it might be better if Helen Clark stays out of nz politics etc , the tv3 boys are having a ball pushing the meme that clark still runs the labour party.. undermining Ardern she is
I just sold my older hunterway .he’s still use full but now I have a younger better one , he just gets in the way of the younger one reaching it’s potential
Am I missing something here? Is this really just over Helen Clark wanting to get rid of plastic bags? It does not sound like sufficient reason to put some kind of gagging order on her!
Indeed, Helen Clark should be deleted from the political history books and she (and Sir Michael Cullen) should sever all ties with the NZ Labour Party and all NZ politics for that matter. She should take up painting instead. The same was done with Sir Roger Douglas and the NZ Labour Party has never looked back since. [sarc]
Morning Duncan yea I back the plastic bag bann I would like to see all but the ecential plastic that can’t be replaced by renewable products.
Alcohol does a lot of damage to OUR WORLD SOCIETY 21 YEARS old min age and advising of the side effects should be legerslated and banned from supermarket
Alcohol is damageing he tangata more than any other drug. Ka kite ano
Helen Clark was the best PM labour have had since Michael Joseph Savage but the media set about dirty politics on her so she is needed now more than ever as Labour goes through this ‘minefield of National Party antics and attemptd wreck Labours changes to make NZ a more caring transparent, kinder more inclusive Government.
More heads are better than one, as we see national are wheeling all their old guard out at the same time are still using Don Brash ect’ elk and were using their past PM’s to from 1990’s like the both National PM’s from the 1990’s era so shouldn’t Labour?
Why pick on Helen Clark when she was at the Auckland Town Hall when jacinda gave her first pre-election speech so did you complain then as that speech is what set Jacinda on the path to victory?
Look Duncan no body is perfect.
If one is getting bombarded with conflicting information get it correct all the time is near impossible.
ECO MAORI likes some of the bold moves OUR new coalition government is making.
They benefit the 99.9 %.
One man has taken on my it’s all in the design house we could set up a factory next door to a wood mill that makes all
The kit set flat pack houses and wallar you have thousands of houses built obviously Would need more than one factory. We need to get away from concrete floors as there is to much greenhouse gas built in the production of concrete.
The previous generation got that right in a land that is known for EARTH QUAKEs
It is not logical to have concrete floors.
You can recycle a house with wooden floors. If the environment were the house placed become uninhabitable well you put it on a truck and relocation it to a new site. I say that all houses should be legerslated to have a design so one can truck it out.
Ka kite ano
Duncan when one Reads the book on
Te Ropata WahaWaha it was written over 150 years ago our society was totally different the settlers were trying to establish them selves.
So what better why to sway the minds of te tangata whenua that a story on a Great Maori man that supports the Queen and the settlers.
Over 70% of tangata could read and write and who who wrote this book a settlor.
He used this story to boost the Mana of the settlers religion to stop the other religions taking hold of tangata minds.
There are a couple of sentences that are designed to boost the settlers religion.
So a intelligent person will add this information into how they decifer this book into reality. Ropata WahaWaha is The most important man who shaped how OUR Atoearoa society is today.
We do not have a native class all living in squallar in the most unsophistical environment in Atoearoa like other colonised country’s have its not perfect but we have it better than most tangata whenua.
Kia kaha P.S I will support Radio NZ new channels I see why John Campbell stayed there. Ana to kai
Duncan Ropata WahaWaha was not just advised by his Whano the Missionary advised him on the reality of Atoearoa and Papatuanukue he new how much MANA Britain had so they made choice to leave to there mokos a bright prousperious future like ECO MAORI is doing. Ka pai Ka kite ano
Many thanks for the great post on Thestandard from the true Leftys I support your views as they are the same as
ECO MAORIs. You good people are putting up a lot of good links and intelligence post to back OUR views of a equal society for all the creations on Papatuanukue. Kia kaha.
Protesters. P.S I’m a bit busy at the minute with my own battle Ka kite ano
Morning Rumble Rock radio I get the big picture I will support you I see you get burn left and right I will be watching radio NZ news show.
And Mulls on channel 4 news.
There you go ECO MAORI just has to fart and the sandflys are spinning it out that I walk around with a _____in me pants all day lol.
. P.S I got a plan and its as cunning a a snake as black addar use to say
Kia kaha guys Ka kite ano
Morning Rumble I’m a bit late look like the sandflys have tipped 3 dosen Tui big
bottles of beer on one of my LAWNs every time I got to mow it it is half cut lol Ka kite ano
“Following the collapse of the TPPA in the wake of the US withdrawal, the election of the new Government put a spring in the step of many. The Labour Party, New Zealand First and the Green Party had all said they would not support ratification of the TPPA. During the parliamentary examination of the text, Labour cited concerns about sovereignty, secrecy and inadequate economic modelling leading to uncertainty in projected outcomes; the Greens added that the TPPA is “inimical to the imperative of sustainability”; and New Zealand First focused on the anticipated dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).
What on earth happened? Labour has done a full U-turn, New Zealand First has joined in on the spin, and the Greens are very lukewarm in their disagreement.”
I’ve posted links here lots of times to the Labour Party policy (still on the website unchanged) that lays out the 5 bottom lines for the party. These are the things worked on since the election and either solved (eg control of land and housing sales to non-resident foreign buyers) or improve (eg limiting ISDS through side deals).
You might prefer it if Labour hadn’t signed the CPTTPA but that was never what was promised. Go back and check the record.
The Labour Party bottom-lines were strawmen, easily winnable, and not the issues that people were protesting about.
What is clear is that Labour is not being hypocritical by signing the revised TPPA. They were never against it in the first place. Which is one of the primary reasons I voted Green last election.
Labour hacks can tell themselves that but it’s not to late to do a u turn and save themselves as a political party in terms of public trust. It’s about perception in politics so I don’t think weasel words will work, nor will it when overseas people own more of the houses, drive around in Mercedes and bring in their own workers from high wages to low wages.
The media is being quiet so keep the pressure for Labour and NZ First to hang themselves on TPPA. Once they are committed guess what the favourite attack line will be!
On the new TPPA
“What’s different?
Let’s be crystal clear. The “new” text is exactly the same, the only change being that 22 of the 1,000-plus original provisions have been suspended. These 22 provisions – mainly concerning intellectual property – have not been removed so that they can be revived if and when the United States comes back on board, as the Trump administration has indicated it is willing to do. When pushed on this point, the Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker said that New Zealand could veto any attempt by the United States to join if that would compromise the Labour Party’sfive bottom lines. That, of course, would not stop a different government from giving up important aspects of New Zealand’s sovereignty simply to reduce tariffs for a trifling increase in GDP. And what was the Minister’s response to that serious concern? “Time will tell.””
“In the case of Fu Wah and the Hyatt hotel project, at least one construction company disclosed to Radio NZ that they had attempted to tender for the contract;
However an Auckland company, which did not want to be named for fear of losing out on future work, told RNZ they had voiced their interest at the start of the project in 2016.
A staff member said soon after Hawkins and China Construction were appointed as the main contractors, his company was contacted about what the programme of work would be and asked whether they would be able to do it.
“We went back and said ‘yes, everything’s fine, things are going to be a little bit tight here, things will be fine here’, but nothing major that would lead us to believe we’d been crossed off as a potential subcontractor.”
He said while it was emphasised that they should lock in subcontractors early because of a busy schedule to meet the deadline, it was never an issue of lack of skills.
“At that point in time we more or less had a year or two to lock in labour resource, to build up the labour teams that we have if necessary. But we heard nothing for a couple of years, in fact we never even heard back in the end on whether we could tender for the main package.”
When asked whether they had the staff to do the work now, he said they did.”
Bomber Bradbury should go and find something to complain about.
CSCEC and Hawkins are a good combination and are delivering to time, cost and quality.
Different specialist teams are brought in all the time on jobs like this.
Finish line will be tight, but then again, it always is.
Bomber would I am sure like to bring back the Tourist Hotel Corporation, because every ‘radical’ like him adores are really, really, really powerful state.
If Bomber would care to visit the Auckland International Airport information centre, he would find you can’t get a hotel room or rental car unless you go out as far as Rotorua or Whangarei. That’s because we need more hotels built faster.
Bomber would be complaining even louder if there was a gang of 200 tilers roaming the country looking for work. Instead, the crew will be sent back straight after they are done, minimising local employment market distortion as intended.
” That’s because we need more hotels built faster.”
Is this satire? You know, along the lines of…
First accommodation failure came for the beneficiaries,
Then it came for the state home tenants…
Then it came for the working class….
Then it came for the middle class…
And now it comes for the tourists!
Something must be done!
The import of labour diminishes the impetus to ensure that the NZ labour force is trained and provided with skills to take us into the future. It also reduces the leverage gained that allows for better wages and work conditions.
If the hotel takes longer to build, then that is the consequence of that business not taking into account the scarcity of labour.
If you want to complain about a lack of skilled tilling, roofing or stonemason workforce in New Zealand, you are dead right.
I can just assure you that every construction company in the entire country is aware about the impact of scarce skilled labour on the deliverability of their programmes.
And each construction company is also watching its margins even more closely than before after watching the great falling satellite of clusterfuck called Fletcher Building.
I don’t want to complain. The building companies are doing that just fine.
What they are not doing – is setting in place apprenticeships in order to alleviate the lack of skills. They expect skilled workers to appear out of thin air. There is a decided expectation that the pool of workers in NZ is something to extract from, not contribute to.
Allowing companies to import workers for jobs, ensures that the shortage of skilled workers will continue into the future, and it removes any financial impetus or political pressure to sort out the problem effectively.
@Molly – “They expect skilled workers to appear out of thin air’ they do, air New Zealand, air China, Korean Air!
Know a lot of people in construction. One of the issues is that when building firms do apprenticeships there is a lot of red tape, a lot of training and then what was happening is that someone poaches the worker for a higher salary once trained or they leave and go onto higher wagers overseas in Australia. Therefore it has put off many firms from offering apprenticeships but it also has decimated the whole industry into a downward spiral of lack of staff, lack of training, lack of wages, lack of experience.
So not many people were able to enter the sector, they also had to pay and get in debt to do the polytechnic course and then even if they did many local firms were not getting the contracts to provide regular work and salary.
What the government need to do for qualified builders is to regulate that any building firm over 3 staff has to have to train apprentices on a ratio (aka for every 10 staff they train 1 apprentice, to keep their industry going) so that all the firms have to do it and you don’t get the greedy firms not doing their share.
You would hope that the firms could organise it themselves but generally many are too busy making money to bother training when they can just poach off another firm or these days like hire an illegal worker or get someone from Asia.
The problem with the current approach of bringing in overseas workers is that NZ is not creating any wealth it’s destroying it, by taking out jobs, skills and experience for locals, lowering wages and not getting the taxes from the booming construction industry and people are just illegal (note in the current bust, the guy was a permanent resident under a false identity and pulling in more and more illegal workers and the scam continues all of whom are taking up houses to live in, transport and health care in NZ)
With skills like stopping and tiling, it’s crazy to have a shortage as they are fairly easy skills to acquire. It’s a rout for an immigration scam.
If they want to get the provinces employed – a months training in the careers above obviously would not go a miss.
I agree with the red tape etc. leading to aversion of businesses to engage apprentices.
Also, I think the changes made to the apprenticeship pathway a couple of decades ago, is why the current situation has occurred. We are now feeling the long-term effects of those changes.
There are many builders who provide extensive apprenticeships, but there are others that do the bare minimum and don’t have the scope of work to cover all the techniques and skills that earlier tradespeople would be exposed to. A better pathway and support system needs to be created and implemented.
For that to occur, political pressure needs to be applied. And construction companies even if they do not want to run apprenticeships themselves, need to apply that pressure to government to sort this out. If we allow short-term labourers in for this purpose, that pressure will not happen.
I’m also not convinced that a hotel build is such a necessity that it requires importing labourers.
It’s a curiosity when a party built on and ostensibly dedicated to the interests of workers trots out the employers’ weaselly ‘reasons’ with such facility.
If the companies are aware of the lack of skilled workforce then it is their fault. The ITOs were supposed to be ensuring training in the areas of work that were wanted. Government stepped back because business knew what it was doing, had complete confidence in its efficacy, and were supposed to step forward to oversee the training.
AD before mouthing off as usual it might pay to read the link and work out the correct author.
Clearly your neoliberal cheerleading leaves a lot to be desired in the real world because we have multiple crisis in this country from wages, health, jobs, housing, etc etc
It kept Labour out of parliament for nearly a decade as they have not only embraced globalism but they also thought that getting the little guy to pay for it locally was the way to keep it all going, while banks, financial industry and big business were wooed.
Labour campaigned on TPPA being a dog and reducing immigration. They finally got back into power.
The neoliberal legacy is that people have got poorer, or their house earns more than they do. The next generation though, will be left with nothing as slowly but surely more individual wealth becomes eaten up with costs of day to day living as they struggle to pay for the welfare system that subsidises multinational corporations employers wages, tourist health costs and more.
The neoliberal policies and cheerleading of outsourcing as a good idea is clearly not working for NZ and many other countries like the UK and USA that started them.
Free market only works if you want to go back to a more feudal style of living. The average person doesn’t.
So, we are like Spain and Greece were way back when they brought in Brits at piece rates to do jobs, and sent them back to Britain at jobs end?
I can’t help thinking how Spain and Greece ended up.
Rich retirees buying up places cheaply, (including so called investment hotel apartments suites and rooms) locals paid very low wage rates, no or low GDP, high borrowings, market shift… and….crash!!
Sure you don’t currently have trades out of work, so then you can’t find tradies or apprentices. No security at all. The contractor’s death spiral.
I don’t know if you know but the reason the THC was formed was because the private sector would not take the risk in building hotels in out of the way places.
Tourism was wonderful in NZ and contributed to the economy – that is until they sold much of it off and now the money is going offshore to some international tax dodge to avoid taxes or park some ‘gold bricks’.
Now it’s neoliberalism 3.0 – they don’t even employ the Kiwi workers so there is actually nothing beneficial about tourism at all, it’s a loss because the locals are providing roads, health, ACC and environmental counters free to offset it all.
Then providing the welfare for the growing unemployed.
Then providing the welfare for the growing aged population due to the parents clause in immigration so that new residents can bring their parents over to ‘retire’ here.
We earn averagely $20 p/h – even the illegal Malaysian workers are better paid by their masters!
There is no evidence that china wants to take over NZ and make it into their strategic base in the South Pacific nor is there any evidence had planned for and invested in such a scenario…..hence 🙄
New Zealand is strategically very important for China, one as a source of food supply and protein but also strategically from a military point of view especially if it comes to military action with Australia & the USA.
Also a very cunning move getting an ex-spy strategically placed inside one of New Zealand’s leading political parties, to make contacts and understanding how the country operates ?
The reason that many of these companies can’t get skills is that they lack planning and rely on getting cheap exploitable labour in to compensate because they want to cut out local construction firms and workers.
The government should have a condition that the salary of workers being bought in for temporary or permanent construction labour needs to be $100,000 plus. There should also be a hefty fee, to cover the administration of these permits.
I know two migrants working in the construction industry. As soon as one got residency he quit because he hated the job and now seems to just work for cash in an unrelated industry as an odd jobs man, the other is just waiting to quit his job when he gets residency as he is paid well under the going rate in a high demand skill.
So the poor conditions and wages for locals and residency workers is biting the unregulated construction industry in the butts.
And the lies of more local jobs with foreign investment construction should be laughed at. It’s quite the opposite, foreign owners have no intention of employing local firms, who struggle to get contracts and therefore pay their staff poorly (often to compete with cheap overseas tenders with cheaper labour) their staff don’t get the skills on bigger projects. It’s a downward spiral.
There are definitely a few shoddy subbies of subbies of subbies. There usually are in a boom.
Buyer: don’t commit off the plans, and watch the construction take place regularly. If you are going to commit $700-$800k on an apartment, spend $10k for your own regular quality auditor.
Worker: get NZ certifications or even better a full degree, and join a union.
Otherwise – as is always the case – the unskilled and un-unoinised and unprepared will risk exploitation.
@Thank you oh wise one, Ad. and where do you think those reading the Standard would get the money for the “$700-$800k on an apartment, spend $10k for your own regular quality auditor.” considering wages in New Zealand averaged 20.83 NZD/Hour from 1989 until 2017,
Naki Man
All the people that comment on the Standard are expected to be concerned about others’ welfare, and should be making efforts to understand the effects of policy or lack of policy and bad implementation makes on the vulnerable as much as anyone who might be benefitted by it.
Agree you have to watch for short cuts and shoddy subbies.
In Australia the developer is allowed to change up to 20% of the contract AFTER it is signed. We talked to a couple who missed this small print in their contract.
Changes to outdoor area, lighting, tiling was very upsetting.
Always have a lawyer look at the contract before signing…buying off the plan is chancy on many levels.
New Zealand Companies do not put the time and resources into training and up skilling their staff, as they are too busy cost cutting and trying to drive wage rates through the floor ?
Look at all the good companies that did exist here in NZ that have been destroyed or bankrupted and are now overseas owned. Evidently Fletchers is 80% overseas
owned now ?
Likewise we have had successive Governments who have sold off $25.6 Billion of State Assets excluding houses and that money has just been squandered ?
A while ago it was completely different, Kiwi construction workers were considered better and Asian’s struggled to find work, due to the perception that their work was shoddy.
Now somehow the tables have turned. Asian construction better in the eyes of the government and Kiwi construction workers have a perception that they are drugged out and hopeless.
Cabinet has approved, in principle, a move to amend the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 to provide a statutory power for the senior courts to make declarations of inconsistency under the Bill of Rights Act, and to require Parliament to respond.
It’s not enough. All legislation should conform to the BoRA. That said, the National Party will now be forced to defend one of its core values: that some people have fewer human rights than others.
They will say that you can forfeit your human rights, by losing your job, for example. They won’t put it that way, of course, but that’s what “name the father” means.
Take bigger strides, Labour, not just these baby-steps. Expose National for what they are.
You are probably correct.
It is very sad that Nikki Kaye had her bout with cancer.
I think she would have been right out in front and would make a very good Opposition Leader and Prime Minister otherwise.
She would certainly have kept her total dominance of Ardern going.
They have taken an innovative way to handle this, rather than our type of thinking which would be to just set laws or give advisory information and talk about the problem.
Norway is issuing all tourists with safety visibility vests to wear as they travel.
These will be a silent reminder of the safe way to behave, and if they do wear them they will be seen from a distance and other drivers can beware of the straying gogglers.
Chinese – two things on the news. One is that they had a two term limit on the President which the leader wants to waive. Dangerous but they are apparently talking about removing this law. Are they thinking of Robert Mugabe; and they are working on tech and genetics – what if they get that technology stretching lives with DNA recovery shots every day??
An Australian book exploring Chinese influence deep in politics and business etc – well we aren’t free of that, it is something to be aware of.
Got to be impressed with the hard right totalitarian regime in Burma. Who needs evidence of a crime against humanity – when you can just bulldoze it away.
Eco Maori will watch the project and see what they are up to I need to sort out a app for radio NZ new channel it will be good to see John Campbell again.
Ka kite ano
The National Association of School Resource Officers and many school shooting survivors, including those from Parkland, strenuously oppose plans to arm teachers. Teachers may not feel safe wielding arms; students could get ahold of the weapons or get caught in crossfire; law enforcement could mistake an armed teacher or other non-uniformed school staffer for an assailant. The prospect of something going wrong seems even higher with non-vetted, non-professional members of a conspiratorial militia group volunteering services that schools did not ask for.
Rhodes’ response? “Tough.”
“If they don’t like it, too bad,” Rhodes said. “We’re not there to make people feel warm and fuzzy; we’re there to stop murders.”
The sandflys search my shed illegally they know who storing there stuff in my shed they are so desperate to damage my Mana they spin that and say that it’s mine ECO MAORI doesn’t need a substitute. It was lucky I tidy up my shed and found the empty box and I clicked watching new at 7 last night what a bunch of turn coats how much did they pay you immature idiot Ana to kai.
TV News it does not matter what culture you are what counts is the way one behaves. If he has policy that benefit the 99.9 % and not just the 00.1% that is the people ECO MAORI wants in power.
So far Simon Bridge track record is not very good at all with that highway the Eastern link was a project of lineing the Tauranga people pocket at the expense of the Nation.Tom McRae
Ana to kai
SAMANTHA we don’t need the mokos seeing Alcohol in the supermarket when they are taken shopping at supermarket.
ECO MAORI Says ban the sale of Alcohol from supermarket that was joyce and his retail association move to line there pockets. Raise the age.
Rasing the tax will hurt the alcoholics the poor common ones and the mokos will miss out on the basic they need for a happy healthy life come on that is a basic logical equation. As for stats and data unless it is audited by independent practice than it will be minupulated to suite the organisation displays that data. There are a lot of cheats out there. Ana to kai. Ka kite ano
Hi good people from the Project some people are trying to imply that ECO MAORI viewers are from one part of OUR society.
But know my viewers are from all different age groups of the 99.9% of Common people of Atoearoa. Lisa
ECO MAORI Says the Lady Niki Kaye was a better candidate but a old dog doesn’t change it spots. We will have 10 good years of Labour so long as they don’t drop the ball good times for the common tangata /people and mokos /grandchildren. Ka kite ano
Men’s fertility rates are dropping because of all the poison and chemicals that are in our food and agriculture sprays wood preservers. You don’t get something for nothing there are allways concerquences. The multi national companies exposing us to these poison say that they are safe in minute quantities. This is how they justify putting these poison in our prosessed food for taste and preserveing OUR food We need to stop this bad behaviour by big businesses.
I try and eat unpreserved food as much as possible. Ka kite ano
On Saturday, 24 February, the UN Security Council passed a unanimous resolution for a 30 day ceasefire , to allow food in, and the evacuation of the wounded, to begin without delay!
But the bombings continue!
Russia refused to include a specific date that the ceasefire should begin, and are taking advantage of this loophole to continue bombing.
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James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
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Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
Hi,Before we get to Hayden’s column — RIP to Millennials Killing Everything — a quick observation.There was a day last week where it had suddenly reached 10pm and I hadn’t eaten all day. Hunger had suddenly gripped me with a panicky all-consuming force, so I jumped onto Uber Eats and ...
We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
So the teachers are on strike, marching across Aotearoa today to press their demands for better pay and working conditions.Children remained in bed this brisk morning, many no doubt quite pleased about a day off school. Parents perhaps taking the day off to look after the kids, or working from ...
After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
Ouch: Hipkins’ policy bonfire has resulted in an expensive self-administered removal of a Budgetary foot with an explosive device. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Bonfires can be dangerous things when they get out of control. They also create a lot of smoke and heat and burn the grass. ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
Ironically, a repurposed Auckland Ratepayers Alliance placard (with a demand for climate action on the front) featured at the recent climate march. Voting ratepayers don’t want ‘bureaucrats in cushy council jobs’ borrowing or increasing rates, even when the need for investment is becoming increasingly obvious. So is council cost-cutting a ...
The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Buzz from the Beehive Exempting bikes, electric bikes and scooters from fringe benefit tax looked like something of a sop for a Green Party that had good grounds to grumble after a bunch of climate change measures was tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire. The combustibles included the clean car ...
Today is a Member's Day, the first of the year. Unfortunately it also looks to be a boring one. First, there's a two hour debate on the budget policy statement (somehow inexplicably "member's business", despite it being fundamentally a government thing). Then there's a couple of "private bills" - people ...
Most days, Chris Hipkins and James Shaw seem a bit like the Seals and Crofts of the centre-left: Earnest, inoffensive, and capable of quite nice harmonies at times. They blow gently through the jasmine in your mind, but you know they’re never going to rock your world. Back in 2020, ...
The reflection gazed back at him. Pale and a little paunchy, he wasn’t a well man.He had a toga made from a fitted sheet and it kept bunching up under his armpits.His Laurel wreath was made from some Christmas tree branches he’d found in the shed, not a real pine ...
Yesterday we covered the government’s latest policy/delivery changes with a focus on light rail. But there was another important transport part of the announcement: The government will also intends to scale back its road safety plans. The programmes that are being reprioritised include: Significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to ...
Unbridled Consumption: This civilisation we have built (we being the whole human species) is the most astonishingly wonderful thing homo sapiens has ever seen. We love it. We cannot imagine how awful life would be without it. And, we most certainly are not going to co-operate with anyone who advises ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Let’s start with the absolute truisms.Politics is the art of the possibleHalf of something is better than all of nothingLet us now consider these with reference to the Under New Management government.What is a supporter of progressive politics to make of the abandonment of various policies, as announced in recent post-cabinet ...
Chris Hipkins has surprised even some of his closest friends and backers with the bounce he has secured for Labour in public polls since he became Prime Minister. He has been put to the test since he took over from Jacinda Ardern in the top job, and has shown a ...
Buzz from the Beehive It was a big day for the stopping or slowing of a second tranche of government programmes, an exercise which Beehive publicists are pitching as measures to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on “the bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders. ...
Last night there was a One News political poll which was welcomed by the left and will cause some concern in the opposition camp. A poll that showed no path to victory for ACT and National and which would likely result in another Labour/Greens government, possibly with the inclusion, or ...
Our young renters can vote Labour or Green as often as they like, but will end up paying the price of more and bigger climate emergencies, while also paying most of their after-tax income on rent with little hope of owning their own homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR:PM ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at ...
Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at the working class politics of places like West Auckland ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Chris Baraniuk It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, the thermal engineer suddenly had all ...
Hi,I just wanted to say hello as this week really gets going, and check in about a few things. They’re a series of fractured random thoughts, so bear with me! First up — I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages and I’m really glad I watched yesterday. It felt like ...
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention. “I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages. “Reducing transport ...
The Hipkins Government revealed its true colours yesterday as it chopped a whole series of “nice to have” policies — many of them promoted by the Greens — and instead diverted the savings to relieve the impact of inflation. His approach is all about taking action; no more excuses, ...
Saving The People From ... The People: The strangest aspect of the mass Israeli protests, from a New Zealand perspective, is that the judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would only confer upon Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, powers which the New Zealand House of Representatives has not only exercised ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region. Establishing a regime to pave ...
Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
$15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University IISD/ENB The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation. The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva The installation of the Turaga Bale na Vunivalu Na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, clearly indicates that Fiji’s traditional chiefly system still has a strong footing and chiefs still command respect among the country’s citizens. This is the view of Dr Paul Geraghty, the University ...
ANALYSIS:By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in ...
By Antoine Samoyeau in Pape’ete About 3000 activists of French Polynesia’s pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party met for six hours at the weekend with the executives insisting that they were “united’ after a recent upheaval over leadership. The party also presented a “renewed” slate of 73 candidates for next month’s territorial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The first arrest has been made following the Brereton inquiry into allegations that Australians committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, 41, has been remanded in custody after his arrest by ...
We have our 2023 finalists after a big Sunday double-header at North Shore Stadium. Alice Soper reviews.Matatū vs BluesMatatū have scored the first try in every match they have played this season. It looked like this streak was going to be broken as the Blues finally found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Park, Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock Some 70% of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island has been closed to non-essential visitors in response to a recurrence of the plant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suranga Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer – Security, University of Sydney Shutterstock Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor, The Conversation Thanks in no small part to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today few people would be foolish enough to dispute the scientific consensus on the climate crisis. But as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Windholz, Senior Lecturer and Associate, Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Monash University Inadequate, inequitable, and in some cases possibly in breach of workers’ compensation laws. That’s how bad the current insurance arrangements are for Australia’s professional sports people, ...
The newly-minted Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, has been called on by the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) to investigate how the previous Minister allowed Police to propose extraordinary fee increases for licensed firearm owners without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Kingsford, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Bill Ormonde, Author provided Millions of dead fish float on the surface of the river. Native bony herring and introduced young carp, as well as a few mature ...
Things make more sense when people are speaking your language! This CAB Awareness Week (20-26 March), we are celebrating diversity and multiculturalism within our service. At the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are committed to making sure our service ...
The second week of the Auckland Arts Festivals showed the versatility of the city’s spaces, even when not matched entirely correctly with shows. Sam Brooks reviews (with assistance from Shanti Mathias).I often dismay at the lack of performance spaces we have in Auckland, and it takes something like the ...
The free and easy SMS two factor authentication (2FA) to log into your Twitter account ends today. That concerns Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster because it takes away one of the most common ways to verify who users are on their free accounts, which ...
New Zealand’s new minister of police will be one of the freshest faces around the cabinet table. Ginny Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, has been named as the new minister taking over from Stuart Nash. Andersen first became an MP in 2017 and only became a minister for the ...
The government has announced further roading reconnections, several weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this morning it was confirmed the link between Napier and Taupō had been reestablished. And now, transport minister Michael Wood said another six bailey bridges would be constructed. “Our immediate priority has been to reopen lifeline ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this morning. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras 2023 were a huge success. Sydney was activated in a way rarely seen – block and street parties, cultural festivals and dance parties for ...
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it might be better if Helen Clark stays out of nz politics etc , the tv3 boys are having a ball pushing the meme that clark still runs the labour party.. undermining Ardern she is
Is this over the petition to ban plastic bags?
Surely she can support it if she wants to??
I just sold my older hunterway .he’s still use full but now I have a younger better one , he just gets in the way of the younger one reaching it’s potential
Am I missing something here? Is this really just over Helen Clark wanting to get rid of plastic bags? It does not sound like sufficient reason to put some kind of gagging order on her!
A.
IMHO Clark should stay out of the press when it comes to anything political .unless asked by Ardern .
I see what you mean but it really is up to her
Tv3 are perfectly capable of parroting whatever new attack lines the National Party gives them. A better course of action is to ignore them.
Garner and Richardson would say that.
They are both Tory bovver boys.
Ignore them and for your own sanity avoid their ghastly show.
Better still avoid the entire organisations low brow nuanced coverage of what it wants you to think.
Right a couple of half witted Tories without two brain cells to rub together ?
Indeed, Helen Clark should be deleted from the political history books and she (and Sir Michael Cullen) should sever all ties with the NZ Labour Party and all NZ politics for that matter. She should take up painting instead. The same was done with Sir Roger Douglas and the NZ Labour Party has never looked back since. [sarc]
Haven’t heard so much from Clark in the Media, as from Brash these days – is he still running ACT and the Nats?
Morning Duncan yea I back the plastic bag bann I would like to see all but the ecential plastic that can’t be replaced by renewable products.
Alcohol does a lot of damage to OUR WORLD SOCIETY 21 YEARS old min age and advising of the side effects should be legerslated and banned from supermarket
Alcohol is damageing he tangata more than any other drug. Ka kite ano
Helen Clark was the best PM labour have had since Michael Joseph Savage but the media set about dirty politics on her so she is needed now more than ever as Labour goes through this ‘minefield of National Party antics and attemptd wreck Labours changes to make NZ a more caring transparent, kinder more inclusive Government.
More heads are better than one, as we see national are wheeling all their old guard out at the same time are still using Don Brash ect’ elk and were using their past PM’s to from 1990’s like the both National PM’s from the 1990’s era so shouldn’t Labour?
Why pick on Helen Clark when she was at the Auckland Town Hall when jacinda gave her first pre-election speech so did you complain then as that speech is what set Jacinda on the path to victory?
Look Duncan no body is perfect.
If one is getting bombarded with conflicting information get it correct all the time is near impossible.
ECO MAORI likes some of the bold moves OUR new coalition government is making.
They benefit the 99.9 %.
One man has taken on my it’s all in the design house we could set up a factory next door to a wood mill that makes all
The kit set flat pack houses and wallar you have thousands of houses built obviously Would need more than one factory. We need to get away from concrete floors as there is to much greenhouse gas built in the production of concrete.
The previous generation got that right in a land that is known for EARTH QUAKEs
It is not logical to have concrete floors.
You can recycle a house with wooden floors. If the environment were the house placed become uninhabitable well you put it on a truck and relocation it to a new site. I say that all houses should be legerslated to have a design so one can truck it out.
Ka kite ano
Eco you will improve your day if you switch off Garner and Richardson’s toxic propaganda.
Yes He should live in a dark little echo chamber next to yours a?
Duncan when one Reads the book on
Te Ropata WahaWaha it was written over 150 years ago our society was totally different the settlers were trying to establish them selves.
So what better why to sway the minds of te tangata whenua that a story on a Great Maori man that supports the Queen and the settlers.
Over 70% of tangata could read and write and who who wrote this book a settlor.
He used this story to boost the Mana of the settlers religion to stop the other religions taking hold of tangata minds.
There are a couple of sentences that are designed to boost the settlers religion.
So a intelligent person will add this information into how they decifer this book into reality. Ropata WahaWaha is The most important man who shaped how OUR Atoearoa society is today.
We do not have a native class all living in squallar in the most unsophistical environment in Atoearoa like other colonised country’s have its not perfect but we have it better than most tangata whenua.
Kia kaha P.S I will support Radio NZ new channels I see why John Campbell stayed there. Ana to kai
Duncan Ropata WahaWaha was not just advised by his Whano the Missionary advised him on the reality of Atoearoa and Papatuanukue he new how much MANA Britain had so they made choice to leave to there mokos a bright prousperious future like ECO MAORI is doing. Ka pai Ka kite ano
Many thanks for the great post on Thestandard from the true Leftys I support your views as they are the same as
ECO MAORIs. You good people are putting up a lot of good links and intelligence post to back OUR views of a equal society for all the creations on Papatuanukue. Kia kaha.
Protesters. P.S I’m a bit busy at the minute with my own battle Ka kite ano
Morning Rumble Rock radio I get the big picture I will support you I see you get burn left and right I will be watching radio NZ news show.
And Mulls on channel 4 news.
There you go ECO MAORI just has to fart and the sandflys are spinning it out that I walk around with a _____in me pants all day lol.
. P.S I got a plan and its as cunning a a snake as black addar use to say
Kia kaha guys Ka kite ano
Morning Rumble I’m a bit late look like the sandflys have tipped 3 dosen Tui big
bottles of beer on one of my LAWNs every time I got to mow it it is half cut lol Ka kite ano
Any clues on where I can get a copy of this book the old families had ties to the East Coast, when Major Ropata was alive ?
Maybe Auckland University Library may have a copy ?
“Following the collapse of the TPPA in the wake of the US withdrawal, the election of the new Government put a spring in the step of many. The Labour Party, New Zealand First and the Green Party had all said they would not support ratification of the TPPA. During the parliamentary examination of the text, Labour cited concerns about sovereignty, secrecy and inadequate economic modelling leading to uncertainty in projected outcomes; the Greens added that the TPPA is “inimical to the imperative of sustainability”; and New Zealand First focused on the anticipated dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).
What on earth happened? Labour has done a full U-turn, New Zealand First has joined in on the spin, and the Greens are very lukewarm in their disagreement.”
https://itsourfuture.org.nz/nationwide-day-action-tppa-11/
I’ve posted links here lots of times to the Labour Party policy (still on the website unchanged) that lays out the 5 bottom lines for the party. These are the things worked on since the election and either solved (eg control of land and housing sales to non-resident foreign buyers) or improve (eg limiting ISDS through side deals).
You might prefer it if Labour hadn’t signed the CPTTPA but that was never what was promised. Go back and check the record.
The Labour Party bottom-lines were strawmen, easily winnable, and not the issues that people were protesting about.
What is clear is that Labour is not being hypocritical by signing the revised TPPA. They were never against it in the first place. Which is one of the primary reasons I voted Green last election.
Same here
Labour have been talking utter bullshit in regard ISDS. If this issue had been sorted the Greens would be supporting TPP also.
When is a “bottom line” not a bottom line?
So what is the reason for Winston & NZF doing the big U Turn on the TPPA Agreement as they were vehemently opposed to it in recent years ?
Labour hacks can tell themselves that but it’s not to late to do a u turn and save themselves as a political party in terms of public trust. It’s about perception in politics so I don’t think weasel words will work, nor will it when overseas people own more of the houses, drive around in Mercedes and bring in their own workers from high wages to low wages.
The media is being quiet so keep the pressure for Labour and NZ First to hang themselves on TPPA. Once they are committed guess what the favourite attack line will be!
On the new TPPA
“What’s different?
Let’s be crystal clear. The “new” text is exactly the same, the only change being that 22 of the 1,000-plus original provisions have been suspended. These 22 provisions – mainly concerning intellectual property – have not been removed so that they can be revived if and when the United States comes back on board, as the Trump administration has indicated it is willing to do. When pushed on this point, the Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker said that New Zealand could veto any attempt by the United States to join if that would compromise the Labour Party’sfive bottom lines. That, of course, would not stop a different government from giving up important aspects of New Zealand’s sovereignty simply to reduce tariffs for a trifling increase in GDP. And what was the Minister’s response to that serious concern? “Time will tell.””
https://itsourfuture.org.nz/nationwide-day-action-tppa-11/
The “free” market can’t even build a bloody hotel?!
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/02/26/the-free-market-cant-even-build-a-bloody-hotel/
“In the case of Fu Wah and the Hyatt hotel project, at least one construction company disclosed to Radio NZ that they had attempted to tender for the contract;
However an Auckland company, which did not want to be named for fear of losing out on future work, told RNZ they had voiced their interest at the start of the project in 2016.
A staff member said soon after Hawkins and China Construction were appointed as the main contractors, his company was contacted about what the programme of work would be and asked whether they would be able to do it.
“We went back and said ‘yes, everything’s fine, things are going to be a little bit tight here, things will be fine here’, but nothing major that would lead us to believe we’d been crossed off as a potential subcontractor.”
He said while it was emphasised that they should lock in subcontractors early because of a busy schedule to meet the deadline, it was never an issue of lack of skills.
“At that point in time we more or less had a year or two to lock in labour resource, to build up the labour teams that we have if necessary. But we heard nothing for a couple of years, in fact we never even heard back in the end on whether we could tender for the main package.”
When asked whether they had the staff to do the work now, he said they did.”
Bomber Bradbury should go and find something to complain about.
CSCEC and Hawkins are a good combination and are delivering to time, cost and quality.
Different specialist teams are brought in all the time on jobs like this.
Finish line will be tight, but then again, it always is.
Bomber would I am sure like to bring back the Tourist Hotel Corporation, because every ‘radical’ like him adores are really, really, really powerful state.
If Bomber would care to visit the Auckland International Airport information centre, he would find you can’t get a hotel room or rental car unless you go out as far as Rotorua or Whangarei. That’s because we need more hotels built faster.
Bomber would be complaining even louder if there was a gang of 200 tilers roaming the country looking for work. Instead, the crew will be sent back straight after they are done, minimising local employment market distortion as intended.
” That’s because we need more hotels built faster.”
Is this satire? You know, along the lines of…
First accommodation failure came for the beneficiaries,
Then it came for the state home tenants…
Then it came for the working class….
Then it came for the middle class…
And now it comes for the tourists!
Something must be done!
The import of labour diminishes the impetus to ensure that the NZ labour force is trained and provided with skills to take us into the future. It also reduces the leverage gained that allows for better wages and work conditions.
If the hotel takes longer to build, then that is the consequence of that business not taking into account the scarcity of labour.
If you want to complain about a lack of skilled tilling, roofing or stonemason workforce in New Zealand, you are dead right.
I can just assure you that every construction company in the entire country is aware about the impact of scarce skilled labour on the deliverability of their programmes.
And each construction company is also watching its margins even more closely than before after watching the great falling satellite of clusterfuck called Fletcher Building.
I don’t want to complain. The building companies are doing that just fine.
What they are not doing – is setting in place apprenticeships in order to alleviate the lack of skills. They expect skilled workers to appear out of thin air. There is a decided expectation that the pool of workers in NZ is something to extract from, not contribute to.
Allowing companies to import workers for jobs, ensures that the shortage of skilled workers will continue into the future, and it removes any financial impetus or political pressure to sort out the problem effectively.
@Molly – “They expect skilled workers to appear out of thin air’ they do, air New Zealand, air China, Korean Air!
Know a lot of people in construction. One of the issues is that when building firms do apprenticeships there is a lot of red tape, a lot of training and then what was happening is that someone poaches the worker for a higher salary once trained or they leave and go onto higher wagers overseas in Australia. Therefore it has put off many firms from offering apprenticeships but it also has decimated the whole industry into a downward spiral of lack of staff, lack of training, lack of wages, lack of experience.
So not many people were able to enter the sector, they also had to pay and get in debt to do the polytechnic course and then even if they did many local firms were not getting the contracts to provide regular work and salary.
What the government need to do for qualified builders is to regulate that any building firm over 3 staff has to have to train apprentices on a ratio (aka for every 10 staff they train 1 apprentice, to keep their industry going) so that all the firms have to do it and you don’t get the greedy firms not doing their share.
You would hope that the firms could organise it themselves but generally many are too busy making money to bother training when they can just poach off another firm or these days like hire an illegal worker or get someone from Asia.
The problem with the current approach of bringing in overseas workers is that NZ is not creating any wealth it’s destroying it, by taking out jobs, skills and experience for locals, lowering wages and not getting the taxes from the booming construction industry and people are just illegal (note in the current bust, the guy was a permanent resident under a false identity and pulling in more and more illegal workers and the scam continues all of whom are taking up houses to live in, transport and health care in NZ)
With skills like stopping and tiling, it’s crazy to have a shortage as they are fairly easy skills to acquire. It’s a rout for an immigration scam.
If they want to get the provinces employed – a months training in the careers above obviously would not go a miss.
I agree with the red tape etc. leading to aversion of businesses to engage apprentices.
Also, I think the changes made to the apprenticeship pathway a couple of decades ago, is why the current situation has occurred. We are now feeling the long-term effects of those changes.
There are many builders who provide extensive apprenticeships, but there are others that do the bare minimum and don’t have the scope of work to cover all the techniques and skills that earlier tradespeople would be exposed to. A better pathway and support system needs to be created and implemented.
For that to occur, political pressure needs to be applied. And construction companies even if they do not want to run apprenticeships themselves, need to apply that pressure to government to sort this out. If we allow short-term labourers in for this purpose, that pressure will not happen.
I’m also not convinced that a hotel build is such a necessity that it requires importing labourers.
It’s a curiosity when a party built on and ostensibly dedicated to the interests of workers trots out the employers’ weaselly ‘reasons’ with such facility.
If the companies are aware of the lack of skilled workforce then it is their fault. The ITOs were supposed to be ensuring training in the areas of work that were wanted. Government stepped back because business knew what it was doing, had complete confidence in its efficacy, and were supposed to step forward to oversee the training.
Shame we don’t train New Zealanders for employment, easier to import labour from overseas and leave New Zealanders sitting on the scrap heap ?
AD before mouthing off as usual it might pay to read the link and work out the correct author.
Clearly your neoliberal cheerleading leaves a lot to be desired in the real world because we have multiple crisis in this country from wages, health, jobs, housing, etc etc
It kept Labour out of parliament for nearly a decade as they have not only embraced globalism but they also thought that getting the little guy to pay for it locally was the way to keep it all going, while banks, financial industry and big business were wooed.
Labour campaigned on TPPA being a dog and reducing immigration. They finally got back into power.
The neoliberal legacy is that people have got poorer, or their house earns more than they do. The next generation though, will be left with nothing as slowly but surely more individual wealth becomes eaten up with costs of day to day living as they struggle to pay for the welfare system that subsidises multinational corporations employers wages, tourist health costs and more.
The neoliberal policies and cheerleading of outsourcing as a good idea is clearly not working for NZ and many other countries like the UK and USA that started them.
Free market only works if you want to go back to a more feudal style of living. The average person doesn’t.
+111
So, we are like Spain and Greece were way back when they brought in Brits at piece rates to do jobs, and sent them back to Britain at jobs end?
I can’t help thinking how Spain and Greece ended up.
Rich retirees buying up places cheaply, (including so called investment hotel apartments suites and rooms) locals paid very low wage rates, no or low GDP, high borrowings, market shift… and….crash!!
Sure you don’t currently have trades out of work, so then you can’t find tradies or apprentices. No security at all. The contractor’s death spiral.
I don’t know if you know but the reason the THC was formed was because the private sector would not take the risk in building hotels in out of the way places.
Yes Peter, Public money used to provide tourist infrastructure.
Fine ’till greedies sell it to their friends.
Tourism was wonderful in NZ and contributed to the economy – that is until they sold much of it off and now the money is going offshore to some international tax dodge to avoid taxes or park some ‘gold bricks’.
Now it’s neoliberalism 3.0 – they don’t even employ the Kiwi workers so there is actually nothing beneficial about tourism at all, it’s a loss because the locals are providing roads, health, ACC and environmental counters free to offset it all.
Then providing the welfare for the growing unemployed.
Then providing the welfare for the growing aged population due to the parents clause in immigration so that new residents can bring their parents over to ‘retire’ here.
We earn averagely $20 p/h – even the illegal Malaysian workers are better paid by their masters!
Bomber nails it again.
Be outraged.
About sea ice levels in the Bering Sea.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/02/26/that-gross-60minute-interview-and-twitter-offence/
China wants to eventually take over NZ, and build it in their dream to be their strategic “base of the south Pacific”
National Inc’ had already planned for this and invested for this also.
CG
Evidence for these frankly ludicrous claims?
Professor Brady
🙄
She talks of China’s influence on our political parties.
Did you not read that?
🙄
Is it just me, but using an emoticon just a perverse way to enter a debate?
Actually it’s not having a debate, but more than bit like swing a phallus around.
Just an observation using words.
adam
+1 Agree (but a short code is all right for that I reckon.)
Ah, so like all RWNJs, you’re ignoring the evidence because it doesn’t suit you.
There is no evidence that china wants to take over NZ and make it into their strategic base in the South Pacific nor is there any evidence had planned for and invested in such a scenario…..hence 🙄
Except all the research done by an academic that you’re ignoring because it doesn’t suit your ideology.
New Zealand is strategically very important for China, one as a source of food supply and protein but also strategically from a military point of view especially if it comes to military action with Australia & the USA.
Also a very cunning move getting an ex-spy strategically placed inside one of New Zealand’s leading political parties, to make contacts and understanding how the country operates ?
Shame we don’t train New Zealanders for employment, easier to import labour from overseas and leave New Zealanders sitting on the scrap heap ?
They won’t need to invade there buying it bit by bit and farm by farm.
The reason that many of these companies can’t get skills is that they lack planning and rely on getting cheap exploitable labour in to compensate because they want to cut out local construction firms and workers.
The government should have a condition that the salary of workers being bought in for temporary or permanent construction labour needs to be $100,000 plus. There should also be a hefty fee, to cover the administration of these permits.
I know two migrants working in the construction industry. As soon as one got residency he quit because he hated the job and now seems to just work for cash in an unrelated industry as an odd jobs man, the other is just waiting to quit his job when he gets residency as he is paid well under the going rate in a high demand skill.
So the poor conditions and wages for locals and residency workers is biting the unregulated construction industry in the butts.
And the lies of more local jobs with foreign investment construction should be laughed at. It’s quite the opposite, foreign owners have no intention of employing local firms, who struggle to get contracts and therefore pay their staff poorly (often to compete with cheap overseas tenders with cheaper labour) their staff don’t get the skills on bigger projects. It’s a downward spiral.
There are definitely a few shoddy subbies of subbies of subbies. There usually are in a boom.
Buyer: don’t commit off the plans, and watch the construction take place regularly. If you are going to commit $700-$800k on an apartment, spend $10k for your own regular quality auditor.
Worker: get NZ certifications or even better a full degree, and join a union.
Otherwise – as is always the case – the unskilled and un-unoinised and unprepared will risk exploitation.
Otherwise, your comments are wrong.
@Thank you oh wise one, Ad. and where do you think those reading the Standard would get the money for the “$700-$800k on an apartment, spend $10k for your own regular quality auditor.” considering wages in New Zealand averaged 20.83 NZD/Hour from 1989 until 2017,
https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/wages
Even the illegal Mayasian stoppers were earning more $20 – $40 cash!
You assume that everyone that reads the Standard is on the bones of their arse.
Naki Man
All the people that comment on the Standard are expected to be concerned about others’ welfare, and should be making efforts to understand the effects of policy or lack of policy and bad implementation makes on the vulnerable as much as anyone who might be benefitted by it.
“Comments are wrong” Wow!! Rather sweeping Ad.
Agree you have to watch for short cuts and shoddy subbies.
In Australia the developer is allowed to change up to 20% of the contract AFTER it is signed. We talked to a couple who missed this small print in their contract.
Changes to outdoor area, lighting, tiling was very upsetting.
Always have a lawyer look at the contract before signing…buying off the plan is chancy on many levels.
New Zealand Companies do not put the time and resources into training and up skilling their staff, as they are too busy cost cutting and trying to drive wage rates through the floor ?
Look at all the good companies that did exist here in NZ that have been destroyed or bankrupted and are now overseas owned. Evidently Fletchers is 80% overseas
owned now ?
Likewise we have had successive Governments who have sold off $25.6 Billion of State Assets excluding houses and that money has just been squandered ?
Yes…. Where was that money used? Did it fill one of English/Joyce budget holes??
Not only that they destroyed the people too.
A while ago it was completely different, Kiwi construction workers were considered better and Asian’s struggled to find work, due to the perception that their work was shoddy.
Now somehow the tables have turned. Asian construction better in the eyes of the government and Kiwi construction workers have a perception that they are drugged out and hopeless.
Clearly money, talks.
A baby-step in the right direction.
It’s not enough. All legislation should conform to the BoRA. That said, the National Party will now be forced to defend one of its core values: that some people have fewer human rights than others.
They will say that you can forfeit your human rights, by losing your job, for example. They won’t put it that way, of course, but that’s what “name the father” means.
Take bigger strides, Labour, not just these baby-steps. Expose National for what they are.
I wonder how the “Spying on NZers bill” would have fared?
Or the raid on Dotcom and family?
Amy Adams….. with Bridges the runner up. /myreckons
Plus Joyce with a key front bench role. Very off-putting line up, tho.
You are probably correct.
It is very sad that Nikki Kaye had her bout with cancer.
I think she would have been right out in front and would make a very good Opposition Leader and Prime Minister otherwise.
She would certainly have kept her total dominance of Ardern going.
…nah dizzy blonde methinks ?
Heard her speak at a few meetings, don’t rate her IMO.
Seems that Norway has trouble with tourists stopping on the road to take photos of stunning scenery. Our problem too.
https://www.thelocal.no/20180219/norway-road-authority-buys-reflective-vests-for-tourists
They have taken an innovative way to handle this, rather than our type of thinking which would be to just set laws or give advisory information and talk about the problem.
Norway is issuing all tourists with safety visibility vests to wear as they travel.
These will be a silent reminder of the safe way to behave, and if they do wear them they will be seen from a distance and other drivers can beware of the straying gogglers.
Chinese – two things on the news. One is that they had a two term limit on the President which the leader wants to waive. Dangerous but they are apparently talking about removing this law. Are they thinking of Robert Mugabe; and they are working on tech and genetics – what if they get that technology stretching lives with DNA recovery shots every day??
An Australian book exploring Chinese influence deep in politics and business etc – well we aren’t free of that, it is something to be aware of.
Bridges leader and Paula Bennett offsider. Official.
One more thing we don’t talk about from the impact of cars.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/351311/large-canterbury-tyre-fire-still-burning
That is a shocker.
Still more impact: there’s still a lot of natural rubber used in tyres – massive tropical forest clearance for monoculture plantations.
Got to be impressed with the hard right totalitarian regime in Burma. Who needs evidence of a crime against humanity – when you can just bulldoze it away.
http://www.businessinsider.com/myanmar-bulldozes-rohingya-villages-evidence-of-ethnic-cleansing-2018-2/?r=AU&IR=T
Eco Maori will watch the project and see what they are up to I need to sort out a app for radio NZ new channel it will be good to see John Campbell again.
Ka kite ano
The British government’s incompetent smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn
is the funniest piece of dark comedy since Brass Eye.
A militia wingnut arrested last year following a fight that involved his use of a weapon has stationed himself outside high school with an AR-15.
And if teachers or students don’t like it? Tough.
( OAB’s prescience )
The National Association of School Resource Officers and many school shooting survivors, including those from Parkland, strenuously oppose plans to arm teachers. Teachers may not feel safe wielding arms; students could get ahold of the weapons or get caught in crossfire; law enforcement could mistake an armed teacher or other non-uniformed school staffer for an assailant. The prospect of something going wrong seems even higher with non-vetted, non-professional members of a conspiratorial militia group volunteering services that schools did not ask for.
Rhodes’ response? “Tough.”
“If they don’t like it, too bad,” Rhodes said. “We’re not there to make people feel warm and fuzzy; we’re there to stop murders.”
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/oath-keepers-want-armed-members-volunteer-schools-after-parkland
Tory twit comes unstuck under relentless questioning.
Andrew Neill at his best!
Watch and enjoy…
The sandflys search my shed illegally they know who storing there stuff in my shed they are so desperate to damage my Mana they spin that and say that it’s mine ECO MAORI doesn’t need a substitute. It was lucky I tidy up my shed and found the empty box and I clicked watching new at 7 last night what a bunch of turn coats how much did they pay you immature idiot Ana to kai.
TV News it does not matter what culture you are what counts is the way one behaves. If he has policy that benefit the 99.9 % and not just the 00.1% that is the people ECO MAORI wants in power.
So far Simon Bridge track record is not very good at all with that highway the Eastern link was a project of lineing the Tauranga people pocket at the expense of the Nation.Tom McRae
Ana to kai
SAMANTHA we don’t need the mokos seeing Alcohol in the supermarket when they are taken shopping at supermarket.
ECO MAORI Says ban the sale of Alcohol from supermarket that was joyce and his retail association move to line there pockets. Raise the age.
Rasing the tax will hurt the alcoholics the poor common ones and the mokos will miss out on the basic they need for a happy healthy life come on that is a basic logical equation. As for stats and data unless it is audited by independent practice than it will be minupulated to suite the organisation displays that data. There are a lot of cheats out there. Ana to kai. Ka kite ano
No understanding of the life of an activist woman in a repressive, hostile country.
I wonder who is on the tribunal?
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/turkish-woman-deported-despite-discrimination-and-sexual-violence-fears
Hi good people from the Project some people are trying to imply that ECO MAORI viewers are from one part of OUR society.
But know my viewers are from all different age groups of the 99.9% of Common people of Atoearoa. Lisa
ECO MAORI Says the Lady Niki Kaye was a better candidate but a old dog doesn’t change it spots. We will have 10 good years of Labour so long as they don’t drop the ball good times for the common tangata /people and mokos /grandchildren. Ka kite ano
Men’s fertility rates are dropping because of all the poison and chemicals that are in our food and agriculture sprays wood preservers. You don’t get something for nothing there are allways concerquences. The multi national companies exposing us to these poison say that they are safe in minute quantities. This is how they justify putting these poison in our prosessed food for taste and preserveing OUR food We need to stop this bad behaviour by big businesses.
I try and eat unpreserved food as much as possible. Ka kite ano
Stop the delay, ceasefire now!