder line on immigration] means he can point to something that really goes down well with the more traditional wings of MPs and party members."
But her appointment may make it harder to make the argument, as Mr Sunak did earlier, that this would be a government of "integrity" – given her recent breach.
Ms Braverman was the architect of the policy to send refugees to Rwanda during processing, to return people to where they came in breach of the refugee convention, has been accused of planning an ever harsher policy to reduce migration and seeking to ban people crossing the channel from claiming asylum.
Meet Grant Shapps, the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. In a previous life he ran spammed an internet get rich quick scam.
Complete with bogus testimonials.
Going under the name Michael Green and casting himself as an internet marketing guru, Shapps in 2007 claimed audiences could "make $20,000 in 20 days guaranteed or your money back" – if they spent $200 buying his bespoke software.
Shapps previously told journalists he used the name Michael Green for the business to keep it separate from his political work.
Have you ever come across Corinne Stockheath of Surrey? Or Dr JLM Richards of the Wallerson Trust in Dallas, Texas? Or Richard Warton of Tektriox in New York?
Please let me know if you have, as I’m having great trouble finding them. And, as you may have seen on Channel 4 News last night, the Conservative Chairman Grant Shapps doesn’t seem very keen to help me find them.
But Mr Shapps insists they do all exist, and are genuine people. All three names provided glowing testimonials for an online guide on How To Write a Newsletter which Mr Shapps sold in the days he called himself Michael Green.
Here we go. Saint Jacinda good. Luxon bad. I don't give money to the homeless on the street for a variety of reasons. I suggest you do likewise. It can be dangerous. I wonder if leftwing media will have a field day tonight? I wonder if Auckland Grammar will get a mention?
Luxon should be disgusted and dismayed that we have charity's for kids and food banks in this country, nothing says political failure more in my opinion.
Damn it! Just listened to the Luxon delivery leading the General Debate. He is reading less from a script and delivering a thread with fluency and confidence. Gone is the bumbling ninny of the past. And ditto for his stand up interviews. I do not think he is truthful but to an unsuspecting audience he is credible. Trouble I think.
But dig a bit deeper than just the delivery, ianmac. He didn't actually say anything, just slagged off the government with some repeated clichés. Still no policy, other than negativity.
It's almost like he's saying: 'trust me and trust my government to make things better,' but offering no ideas.
Yes, but the intellectually and morally bereft like X Socialist will still be impressed by, "empty, inconsequential and shallow", because it is spoke by a man who ran an airline.
Lack of content agreed. The delivery is my worry because he has learned to talk with just notes and appears confident. Most people just remember the delivery and little of the content. For example ask people what they remember about a speech just given, and most remember zilch.
But it is all so NEGATIVE. He only talks about reversing what Labour has done.
And before anybody mentions the wonderful "social investment" this was always just a trite phrase, empty words. Bill English never actually did anything to implement this fantasy policy and I am sure Luxons lot won't either
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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 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
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 ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
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 Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
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 ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
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 ...
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 ...
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"… And thus we return to the perpetual paradox of power: only people who want it seek it. But it should never be given to people who want it."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130270773/reminded-that-power-should-never-be-given-to-those-who-want-it
“What can the people do about it? Nothing much. Only sigh, laugh, shake their heads and go to market, just as they’ve always done.”
"It's getting worse. When Labour was elected, less than one in 10 patients waited longer than six hours to be seen at an emergency department. Now, nearly one in four wait longer than six hours."
Yes Andrew, it is a crisis. You have made it worse.
"Dr Sandy Richardson, the former chair of the College of Emergency Nurses, said the situation is now dangerous."
Little 'doing lots of things' as new figures reveal one in four waiting longer than six hours to be treated at ED (msn.com)
I must admit to feeling sad then a little pissed off yesty.
Sad to hear of the plight of a wee 4 yr old and his parents being failed by our health system. ( In no way is this a criticism of the front line workers.)
Then pissed off hearing Reti and Dr Doolittle squabble in the house.
Decades of underfunding, and DHB governance overseen by accountant types worshipping the $ and serving the budgets.
Kiddies dying and Robertson is proud of his surplus….
The problem for Andrew is, it has got so much worse under his (and David Clark's) watch over the last 5 years. You cant keep blaming "9 years of neglect". You may as well blame the Muldoon govt back in the seventies!
Almost as if we have had a once in a century public health emergency over the last 5 years..
C'mon Sacha, get real, this has been going on well before Te Virus.
In fact the impending virus provided a much needed break from the regular under-staffed over-worked norm.
Well before the virus, when the previous govt deliberately ran down the health system, you mean? Sure was. Takes many years to turn it around. Now health workforce is in demand all over the world and a dangerous job.
Try putting yr red pom poms down for a moment and consider the backwards slide our system has gone through in the last 4 decades.
in the last four decades our population has doubled, health costs have blown out hugely(go into an operating theatre(p.n. hospital has ten) and figure out how much all the gizmo's cost, you wont be anywhere near correct). all meds have ballooned in costs, all western countries are short staffed medically. fun fact, the asthma inhaler that costs me $5 because the gov subsidizes it costs $100 u.s. in the u.s.. the health system is a black hole that swallows up as much money as you can throw in it. getting rid of the different health boards is a big forward step, but NO government will EVER keep ahead of the problem. the english voted for brexit fooled by the lie that the money saved would bail out their health system. hows that working out????
Muldoon may be a stretch but every government since then has adhered to this neo-liberal experiment.
Ryall, Clark, Hodgson, King,Coleman Creech, none can hold their heads high.
Muldoon was our last socialist PM.
'
"You cant keep blaming "9 years of neglect". You may as well blame the Muldoon govt back in the seventies!" Jimmy
As the old joke goes:
“George Washington is the only US president who didn’t blame the previous administration for all his difficulties”
Considering that this administration is the first administration to have full control of the house since the introduction of MMP. This administration can't trot out the "handbrake" excuse.
Writing in 2020 before the last election, Bernard Hicky proves presentiment in laying out this adminstration’s chosen trajectory:
The perfect excuse for not implementing 'transformational policy' is gone, So what is Labour's alibi for managing the (neoliberal) status quo, now?
'It's the last lots fault’?.
Will the new Maori Health Authority be the solution to the problem? Or is it just another bureaucratic restructuring combined with political virtue-signaling?
I suspect we will get more highly-paid officials sitting in Wellington as the hospital waiting lists grow longer, but only time will tell. Economist Brian Easton has described the government policy as a "redisorganisation."
Hunter Thompson 11. The answer to your first two questions: No and Yes.
We are already getting more highly paid officials sitting in Wellington and the hospital lists are growing longer by the day. Time is already telling us, Little and Labour think if they set up a new authority, ministry, whatever then this will magically translate into solutions. Brian Easton is right. But the worst part of all this is that our health system will deteriorate further and further.
Only has to solve one problem. Let's not ignore the rest of the system.
But wait Jimmy………we have a brand new lovely Health Authority that is going to bring health equity to all! Andrew Little to the rescue! As health professionals leave the sinking ship, the shiny new NZ Health (with their drag Queen kaoreke evenings because they are so inclusive) are in a meeting right now to discuss…….god knows what, but I hear NZ Health is in absolute chaos.
And probably Mr Little will bring health equity to all NZders, because the lack of health staff will mean we all get equally bad health options eg longer wait times across all ED in the country.
So, what are you doing to save the health system? Are you still wearing masks so you don't pass covid-19 around? Are you still cleaning your hands before entering and leaving any new location?
Hospitals are under stress because covid-19 hasn't magically gone away, in fact we are at the start of another upswing.
https://tinyurl.com/2p8yvae5 (Financial Times data)
There is not a lot money can do at the moment because we can't magic up a medical workforce and facilities to deal with the extra peaks in sickness due to covid-19. The only way to deal with it is to do all you can not to get covid-19 and not to spread covid-19.
But people are happy to make it someone else's problem because caring for the welfare of others, by even the simplest of strategies, is too hard.
The workforce is part of the solution, and all the minister can come up with is … getting more migrants
Howzabout offering complimentary training and support payments to those we need in the health workforce. Maori and P.I. Stay on for 2/3/5 years and you owe nothing.
Here in Palmy, we have a high Bhutanese population. These migrant's children don't see a way for them to upskill to nursing because the cost is a barrier
The problem is now because covid-19 is now.
We can't wait 3-5 years time when college kids leaving school this term get through a nursing program and are competent enough to work. Or in 20 years when immigrant kids starting school now get through a medical degree and are competent doctors.
"The problem is now because covid-19 is now."
Covid has nothing to do with mental health patients suiciding in our local hospital.
Covid has nothing to do nurses going on strike.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/477036/nurses-at-three-private-hospitals-strike-over-pay-conditions
Covid has nothing to do with the pay parity negotiations dragging on.
Covid is a weak cop-out excuse for systemic, ideological underfunding of our health services.
If the answer was to get migrants to do the job, it would have been solved 3 or 4 administrations ago. Plus where are these people going to live? We haven't sorted out the infrastructure needed for the last 10 years of the migration tap being left on.
Let's get these local people started training now so in 3-5 years Tu Whatu Ora has a staff worthy of it's name.
Mental health is a huge issue and there’s a lot of room for a lot of improvement but it is not all doom & gloom.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/477355/suspected-suicides-rates-continue-to-drop-but-maori-still-disproportionately-affected
This is fun. 82% reject National's tax cuts!
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/10/have-your-say-do-you-want-tax-cuts.html
Of course these polls are meaningless. In the past they've been rigged by the Right, and an official complaint to the Media Council was upheld:
https://www.mediacouncil.org.nz/rulings/jenny-kirk-against-mediaworks-newshub/
Perhaps this one was rigged by the Left. Cool. The people have spoken!
Luxonomics = Trussonomics
Stick it on a billboard.
But unlike Truss, Luxon et al will cut govt spending, not fund the tax cuts through borrowing. So your billboard AB would be a little misleading.
TOP in my opinion has the best tax policy. Tax cuts starting at the bottoms so the first 15 k are not taxed. And then a tax on land (which is very hard to avoid paying tax on)
Probably most people don't want tax cuts, but I wouldn't put any store on the Stuff poll……it would be unwise to do so.
Will taxpayer-funded public health & education services be affected by these cuts?
drowsy, I have heard, both Act and National say the cuts won't apply to health education or police.
I did hear Nicola W say they will go through Govt provided services with a fine tooth comb and if they don't provide good outcomes they will be cut. This imo is good. People providing services with govt money should be accountable. Having been around this area I can tell you there are a lot of services that only serve the providers. I think Willis said they would boost what works, but don't quote me on this.
https://www.greens.org.nz/nurses_could_face_pay_cut_under_national
A pox on both their houses!
Although I would want to hear it from National re their own policy rather than a maybe from the Greens.
That Policy doesn’t exist yet and Willis and Luxon are at odds about it, funnily enough.
https://etu.nz/health-workers-to-national-dont-cut-our-funding/
Feel free to close your eyes & ears but don’t expect others to do the same.
Hmm – there have been reports that our publicly-funded health services aren't providing good outcomes for some Kiwis. I do hope that these services won't be cut if NAct get their way – still, maybe Seymour will give me a voucher.
"Luxonomics = Trussonomics, Stick it on a billboard"…come election time some of those might well make an appearance on some local political billboards…not put there by me of course!
I just want the tax brackets adjusted for inflation. Paying 30% on earnings over $48k is ridiculous. Raise the brackets but bring in another rate of say 45% for high earners.
Me too. Self balancing within the rates to start then having a look at how much extra those over say $180,000 are to pay, as suggested by Jimmy. Or should that be over $296,000pa that small amount earned by Wayne Brump, sorry Wayne Trown no sorry Wayne Brown of Auckland?
Me too. Robertsons refusal to do this in a sustained period of rampant inflation and his continual criticism of National for wanting to index tax brackets to inflation is just insane.
As I have said before, in my opinion, National also should have changed these brackets at least in their last 3 year term as government back in 2015,2016.
There was an article on stuff 2 days ago(just looked can't find it again)
The jist of it was thus ,due to benifit abatement rates ,any benefit to low income earners by a tax free bracket is gobbled up by said abatement rates. Leading to only the wealthy benefiting from a tax free bracket.
The house always wins I tell ya
May have been this one?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/130237814/why-do-we-tax-the-first-14000-of-income
Yip thankyou. Of course single no kids people on low incomes would benefit ,but best we don't mention these forgotten ones!!
Yes IMO they need to change the benefit abatement rate as it discourages people trying to earn more and get ahead (as well as adjust the tax brackets for inflation).
Tax cuts … even the Australian Labour Party get it!
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/budget-2022-aussies-cash-boost-004522644.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFrzfNm_0nnhkixMvtMpadEpTgS6XQg5LROkOaDQameVsX9rXSRaRdsc7gFlVL6LDceW8USkadZqsdxQSln1OnDQzrVIjdP9WnBwbXo5Ffyehx1DufnhU18Uk1MQeJeyf2rjNPzKN0qdeCcgjH67jtme5yJuy44cQLFqfWjNWZR5
A few apologies to the PM in order, I would think.
"…But Newshub understands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern deliberately toned down her criticism to avoid upsetting the regime and jeopardising the release of the two Kiwis…"
Well what that story tells me: there is one response for the rich and famous and another for the rest of us. That does not mean to say NZ officials wouldn't bother to rescue us poor folk, but maybe not with the same level of determination?
Mind you the rest of us wouldn't be so stupid as to go there in the first place given the Foreign Office has warned NZers to stay away from Iran since 2020.
"…there is one response for the rich and famous and another for the rest of us…"
I don't agree – you are asking to prove a negative.
I mean, you go off and be a completely unhinged fucking arsehole like Martyn Bradbury – a man blinded by an irrational hatred of anyone on a higher income than him, which is basically anyone with a job that isn't minimum wage – with that assertion but I would contend that any pair of young NZer's would get exactly the same level of concern from MFAT (not the foreign office, that is the poms) & the government.
And we shouldn't concern ourselves with the blame game until they are safely out of Iran, after all being idiots should not be a crime punishable by indefinite incarceration in some Iranian black hole.
Yes. I should have said MFAT. Been watching too much British news of late.
You are the one going off on some unhinged rant.
Of course MFAT would look to ensure the safety of anyone who found themselves in dangerous territory. But I stand by my impression that the more wealth and influence you have, the greater the chance your request for assistance will be swiftly expedited by officialdom. It seems high level activity has been occurring for months now and it has worked. The pair are out of Iran safe and well.
They will have to answer the question… what the hell were they doing there given there has been two years of official warnings not to go to Iran.
My apologies, I wanted to say "…you COULD go off…" perils of posting on the bus. One word lol.
Apology accepted.
I saw a clip of the story on TV1 just now, and although Jacinda Ardern was being very diplomatic (as always) I had the feeling she's not happy with them. The young travellers came across to me as two spoilt, selfish young people who didn't give a thought to the trouble they cause other people from their own actions.
Perhaps this experience will be a good lesson for them.
Higher education? Cambridge seizes zeitgeist with gender-neutral German
The german language already have a neutral
das – singular
die – plural.
Das Mensch – used to denote uppity women with ideas
Die Menschen – The Humans – Humankind
'der' (masculine) Mensch – The Human.
In saying that "Mensch" is also a term for a human with empathy, heart and soul.
As in 'Das ist ein mensch', or 'Der ist ein mensch'. The first is neutral, the second is masculine, die ist ein mensch – feminin. Die sind Menschen – plural.
Maybe the guys need to study German again.
But the German language, and many other languages are sexed or gendered, but then, its all just mind fuckery now and up is down, black is white and ain't the sky a lovely shade of green.
Someone needs a job on the grievance and horribly marginalised minority train or something and this is a way of doing it for i guess some useless academics that find working in the private industry to hard. Also with children being unable to learn how to read it might make sense dumbing down language to emoticons and txt wrtng.
I always liked that in German the nouns for two forms of power (die Kraft, die Macht) are both feminine.
die Macht and die Kraft is plural rather then feminine. Die is for die…Die die Macht haven – those that have power, die die Kraft haben – those that have force.
Or you could say – Er hat die kraft – He has the force, or – Er hat die Macht – he has the power. Er – him, you could replace this with Sie – her, or even with Das.
To de-sex the german language would be to destroy it, but then, maybe that is the expected/desired outcome. If you want to destroy a culture and destroy belonging to a group you destroy their language first. Hence why in NZ you currently have a revival of Te Reo.
History does not repeat, it rhymes.
Four years of high school Deutsch and still occasionally remember the neutered articles for nouns, but fast disappearing…
It seems a particularly weird explanation for an institution like Cambridge University to give for not actually teaching students the language they were enrolled to learn.
Universities are creating de-sexed gender ideologists of tomorrow. We all have no longer a sex, but we get to choose a meaningless identity instead. Our bodies will be the farms of tomorrow. We are all dairy cows now.
And the Transcult is still out there shouting about how marginalised and victimised they are – while demanding that we change the very language we use to describe our own bodies.
You can't oppress something that don't exist.
We want a divorce!
[image resized]
Lol Sabine. Love it. Great points
Here is a very good overview at China today..from Defense Politics Asia, who also happen to do the best and without doubt the most neutral/unbiased daily coverage of the Ukraine conflict……
Some justice for Protect Pūtiki:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300717547/waiheke-marina-security-guard-convicted-of-assaulting-protester
Note the policeman and photographer are more interested in the real boss of No 10. He’s always there for the big moments to make sure people know who really runs the show.
Can't quite make him out, who is it, Cummings? William?
Larry the cat is the boss of 10 Downing st, appearing at all stand-ups while at night chasing away foxes single cattedly.
I got an email from one of our suppliers yesterday warning of the future shortage of eggs in NZ due to the phasing out and then illegalising of battery hens/laying farms by the end of this year. This will then be followed by colony hens in 2027. It is called the 'Layer Hens Code of Welfare'.
Personally i am not a great fan of battery hens and their eggs, but i understand that for many on low income or benefits these types of eggs are often the only protein they get as they don't buy meat.
The suppliers forsees shortages of eggs essentially due to a. the shut down of these factories, b. the shortage of grains coming into NZ to be used as feed.
I really don't want to sound like Kassandra, but i would suggest that people buckle up as prices for pretty much anything containing eggs will go trough the roof, as i will expect bakeries to shut next as dairy, butter and now eggs are too expensive to create a product that can still be retailed at an affordable price.
So if you can have some chucks get some.
If there is no ban on importing eggs from nations with a lower standard in animal care, it will just result in imports (as with pork).
Communities (supply to foodbanks and schools) and neighbourhoods should consider “green banking”.
I don't actually care that some will be able to afford imported food in the future. There will always be rich people or those with the good connection that will afford food even if the rest of the population eats grass – north korea and such places come to mind.
This affects our local food production, and as bad as battery farming is (i am not unhappy seeing it go, my father in law adopts battery hens and has a bout 60 of them) for some cheap food is the only food they can afford, and those that can afford imported food can also afford organic and thus legal eggs.
I also doubt that many people are aware of the changes coming.
I would have thought it obvious that the imported battery farming eggs (Oz still allows this) would be cheaper than that produced locally, just as the imported pork is.
So you suggest that we outsource our animal abuse and pollution and still hope to get it cheaper then locally produced.
Oh boy.
I'll repost my original comment more slowly this time.
<blockquote>
If there is no ban on importing eggs from nations with a lower standard in animal care, it will just result in imports (as with pork).
</blockquote>
You had noted a consequence of the policy change, without apparently realising there was the option of using imports. Those using eggs (say bakeries) and with customers sensitive to price will seek to do this and so might supermarkets (if one does then they gain customers, so all do).
But you do you girl.
again, slowly for you as you don't seem to understand.
Why are we outsourcing pollution and animal abuse to different countries? As the purported welfare of the animals that is the reason we are banning it for and probably the pollution that comes with it? And why are we ok with flying or shipping in eggs from battery hens, when we find the practice so horrendous that we make these eggs illegal under the Layer Hens Code of Welfare'
It is hypocritical to say the least. Oh, look we so virtuous and so green that we outlaw the abuse of hens and the resulting pollution that comes from it here in loverly NZ, but we are happy to import the product of these practices that we so abhor from elsewhere like OZ?
Oh but you ok with that.
And lastly, are you gendering me? Are you sexing me? Kindly abstain from that shit. You might actually get it wrong and then that would make your last comment offensive as fuck. 🙂 Misgendering is actual violence, don't forget that.
Guess what "sabine", "I" do not write government policy,
I do know that we have pig farming standards and import pork from nations that do not have them.
The same disconnect is likely to occur with poultry, thus your fears about pricing of much higher prices for eggs may not occur.
But you do you.
As to my opinion,
1. we have temporarily suspended an impost on petrol to reduce inflation.
2. we can introduce domestic standards and allow cheap imports, for a time, for the same reason.
If all you want to do is warn that government policy is causing inflation, or that it might not, because of some hypocrisy, so be it.
Yes but why would we want to do this? crazy.
We should encourage, by whatever means possible our local growers to step up to rearing poultry in best for birds conditions. perhaps ,,,,(whispers) subsidies or low cost loans for growers.
I have not seen Chinese grown pork in my local supermarket for ages and actively avoided when it was on the shelves. The price differential between locally grown and imported was not of a magnitude to encourage me to turn to Chinese produced.
The Chinese pig herd got culled because of disease. The price of pork is currently the leading cause of their food inflation (ahead of fruit and veg because of drought).
Why? A ban on importing eggs might mean shortages. And to limit the price inflation resulting from the decline in supply.
The higher bird poultry livestock management standards result in higher priced eggs – the evidence is in the cartons in front of every shopper. It's because they do not get the same production, lower supply.
The cage folk will move onto barn eggs so the supply will not collapse. But it will be higher priced. That will impact bakeries and others using ingredients – unless they supply cage eggs from offshore (maybe OZ, though they sometimes have shortages).
From 2027 there will be no barn eggs, rinse and repeat.
No paper towels for the last week in my closest supermarket.
Wayne Brown has been watered down.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/130276092/watercare-reassures-mayor-on-costs-from-doing-three-waters-work
You what???
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/477326/boys-school-cancels-wife-beater-wednesday-at-11th-hour
Just an official of the Security Council of the Russian Federation calling for the de-satanisation of Ukraine.
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I believe that with the continuation of the special military operation, it becomes more and more urgent to carry out the de-Satanization of Ukraine, or, as the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov aptly put it , its “complete de-Satanization”
https://aif.ru/society/religion/chto_varyat_v_vedminom_kotle_na_ukraine_nabrali_silu_neoyazycheskie_kulty
google translate
Truss tomatoes ripen for longer on the vine and kept in a bowl with their stem continue to ripen and so are good for throwing during dewali.
https://twitter.com/devisridhar/status/1584482495738761216
https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1584980561939951628
https://twitter.com/gem_abbott/status/1584981243464396800
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63394099
Ms Braverman was the architect of the policy to send refugees to Rwanda during processing, to return people to where they came in breach of the refugee convention, has been accused of planning an ever harsher policy to reduce migration and seeking to ban people crossing the channel from claiming asylum.
Meet Grant Shapps, the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. In a previous life he
ranspammed an internet get rich quick scam.Complete with bogus testimonials.
Going under the name Michael Green and casting himself as an internet marketing guru, Shapps in 2007 claimed audiences could "make $20,000 in 20 days guaranteed or your money back" – if they spent $200 buying his bespoke software.
Shapps previously told journalists he used the name Michael Green for the business to keep it separate from his political work.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/sep/02/grant-shapps-google-howtocorp-adsense
https://searchengineland.com/uk-conservative-party-chair-founded-google-spamming-business-132087
Have you ever come across Corinne Stockheath of Surrey? Or Dr JLM Richards of the Wallerson Trust in Dallas, Texas? Or Richard Warton of Tektriox in New York?
Please let me know if you have, as I’m having great trouble finding them. And, as you may have seen on Channel 4 News last night, the Conservative Chairman Grant Shapps doesn’t seem very keen to help me find them.
But Mr Shapps insists they do all exist, and are genuine people. All three names provided glowing testimonials for an online guide on How To Write a Newsletter which Mr Shapps sold in the days he called himself Michael Green.
https://www.channel4.com/news/by/michael-crick/blogs/grant-shapps-and-the-mysterious-testimonials
Here we go. Saint Jacinda good. Luxon bad. I don't give money to the homeless on the street for a variety of reasons. I suggest you do likewise. It can be dangerous. I wonder if leftwing media will have a field day tonight? I wonder if Auckland Grammar will get a mention?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/10/christopher-luxon-says-he-supports-organisations-rather-than-giving-money-to-homeless-after-pm-spotted-giving-cash-to-person-in-need.html
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-grammar-threatens-to-withhold-end-of-year-reports-if-parents-dont-pay-fees/K3C6C57FRUWYXCRV3AYSYI5E2I/
Luxon should be disgusted and dismayed that we have charity's for kids and food banks in this country, nothing says political failure more in my opinion.
Damn it! Just listened to the Luxon delivery leading the General Debate. He is reading less from a script and delivering a thread with fluency and confidence. Gone is the bumbling ninny of the past. And ditto for his stand up interviews. I do not think he is truthful but to an unsuspecting audience he is credible. Trouble I think.
https://ondemand.parliament.nz/parliament-tv-on-demand/?itemId=229089
But dig a bit deeper than just the delivery, ianmac. He didn't actually say anything, just slagged off the government with some repeated clichés. Still no policy, other than negativity.
It's almost like he's saying: 'trust me and trust my government to make things better,' but offering no ideas.
Empty, inconsequential and shallow – as always.
Yes, but the intellectually and morally bereft like X Socialist will still be impressed by, "empty, inconsequential and shallow", because it is spoke by a man who ran an airline.
Lack of content agreed. The delivery is my worry because he has learned to talk with just notes and appears confident. Most people just remember the delivery and little of the content. For example ask people what they remember about a speech just given, and most remember zilch.
But it is all so NEGATIVE. He only talks about reversing what Labour has done.
And before anybody mentions the wonderful "social investment" this was always just a trite phrase, empty words. Bill English never actually did anything to implement this fantasy policy and I am sure Luxons lot won't either