In 1899 and 1900, electric vehicles outsold all other types of cars. In fact, 28 percent of all 4,192 cars produced in the US in 1900 were electric, according to the American Census. And the total value of electric cars sold was more than gasoline and steam powered cars combined that year.
I looked hard at Ni-Fe batteries but while they do have the potential for a remarkably long life cycle, they do have other fundamental limitations that mean they've been generally overshadowed by lithium chemistries for good reason. But I agree they have an interesting history and are deserved more success than they met with.
It's quite astonishing just how many various types of battery are being researched at the moment, and it's not at all clear which or any of them will rise to commercial success. You only have to have one significant weakness in the entire product system for it to be a show-stopper – not an easy challenge to overcome.
I can understand the temptation to buy more rental properties. Owning property grows savings and is relatively secure with strong backing from government, which doesn’t want house prices to fall. The cycle of disadvantage is fed by the cycle of advantage. I’ve found myself in the cycle of advantage, and now my dilemma is what to do.
This landlord is conflicted. Not conflicted enough to sell his two rentals it seems, but at least he is considering it.
He makes the good point that property investors such as himself are complicit in the widening of social inequality by denying families the ability to generate wealth on their own.
In effect landlords are stealing from poor people.
Twice in fact, first they remove the opportunity for low income families to increase intergenerational social, financial, and geographical security. And second by reaping and keeping un-redistributed tax free income gain.
In effect landlords are stealing from poor people.
And at the same time providing them with a home, an activity that generates relatively little net income. Indeed the mere existence of the now defunct LAQC tax smoothing structure is proof that many landlords subsidised their tenants from their own PAYE income for many years.
Not very good thieves really.
All the gains in the current market come from the capital growth, and in this they are absolutely no different to anyone else who owns property.
No because part of the solution is to remove the ability of people such as yourself to accumulate such massive (in your own words) untaxed gains.
This is about improving intergenerational societal stability which we know improves the lives of all. Most of that is to ensure everyone, or at least as many as possible, is able to access wealth which clearly isn't happening at he moment.
Funny sort of progressive which seeks to deny this as a goal.
As for the root cause, well perhaps this is difficult to find, but that is no excuse to hide behind it’s obscurity while enjoying the benefits.
Even if the gains were taxed more than they are, NZ houses would still be one of the most popular asset classes to invest in. Places to rent are in high demand – so investing in them is obvious.
I can't currently see a policy combination by any kind of NZ Government involving either Labour or National that would make other assets such as shares or business ownership to be more attractive than home ownership.
Of course Robertson will bring in the 10 year Bright Line test in his announcements next week. Plus stop being able to trade off income and interest. Plus go after property-owning trusts with no charitable purpose.
Woods and Parker I'd expect will do the supply side announcements later.
But to choose to sell up one or two of ones' houses and find something far more attractive – well that would require a spectacularly innovative economy with outstanding returns where risk is reasonable and the rate of return is at least as good as property.
There aren't that many countries similar to ours that are like that.
The Gov. could of course stop underwriting the property market, provide an alternative investment option, and restrict the flow of capital into housing WHILE providing the infrastructure and regulatory environment needed to encourage the required housing.
"I can't currently see a policy combination by any kind of NZ Government involving either Labour or National that would make other assets such as shares or business ownership to be more attractive than home ownership."
They could but I suspect it wont occur until after the crash…the opportunity to nationalise the banks was avoided post 2008/9 however , so perhaps not. There is speculation that individual accounts with central banks is the future.
Bright line test ? Don't care – I never intend to sell. And everyone else will just hold off selling until the deadline expires, meaning fewer homes for sale and a sellers market.
And if rents are frozen to levels below the cost of property ownership this will directly lead to a shortage of rentals. You may think this a good thing – until the day you need to move.
Interesting how all the things you want, all work against the people you claim to be helping. This is because problem you’re trying to fix has relatively little to do with the split between renting and owning – and the quite different question of the balance between people who want a home and the number available – and their price,
Of course the benefit will not happen overnight even though you assume that's what all this is about.
A longer bright line test will capture tax on gains that is simply pocketed right now. This can be used to fund the local and national infrastructure required to develop properly because despite what you say, you cannot just magically build homes without means to get people to and from work and without decent local amenities. To load those costs onto new builds and developers means the cost of building goes up.
Another important point is while behaviours are being changed around property investing, which is a long process, security of tenure is hugely important and itself a step toward that change in behaviour. A longer bright line does mean less rental flipping as you've pointed out. Probably the only thing you got right.
And managed rents linked to the CPI means that returns can't fall below the cost of property ownership unless you are an over leveraged speculative investor or an incredible bad one. Once again, tenants should have to pay for the size of a cowboy's mortgage.
Interesting how whenever anyone goes near tenancy reform you start getting hot and bothered.
I can't currently see a policy combination by any kind of NZ Government involving either Labour or National that would make other assets such as shares or business ownership
These balances are necessarily complex – but a relatively low cost measure would be legislating to improve the integrity of the NZSE. As it stands, low level investors would be wise to leave it the hell alone. Key of course did nothing to protect the equity of small investors. A stock market is not supposed to be a casino – it ought to reward productive investment and discourage all but the most statistically anomalous speculators. Been a long time since it operated in that fashion however.
MB. Government is about maintaining and, where possible, improving quality of life (join the queue) with a view to stability/sustainability. Perhaps there should be a MP quota drawn from those 10% of NZers who have accumulated a collective $13 billion debt; debt that might be a barrier to becoming an MP.
And maybe such a quota would foster greater political recognition and understanding of the need for transformative resilience to improve "intergenerational societal stability" (nice phrase that).
Despite 25 years of extraordinary progress in human and social development, with a reduction in poverty, higher education standards, employment growth, rising incomes and increased longevity for hundreds of millions, Mr. Akram pointed out that “today, 26 people own half the world’s wealth”.
And todays crisis has shone a stark light on existing vulnerabilities and inequalities.
“We need to foster transformative resilience by choosing policies that tackles high and rising inequality…[and] policies that empower people and communities to become more resilient and offer multiple opportunities for decent work and social and economic transformation”, the ECOSOC President stated.
In the following sections, the profiles of the two selected cities as well as the main common challenges they have to face have been briefly outlined. In detail, besides some general information related to their administrative demographic and morphological features, the main environmental and social criticalities (such as land take, soil sealing, population aging; etc.) as well as the main shocks and stresses the two cities suffered in the last years have been described in order to highlight why Rome and Athens can be considered as paradigmatic examples of the two main facets of “new urban question” (Secchi 2013): the impacts of climate change and the growing social inequalities.
Not everybody who rents actually wants to own a house. but the trouble is that there are too many landlords for this relatively small market. A further problem is that many are mortgaged to the hilt and are able to avoid paying tax on their net income because the interest deductibility rort gobbles up their "book" profit.
I think it would be better to call it an unethical system, rather than attribute it to unethical people. If we do that, the case for changing it is more easily made, and it doesn't get people's backs up. Plus it doesn't trigger long threads on TS where the usual suspects repeat the same arguments over and over…
Interesting, but can a system have ethics? People have good ethics or they don't and clearly in the case of property investors, they don't.
JA infers as much here when she basically says 'people are bad and if you try stop them they become worse'
"But, of course, whenever you're looking at what you could do to try and adjust people's decision-making, you've also got to keep in mind that, you know, simple ideas of caps and things, people can re-orientate the way they structure their investments to hide some of these issues. So it does become quite tricky.
I don't think you can readily change people's minds or behaviour by telling them how bad they are. And many landlords and investors will be ordinary people like you and me, who are making quite rational financial decisions – given the way the system is set up.
Stuff recent article – only available through Reddit so far!
Nearly 80 per cent of landlords own just one property, data shows
So controls on the other 20% ir seek actual number over two rental properties, and then tailor demands, control the rack–renters who should be dealt to and surveilled, and charge levies that pay for inspections on houses, and a call centre for people struggling to get repairs, have a livable house with decent services.
Completely agree re landlords. Good to know at least one is conflicted.
as posted previously I could easily afford a rental, but I hate the idea that I am depriving first home buyers. If I did buy something it would be to help family.
on a different note I see a 501 who killed two women in Australia has just been charged with sexual assault and sent to jail for 16 years.
for the legal types amongst us surely NZ can change our law to prevent these people being shipped here. 2000 and counting……Oz isn’t going to drop their policy, we need to take responsibility and do whatever we can do to halt it…..but maybe there is nothing we can do?
Looking at how we are going with our Covid19 responses and controls.
Gordon Campbell on Werewolf published on Scoop has had a look at the Ministry of Health and saliva testing and updates in a thoughtful and balanced way.
"Earlier, Russian senator Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, warned such actions could lead to a major conflict and that Syria has advanced weapons, including the S-300, and that Americans should be very careful."
In other words, "if you bomb Iran's proxy that our proxy is letting live there, we might let our proxy shoot down your jets because our shit is cooler than your shit".
It's kind of nice to be back watching the old dance again, rather than everyone being in uncharted geopolitical territory.
Tangaru Turia, 34, was six months old when he left New Zealand, living in Australia until he was deported in 2017. Turia was shot dead by police while "brandishing" a shotgun.
Well I guess now both Australia and NZ are better places. Harsh, but true. I have zero sympathy for people who did what he was doing in Australia (and doubtlessly here too).
Are his kids better off? Y’know the ones he was trying to stay in touch with via FaceTime?
Did you read the article? Mental health issues for some time. Sure, he got kicked out for domestic violence. The article doesn't say what other convictions he had there but don't let that stop you speculating.
The point is Australia exacerbated an already serious situation in the worst possible way for people in both countries, and especially for his young family.
Whatever chance at rehabilitation he had went out the window with Scott Morrison’s deportation policy.
We really do not know if his children are better off or not, but quite possibly they are.
And no, I am not speculating about other convictions. Just do a Google search for his Australian time. Yeah, mental health issues but that's what his lifestyle in Australia invariably leads to.
Rehabilitation is really a little late, and how many ever truly rehabilitate? Drug rehabs are incredibly ineffective. Very sad for his family I know, but I well understand yhe desire of Australia to shift out their problems.
Trigger-happy people are dangerous, guns shoot people and males get high on guns more than females. Police tried the careful approach to a guman in Aramoana and lost out.
There has to be a better program for these 'lost boys' sent away from home by the sleazy-peazy Australian government wanting to slide out of their failures to integrate people. We are much the same here, but we haven't the option to pass the parcel. So let's have a sensible program, and give them something to ground them here, ability to turn their lives around and have a regular earning job and still keep in touch with there. Perhaps if the rehab was successful some returnees could help in working with our crims here on the basis 'If I can remake my life so can you'. And bring in a visa system so we can keep track of what goes from here to there and vice versa. It would help if we knew how much vice is travelling over the Tasman!
Seems to be a fair chance that untreated (or unsuccessfully treated) mental health issues didn't help the matter, but I doubt anyone will be clamouring for a review into his care.
nats are stuck in the past. even the women in the nats are old white men in disguise. crusher has tried to turn into cushla, but bridges and bishop havent read the memo. you would have thought that bridges would have learnt from last years disaster, when his attack and negativety led to his dumping by his own troops. possibly bridges is the sort of person who CANT learn, and is condemed to repeat the same mistakes over and over. bishop should be young enough to learn, but possibly his inbuilt arrogance will also stop him from learning.
Did it backfire on Bishop and National? They had a moment in the sun feeding their supporters and the anti-Labour brigade. It had those groups energised and frothing at the mouth. All good. It's the sort style of ignorant energy which lives on and nourishes cretins.
It is incredible that in the post Key years National have settled on this; Collins, Bishop, Bridges, Mitchell, and Goodfellow. A callous and evil hive of desperados.
"Immigration New Zealand is standing by its decision to grant a visa to the partner of Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March and says the application was treated "like any other".
Why am I reminded of the immortal response of Mandy Rice0Davies when she was told that Lord Astor had denied having an affair with her? The words she used are generally quoted as "Well he would, wouldn't he".
The same seems likely from the Immigration Department if they were asked whether they had done anything unusual, regardless of what they might have done.
It was also, according to Bob Woodward when talking about Donald Trump's reaction to complaints about his actions with women, also Trump's line.
"When accused of sexual assault or other misdeeds by women, President Trump says you've got to "deny, deny, deny," according to Bob"
You’re as predictable as an old broken record or an old dog that starts drooling upon hearing a certain whistle, hence the term.
Do you know many times you have mentioned good old Mandy here since 2012?
Just as the others, you don’t care at all about “what happened”, it just provides you with a nice opportunistic pivot point that you simply cannot resist. I had you in mind with my comment and you did not disappoint.
Of course, you did not address one single point in the link, as I expected too.
Addendum: This column was drafted before the events involving Andrew Falloon and Iain Lees-Galloway. It has not been rewritten.. However, I must add this. The column tries hard to be fair towards Judith Collins; after all it is really about wider issues than her. But the way she dealt with the Lees-Galloway allegations was inappropriate. She was right to pass her knowledge on to Jacinda Ardern, as the prime minister had done to her over Falloon. She was wrong to announce she had done so (on morning radio) before the Prime Minister had publicly dealt with the information. In contrast Ardern waited until Collins had made her Falloon announcement before explaining her involvement. Collins’ timing has the hallmarks of a Whale Oil counterpuncher. It does not promise a clean election.
No I wasn't talking about him getting into the MIQ facility.
I was talking about him having been invited to apply for an immigration visa.
"Menéndez March's partner was invited to apply for a visa on December 3 last year and a six-month visa was granted on January 11."
"Immigration NZ head Greg Patchell said he would look into it, telling Stanford: "In the situation you've described… it probably wouldn't meet the criteria."
The of course Immigration decided that everything was fine
Nobody gives a damn what you think about their relationship. It was good enough for immigration NZ, so it's unimportant if you are unable to get your head around two guys being in a romantic relationship.
Still a pal for a Green MP is both essential and needs to get in promptly, [sic]
As usual, you’re making up BS and you’re now just trolling. You’ve also twisted the quoted text “the partner of Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March” in your own comment @ 9.3 to “a pal for a Green MP”. Your narrative is pathetic. Get a hobby, soon!
Monday thoughts: My Food Bag's offer is food for thought … http://www.stuff.co.nz › business › opinion-analysis › monday-t… My Food Bag plans to sell up to 185 million shares, valuing the company at just under $450 million. In terms of … 15/02/2021
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/my-food-bag-seeks-up-to-342m-in-ipo-sets-march-5-date-for-dual-listing/H4KS4GW5NFNE5F35JY3LBLML5Y/ Companies Office records show the Waterman Fund 3LP owns 70 per cent of the company having invested in October 2016. Co-founders Cecilia Robinson and her husband James own 10.8 per cent, as does Theresa Gattung. Interests associated with Nadia Lim own 5.4 per cent. My Food Bag says more than 10,000 customers and team members have registered to receive a priority allocation in the IPO. Australian investors were also targeted.
There is money in supplying the hard-working middle and upper class with profits to be made. And there is some advance in government assisting with food at schools for hard-p0ressed parents.
and – Free lunches for school kids, Government announces | Stuff.co …www.stuff.co.nz › national › politics › free-lunches-for-sc…
29/08/2019 — Jacinda Ardern announces initiative that will see kids at 30 schools … is rolling this school lunch programme out to the kids in New Zealand …
and
PM Jacinda Ardern serves up first of many free school lunches …www.rnz.co.nz › news › national › pm-jacinda-ardern-s…
20/02/2020 — Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the … Official figures show one in 10 children in New Zealand live in material … The $45 million free school lunch programme is one of 75 initiatives …
What a pathetic response. Simple minded D. stating the obvious, can't think beyond it and so proud of a thought that he/she has to write in and show us. The point is that private business can be built on the good incomes that people at the higher salary range can afford, and it could be said it is being built on the deficit of the wages being paid to the strugglers. Why wouldn't private business be built on their needs. Because they can't afford this type of food because they don't get paid enough.
Aristocrats and peasants again!! We had been working hard in society to help the lower income people to get education skills and a happy place in society. So D. got that!
And Ad you show a crack in your understanding of society's needs again. The takeaway shops are micro businesses that some people get into to provide for their family and work hard for themselves. The shutting down of NZ busin ess by Labour free marketers striding forward like Greek heroes, not, leaves pople searching for a place to fit into the NZ economy, so poorly run that extremes of inflation are not registered in official statistics on which so much of our microeconomic measures are based. I go to a number of takeaways and support such people, and they are glad to see me.
I don't know how to recommend this enough – if you have the time that is. A deep dive into the ways the big tech social media companies are fucking us up. It won't be everyone's taste, but I found it pretty special:
Health officials have discovered that two – now-positive – cases of one family went to work and visited a vape store when they were supposed to be isolating at home.
The family also hosted a private home viewing.
Botany MP Christopher Luxon said would-be critics should focus their efforts on keeping the virus at bay.
"We don't know the full facts of the situation, that's really the government and the health officials that will be aware of all of those.
It transpires the young man went to a doctor who gave him a Covid test and he then went on to a gym. How's that for stupidity. It is becoming clear there is a group of young people who cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
Someone needs to be made an example of, in the hope it brings these idiots to their senses.
The Dr would have reminded the person of their statutory responsibilities (being a contact plus)
As there are now a number of self isolation breaches,the AK cordon zone exemption for permitted travel needs to be very restricted,which may include flight constraints (including mps)
collective responsibility, we all do the right thing to ensure the benefit of all. When one person doesn't do the right thing they place everyone at risk. I think Ardern is being too easy on the people who have failed to do the right thing. My view of them is a whole lot less charitable. Act like a clown or a dick and we are all at risk, a week of level 3 risk. And yes, maybe there were reasons why people felt compelled for the need to go to work. Self isolating might have cost some people money. Well the week of level 3 is going to cost a whole lot more people money. Sure, it can be tough isolating. It's going to be tough for the employers and employees now having a week or reduced or no income. Pretty simple, if you are told to isolate do it rather than be an arse.
To what end, Rosielee? I think Ardern had the correct line about not increasing barriers to testing:
we still need an environment where people will speak, come forward and be tested and if people are afraid and they are shamed and vilified, they won't."
unless there are mitigating circumstances that meant the non isolators were totally unaware and genuinely ignorant, then a visit from the police is probably in order and a pretty strong message about doing the right thing. make it crystal clear for the people that no one is impressed.
Spot on georgecom. A visit from the police. Read the riot act. Tell them what isolation means and if they're caught doing it again they're going to be in big trouble. The only language some people understand.
I am going to bed I cannot tell the difference between Muttonbird and Morrissey.
Contrary to popular opinion, I am not running Muttonbird as a sock-puppet. He may have been to visit moi at Chez Breen, but that is something we can neither confirm nor deny.
"You don't know their story, you don't know what it's like to be a person unless you've walked in their shoes.
"We don't know whether the teenagers have to go to work because they're the only income-earners in the family, we don't know if there's any other truma that the family's experience – we don't know any of that stuff.
sure, financial pressures might be telling. I am sure many business owners in Auckland will be feeling that this week. I am sure many of the people who had to isolate from Kmart and KFC were feeling financial pressures. Simple fact really though, the "traumas" a family might have been "experiencing" is now going to be "trauma" a great many more people are forced to "experience".
Not a lot of sympathy for people who break the rules. Maybe charge them, with heavy name suppression as we don’t want vigilantes.
only excuse is if the kfc person was desperate for the money. But the 21 year old going to the gym ffs. Maybe should be made to watch interviews with people whose businesses are on the edge because of the shift of levels. Lots of them
There's support money available from MSD. Health/govt services should have walked them through them application it if they were incapable of doing it themselves.
MSD should have been IMO contacted all Papatoetoe High School families when the school closed and all families were to be tested and isolate (I have not read that they did), with what support is available and contact number/emails on contacting staff to assist any and all queries. And the govt making it as easy as possible for any financial assistance and fast tracking all payments to ease any financial stress. Then family members hopefully would not feel inclined to jeopardise being in level 1. As our PM said it is not their fault (Don't agree totally with her there e.g. Gym goer etc)
Having worked with Norse and Elder Futhark iconography for years, I’m quite alert to the glyph shapes and their associations in the modern world and history.
So, why is the #CPAC2021 stage an Odal rune, and specifically one with serifs (or wings) that was used by the SS? pic.twitter.com/gc4HhtGA3n
But in all seriousness, I do hope the police go round and have some stern words with them. They need to know that because of them Auckland is now at level 2 and how much it will cost businesses/people.
Future Proofed: KiwiRail needs to become an all-electrically-powered, broad-gauged, and comprehensively re-equipped state-owned enterprise with state-of-the-art locomotives and rolling-stock. An infrastructure project of massive proportions and prodigious expense is required. But, when it is completed, New Zealand will have a sustainable, twenty-first century transportation network, capable of carrying both passengers ...
Back in December, the government purchased Ihumatāo. Officially the purchase was for a housing project, but whether any houses actually get built (and who will own them) is subject to negotiation. And now, the Auditor-General has ruled the purchase unlawful: The deal struck by the government and Fletcher Building ...
Speculation about the National Party’s leadership has died down, after a fortnight of rumours and overt positioning by supposed challengers to Judith Collins. She lives on as leader for a bit longer, and Christopher Luxon and Simon Bridges have been put in their place. National now desperately needs to focus ...
The government is planning to reform the health system. But in the leadup, they've issued new guidance for DHB members, gagging them from criticising the government: A new code of conduct banning health board members from making “political comment” may have been timed to dull criticism of imminent changes ...
Susan St John & Terry Baucher The bright line test has been extended to ten years. Tax deductibility for the cost of a mortgage for landlords is to be removed. These steps are a start, but there is more to be done. In Susan and Terry, we have two advocates ...
As New Zealand and Australia celebrated its close ties with the opening of the Trans-Tasman Covid-19 bubble, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta today was looking a little further north. Shortly after those first flights had taken off, reminding us all of the world beyond our shores, Mahuta gave just her second ...
Recently I was told I needed to go to the Youtube channel of Dr Sam BaileyA and watch one of her videosB. So I did. This particular video is called The Truth About Virus Isolation, and yes it’s on Youtube, and no I’m not linking directly because I refuse to ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Peter Sinclair This edition of Yale Climate Connections’ “This Is Not Cool” video explores the “disinformation ecosystem” in and beyond the issue of global climate change. “How did we get here?” independent videographer Peter Sinclair asks rhetorically at the start of the ...
Once upon a time, the left fought for the universal right to freedom of speech. Today, many self-proclaimed progressives cheer on the censorship of their political opponents. But it’s not just right-wingers who suffer from cancel culture. The left itself is often the primary victim. Dan Kovalik is a labour lawyer, peace ...
For Our Own Good? Police officers knocking on New Zealanders’ doors on account of what they might think, or what they have said, is more likely to make the rest of us think we are living in Nazi Germany – not drawing lessons from it. The disharmony such heavy-handed state ...
by Don Franks Details of proposed new hate speech laws have been revealed in a December Cabinet paper obtained by Newsroom. The paper, seeking to “strengthen the protections against hate speech”, would extend existing provisions against incitement and hate speech. It would also move hate speech offences from the Human Rights Act to ...
Listing of articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Apr 11, 2021 through Sat, Apr 17, 2021 Not having had a chance to garner much attention by the time last week's review was published, the last article in that batch - First-Ever Observations From ...
Every year in April, the trees start changing colour, the clocks go back an hour, and the national greenhouse gas figures are released and promptly forgotten. They take fifteen months to prepare, so by the time they come out it’s very easy for commentators to point out that they are ...
While checking my spam folder (before yeeting the contents permanently) I noticed that I’d been sent a bunch of email ‘newsletters’ from the group “Voices for Freedom.” Out of interest I opened one, just in case the contents were worth a post or two – & indeed they were. The ...
Humans are hard-wired to classify, categorise and compare, or in other words, to taxonomize. We may be born tabula rasa but quickly are taught that the world is divided into types of things, subtypes of those and assorted other categories. The operative term is “taught” rather than “realise.” Taxonomies are ...
The Labour Government received plaudits this week for its historic announcement that it will ban the live export of animals by sea. It’s said to be a world first. The decision comes after years of pressure, which increased after last year’s tragedy when the ship Gulf Livestock 1 left New ...
As one does on a Friday evening, I yesterday made a point of heading along to the Dunedin Public Library’s event, Mystery in the Library. This was a panel of local crime-fiction writers, and a follow-up to a similar one in April 2019 (no prizes for guessing why ...
Now is about the time that the Government is getting its Budget Strategy togetherIn the week before the budget – the 2021 one is to be delivered on Thursday 20 May – there is a strange ritual in which all the commentariat and lobbyists (who are not necessarily distinct from ...
Climate Change Minister James Shaw has admitted that the government is not doing enough on climate change: Appearing on Breakfast alongside Greenpeace director and former Green Party leader Russel Norman, the current Greens co-leader was asked: “Are you as Government living up to promise of delivery implicit in those ...
We can all agree that a free press (and free media more generally) are important factors in a well-functioning democracy. But I am beginning to wonder if they provide us with an unalloyed benefit. I am an avid consumer of daily news – whether delivered by the press or by ...
Yes They Can - So Why Don't They? In matters relating to child poverty, homelessness, mental health, climate change and, of course, Covid-19, the answers are right in front of the Government's collective nose - often in the form of reports it has specifically commissioned. Why can’t Jacinda and her ...
Richard Edwards, Janet Hoek, Anaru Waa, George Thomson, Nick Wilson (author details*) We congratulate the NZ Government on its proposed Action Plan for the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal. Here we examine the evidence for three key ideas outlined in the plan: permitting tobacco products to be sold in only ...
Punished, But Not Prevented: Though bitterly contested by those firmly convinced that the Christchurch Mosque Shootings represent something more than the crime of a Lone Wolf terrorist, the Royal Commission’s finding that no state agency could have prevented Brenton Tarrant from carrying out his deadly intent – except by chance ...
The Government has announced it intends making sex self-identification possible this year, as a priority. That would mean anyone could change the sex documented on their birth certificate by a simple declaration that they “identify” as the opposite sex. Speak Up For Women have launched a campaign encouraging New Zealanders ...
The travel bubble with Australia has not brought room for others to come into the MIQ system from overseas. Instead, spaces are being decommissioned. Why? The system is leaky. The government cannot afford to let riskier people into those spaces, because the system can’t handle them. My column in Insights ...
A Second Term Labour-led Government in New Zealand,a new Biden-led Administration in the US, a continuance of the Johnson Government in the UK: different approaches to major issues, same global problems – and discontent rising. Some warranted, some unwarranted, but as each emerges from the Covid pandemic, what ...
I will update this post as new information comes to handWhat has happened? Recently the vaccine safety watch dogs in Europe noted reports of unusual types of blood clots in people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca (AZ) COVID-19 vaccine. This prompted investigations across many countries to ascertain what, why, and ...
Alex Ford, University of Portsmouth and Gary Hutchison, Edinburgh Napier UniversityWithin just a few generations, human sperm counts may decline to levels below those considered adequate for fertility. That’s the alarming claim made in epidemiologist Shanna Swan’s new book, “Countdown”, which assembles a raft of evidence to show that ...
Just like last year, this year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will happen virtually instead of in person in Vienna. Contrary to last year, the organizers decided early on to hold their conference online and planned for it accordingly (quite a difference to last year's scramble where they switched ...
Time for a strange rant. A very strange rant. But bear with me, because this is serious business. A True Story, by Lucian of Samosata is not Science-Fiction. What on earth am I talking about? Well, it was one of those Wikipedia rabbit holes. I was reading ...
By Kate Evans for UndarkOne of New Zealand’s most spectacular fossil sites originated 23.2 million years ago. It was formed in a valley dotted with small volcanoes, when rising magma deep below the Earth’s surface came into contact with groundwater. Lava and water don’t mix — they explode. The ...
A Thorn In Their Side: As Chair of the Auckland Regional Council, Mike Lee made sure Auckland’s municipal resources remained in Aucklanders’ hands. Not surprisingly the neoliberal powers-that-be (in both their centre-left and centre-right incarnations) hated this last truly effective standard-bearer for democratic-socialist values and policies.MIKE LEE is the closest ...
It’s always something of a shock to come across a page run by a health-focused business that contains substantial misinformation. This one left me gobsmacked, given the sheer number of statements that are demonstrably untrue. And while a fair bit of the content is prefaced by the statement that it’s ...
Previously (9 February) I wrote about how business consultants Ernst & Young were used to do a hatchet job on the former senior management team at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB). While this hatchet job was planned in 2019 its gestation was much longer. Its underlying causes involved differences in ...
Flying beneath the radar of guilt Fight or Flight: How Advertising for Air Travel Triggers Moral Disengagement(open access) by Stubenvoll & Neureiter not only takes an interesting approach to decomposing the effects of airline travel advertisements but also helps us to understand the general psychological landscape of our often conflicted ...
Yesterday I got told to “do some research” &, by extension, to think critically. The biologist in me cringed a little when I read it (and not because of the advice about doing research). Biology teachers I know suggested that perhaps everyone should take the NCEA standard that ...
Lis Ku, De Montfort University Since the onset of the pandemic, everyone from newspaper columnists to Twitter users has advanced the now idea that extroverts and introverts are handling the crisis differently. Many claim that introverts adapt to social distancing and isolation better than extroverts, with some even suggesting that ...
A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of this blog post by New Zealand’s “Plan B” group. While initially this group opposed the government’s use of lockdowns to manage covid19 outbreaks in this country, they seem to have since moved on to opposing the rollout of vaccines against ...
Twenty years after it invaded, the US is finally leaving Afghanistan. What's surprising is that it took them so long - its been clear for over a decade that their presence there was pointless and just pissing people off. But imperial pride leads to exactly this sort of stupidity. Their ...
The government has announced that it will ban the export of livestock by sea. Huzzah! A vile, cruel and unconscionable trade will be ended! But there's a catch: the ban won't kick in until 2023, giving farmers two ful years to continue to profit from extreme animal cruelty. But why ...
Today is unexpectedly a Member's Day - the Business Committee granted it early in the year, to make up for time list to government business. First up is a two-hour debate on the budget policy statement, with questions to Ministers, replacing the general debate. Then its the second reading of ...
. . Two stories which appeared almost side-by-side on RNZ’s website. Parent, Miranda Cross, was quoted as saying; “I think the expectations are that we can at least send our kids to school where they will receive an education.” An American parent would probably demand; “I think the expectations are ...
Time for reviewing something a bit different. Move over Tolkien adaptations, hello Japanese splatter movie. Specifically, a certain 2009 movie called Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. I watched this one a few days ago with some acquaintances, never having seen it before, and not being familiar with the manga ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD An above-average Atlantic hurricane season is likely in 2021, the Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane forecasting team says in its latest seasonal forecast issued April 8. Led by Dr. Phil Klotzbach, with coauthors Dr. Michael Bell and Jhordanne Jones, the CSU ...
How seriously does the Māori Party take issues of corruption and the untoward influence of big money in politics? Not very, based on how it’s handling a political finance scandal in which three large donations were kept hidden from the public. The party is currently making excuses, and largely failing ...
The annual inventory report [PDF] of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing a significant increase in emissions: (Note that this is UNFCCC accounting, not the weird fudged figures the Climate Change Commission is using). Emissions increased by almost 2 million tons in 2019, from 80.6 MT ...
The melody from the classic movie Wizard of Oz echoes as Jacinta Ruru explains what inspired her to attend university, and her ambition to help create a more just society in Aotearoa. Jacinta, who affiliates to Raukawa and Ngāti Ranginui, specialises in the research areas of indigenous peoples and the law. ...
Stuff reports that National is refusing to back the Climate Change Commission's recommendations, which is apparently a Bad Thing: The National Party says it can’t support the Climate Change Commission’s draft plan to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions unless changes are made. If National maintains this position when ...
Driven, accountable, unafraid to test limits and connected to the communities she serves are traits that come to mind when thinking about Dr Anne-Marie Jackson. (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu o Whangaroa, Ngāti Wai) She specialises in Māori physical education and health research disciplines while incorporating tikanga Māori and Te ...
This is my first post for a while. I have been a bit overwhelmed by other work in the last several weeks, with teaching and other commitments, and the blog has sadly suffered. But I’m still here. This morning, while sitting in a car in the permanent traffic jam through ...
Predatory Morality: Is geopolitical consultant, Paul Buchanan, right? Does the rest of the world truly monitor New Zealand’s miniscule contribution to the international arms trade so closely? Are foreign chancelleries truly so insensitive to their own governments’ complicity in the world’s horrors that they expect all other sovereign states to ...
Anna Källén, Stockholm University and Daniel Strand, Uppsala University A middle-aged white man raises his sword to the skies and roars to the gods. The results of his genetic ancestry test have just arrived in his suburban mailbox. His eyes fill with tears as he learns that he is “0.012% ...
March 2021 The housing crisis right now in New Zealand is one of our biggest contributors to income and wealth inequality. “With the explosive increase in sales and prices, those with houses have their income and/or wealth rapidly increasing, and those who are not on the property ladder are falling ...
Samoans went to the polls on Friday, and delivered a stinging blow to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi one-party state. Pre-election Malielegaoi's Human Rights Protection Party had controlled 44 of 49 seats in Parliament, while using restrictive standing orders to prevent there from even being a recognised opposition in ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael BakerIn this blog we briefly consider a new Report from a European think tank that aims to identify an optimal COVID-19 response strategy. It considers mortality data, GDP impacts, and mobility data and suggests that COVID-19 elimination appears to be superior ...
Something I missed on Friday: the Māori Party has been referred to police over failure to disclose donations over $30,000. Looking at the updated return of large donations, this is about $320,000 donated to them by three donors - John Tamihere, the National Urban Māori Authority, and Aotearoa Te Kahu ...
Stormy Seas: Will Jacinda Ardern's Labour Government stand behind the revolutionary proposals contained in He Puapua – the 20-year plan devised by a government appointed working group to realise the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa/New Zealand?“GETTING AHEAD of the story” is one of the most ...
We have not been fans of the Climate Change Commission’s draft report. New Zealand has an Emissions Trading Scheme with a binding cap, and a declining path for net emissions in the covered sector. Measures taken within the covered sector cannot reduce net emissions. NZU not purchased by one sector get ...
For several decades under Labour and National-led governments New Zealand has claimed to have an independent (and sometimes autonomous) foreign policy. This foreign policy independence is said to be gained by having a “principled but pragmatic” approach to international relations: principled when possible, pragmatic when necessary. More recently NZ foreign ...
This video produced in Seattle looks at the gender identity curriculum used in schools in the US. A thin veneer of pseudoscience is being used to indoctrinate children with an ideology based on scientific and medical inaccuracies. ...
For once, I have written my submission on a bill with enough time to spare to both enocurage any of you who wants to make a submission to do so as well, and to give you time to spot the typos in mine.Louisa Wall's Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate ...
A friend found a concerning FB post (see below – this is a public post & so I have not redacted the name) & – as you do – immediately queried it with Southern Cross Life & Health Insurance as well as sending the screenshot to me¹. We both read ...
Judith Collins’ National Party leadership is under more scrutiny, with increased talk in the media of her being replaced by brand new MP Christopher Luxon. For many commentators it’s just a question of “when” rather than “if” Collins is replaced. While others ponder whether Luxon really has what it takes ...
I tēnei tau i Waitangi, I whakahua ake te Tira o Te Mātāwaka o te Pātī Kākāriki i tā rātau aronga matua, ki te waihanga I tētahi Manatū Hauora Māori, mā Māori te kawe, mā Māori ngā whakahaere. Ko tā te tira; Kua rongohia ngā karanga a ngā Tangata Whenua, ...
During Waitangi this year the Green Party’s Te Mātāwaka caucus announced their priority for an independent Māori Health Authority. We have heard the call from Tangata Whenua wanting any authority to be independent, and properly resourced. ...
The Greens welcome $6.6 million from the Government’s $455 million programme to increase access to mental health and addiction services for our Pasifika communities in Auckland and Wellington. ...
The Green Party is putting a Member’s Bill into the ballot today which will be a significant step towards overhauling the Social Security Act by embedding a tikanga Māori framework into the welfare system. ...
The Green Party have reaffirmed their strong commitment to the union movement in Aotearoa New Zealand by renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with E Tū. ...
Soon, more kids in Aotearoa will have access to the in-school mental health support that has boosted the resilience of tamariki and whānau in Canterbury. ...
The Green Party supports the open letter released today by a cross-sector coalition calling for the Government to treat all drug use as a health issue, to repeal and replace the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975. ...
Small businesses are not only the heart of our economy – they’re also the heart of our communities. They provide important goods and services, as well as great employment opportunities. They know and love their locals. And after a tough year, they need our support! ...
Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples Teanau Tuiono MP, supports the demand from Pasifika communities fighting for climate action as their homelands are more at risk in the Pacific region. ...
The Green Party supports the six demands for climate action put forward by School Strike for Climate NZ, who are striking across the country today. ...
The Ministry of Justice Māori victimisation report, released today, reinforces what we already know about the impact of systemic racism in Aotearoa and that urgent action is needed. ...
Ricardo Menéndez March’s Members Bill to ensure that disabled New Zealanders do not face discrimination for having a disability assist dog was today pulled from the biscuit tin to be debated in Parliament. ...
More than one million people will be better off from today, thanks to our Government’s changes to the minimum wage, main benefits and superannuation. ...
New research into the probability of an Alpine Fault rupture reinforces the importance of taking action to plan and prepare for earthquakes, Acting Minister for Emergency Management Kris Faafoi says. Research published by Dr Jamie Howarth of Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington today, shows there is a ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Defence Minister Peeni Henare today announced that New Zealand is deploying a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 Orion maritime patrol aircraft in support of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on North Korea. The Resolutions, adopted unanimously by the UNSC between 2006 and 2017, ...
The Transmission Gully Interim Review has found serious flaws at the planning stage of the project, undermining the successful completion of the four-lane motor north of Wellington Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood said. Grant Robertson said the review found the public-private partnership (PPP) established under the ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today that Australian Foreign Minister Hon Marise Payne will visit Aotearoa New Zealand for the first face-to-face Foreign Ministers’ Consulations since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “Australia is New Zealand’s closest and most important international partner. I’m very pleased to be able to welcome Hon Marise ...
Hundreds more families who were separated by the border closure will be reunited under new border exceptions announced today, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said. “The Government closed the border to everyone but New Zealand citizens and residents, in order to keep COVID-19 out, keep our economy open and keep New ...
Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Foreign Minister 8.30am, 19 April 2021 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Speech to the NZCC Korihi Pō, Korihi Ao E rongo e turia no Matahau Nō Tū te winiwini, Nō Tū te wanawana Tū Hikitia rā, Tū Hapainga mai Ki te Whai Ao, Ki te Ao Mārama Tihei Mauri ...
The Government is supporting a new project with all-wool New Zealand carpet company, Bremworth, which has its sights on developing more sustainable all-wool carpets and rugs, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced. The Ministry for Primary Industries is contributing $1.9 million towards Bremworth’s $4.9 million sustainability project through its Sustainable Food ...
New Zealand is providing further support to Timor-Leste following severe flooding and the recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Our thoughts are with the people of Timor-Leste who have been impacted by the severe flooding and landslides at a time when the country is ...
A ceremony has been held today in Gisborne where the unclaimed medals of 28 (Māori) Battalion C Company soldiers were presented to their families. After the Second World War, returning service personnel needed to apply for their medals and then they would be posted out to them. While most medals ...
New Zealand has today added its voice to the international condemnation of the malicious compromise and exploitation of the SolarWinds Orion platform. The Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau, Andrew Little, says that New Zealand's international partners have analysed the compromise of the SolarWinds Orion platform and attributed ...
An expert consenting panel has approved the Queenstown Arterials Project, which will significantly improve transport links and reduce congestion for locals and visitors in the tourism hotspot. Environment Minister David Parker welcomed the approval for the project that will construct, operate and maintain a new urban road around Queenstown’s town ...
Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash says a landmark deal has been agreed with Amazon for The Lord of the Rings TV series, currently being filmed in New Zealand. Mr Nash says the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) secures multi-year economic and tourism benefits to New Zealand, outside the screen ...
The Government welcomes the findings from a rapid review into the health system response to lead contamination in Waikouaiti’s drinking water supply. Sample results from the town’s drinking-water supply showed intermittent spikes in lead levels above the maximum acceptable value. The source of the contamination is still under investigation by ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the start of construction on the New Zealand Upgrade Programme’s Papakura to Drury South project on Auckland’s Southern Motorway, which will create hundreds of jobs and support Auckland’s economic recovery. The SH1 Papakura to Drury South project will give more transport choices by providing ...
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karanga maha o te wa, tēnā koutou, tēna koutou, tēna tātou katoa. Ki ngā mana whenua, ko Ngāi Tahu, ko Waitaha, ko Kāti Māmoe anō nei aku mihi ki a koutou. Nōku te hōnore kia haere mai ki te ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood today marked the completion of upgrades to State Highway 20B which will give Aucklanders quick electric bus trips to and from the airport. The State Highway 20B Early Improvements project has added new lanes in each direction between Pukaki Creek Bridge and SH20 for buses and ...
The Government is putting in place a review of the work being done on animal welfare and safety in the greyhound racing industry, Grant Robertson announced today. “While Greyhound Racing NZ has reported some progress in implementing the recommendations of the Hansen Report, recent incidents show the industry still has ...
The infringement fee for using a mobile phone while driving will increase from $80 to $150 from 30 April 2021 to encourage safer driving, Transport Minister Michael Wood announced today. Michael Wood said too many people are still picking up the phone while driving. “Police issued over 40,000 infringement notices ...
Pacific people in New Zealand will be better supported with new mental health and addiction services rolling out across the Auckland and Wellington regions, says Aupito William Sio. “One size does not fit all when it comes to supporting the mental wellbeing of our Pacific peoples. We need a by ...
New measures are being proposed to accelerate progress towards becoming a smokefree nation by 2025, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced. “Smoking or exposure to second-hand smoke kills around 12 people a day in New Zealand. Recent data tells us New Zealand’s smoking rates continue to decrease, but ...
More children will be able to access mental wellbeing support with the Government expansion of Mana Ake services to five new District Health Board areas, Health Minister Andrew Little says. The Health Minister made the announcement while visiting Homai School in Counties Manukau alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate ...
The Government’s COVID-19 response has meant a record number of people moved off a Benefit and into employment in the March Quarter, with 32,880 moving into work in the first three months of 2021. “More people moved into work last quarter than any time since the Ministry of Social Development ...
A stocktake undertaken by France and New Zealand shows significant global progress under the Christchurch Call towards its goal to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. The findings of the report released today reinforce the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach, with countries, companies and civil society working together to ...
Racing Minister Grant Robertson has announced he is appointing Elizabeth Dawson (Liz) as the Chair of the interim TAB NZ Board. Liz Dawson is an existing Board Director of the interim TAB NZ Board and Chair of the TAB NZ Board Selection Panel and will continue in her role as ...
The Government has announced that the export of livestock by sea will cease following a transition period of up to two years, said Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “At the heart of our decision is upholding New Zealand’s reputation for high standards of animal welfare. We must stay ahead of the ...
WORKSHOP ON LETHAL AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS Wednesday 14 April 2021 MINISTER FOR DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL OPENING REMARKS Good morning, I am so pleased to be able to join you for part of this workshop, which I’m confident will help us along the path to developing New Zealand’s national policy on ...
For the first time, all 18 prisons in New Zealand will be invited to participate in an inter-prison kapa haka competition, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The 2021 Hōkai Rangi Whakataetae Kapa Haka will see groups prepare and perform kapa haka for experienced judges who visit each prison and ...
The Government has introduced the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill, designed to boost New Zealand's ability to respond to a wider range of terrorist activities. The Bill strengthens New Zealand’s counter-terrorism legislation and ensures that the right legislative tools are available to intervene early and prevent harm. “This is the Government’s first ...
Coal boiler replacements at a further ten schools, saving an estimated 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Fossil fuel boiler replacements at Southern Institute of Technology and Taranaki DHB, saving nearly 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next ten years Projects to achieve a total ...
Attorney-General David Parker today announced the appointment of Cassie Nicholson as Chief Parliamentary Counsel for a term of five years. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is the principal advisor and Chief Executive of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO). She is responsible for ensuring PCO, which drafts most of New Zealand’s legislation, provides ...
Every part of Government will need to take urgent action to bring down emissions, the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw said today in response to the recent rise in New Zealand’s greenhouse emissions. The latest annual inventory of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions shows that both gross and net ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says Aotearoa New Zealand has become the first country in the world to introduce a law that requires the financial sector to disclose the impacts of climate change on their business and explain how they will manage climate-related risks and opportunities. The Financial ...
Exceptional employment practices in the primary industries have been celebrated at the Good Employer Awards, held this evening at Parliament. “Tonight’s awards provided the opportunity to celebrate and thank those employers in the food and fibres sector who have gone beyond business-as-usual in creating productive, safe, supportive, and healthy work ...
Applications are now invited from all councils for a slice of government funding aimed at improving tourism infrastructure, especially in areas under pressure given the size of their rating bases. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has already signalled that five South Island regions will be given priority to reflect that jobs ...
Tēnā koutou e ngā maata waka Tenā koutou te hau kāinga ngā iwi o Te Whanganui ā TaraTēnā koutou i runga i te kaupapa o te Rā. No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa. It is a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you Graeme (Peters, ENA Chief ...
The Construction Skills Action Plan has delivered early on its overall target of supporting an additional 4,000 people into construction-related education and employment, says Minister for Building and Construction Poto Williams. Since the Plan was launched in 2018, more than 9,300 people have taken up education or employment opportunities in ...
An innovative new Youth Justice residence designed in partnership with Māori will provide prevention, healing, and rehabilitation services for both young people and their whānau, Children’s Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Whakatakapokai is located in South Auckland and will provide care and support for up to 15 rangatahi remanded or ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today expressed New Zealand’s sorrow at the death of His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. “Our thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen at this profoundly sad time. On behalf of the New Zealand people and the Government, I would like to express ...
We, the Home Affairs, Interior, Security and Immigration Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (the ‘Five Countries’) met via video conference on 7/8 April 2021, just over a year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Guided by our shared ...
Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni has today announced the opening of the first round of Ngā Puninga Toi ā-Ahurea me ngā Kaupapa Cultural Installations and Events. “Creating jobs and helping the arts sector rebuild and recover continues to be a key part of the Government’s COVID-19 response,” Carmel ...
In meeting virtually with President Joe Biden and 39 other world leaders, PM Jacinda Ardern should press home the need to confront the current global economic model based on limitless growth. ‘It has failed us,’ says Wise Response chair, Prof. Liz ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Iles, Senior Lecturer in Physics, RMIT University Yesterday at 9pm Australian Eastern standard time, the Ingenuity helicopter — which landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in February — took off from the Martian surface. More importantly, it hovered for about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ann Kayis-Kumar, Associate Professor, UNSW When Debbie (not her real name) lost her main client and was left without a reliable income, the sole trader sold her home and adjoining investment unit to pay off her debts and ensure she had the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gail Iles, Senior Lecturer in Physics, RMIT University Yesterday at 9pm Australian Eastern standard time, the Ingenuity helicopter — which landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in February — took off from the Martian surface. More importantly, it hovered for about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frédérik Saltré, Research Fellow in Ecology for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Of all the weak targets ever adopted by Australian governments, one of the weakest has to have been an unemployment rate “comfortably below six per cent” in last year’s budget. ...
The Transmission Gully interim review has found serious flaws at the planning stage of the 27km highway, “undermining” the successful completion of the four-lane motorway north of Wellington, according to Infrastructure Minister Grant Robertson and Transport Minister Michael Wood. Grant Robertson said the review found the public-private partnership (PPP) established ...
With less than 1% of Auckland Transport’s senior leaders of Pacific descent, Justin Latif asks what the council-controlled organisation is doing to turn that around.“It’s just a battle to be heard.”Kim* is of Pacific descent, has held a variety of roles across local government, and is very familiar with the ...
The Council of Trade Unions has today formally written to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta and the Minister for Trade, Hon. Damien O’Connor calling on them to take action to halt ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership ...
Two important omissions in the ministry's process for the sale and purchase of the land at Ihumātao means the deal is "unlawful" until it is validated by Parliament. ...
Last month, David Seymour MP and Nicola Willis MP wrote separately to our Office about the Government’s purchase of land at Te Puke Tāpapatanga a Hape (commonly referred to as Ihumātao). They had concerns about: $29.9 million of the appropriation ...
Kate Winslet descends on television once again to deliver a career-best performance in a cop drama that doesn’t quite deserve it, writes Sam Brooks.Let’s be up front about this: Kate Winslet is one of the greatest actors of her generation, and the reason you’re interested in Mare of Easttown at ...
Analysis by Bryce Edwards Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Speculation about the National Party’s leadership has died down, after a fortnight of rumours and overt positioning by supposed challengers to Judith Collins. She lives on as leader for a bit longer, and Christopher Luxon and Simon Bridges have been put ...
Responding To The Auditor-General’s Finding That The Government's $30 Million Ihumātao Deal Was Unlawful, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Spokesman Louis Houlbrooke Says:“Today we learn that the Government didn’t just capitulate to illegal occupiers ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has had a busy two days. Hard on the heels of echoing the title of a book edited by academic writer Manying Ip to headline an important policy speech, she was announcing the visit here this week of Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne for ministerial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Porter, Senior Fellow (Indigenous Programs), The University of Melbourne Cultural warning: This article contains names and images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This article also contains links to graphic footage of police violence. This month marks 30 years ...
"Hamilton City Council cannot justify contributing $10 million to an inland lagoon resort while it’s increasing rates by 8.9 percent," says New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke. “If the proposal makes good business ...
It’s embroidery, but not as you know it. Lema Shamamba’s intricate stitchwork features machine guns, severed limbs, people crying – and the logos of the global tech giants she holds responsible.CW: Violence, sexual assaultLema Shamamba fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo when armed militia started killing people in her ...
Covid-19 exacerbated existing levels of material and emotional hardship for people on low core benefit rates, a new study has found. Dr Louise Humpage, a sociologist at the University of Auckland who conducted the study in collaboration with Child ...
With consummate timing, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has stirred up another controversy days ahead of the first visit of her Australian counterpart, Marise Payne. New Zealand, she says, doesn’t want to use Five Eyes as the first point of contact on a range of issues that existed outside of its ...
Australia Week: The first day of the travel bubble was big news, so Tara Ward stayed home and watched it happen on the television. To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is casting an eye across the ditch all week – read our Australia Week content here.The trans-Tasman ...
This year will be the 50th anniversary of the Melbourne Cup of greyhound racing. The Silver Collar is described by the Auckland Greyhound Racing Club as a ‘gruelling’ and ‘stamina-sapping affair,’ raced over an ‘extreme’ 779 meters, which is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jamie Howarth, Senior lecturer, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington The Alpine Fault marks the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plates in the South Island of New Zealand.Author provided The chances of New Zealand’s Alpine Fault rupturing in ...
Last week in Wellington, a man was convicted of rape for removing his condom during sex without consent. For Frankie Bennett, who was subjected to a similar assault, it’s validating – but now we must stop using euphemisms to describe sex crimes. In 2018 I was “stealthed”; a man I was ...
Tuesday, 20 April 2021: Greenpeace has today launched a new petition calling on the New Zealand Government to ban seabed mining from the waters of Aotearoa. The petition calls on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to give New Zealand another world ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage. Click here to subscribe to Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup and New Zealand Politics Daily. Today’s contentNZ-China relations: Mahuta Speech Tim Watkin (Pundit): Taniwha New Zealand shows its foreign policy ...
Kiwi Seafarers working internationally have been forgotten by the New Zealand government, their request for support keeps being ignored and their status as essential workers continues to be overlooked. Many Kiwi Seafarers are stuck outside of New Zealand ...
A small number of people have developed blood clots after receiving two types of the Covid-19 vaccine. Mirjam Guesgen explains what’s going on and how different countries are responding.What’s this I hear about blood clots and Covid-19 vaccines?Some people who received the AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines are developing severe, in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Reid, DECRA Research Fellow, Macquarie University Army ants (Eciton burchellii) are known for their vast foraging raids. Hundreds of thousands of ants flow like a river from their nest site, scouring the jungle as they prey on anything unable to escape ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Kewley, Director, ARC Centre for Excellence in All-Sky Astrophysics in 3D, Australian National University It will take until at least 2080 before women make up just one-third of Australia’s professional astronomers, unless there is a significant boost to how we nurture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Kenny, Professor, Australian Studies Institute, Australian National University Forget last week’s healthy 5.6% unemployment rate. It might be “comfortably below” the Coalition’s 6% threshold for commencing “fiscal repair” (another term for unpopular spending cuts), but the government is under unforeseen political ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Bartlett, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle Last week, the chief executive of Pfizer said anyone who receives its COVID-19 vaccine will probably need to have a third dose within 6-12 months after being fully immunised, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, The University of Melbourne Native deciduous trees are rare in Australia, which means many of the red, yellow and brown leaves we associate with autumn come from introduced species, such as maples, oaks and elms. One native ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington What have we lost because of the pandemic? According to our calculations, a lot — and many of the worst hit countries and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Phillips, Associate Professor, Centre for Social Research and Methods, Director, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), Australian National University The good news from new research conducted by the Australian National University for Social Ventures Australia and the Brotherhood of St Laurence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Webb, Dean, Graduate Research, University of Canberra In this series we pay tribute to the art we wish could visit — and hope to see once travel restrictions are lifted. She’s called Maman, and she emerged into the world in 1999, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for April 20, bringing you the latest news updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz8.00am: Concerns euthanasia patients may take unapproved drugs, suffer prolonged deathAn investigation into how prepared New Zealand is to introduce euthanasia, following last year’s referendum, has uncovered concerns ...
The global movement to take leading academics out of lecture theatres and into pubs to present their latest research is returning to Auckland. Tonight, 20 University of Auckland lecturers will host talks in 10 local bars. The topics range from the search for alien life to the risks of vaping ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Mahuta moves away from Five Eyes in major speech, new research shows raised risk of Alpine fault quake, and trans-Tasman bubble opens on emotional day.Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has sought to continue a ‘best of both worlds’ approach to the ...
Business & Investing: The opening of the Tasman for tourists pushes Auckland Airport shares up, with Air NZ also benefiting; Plus Tilt Renewables wins bigger Mercury-PowAR deal ...
Graeme Lay on the problem of downsizing for the elderly Books, books, books: novels. short stories, poetry, anthologies, biographies, histories ... For many elderly people books are a treasured part of their households. Shelves and shelves of them; they're an integral part of our past. We remember when we bought ...
New Zealand is focusing purely on its own adaptations challenges - 'Impacts in My Backyard' - rather than the brutal climate impacts already being felt elsewhere. It's a gaping hole in our strategy, writes Dr Luke Harrington. We Kiwis are more concerned than ever about the significant and growing challenges of a ...
If history is any indication, we would expect the Covid pandemic to increase suicide rates. Dr Dennis Wesselbaum explains how that could be the case. New Zealand is the ninth happiest country in the world as reported in the 2021 World Happiness Report. Yet at the same time, New Zealand has the ...
From Wellington to Glasgow and home again, netball coach Gail Parata is helming the national champion Pulse side, and can call on her old room-mate for help. Dame Noeline Taurua and Gail Parata have a long relationship, once built on deception. Now among the best netball coaches in the world, the ...
Pilots and cabin crew can spend 20 days a month in isolation in order to link New Zealand to the rest of the world - but the hardest part is not feeling welcome when they come home. Matthew Scott reports. Touchdown in Hong Kong. In different times, pilots and ...
New research shows that the risk of the big one hitting the South Island’s spine is far higher than previously thought, write Ursula Cochran and lead researcher Jamie Howarth.Calculating the chance of an earthquake on a particular fault currently relies on the long geological earthquake record, which is both notoriously ...
A new TVNZ drama tells the story of a fictitious gang trying to go straight. Despite being funded as part of a major initiative to get Māori stories to screen, Vegas reinforces some centuries-old stereotypes, writes Leonie Hayden. Episode one of the new drama Vegas aired last night on TVNZ. ...
Australia Week: Nothing tests our mateship with Australia like the disputed delicacies both countries claim as their own. In the interest of diplomatic relations, Alice Neville sets the record straight.To mark the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble, The Spinoff is casting an eye across the ditch all week – read ...
An old-style Marxist's withering takedown on contemporary leftists - even likening today's left liberals with neoliberals - has lessons for our economic and political debate, writes Oliver Hartwich ...
A carefully worded speech on NZ-China relations from Nanaia Mahuta nevertheless carried some telling notes about how the Government plans to navigate the Great Power divide, Sam Sachdeva writes Nanaia Mahuta may lack the bombast of Winston Peters, but her greater willingness to stick to the MFAT-approved script makes it ...
Trans-Tasman quarantine-free flights are back on - as New Zealand's vaccination rollout's been described as shambolic, and Australia's as a failure. On the week that our travel bubble opens up with Australia, both sides of the Tasman have been criticised for falling behind in their vaccine roll outs. New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As Scott Morrison gradually pivots his climate policy towards embracing a target of net zero emissions by 2050, he is seeking to distinguish the government from “inner city” types and political opponents who’ve been marching ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Peter Dutton has begun his tenure as defence minister by delivering a very public slap to his most senior military adviser, chief of the Australian Defence Force Angus Campbell. Dutton’s overriding of Campbell’s initial command ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Blakely, Professor of Epidemiology, Population Interventions Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne Coinciding with the Trans-Tasman travel bubble starting today, over the past week there have been murmurings Australia could ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Wilson, Honorary Professor, Australian National University The US Congress is considering a proposed law to ban the import and sale of kangaroo parts. Backed by a campaign called Kangaroos Are Not Shoes, the bill is aimed at stopping Nike, Adidas and ...
By Praneeta Prakash in Suva Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says a breach in protocol in relation to the 53-year-old woman now testing positive of covid-19 should not have happened. The woman who was working as a maid in a border quarantine facility developed symptoms last Thursday, but continued working ...
The Pacific Newsroom Vanuatu’s capital island of Efate has gone into covid-19 lockdown for three days after a body was found on a beach near Port Vila. The body, which tested positive for covid, was that of a Filipino crewman from the British-flagged liquified petroleum gas carrier Inge Kosan, a ...
While the trans-Tasman bubble today is “a significant day” for New Zealanders, any moves to open the borders to other countries will need to be be based on hard evidence, the prime minister says. After months of discussions, the trans-Tasman bubble is officially open. The prime ministers of New Zealand ...
Asia Pacific Report newsdesk The local West Papua action group in Dunedin has met Taieri MP Ingrid Leary and raised human rights and militarisation issues that members believe the New Zealand government should be pursuing with Indonesia. Leary has a strong track record on Pacific human rights issues having worked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, UNSW, and Academic Lead, UNSW Grand Challenge on Trust, UNSW The Federal Court has found Google misled some users about personal location data collected through Android devices for two years, from January 2017 to December ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeannie Marie Paterson, Professor of Law, The University of Melbourne The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has had a significant win against Google. The Federal Court found Google misled some Android users about how to disable personal location tracking. Will this decision ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin – Covid-19: British Isles and Neo-European CountriesCanada has overtaken the United States. Chart by Keith Rankin. Canada has overtaken the United States in the last week, with over 200 daily cases per million people, with the worst growth zones being Ontario, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. ...
New Zealand's foreign affairs minister is urging the country to diversify its trade arrangements and not put all its eggs all one basket with China. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ted Snell, Honorary Professor, Edith Cowan University Review: This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist, directed by Colin Barnicle. After dreaming for many years of visiting Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, I was surprised by its dour presence when I ...
Two brand new poems to blow out the cobwebs, courtesy of the Going West festival. Going West has gone entirely online this year and while we mourn the (hopefully temporary) loss of the festival’s corduroy vibe and splendid lunchtime spreads, the move does mean they’ve been able to concentrate on the ...
Rest homes are welcoming Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi’s decision to allow families of critical healthcare workers in New Zealand on temporary visas to apply to join them here. Simon Wallace, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Aged Care Association ...
Serpentza latest on of 2022 Winter Olympics.. I agree, I agree I agree.
With every government afraid to offend China the best option is the tourists and to a lesser extent athletes.
The battery invented 120 years before its time – BBC Future
we had electric cars well before Elon Musk showed up to be the worlds saviour.
https://www.businessinsider.com/electric-car-history-2017-5?r=AU&IR=T#the-electric-car-burst-onto-the-scene-in-the-late-1800s-and-early-1900s-1
But then gasoline came along and ………..
I looked hard at Ni-Fe batteries but while they do have the potential for a remarkably long life cycle, they do have other fundamental limitations that mean they've been generally overshadowed by lithium chemistries for good reason. But I agree they have an interesting history and are deserved more success than they met with.
It's quite astonishing just how many various types of battery are being researched at the moment, and it's not at all clear which or any of them will rise to commercial success. You only have to have one significant weakness in the entire product system for it to be a show-stopper – not an easy challenge to overcome.
https://www.rpc.com.au/solar-news/161/disadvantages-of-nickel-iron-batteries.html
Landlords being landlords. Aren't they so hard done by?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/renting/124342557/landlords-undeterred-by-warning-bad-tenants-lists-could-break-the-law
This landlord is conflicted. Not conflicted enough to sell his two rentals it seems, but at least he is considering it.
He makes the good point that property investors such as himself are complicit in the widening of social inequality by denying families the ability to generate wealth on their own.
In effect landlords are stealing from poor people.
Twice in fact, first they remove the opportunity for low income families to increase intergenerational social, financial, and geographical security. And second by reaping and keeping un-redistributed tax free income gain.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/124358100/the-myth-of-the-ethical-property-investor
In effect landlords are stealing from poor people.
And at the same time providing them with a home, an activity that generates relatively little net income. Indeed the mere existence of the now defunct LAQC tax smoothing structure is proof that many landlords subsidised their tenants from their own PAYE income for many years.
Not very good thieves really.
All the gains in the current market come from the capital growth, and in this they are absolutely no different to anyone else who owns property.
You spectacularly missed the point as usual. By providing them with a home you deny them the opportunity to own their own.
And if the excellent event these same poor people did wind up owning a home, and seeing the same capital gains … would this make them thieves too?
Or maybe you’re looking in all the wrong places for the root cause.
No because part of the solution is to remove the ability of people such as yourself to accumulate such massive (in your own words) untaxed gains.
This is about improving intergenerational societal stability which we know improves the lives of all. Most of that is to ensure everyone, or at least as many as possible, is able to access wealth which clearly isn't happening at he moment.
Funny sort of progressive which seeks to deny this as a goal.
As for the root cause, well perhaps this is difficult to find, but that is no excuse to hide behind it’s obscurity while enjoying the benefits.
Even if the gains were taxed more than they are, NZ houses would still be one of the most popular asset classes to invest in. Places to rent are in high demand – so investing in them is obvious.
I can't currently see a policy combination by any kind of NZ Government involving either Labour or National that would make other assets such as shares or business ownership to be more attractive than home ownership.
Of course Robertson will bring in the 10 year Bright Line test in his announcements next week. Plus stop being able to trade off income and interest. Plus go after property-owning trusts with no charitable purpose.
Woods and Parker I'd expect will do the supply side announcements later.
But to choose to sell up one or two of ones' houses and find something far more attractive – well that would require a spectacularly innovative economy with outstanding returns where risk is reasonable and the rate of return is at least as good as property.
There aren't that many countries similar to ours that are like that.
The Gov. could of course stop underwriting the property market, provide an alternative investment option, and restrict the flow of capital into housing WHILE providing the infrastructure and regulatory environment needed to encourage the required housing.
Your comment is a sentence consisting of a set of abstract nouns with no policy grounding whatsoever.
It is not the job of government to 'provide an alternative investment option'. Markets do that.
What specific policies is the Minister of Finance likely to announce next week? He's given plenty of clues for you.
“Your comment is a sentence consisting of a set of abstract nouns with no policy grounding whatsoever ”
They are only abstract nouns if you have no idea
“It is not the job of government to ‘provide an alternative investment option’. Markets do that”
It used to be the job of government, until the con that markets were best took hold…and the markets are broken.
“What specific policies is the Minister of Finance likely to announce next week? He’s given plenty of clues for you.”
Thats the big question…sadly, to date the clues (rhetoric) don’t match the actions or rather, inactions
The government doesn't owe you an asset class.
The government doesn't 'make an investment option' for you.
Whatever historical fantasy you live in disappeared about 50 years ago. Wake up.
The policies that will be delivered are will signalled for this coming week. It's called a budget and comes around at the same time every year.
Markets quite blatantly haven't been doing that for housing for years.
That's true for non-owners.
So the government should step in.
Owning your own home isn't about an "asset class" or capital gains. Those are related to owning things.
But owning your home is about security. Stability. Self determination.
"I can't currently see a policy combination by any kind of NZ Government involving either Labour or National that would make other assets such as shares or business ownership to be more attractive than home ownership."
27 February 2021 at 1:10 pm
You cant see because you apparently dont know what to look for
27 February 2021 at 2:18 pm
the answer is staring everyone in the face….reject neo-liberalism.
The government should put a stop to the creation, out of nothing, of credit by the privately owned banks.
They could but I suspect it wont occur until after the crash…the opportunity to nationalise the banks was avoided post 2008/9 however , so perhaps not. There is speculation that individual accounts with central banks is the future.
There a rumour, not from a reliable source unfortunately, that it'll be 20 years bright line and rents frozen then linked to CPI.
Looking forward to it.
Bright line test ? Don't care – I never intend to sell. And everyone else will just hold off selling until the deadline expires, meaning fewer homes for sale and a sellers market.
And if rents are frozen to levels below the cost of property ownership this will directly lead to a shortage of rentals. You may think this a good thing – until the day you need to move.
Interesting how all the things you want, all work against the people you claim to be helping. This is because problem you’re trying to fix has relatively little to do with the split between renting and owning – and the quite different question of the balance between people who want a home and the number available – and their price,
Of course the benefit will not happen overnight even though you assume that's what all this is about.
A longer bright line test will capture tax on gains that is simply pocketed right now. This can be used to fund the local and national infrastructure required to develop properly because despite what you say, you cannot just magically build homes without means to get people to and from work and without decent local amenities. To load those costs onto new builds and developers means the cost of building goes up.
Another important point is while behaviours are being changed around property investing, which is a long process, security of tenure is hugely important and itself a step toward that change in behaviour. A longer bright line does mean less rental flipping as you've pointed out. Probably the only thing you got right.
And managed rents linked to the CPI means that returns can't fall below the cost of property ownership unless you are an over leveraged speculative investor or an incredible bad one. Once again, tenants should have to pay for the size of a cowboy's mortgage.
Interesting how whenever anyone goes near tenancy reform you start getting hot and bothered.
A capital gain does not really increase the community's aggregate income, because the seller's gain is offset buy the buyers loss
I can't currently see a policy combination by any kind of NZ Government involving either Labour or National that would make other assets such as shares or business ownership
These balances are necessarily complex – but a relatively low cost measure would be legislating to improve the integrity of the NZSE. As it stands, low level investors would be wise to leave it the hell alone. Key of course did nothing to protect the equity of small investors. A stock market is not supposed to be a casino – it ought to reward productive investment and discourage all but the most statistically anomalous speculators. Been a long time since it operated in that fashion however.
And maybe such a quota would foster greater political recognition and understanding of the need for transformative resilience to improve "intergenerational societal stability" (nice phrase that).
Not everybody who rents actually wants to own a house. but the trouble is that there are too many landlords for this relatively small market. A further problem is that many are mortgaged to the hilt and are able to avoid paying tax on their net income because the interest deductibility rort gobbles up their "book" profit.
Would have thought it's a govt responsibility to ensure opportunities for low income earners. Clickbait targeting frustrated renters.
Great idea.
I think it would be better to call it an unethical system, rather than attribute it to unethical people. If we do that, the case for changing it is more easily made, and it doesn't get people's backs up. Plus it doesn't trigger long threads on TS where the usual suspects repeat the same arguments over and over…
Interesting, but can a system have ethics? People have good ethics or they don't and clearly in the case of property investors, they don't.
JA infers as much here when she basically says 'people are bad and if you try stop them they become worse'
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/02/property-investors-making-it-so-much-worse-for-others-in-overheated-housing-market-jacinda-ardern.html
I don't think you can readily change people's minds or behaviour by telling them how bad they are. And many landlords and investors will be ordinary people like you and me, who are making quite rational financial decisions – given the way the system is set up.
Yes, we are taught greed is good and most do not for a moment accept their actions aren't good for society as a whole.
Stuff recent article – only available through Reddit so far!
Nearly 80 per cent of landlords own just one property, data shows
So controls on the other 20% ir seek actual number over two rental properties, and then tailor demands, control the rack–renters who should be dealt to and surveilled, and charge levies that pay for inspections on houses, and a call centre for people struggling to get repairs, have a livable house with decent services.
AB – Huic Sapientia Vinum and further – in Vino Veritas etc.
It's an immoral world, let alone an unethical 'system'.
on a different note I see a 501 who killed two women in Australia has just been charged with sexual assault and sent to jail for 16 years.
for the legal types amongst us surely NZ can change our law to prevent these people being shipped here. 2000 and counting……Oz isn’t going to drop their policy, we need to take responsibility and do whatever we can do to halt it…..but maybe there is nothing we can do?
There'll be a point when Australia realise that the consequences of their policy outweigh the benefits.
That will be when they have damaged the trans-Tasman relationship badly enough for it to begin to affect them negatively.
Eventually they'll have to decide whether it is worth it.
Looking at how we are going with our Covid19 responses and controls.
Gordon Campbell on Werewolf published on Scoop has had a look at the Ministry of Health and saliva testing and updates in a thoughtful and balanced way.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2102/S00112/on-the-rivals-for-the-covid-saliva-testing-dollar.htm
https://en.mehrnews.com/news/170404/Russian-FM-condemns-US-airstrike-in-Syria
"Earlier, Russian senator Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, warned such actions could lead to a major conflict and that Syria has advanced weapons, including the S-300, and that Americans should be very careful."
In other words, "if you bomb Iran's proxy that our proxy is letting live there, we might let our proxy shoot down your jets because our shit is cooler than your shit".
It's kind of nice to be back watching the old dance again, rather than everyone being in uncharted geopolitical territory.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/papatoetoe-police-shooting-the-501-killed-four-years-from-deportation-to-death-and-his-final-words-to-his-son/EHZ6P47JNADQ7D35B3NGWPEOQQ/
Well I guess now both Australia and NZ are better places. Harsh, but true. I have zero sympathy for people who did what he was doing in Australia (and doubtlessly here too).
Are his kids better off? Y’know the ones he was trying to stay in touch with via FaceTime?
Did you read the article? Mental health issues for some time. Sure, he got kicked out for domestic violence. The article doesn't say what other convictions he had there but don't let that stop you speculating.
The point is Australia exacerbated an already serious situation in the worst possible way for people in both countries, and especially for his young family.
Whatever chance at rehabilitation he had went out the window with Scott Morrison’s deportation policy.
We really do not know if his children are better off or not, but quite possibly they are.
And no, I am not speculating about other convictions. Just do a Google search for his Australian time. Yeah, mental health issues but that's what his lifestyle in Australia invariably leads to.
Rehabilitation is really a little late, and how many ever truly rehabilitate? Drug rehabs are incredibly ineffective. Very sad for his family I know, but I well understand yhe desire of Australia to shift out their problems.
Of course you do. Shifting and ignoring problems is how a lot people operate.
This policy is not sustainable though because as Jacinda Ardern says, it is corrosive. By definition, corrosion ends in destruction.
Trigger-happy people are dangerous, guns shoot people and males get high on guns more than females. Police tried the careful approach to a guman in Aramoana and lost out.
There has to be a better program for these 'lost boys' sent away from home by the sleazy-peazy Australian government wanting to slide out of their failures to integrate people. We are much the same here, but we haven't the option to pass the parcel. So let's have a sensible program, and give them something to ground them here, ability to turn their lives around and have a regular earning job and still keep in touch with there. Perhaps if the rehab was successful some returnees could help in working with our crims here on the basis 'If I can remake my life so can you'. And bring in a visa system so we can keep track of what goes from here to there and vice versa. It would help if we knew how much vice is travelling over the Tasman!
We would be wise to remember the reign of the 1970's drug ring and name Mr Asia who was Marty Johnstone, our well-educated drug thug along with his compatriots who graduated from NZ to bigger things in Australia. Our hands aren't completely clean. This from journalist Pat Booth, the Nicky Hager of that time. https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/opinion/2163928/Mr-Asia-the-real-inside-story
Interesting how someone can be found to give a crim a good report. 'Rude but Harmless' WTF. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3727751/Rude-but-harmless-the-real-Mr-Asia
Johnstone killed on Clark's orders. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Clark_(drug_smuggler)#Career
Harsh and fucked up, more like.
You are not only ignorant, you're disgusting.
Trying to live in a strange land while having auditory hallucinations constantly harrassing you for years? Jesus.
This guy was failed by governments on both sides of the Tasman.
Yep. Add to that not being able to see your kids, forever.
Now he is dead.
Better him than his numerous victims. He has only himself to blame, unlike his victims.
501 for very very good reasons. Good ridinance.
Are you trying and convicting him for murders he hasn't committed?
Quite the Nostradamus, aren't you.
He's no Nostradamus. He's something far more malevolent, and ugly.
You can take the man out of Christchurch…
I know a lot of people from Christchurch. Not one of them is as nasty and ignorant as this fellow.
Can Muttonbird and you please drop the ad homs, thanks.
Sure. No problem.
Ta
Stay safe and well.
Can Morrissey and you please drop the ad homs, thanks.
Ok. Just want to say,
Seems to be a fair chance that untreated (or unsuccessfully treated) mental health issues didn't help the matter, but I doubt anyone will be clamouring for a review into his care.
Despite all the dirt-digging attempts, they found nothing but that wasn’t really the point, was it?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/437256/visa-for-green-mp-s-partner-like-any-other-immigration-nz-says
That story has been on the news for a week or more, and it's still as boring as ever.
And shouldn't a politician want to get back to work earlier than most, given he's on the public dime? I know I would.
I think that backfired spectacularly on Bishop and National.
Once it was known he had family health issues over there you'd think they'd lay off but no, double down on the mean-spirited attack was the answer.
Bishop is a busy boy, but he has to keep up with the other busy bad boy Bridges, who apparently only listens to his wife [how sweet].
Bishop is still gunning for Mallard and there is the reoccurring Motion of No Confidence in the House.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124376188/chris-bishop-asks-for-defamation-claim-document-to-check-trevor-mallards-veracity
National is as shambolic as ever and ACT ill gain a few more seats at the next Election, if this continues.
nats are stuck in the past. even the women in the nats are old white men in disguise. crusher has tried to turn into cushla, but bridges and bishop havent read the memo. you would have thought that bridges would have learnt from last years disaster, when his attack and negativety led to his dumping by his own troops. possibly bridges is the sort of person who CANT learn, and is condemed to repeat the same mistakes over and over. bishop should be young enough to learn, but possibly his inbuilt arrogance will also stop him from learning.
Did it backfire on Bishop and National? They had a moment in the sun feeding their supporters and the anti-Labour brigade. It had those groups energised and frothing at the mouth. All good. It's the sort style of ignorant energy which lives on and nourishes cretins.
It is incredible that in the post Key years National have settled on this; Collins, Bishop, Bridges, Mitchell, and Goodfellow. A callous and evil hive of desperados.
Not much of a clear-out, was it.
"Immigration New Zealand is standing by its decision to grant a visa to the partner of Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March and says the application was treated "like any other".
Why am I reminded of the immortal response of Mandy Rice0Davies when she was told that Lord Astor had denied having an affair with her? The words she used are generally quoted as "Well he would, wouldn't he".
The same seems likely from the Immigration Department if they were asked whether they had done anything unusual, regardless of what they might have done.
It was also, according to Bob Woodward when talking about Donald Trump's reaction to complaints about his actions with women, also Trump's line.
"When accused of sexual assault or other misdeeds by women, President Trump says you've got to "deny, deny, deny," according to Bob"
Who knows what happened.
You’re as predictable as an old broken record or an old dog that starts drooling upon hearing a certain whistle, hence the term.
Do you know many times you have mentioned good old Mandy here since 2012?
Just as the others, you don’t care at all about “what happened”, it just provides you with a nice opportunistic pivot point that you simply cannot resist. I had you in mind with my comment and you did not disappoint.
Of course, you did not address one single point in the link, as I expected too.
Woof woofByeRicardo is getting a pass this time. After this, all bets are off.
the fact that there is no evidence of misconduct is evidence of misconduct eh alwhinge? do you buy your tinhats singly or in lots of ten?
Recycle your pie dishes !
Yeah, who knows what happened, but bugger it, we've picked the tree, we've got the rope, let's do it eh.
Jesus wept.
I wonder if the families of these, genuinely critical, workers were "invited to apply for a visa"?
PM Ardern tells Faafoi to look at 'anything more we can do' to reunite critical migrant health workers with families (msn.com)
I do rather expect not. Still a pal for a Green MP is both essential and needs to get in promptly,
What were you trying to say alwyn? Did you run out of time?
Scuzzy behaviour from Collins imho, but it’s in her nature.
No I wasn't talking about him getting into the MIQ facility.
I was talking about him having been invited to apply for an immigration visa.
"Menéndez March's partner was invited to apply for a visa on December 3 last year and a six-month visa was granted on January 11."
"Immigration NZ head Greg Patchell said he would look into it, telling Stanford: "In the situation you've described… it probably wouldn't meet the criteria."
The of course Immigration decided that everything was fine
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/02/green-mp-ricardo-men-ndez-march-cleared-of-doubt-over-partner-s-visa-by-immigration-nz.html
You’re so tedious
One receives an invitation after a preliminary assessment has been made. It is a formality using formal language.
For the legal context: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2009/0051/32.0/DLM1440722.html
So you were referring to a Green MP's partner – why not just say that, pal?
And there was I thinking they were friends.
Does Senor March only regard it as a business relationship, as in "They were partners in the law firm"? How unromantic.
Nobody gives a damn what you think about their relationship. It was good enough for immigration NZ, so it's unimportant if you are unable to get your head around two guys being in a romantic relationship.
Is that you, Senor Banks? Well howdy, partner
Apparently you're having some 'difficulty' with the meaning of the word 'partner' in context – now why might that be?
Mind you, kudos to The Herald for that sly "green tick" – seems to me that "green light" would have been the more natural choice.
As usual, you’re making up BS and you’re now just trolling. You’ve also twisted the quoted text “the partner of Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March” in your own comment @ 9.3 to “a pal for a Green MP”. Your narrative is pathetic. Get a hobby, soon!
Monday thoughts: My Food Bag's offer is food for thought …
http://www.stuff.co.nz › business › opinion-analysis › monday-t…
My Food Bag plans to sell up to 185 million shares, valuing the company at just under $450 million. In terms of … 15/02/2021
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/my-food-bag-seeks-up-to-342m-in-ipo-sets-march-5-date-for-dual-listing/H4KS4GW5NFNE5F35JY3LBLML5Y/
Companies Office records show the Waterman Fund 3LP owns 70 per cent of the company having invested in October 2016.
Co-founders Cecilia Robinson and her husband James own 10.8 per cent, as does Theresa Gattung. Interests associated with Nadia Lim own 5.4 per cent.
My Food Bag says more than 10,000 customers and team members have registered to receive a priority allocation in the IPO. Australian investors were also targeted.
There is money in supplying the hard-working middle and upper class with profits to be made. And there is some advance in government assisting with food at schools for hard-p0ressed parents.
There are these – Feeding over 30,000 hungry children every week at school being helped by KidsCan and others. https://www.kidscan.org.nz/our-work/food-for-kids
and – Free lunches for school kids, Government announces | Stuff.co …www.stuff.co.nz › national › politics › free-lunches-for-sc…
29/08/2019 — Jacinda Ardern announces initiative that will see kids at 30 schools … is rolling this school lunch programme out to the kids in New Zealand …
and
PM Jacinda Ardern serves up first of many free school lunches …www.rnz.co.nz › news › national › pm-jacinda-ardern-s…
20/02/2020 — Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the … Official figures show one in 10 children in New Zealand live in material … The $45 million free school lunch programme is one of 75 initiatives …
Not everyone has the time to make a dinner from scratch.
MyFoodBag is one of many that are making it more competitive to avoid takeaways.
Private business makes money selling food. Shock, horror. How dare they!
What a pathetic response. Simple minded D. stating the obvious, can't think beyond it and so proud of a thought that he/she has to write in and show us. The point is that private business can be built on the good incomes that people at the higher salary range can afford, and it could be said it is being built on the deficit of the wages being paid to the strugglers. Why wouldn't private business be built on their needs. Because they can't afford this type of food because they don't get paid enough.
Aristocrats and peasants again!! We had been working hard in society to help the lower income people to get education skills and a happy place in society. So D. got that!
And Ad you show a crack in your understanding of society's needs again. The takeaway shops are micro businesses that some people get into to provide for their family and work hard for themselves. The shutting down of NZ busin ess by Labour free marketers striding forward like Greek heroes, not, leaves pople searching for a place to fit into the NZ economy, so poorly run that extremes of inflation are not registered in official statistics on which so much of our microeconomic measures are based. I go to a number of takeaways and support such people, and they are glad to see me.
I don't know how to recommend this enough – if you have the time that is. A deep dive into the ways the big tech social media companies are fucking us up. It won't be everyone's taste, but I found it pretty special:
Luxon showing Labour Right attitudes – perhaps the kinder face of Gnashional from Collins? The bad cop – good cop ploy?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/437289/social-media-criticism-of-family-caught-up-in-covid-19-outbreak-unhelpful-mp-says
Health officials have discovered that two – now-positive – cases of one family went to work and visited a vape store when they were supposed to be isolating at home.
The family also hosted a private home viewing.
Botany MP Christopher Luxon said would-be critics should focus their efforts on keeping the virus at bay.
"We don't know the full facts of the situation, that's really the government and the health officials that will be aware of all of those.
I'm surprised there wasn't more wrap around for this family or why they weren't in managed isolation.
Or if they were casual contacts and told to self isolate, why they didn’t.
Could cost Auckland a lot…
…and it has. Seven days at level 3.
The facts are they should have been in isolation, no exceptions,no excuses.
Name them, shame them and prosecute them.
It transpires the young man went to a doctor who gave him a Covid test and he then went on to a gym. How's that for stupidity. It is becoming clear there is a group of young people who cannot be trusted to do the right thing.
Someone needs to be made an example of, in the hope it brings these idiots to their senses.
The Dr would have reminded the person of their statutory responsibilities (being a contact plus)
As there are now a number of self isolation breaches,the AK cordon zone exemption for permitted travel needs to be very restricted,which may include flight constraints (including mps)
collective responsibility, we all do the right thing to ensure the benefit of all. When one person doesn't do the right thing they place everyone at risk. I think Ardern is being too easy on the people who have failed to do the right thing. My view of them is a whole lot less charitable. Act like a clown or a dick and we are all at risk, a week of level 3 risk. And yes, maybe there were reasons why people felt compelled for the need to go to work. Self isolating might have cost some people money. Well the week of level 3 is going to cost a whole lot more people money. Sure, it can be tough isolating. It's going to be tough for the employers and employees now having a week or reduced or no income. Pretty simple, if you are told to isolate do it rather than be an arse.
Name them, shame them and prosecute them.
To what end, Rosielee? I think Ardern had the correct line about not increasing barriers to testing:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/437321/covid-19-auckland-back-to-alert-level-three-after-new-community-cases-revealed
unless there are mitigating circumstances that meant the non isolators were totally unaware and genuinely ignorant, then a visit from the police is probably in order and a pretty strong message about doing the right thing. make it crystal clear for the people that no one is impressed.
Spot on georgecom. A visit from the police. Read the riot act. Tell them what isolation means and if they're caught doing it again they're going to be in big trouble. The only language some people understand.
Depending on the family dynamic, it's possible h was told to get his arse in to work no ifs no buts.
and the gym rang the person and told them to get their arse down for a workout, no ifs no buts?
I am not surprised at all that the situation regarding Covid is what it is. Since Tuesday Covid has been unravelling due to who could be infectious.
Someone text me yesterday, the government better pray they get lucky again.
Our luck has not held, due to the importance of isolating and being clear on why it must be done.
Testing is important as well, had today's case not have gone for a test we would be none the wiser.
See what the genome sequencing finds.
The new case went to the GP in the afternoon yesterday for a Covid test – they [sic] went to the gym after that.
CORRECTION: he went to the gym after that.
There are a lot of locations of interest whenever there is a community case and foolish to think that the rest of the country is not immune.
Going to the gym cannot be erased, it can only be contact traced.
I am going to bed I cannot tell the difference between Muttonbird and Morrissey.
I am going to bed I cannot tell the difference between Muttonbird and Morrissey.
Contrary to popular opinion, I am not running Muttonbird as a sock-puppet. He may have been to visit moi at Chez Breen, but that is something we can neither confirm nor deny.
Hang in there Aucklanders.
Great week to get fit!
A whole lot of people can’t go to the gym because one person went to the gym with his nasal swab still firmly lodged in his brain
– Papatoetoe High School principal
We do know their story. They are a family of dangerous idiots.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/02/covid-19-papatoetoe-high-school-principal-defends-community-case-who-breached-rules-to-work-at-kfc.html
"You don't know their story, you don't know what it's like to be a person unless you've walked in their shoes.
"We don't know whether the teenagers have to go to work because they're the only income-earners in the family, we don't know if there's any other truma that the family's experience – we don't know any of that stuff.
sure, financial pressures might be telling. I am sure many business owners in Auckland will be feeling that this week. I am sure many of the people who had to isolate from Kmart and KFC were feeling financial pressures. Simple fact really though, the "traumas" a family might have been "experiencing" is now going to be "trauma" a great many more people are forced to "experience".
only excuse is if the kfc person was desperate for the money. But the 21 year old going to the gym ffs. Maybe should be made to watch interviews with people whose businesses are on the edge because of the shift of levels. Lots of them
There's support money available from MSD. Health/govt services should have walked them through them application it if they were incapable of doing it themselves.
MSD should have been IMO contacted all Papatoetoe High School families when the school closed and all families were to be tested and isolate (I have not read that they did), with what support is available and contact number/emails on contacting staff to assist any and all queries. And the govt making it as easy as possible for any financial assistance and fast tracking all payments to ease any financial stress. Then family members hopefully would not feel inclined to jeopardise being in level 1. As our PM said it is not their fault (Don't agree totally with her there e.g. Gym goer etc)
Well, the government shouldn't need covid to proactively go out and offer money to people who might need it, or help them with applications.
Those wacky conservatives and their runes
/
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/2/26/2018354/-Why-the-Odal-Othala-Rune-Used-By-CPAC-is-100-Explicitly-a-Nazi-Symbol
Sigh.
So some idiot gets his covid test and then decides to go the gym without waiting for the results!
Video of Papatoetoe next week:
Fuel Air Bomb _ Outbreak 1995 720p – YouTube
But in all seriousness, I do hope the police go round and have some stern words with them. They need to know that because of them Auckland is now at level 2 and how much it will cost businesses/people.
That was such a shit movie. Contagion was much better.
I thought it was pretty good for 1995. But, yes Contagion is better IMO too.
Wow marked cop car are swarming around me
The biggest gang in NZ has their undies in A knot whanau must be because my last waiata rings TRUE.
Ka kite Ano