Gee Whiz. This long time supporter of bloody wars and invasions will be able to tell us all about some of the benefits of imperialism for the aggressor nation.
Time running out for Ukraine grain exports from blocked seaports
1 day ago — Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was seen as the world's breadbasket, exporting 4.5 million tonnes of agricultural produce per month through …
Ukraine’s Black Sea ports remain blockaded by Russian warships since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
There is now no room to store the country’s next grain harvest and warnings of a global food crisis are growing. Russia and Ukraine together account for nearly one-third of global wheat supplies, while Ukraine is also a major exporter of corn, barley, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil.
Russia doubles fossil fuel revenues since invasion of Ukraine began
27/04/2022 — Russia has received about €62bn from exports of oil, gas and coal in the two months since the invasion began, according to an analysis of …
Considering that there won't be anyone with any actual experience of Ukraine speaking.
And a disgraceful bunch of crusty old, arrogant, blood-thirsty, know-all, Tanky true-believers in the audience straining to listen through their ear horns to an old political opportunist hack, willing to give them what they want to hear to confirm their dogmatic conspiracy theories.
Any Ukrainian ex-pat who did turn up, would get shouted down as a Nazi.
Prime Minister Ardern to meet with President Biden.
Wow! Just Wow!
This proposed meeting was previously described as problematic for a number of reasons, one of which was the Prime Minister's recent bout with Covid-19.
The significance of this unscheduled meeting, coming as it does in the wake of the latest school shooting cannot be ignored. The comments of our Prime Minister on gun reform yesterday, would not have gone unnoticed in the White House.
NEWSROOM
Ardern’s Biden meeting confirmed
Jacinda Ardern has secured a White House visit with US President Joe Biden. The eleventh-hour programme change will extend the Prime Minister’s time in the US by a few days, writes political editor Jo Moir.
Robert Menzies, then Prime Minister of Australia, was invited by Harvard to give a commencement speech in 1960, which he accepted. It has been only 62 years before the New Zealand PM got the same invite. In the meantime, such intellectual heavyweights as Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg were given the same opportunity which they duly accepted. 🙂
Correct – but it's clear that the right would have been cock-a-hoop if there had been no meeting. That's why Jason Wells from ZB has been in the US asking what's effectively the same question (is your meeting with president Biden confirmed?) over and over and over – and why the NZ Herald ran a puff piece on Key's meeting with Obama years ago. Such is the desperation of these media outlets to get the Nats elected, that they have abandoned all dignity and self-respect.
I was struck by how acceptable Ardern's considerable achievements are to an economically elite, but socially liberal, audience. If anyone wanted to seriously push back at the significance of her speech, rather than just play dumb gotcha games like ZB and the Herald, that would be the point to explore – what progress has been made in reducing economic inequality.
Good news about the meeting. Some slightly snide comments have been made insinuating the PM may not rate getting a meeting, so hope those commenters now change their tune.
There would be few times in History, (if ever), that the President of the US rearranged his schedule at short notice to fit in a meeting with the leader of a small nation.
Agreed Ad….but a lot of people will look at the standing ovation she got for mentioning gun reform from the smartest people in the country and think maybe the time has come. It has to happen sometime.
It’s fascinating that the state believes there is a ‘maximum sustainable employment’. Our economy apparently requires a permanent underclass of unemployed people, while the government continues to deny unemployed people a guaranteed liveable income. Poverty is intentional. https://t.co/WPqGyCZYog
— Lachlan Patterson for Wharangi 🍉 (@lachlanp_) May 25, 2022
…. It is customary to see this shift as arising from the economic crisis of 1974–75 and the rise of neoliberalism—or as erupting in the 1980s and after, with the huge increase in the global capitalist labor force resulting from the integration of Eastern Europe and China into the world economy….
…..“absolute general law of capitalist accumulation,”
The greater the social wealth, the functioning capital, the extent and energy of its growth, and therefore also the greater the absolute mass of the proletariat and the productivity of its labour, the greater is the industrial reserve army…. But the greater this reserve army in proportion to the active labour-army, the greater is the mass of a consolidated surplus population, whose misery is in inverse ratio to the amount of torture it has to undergo in the form of labour. The more extensive, finally, the pauperized sections of the working class and the industrial reserve army, the greater is official pauperism. This is the absolute general law of capitalist accumulation.
“Nowadays…the field of action of this ‘law,’” as Harry Magdoff and Paul Sweezy stated in 1986,
is the entire global capitalist system, and its most spectacular manifestations are in the third world where unemployment rates range up to 50 percent and destitution, hunger, and starvation are increasingly endemic. But the advanced capitalist nations are by no means immune to its operation: more than 30 million men and women, in excess of 10 percent of the available labor force, are unemployed in the OECD countries; and in the United States itself, the richest of them all, officially defined poverty rates are rising even in a period of cyclical upswing.
In the present case, as even the Governer of the reserve bank says, “Once again Adrian Orr describes government spending in the budget as only a very small part of the drivers behind inflation in direct contradiction to Luxon and Seymour. Here is a good explanation by Adrian Orr about what is really happening”. https://www.facebook.com/661042032/videos/1146421059476599/
Inflation is almost entirely imported. Making "fighting inflation" by raising interest rates for New Zealanders, almost totally pointless as an inflation fighting tool.
The effect is simply to punish those asking for pay rises (an intention behind the RBA all along) and to depress the real economy. Interest rate rises may yet kill more employment and businesses than covid.
"What hasn’t been commented on is that an increase in interest rates will also penalise every business and household in the country including everyone resident in Auckland and Christchurch who already have a mortgage and have no intention of buying or selling a home. There will be no beneficial behaviour change within that wide group who are not seeking to get further into debt but it will impose hardship and constrain the rest of the economy. The interest rate rise would be imposed simply as an attempt to limit price rises"
As inflation is imposed, almost entirely in this instance, from offshore, trying to limit it by raising interest rates within NZ is an own goal, and more likely to result in recession and further supply problems.
Nothing to explain, this is a part of official policy, Lachlan is entirely correct. In technical terms the estimated rate of unemployment is called the NAIRU rate. The budget documents will usually mention what rate their thinking is using.
We lack nurses/caregivers, builders (apparently), truck drivers, ag workers …the list is long.
We have a multitude of hospitality and tourism businesses that are what are described as 'zombie' companies.
There is a mismatch of employment…if you wish the labour pool to be otherwise occupied how do you engineer it?….cease the support for the non viable businesses through artificially low interest rates (and consequent increasing asset prices) and force labour into productive/profitable enterprises that can service higher capital costs.
It isnt pleasant but does Wellington (or NZ) really benefit from 400 cafes?….or do we benefit from thousands of Air BnBs (and the labour it removes from the workforce)?…or any other number of businesses that can only survive because asset values were increasing and borrowing was easy.
And then there are the associated issues related to the inflated cost of housing that feeds into our competitiveness.
D) i think the baristas with a HVL would rather work at Walmart.
Walmart says it is raising pay for truck drivers, who will now make up to $110,000 in their first year. The company did not provide current salary range for a new truck driver at Walmart, but said they have made an average of $87,500 in their first year. https://t.co/AfBjeWXbrI
Its the US so, it depends how many of the costs of operating a truck are sub contracted onto the drivers. Maybe the driver shortage will get some of those corporate excesses improved.
From experience the people for medium skilled construction or medium skilled service work are injured-recovering, long term ACC. NEETs, Long term welfare, gang-related or short term jail offenders. Especially in Southland, Otago, Canterbury. Nelson, Wellington, Manawatu, and Wairarapa.
To get below 3% those are the people you have to focus a lot of money and management around.
Assuming this is about the NAIRU rate estimates. The cost of employment going below x is not considered important, even if escalating. In theory the idea of accelerating inflation is based on employees having too much bargaining power and earning too high wage increases. The official policy is to keep some people unemployed limiting wage demands.
If this sounds to brazen to be state policy you need only look back to the benefit cuts policies of the 90s when it was clearly projected that the unemployed needed to bargain more desperately for a job, rather than what was paid as a benefit. Literal hunger seems to have played a key part when minimal food budget estimates by nutritionists had to be cut by an additional percent to be acceptable to the official budget plan.
The cost of unemployment going below 3% may not be important to the definition of the measure, but it is certainly important to employers. The RB should reflect on that.
As a company we observe that, now that they can, many staff and subbies booking their tickets for Australia, Europe and UK for the major construction works. Australia in particular. Higher wages, even more epic infrastructure, and they will fly you in and out.
Construction Accord meetings across the main public and private players are fully focussed on this.
I think as KJT's comment highlights the Reserve bank is presently merely adding increasing interest costs to the other costs of employing people. Its doing that because its supposed to help with inflation, don't ya know.
I laughed at Gervais' Super Nature on Netflix, was offended in places, enjoyed his clever construction of humour. It was deeply political, he says it's not, that he just wants to make people laugh, but it is both: laughter inducing and very political.
He straight up spent five minutes repeating hardcore gender ideology talking points. He didn't even have to work to make them into jokes, he just repeated what happens on twitter everyday.
He also told jokes about women, disabled kids, paedophilia, and so on. He's not hating on those groups of people, he's pointing to stereotypes and the problems that identity politics is causing.
It's a particular kind of humour that won't suit everyone but there's something there to appreciate that we are short on, and that is satire.
This is as good a representation of the response to his show (and the problem) as any.
If you want to know why women are fighting for our rights, it’s because there’s more anger & outrage at Ricky Gervais informing the world that male rapists want to be called “she” than there is about the rapes to begin with.
Maybe because anyone shooting anything at someones house is a bad look for the government and it probably isn't much of a comfort for the peoples whose houses were shot up
Still far rather a shotgun than an assualt rifle. For reasons which should be obvious.
Idiot talking heads and their parrots, get their knickers in a knot over the strangest things.
A real conservative wouldn’t want to ban opera. You’re not a true conservative, you’re a wannabee, an uncouth barbarian who’s learned some manners by watching Pride and Prejudice (the one with Keira, of course) and who went to school and learned to read Hairy Maclary.
Sleep well tonight knowing Government is far happier that your house will only get shot gun pellets. I guess that is getting tough on crime according to Labour. Semi autos bad, shot guns ok.
And I feel better that according to Parker, the gangs did hand the naughty guns back (just kept the not so naughty ones).
You still don’t get it, do you. Let’s try a lower speed for you, say 30 km/h, and they T-bone me at the driver’s side. Likely to die, and less likely to die, still not ideal and not something I’d voluntarily test out. Still too fast for you?
BTW, even if I were to get hit crossing the road, I’d rather take my chances with a much smaller Smart car than the much bigger 4-wheel drive; even the side mirrors on the latter are more dangerous (ask cyclists).
I want less crime, particularly less gun crime. Auckland has been hugely affected, and quite frankly the empty rhetoric of our police minister is sickening.
"Right wingers Don't want less crime. They want more."
What a stupid comment. A lot of the businesses that are being ram raided are probably right wingers. They want someone to actually do something about stopping it. Hugging the crims is not working.
Do you mean, have I considered that he’s saying what his listeners actually want to hear? And have I considered that the selective-hearing ones here on TS actually heard what he wanted them to hear?
You nailed it, in a few attempts, which is better than John Key did with that hammer and that billboard.
I was quite clear too. You said Parker was tone-deaf and I replied about selective hearing. So, who’s the “he” that you’re referring to: Parker or Bridge?
What Parker said was stupid. It is tone deaf because it goes against the lived experience of Aucklanders who are facing a rising escalation of gun related crime.
What Bridge said about Parker's comments reflects what many Aucklanders are thinking. Not what we want to think or want to hear, what we are actually thinking. Crime is rampant in the city at the moment. I live less than 10 minutes from what appears to be yet another horrendous murder, and it's out of control.
What Aucklanders were thinking about what Parker said!? He’d just said it and you and Bridge already claim or imply to know what Aucklanders were thinking? You mean the ones with selective–hearing problems who needed a hearing aid?
… and it’s out of control.
There you go, you demonstrate my point exactly, which is most probably why you’re listening to talk-back and hearing the things you think you’re hearing: confirmation bias.
I sat at home this afternoon listening to the police helicopter and police cars moving in on the suspect in a brutal knife murder in a popular local walking area.
In Sandringham, just down the road from where I live, the Sandringham Business Association have described how brazen crime is happening every day.
"Now you walk back the talk-back. About time you realise the limits of your knowledge and personal experience."
I didn't walk anything back. I would have thought 'widespread disgust' was a fairly strong claim?
And yes I understand unless you've living it, it's hard to comprehend it. It's so much easier to snipe away about 'talk-back' and 'dog whistles' rather than actually accept we have a problem.
And Parker didn’t accept there’s a problem or he denied it? Now, who’s hearing things??
You have no idea where I’m living and what I experience in terms of violent crime and killings by shootings on an all too regular basis – it is not a fucking competition – and frankly it doesn’t matter because no matter what has happened in my area I still don’t see Parker’s interview in the same bad light as you do nor do I see this Government’s efforts on crime and gun laws in particular as failures or denials of a huge problem. Far from it. The big difference is that I don’t have your confirmation bias and negative attitudes.
"And Parker didn’t accept there’s a problem or he denied it? "
Oh he knows there's a problem, their polling will be telling them, which makes his flippant remark all the sillier.
"I still don’t see Parker’s interview in the same bad light as you do nor do I see this Government’s efforts on crime and gun laws in particular as failures or denials of a huge problem. "
Which makes you as out of touch as Parker's comments made him look.
Got it, because people don’t swallow the same memes from talk-back and don’t see things your way they’re ‘tone deaf’, ‘out of touch’, and ‘sniping’ at the truth-seekers & truth-speakers of MSM. You know that these labels and accusations say a lot about you, don’t you? Don’t forget to lock the doors tonight and to set the alarm.
I would say that claiming media reports were 'Not a reflection of reality' is tantamount to saying they are making it all up. Wouldn't you?
[You would say that because you make up your own narrative here. It doesn’t change the fact that you are twisting KJT’s words.
Sensationalising, radicalising, ramping up, embellishing, magnifying, propaganda, et cetera, don’t mean making it all up, i.e., ab initio, but twisting and distorting reality, just as you do here with KJT’s words. You know full well that there’s always a kernel of truth and a foundation of truth, quite often the iceberg under the surface. So, don’t be smart arse here playing your smart arse game with us and implying that KJT is some kind of media conspiracy nutter.
The media know what they’re doing and it is not writing Sci-Fi or D&D Fantasy:
What media are very good at is making up sensational attention-drawing headlines and other click-bait because that helps them to make money. If you can’t keep up here then pull out – Incognito]
"It doesn’t change the fact that you are twisting KJT’s words."
I didn't, and I showed you I didn't. KJT's exact words were "Sensational media, is not a reflection of reality.". "Not a reflection of reality' is implying 'making stuff up'. You do this a lot…can't run an argument and then attempt to moderate your way out of it.
[My argument is that you’re twisting KJT’s words, and you do. You left out the operative word here this time, which is “all” and you definitely implied KJT is a media conspiracy nutter. You do this a lot…denying your error of ways and then arguing with moderation when given a warning.
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New Zealand’s defence minister, Peeni Henare, has had a very busy first half of the year. In January, Henare was the face of New Zealand’s relief effort to Tonga, following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano. Then, from March onwards, Henare was often involved in Jacinda Ardern’s announcements ...
James Heartfield wrote this article on intersectionalism and its flaws nine years ago. He noted on Twitter: “Looking back, these problems got worse, not better.” Published 17 November 2013. Is self-styled revolutionary Russell Brand really just a ‘Brocialist’? Is Lily Allen’s feminist pop-video racist? Is lesbian activist Julie Bindel a ...
The New Zealand First donations scandal trial began in the High Court this week. And it’s already showing why the political finance laws in this country need a significant overhaul. The trial is the outcome of a high-profile scandal that unfolded in the 2020 election year, when documents were made ...
The televised hearings into the storming of the Capitol are revealing to the American public a truth that was obvious to some of us from the outset – that the Trumpian “big lie” about a “stolen” election was part of a determined attempt at a coup that would have been ...
When in 1980 I introduced the term ‘Think Big’ to characterise the major (mainly energy) projects, I was concerned about the wider issue of state-led development strategies. From that perspective, the 1980s program was not our first ‘think big’. That goes back to Vogel in 1870, who wanted to develop ...
Malaysia will abolish the death penalty: The government has agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty, giving judges discretion in sentencing. Law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the decision was reached following the presentation of a report on substitute sentences for the mandatory death penalty, which he presented ...
The Petitions Committee has reported back on a petition to introduce a capital gains tax on residential property, with a response that basicly boils down to "fuck off, we're not interested". Which is sadly unsurprising. According to the current Register of Members' Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests, the eight members ...
We Can Be Heroes: Ukrainian newly-weds pose for the cameras before heading-off to the front-lines. The Russo-Ukrainian War has presented young people with the inescapable reality of heroism. They see Volodymyr Zelensky in his olive-drab T-shirts; they see men and women their own age stepping-up to do their bit. They have ...
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed the irony of Boris Johnson's desperate attempts to cling onto power.I recall, almost immediately after Jermey Corbyn was elected, a bunch of memes based on the WW2 film Downfall, associating the mild manner Jermey Corbyn with Hitler in his final, ...
Terms and conditions may change For myriad reasons we'd like to think and know that dumping our outmoded and dangerous fossil fuel energy sources may be difficult and may require a lot of investment but that when we're done, it'll be back to business as usual in terms of what ...
Yesterday the Supreme Court quashed Alan Hall's conviction for murder, declaring it was a miscarriage of justice. In doing so, the Chief Justice found that "such departures from accepted standards must either be the result of extreme incompetence or of a deliberate and wrongful strategy to secure conviction" - effectively, ...
New Zealand may have finally jumped off its foreign policy tightrope act between China and the US. Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern effectively chose sides, leaping into the arms of the US, at the expense of the country’s crucial relationship with China. That’s the growing consensus amongst observers of ...
The Green Party is urging Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker to commit to stronger ocean protection around Aotearoa and on the high seas while at the United Nations Oceans Conference in Portugal this week. ...
A strong Green voice in Parliament has helped reduce the influence large secret money will have in future elections and finally ensured overseas New Zealanders will retain the right to vote even while stranded by the Pandemic. But, the Government needs to go further to ensure our democracy works for ...
A new poll shows that the majority of people back the Greens’ call on the Government to overhaul the country’s criminally punitive, anti-evidence drug law. ...
The US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion is a reminder that we must take nothing for granted in Aotearoa, the Green Party says. “Aotearoa should be a place where everyone, no matter where they are from, or who they love, can choose what is right for their body and their ...
We’re proud to have delivered on our election commitment to establish a public holiday to celebrate Matariki. For the first time this year, New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own. ...
Proposed new legislation to reduce the risk that timber imported into Aotearoa New Zealand is sourced from illegal logging is a positive first step but it should go further, the Green Party says. ...
On World Refugee Day, the Green Party is calling on the new Minister for Immigration, Michael Wood to make up for the support that was not provided to people forced to leave their home countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
This week, we’ve marked a major milestone in our school upgrade programme. We've supported 4,500 projects across the country for schools to upgrade classrooms, sports facilities, playgrounds and more, so Kiwi kids have the best possible environments to learn in. ...
We’ve delivered on our election commitment to make Matariki a public holiday. For the first time this year, all New Zealanders will have the chance to enjoy a mid-winter holiday that is uniquely our own with family and friends. Try our quiz below, then challenge your whānau! To celebrate, we’ve ...
The Green Party says the removal of pre-departure testing for arrivals into New Zealand means the Government must step up domestic measures to protect communities most at risk. ...
The long overdue resumption of the Pacific Access Category and Samoan Quota must be followed by an overhaul of the Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) scheme, says the Green Party. ...
Lessons must be learned from the Government's response to the Delta outbreak, which the Ministry of Health confirmed today left Māori, Pacific, and disabled communities at greater risk. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to withdraw the proposed Oranga Tamariki oversight legislation which strips away independence and fails to put children at the heart. ...
As New Zealand reconnects with the world, we’re making the most of every opportunity to show we’re a great place to visit, trade with and invest in as part of our plan to grow our economy and build a secure future for all Kiwis. Just this week we saw further ...
The Government has announced an end to the requirement for border workers and corrections staff to be fully vaccinated. This will come into place from 2 July 2022. 100 per cent of corrections staff in prisons, and as of 23 June 2022 97 per cent of active border workers were ...
Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty officially launched the new Monitoring, Alerting and Reporting (MAR) Centre at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) today. The Government has stood up the centre in response to recommendations from the 2018 Ministerial Review following the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake and 2017 Port Hills fire, ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has welcomed the announcement that a 110km/hr speed limit has been set for the SH1 Waikato Expressway, between Hampton Downs and Tamahere. “The Waikato Expressway is a key transport route for the Waikato region, connecting Auckland to the agricultural and business centres of the central North ...
Following feedback from the sector, Associate Minister of Education Jan Tinetti, today confirmed that new literacy and numeracy | te reo matatini me te pāngarau standards will be aligned with wider NCEA changes. “The education sector has asked for more time to put the literacy and numeracy | te reo ...
$4.5 million to provide Ukraine with additional non-lethal equipment and supplies such as medical kit for the Ukrainian Army Deployments extended for New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) intelligence, logistics and liaison officers in the UK, Germany, and Belgium Secondment of a senior New Zealand military officer to support International ...
Changes to electoral law announced by Justice Minister Kiri Allan today aim to support participation in parliamentary elections, and improve public trust and confidence in New Zealand’s electoral system. The changes are targeted at increasing transparency around political donations and loans and include requiring the disclosure of: donor identities for ...
The Labour government has announced a significant investment to prevent and minimise harm caused by gambling. “Gambling harm is a serious public health issue and can have a devastating effect on the wellbeing of individuals, whānau and communities. One in five New Zealanders will experience gambling harm in their lives, ...
The Government has widened access to free flu vaccines with an extra 800,000 New Zealanders eligible from this Friday, July 1 Children aged 3-12 years and people with serious mental health or addiction needs now eligible for free flu dose. From tomorrow (Tuesday), second COVID-19 booster available six months ...
The Government is investing to create new product categories and new international markets for our strong wool and is calling on Kiwi businesses and consumers to get behind the environmentally friendly fibre, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said today. Wool Impact is a collaboration between the Government and sheep sector partners ...
At today’s commemoration of the start of the Korean War, Veterans Minister Meka Whaitiri has paid tribute to the service and sacrifice of our New Zealand veterans, their families and both nations. “It’s an honour to be with our Korean War veterans at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park to commemorate ...
Minister of Tourism Stuart Nash and Associate Minister of Tourism Peeni Henare announced the sixth round of recipients of the Government’s Tourism Infrastructure Fund (TIF), which supports local government to address tourism infrastructure needs. This TIF round will invest $15 million into projects around the country. For the first time, ...
Matariki tohu mate, rātou ki a rātou Matariki tohu ora, tātou ki a tātou Tīhei Matariki Matariki – remembering those who have passed Matariki – celebrating the present and future Salutations to Matariki I want to begin by thanking everyone who is here today, and in particular the Matariki ...
Oho mai ana te motu i te rangi nei ki te hararei tūmatanui motuhake tuatahi o Aotearoa, Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki, me te hono atu a te Pirīmia a Jacinda Ardern ki ngā mahi whakanui a te motu i tētahi huihuinga mō te Hautapu i te ata nei. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker will represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the second United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, which runs from 27 June to 1 July. The Conference will take stock of progress and aims to galvanise further action towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, to "conserve and sustainably use ...
The Government is boosting its partnership with New Zealand’s dairy sheep sector to help it lift its value and volume, and become an established primary industry, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor has announced. “Globally, the premium alternative dairy category is growing by about 20 percent a year. With New Zealand food ...
The Government is continuing to support the Buller district to recover from severe flooding over the past year, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today during a visit with the local leadership. An extra $10 million has been announced to fund an infrastructure recovery programme, bringing the total ...
“The Government has undertaken preparatory work to combat new and more dangerous variants of COVID-19,” COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall set out today. “This is about being ready to adapt our response, especially knowing that new variants will likely continue to appear. “We have undertaken a piece of work ...
The Government’s strong trade agenda is underscored today with the introduction of the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill to the House, Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “I’m very pleased with the quick progress of the United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Legislation Bill being introduced ...
A ministerial advisory group that provides young people with an opportunity to help shape the education system has five new members, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins said today. “I am delighted to announce that Harshinni Nayyar, Te Atamihi Papa, Humaira Khan, Eniselini Ali and Malakai Tahaafe will join the seven ...
Austria Centre, Vienna [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] E ngā mana, e ngā reo Tēnā koutou katoa Thank you, Mr President. I extend my warm congratulations to you on the assumption of the Presidency of this inaugural meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. You ...
The Government is taking action to make sure homecare and support workers have the right to take a pay-equity claim, while at the same time protecting their current working conditions and delivering a pay rise. “In 2016, homecare and support workers – who look after people in their own homes ...
A law change passed today streamlines the process for allowing COVID-19 boosters to be given without requiring a prescription. Health Minister Andrew Little said the changes made to the Medicines Act were a more enduring way to manage the administration of vaccine boosters from now on. “The Ministry of Health’s ...
New powers will be given to the Commerce Commission allowing it to require supermarkets to hand over information regarding contracts, arrangements and land covenants which make it difficult for competing retailers to set up shop. “The Government and New Zealanders have been very clear that the grocery sector is not ...
Ministerial taskforce of industry experts will give advice and troubleshoot plasterboard shortages Letter of expectation sent to Fletcher Building on trademark protections A renewed focus on competition in the construction sector The Minister for Building and Construction Megan Woods has set up a Ministerial taskforce with key construction, building ...
Minister for Māori Development Willie Jackson and Minister for Māori Crown Relations Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today the inaugural Matariki public holiday will be marked by a pre-dawn hautapu ceremony at Te Papa Tongarewa, and will be a part of a five-hour broadcast carried by all major broadcasters in ...
Volunteers from all over the country are being recognised in this year’s Minister of Health Volunteer Awards, just announced at an event in Parliament’s Grand Hall. “These awards celebrate and recognise the thousands of dedicated health and disability sector volunteers who give many hours of their time to help other ...
New Zealand’s trade agenda continues to build positive momentum as Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor travels to Europe, Canada and Australia to advance New Zealand’s economic interests. “Our trade agenda has excellent momentum, and is a key part of the Government’s wider plan to help provide economic security for ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will leave this weekend to travel to Europe and Australia for a range of trade, tourism and foreign policy events. “This is the third leg of our reconnecting plan as we continue to promote Aotearoa New Zealand’s trade and tourism interests. We’re letting the world know ...
[CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Nga mihi ki a koutou. Let me start by acknowledging the nuclear survivors, the people who lost their lives to nuclear war or testing, and all the peoples driven off their lands by nuclear testing, whose lands and waters were poisoned, and who suffer the inter-generational health ...
New Zealand’s leadership has contributed to a number of significant outcomes and progress at the Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which concluded in the early hours of Friday morning after a week of intense negotiations between its 164 members. A major outcome is a new ...
The Government has delivered on its commitment to roll out the free methamphetamine harm reduction programme Te Ara Oranga to the eastern Bay of Plenty, with services now available in Murupara. “We’re building a whole new mental health system, and that includes expanding successful programmes like Te Ara Oranga,” Health ...
Kura and schools around New Zealand can start applying for Round 4 of the Creatives in Schools programme, Minister for Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni said today. Both ministers were at Auckland’s Rosehill Intermediate to meet with the ākonga, teachers and the professional ...
It is my pleasure to be here at MEETINGS 2022. I want to start by thanking Lisa and Steve from Business Events Industry Aotearoa and everyone that has been involved in organising and hosting this event. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to welcome you all here. It is ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, met in Wellington today for the biannual Australia - Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Minister Consultations. Minister Mahuta welcomed Minister Wong for her first official visit to Aotearoa New Zealand ...
The volatile global situation has been reflected in today’s quarterly GDP figures, although strong annual growth shows New Zealand is still well positioned to deal with the challenging global environment, Grant Robertson said. GDP fell 0.2 percent in the March quarter, as the global economic trends caused exports to fall ...
More than a million New Zealanders have already received their flu vaccine in time for winter, but we need lots more to get vaccinated to help relieve pressure on the health system, Health Minister Andrew Little says. “Getting to one million doses by June is a significant milestone and sits ...
It’s a pleasure to be here today in person “ka nohi ke te ka nohi, face to face as we look back on a very challenging two years when you as Principals, as leaders in education, have pivoted, and done what you needed to do, under challenging circumstances for your ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is successfully creating jobs and boosting regional economic growth, an independent evaluation report confirms. Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash announced the results of the report during a visit to the Mihiroa Marae in Hastings, which recently completed renovation work funded through the PGF. ...
Travellers to New Zealand will no longer need a COVID-19 pre-departure test from 11.59pm Monday 20 June, COVID-19 Response Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “We’ve taken a careful and staged approach to reopening our borders to ensure we aren’t overwhelmed with an influx of COVID-19 cases. Our strategy has ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will travel to Rwanda this week to represent New Zealand at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kigali. “This is the first CHOGM meeting since 2018 and I am delighted to be representing Aotearoa New Zealand,” Nanaia Mahuta said. “Reconnecting New Zealand with the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Michael Wood has been busy beating his drum over the move to lift the speed limit on the Waikato Expressway to 110km/h, between Hampton Downs and Tamahere. He points out that the Waikato Expressway is a key transport route for the Waikato region, connecting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wes Mountain, Multimedia Editor Shutterstock More than 25 million people Australians sat down on (or around) Tuesday August 20 last year to complete their census. Despite our borders still largely being closed, that was an 8.6% increase in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Shutterstock The reversal of Roe v. Wade by the American Supreme court last week is a watershed moment in American politics. The ruling withdraws constitutional protections for abortion rights and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University Limitations in census reporting includes how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caregivers are reported on and considered.GettyImages The census counted 812,728 Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Mayne, Molecular biologist and bioinformatician, CSIRO Some animals can live to a startlingly old age, from the famous 392-year-old “Greenland shark” to a 190-year-old tortoise in the Seychelles. Two science studies published last week brings us closer to understanding why some ...
Newsroom has alerted the Point of Order Trough Monitor to happenings involving a trough from which the swill – according to an aggrieved applicant – has not been impartially distributed. The Newsroom report is headed Writer wins ‘bias’ complaint and says a writer’s complaint against Creative New Zealand funding has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Shutterstock The reversal of Roe v. Wade by the American Supreme court last week is a watershed moment in American politics. The ruling withdraws constitutional protections for abortion rights and ...
National MP Simon O'Connor has returned to Parliament with an apology to colleagues over a social media post that celebrated the US Supreme Court's overturning of abortion law. ...
The Government must move faster to close gender and ethnic pay gaps if it wants to help people who are struggling with low wages due to discrimination, says MindTheGap. Today in Parliament, the Government published its response to the Education and Workforce ...
A pseudo-documentary using footage from the March 15 Mosque attacks has been called in and classified as objectionable under an interim decision issued by Acting Chief Censor Rupert Ablett-Hampson this afternoon. In February part one of The Three Faced ...
Superintendent Malthus says, ‘Keeping firearms owners safe is a key focus for Police’. Yeah Right! “Safe from who?”, asks Neville Dodd President of the Sporting Shooters Association. From our perspective the biggest threat and the most damage ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist), The Conversation At the May 21 federal election, Labor won 77 of the 151 House of Representatives seats (up eight since 2019 when adjusted for redistributions), the Coalition won 58 seats (down 18), the Greens four (up ...
Our report Governance of the City Rail Link project was presented to the House of Representatives today. In our work, we often identify poor governance as the reason why major projects have problems. Therefore, we wanted to provide Parliament and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Crawford Spencer, Professor of Law, Charles Darwin University Shutterstock In 2012, legislation was introduced in the Northern Territory to restrict the possession and supply of alcohol without a liquor license or permit in designated alcohol protected areas in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock The Australian Census numbers have been released, showing women typically do many more hours of unpaid housework per week compared to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mischa Bongers, Sessional Lecturer, CQUniversity Australia Shutterstock “Kegels” and pelvic floor exercises are usually associated with “women’s business” – think pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. But men have pelvic floors too. Just like women, at various times in their lives ...
Under the Human Rights Act it is unlawful for schools to refuse enrolment or subject students to detrimental treatment on any of the grounds of discrimination in the Act, including sexual orientation and family status, says Te Kāhui Tika Tangata ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dougal Sutherland, Clinical Psychologist, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Getty Images Healthcare workers in New Zealand already face life-and-death decisions daily. But as multiple winter illnesses add pressure to a system already stretched by COVID, staff now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Portia Dilena, History PhD Candidate, La Trobe University Interviewee Eileen Clark Regional women are too often forgotten in Australia’s political movements. The “big teal steal” focuses on the independent candidates from Melbourne and Sydney, forgetting that independent Cathy McGowan stole ...
National MP Simon O'Connor has returned to Parliament with an apology to colleagues over a social media post that celebrated the US Supreme Court's overturning of abortion law. ...
ACT MP Chris Baillie’s Member’s Bill on repealing Easter shopping restrictions should be voted through at first reading so we can have the debate on retailers having the choice to open or not over Easter, according to Retail NZ. “We are calling ...
Justice Minister Kiri Allan says changes to political donations will lead to greater transparency in New Zealand's electoral system, but National says the current laws are adequate. ...
Justice Minister Kiri Allan says changes to political donations will lead to greater transparency in New Zealand's electoral system, but National says the current laws are adequate. ...
The Supreme Court in Wellington has just handed down their judgement in Attorney-General v Family First New Zealand, and the Government and the Charities Board have won the right to deregister Family First as a registered charity. “This decision is a sad ...
On Wednesday 29 June, at 1pm, the students behind Gender Neutral Bathrooms NZ , with the support of national rainbow charity InsideOUT Kōaro will gather on the steps of Parliament to handover a petition that calls on the government to uphold ...
Winston Peters has issued judicial review proceedings against Speaker of the House the Rt Honourable Trevor Mallard, challenging Mr Mallard’s issue of a trespass warning against Mr Peters on 28 April 2022, which the Speaker then withdrew on 4 ...
The community group fighting to save 345 trees on Ōwairaka Mt Albert says the Supreme Court has done the right thing in denying Tūpuna Maunga Authority’s request to appeal a judicial decision around the proposed tree felling. The Supreme Court said ...
SAFE is urging kiwis who want to see the caging of pigs banned to make their thoughts known on the draft code of welfare for pigs. The draft, put out by the Ministry for Primary Industries and the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, proposes a ...
Allied health workers have voted to ratify the settlement reached by employers and the PSA last month. Over 98 percent of health professionals covered by the allied, public health, scientific and technical collective agreements voted to accept the ...
On this coming Thursday, June 30th - with a giant albatross sculpture - Greenpeace Aotearoa will deliver a petition signed by almost 100,000 people calling on the Government to ban single-use plastic bottles and incentivise reusable and refillable alternatives. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Savin Chand, Senior Lecturer, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Federation University Australia Shutterstock The annual number of tropical cyclones forming globally decreased by about 13% during the 20th century compared to the 19th, according to research published today in Nature Climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Renae Barker, Senior Lecturer, The University of Western Australia The latest census results are out and the number of Australians who selected “no religion” has risen again to 38.9%, up from 30.1% in 2016. This makes them the second-largest “religious group” after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jake M Robinson, Ecologist and Researcher, Flinders University Gontran Isnard/Unsplash, CC BY Technology has undoubtedly contributed to global biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Where forests once stood, artificial lights now illuminate vast urban jungles. Where animals once roamed, huge factories ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lucas Walsh, Professor and Director of the Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice, Monash University Shutterstock When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared victory on election night, he said he wanted to unite Australians around “our shared values of fairness ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Dean Lewins/AAP Census data to be released Tuesday shows Australia changing rapidly before COVID, gaining an extra one million residents from overseas in the past five years, almost ...
By Craig McCulloch, RNZ News deputy political editor Former National MP and Justice Minister Amy Adams says opposition leader Christopher Luxon is right to rule out restricting abortion laws in Aotearoa New Zealand, calling the alternative “absolutely soul-destroying”. Speaking to RNZ, Adams also sounded a note of warning to her ...
RNZ Pacific The Tuvalu government has withdrawn from a UN Oceans Conference in Portugal after China blocked Taiwanese delegates in its team. An officer with Tuvalu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Jessica Marinaccio, told RNZ Pacific that Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister Simon Kofe was already en route to the Portuguese capital, ...
The Opposition leader says all his MPs are united around the commitment not to change abortion law, as former Justice Minister Amy Adams says restricting the law would be "absolutely soul-destroying". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ivan Charles Hanigan, Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health Impact Assessment and Senior Lecturer in Climate Change and Health, , Faculty of Health Science, School of Population Health, Curtin University., Curtin University Shutterstock New research has found suicide increases ...
For long enough New Zealanders have liked to think they enjoyed one of the highest living standards in the world. More recently those familiar with what is happening in those countries which are leading the world have understood NZ has been slipping down the ladder. Under a Labour-led government, the slide ...
In the face of the greatest health crisis the country has ever faced more than 3000 health care professionals are sitting at home twiddling their thumbs. Hospitals are paying GPs ridiculous amounts to moonlight for emergency departments to cope with ...
Te Pāti Māori Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer MP was to travel to Lisbon, Portugal to help build an international coalition against deep sea mining at the United Nations Oceans Conference 2022. This comes off the back of a 36,000 strong petition to ban ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rod Davies, Lecturer in popular music and songwriting, Monash University Shutterstock Most of the music we listen to is made by session musicians. These guns for hire are experts in their field, much sought after and often bring a unique ...
As the war in Ukraine rolls on, New Zealand is providing another $4.5m through NATO, extending NZDF deployments in Europe, and legal support for international courts. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago Getty Images/Hagen Hopkins Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s acceptance of an invitation to speak at this week’s NATO leaders’ summit in Madrid has fuelled a narrative that New Zealand’s independent foreign ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sean Winter, Associate Professor (New Testament Studies), University of Divinity In many churches across the United States of America, and even perhaps here in Australia, Sunday worship would have been an opportunity to celebrate the decision of the US Supreme Court to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wayne Hing, Professor, Physiotherapy, Bond University Shutterstock Physiotherapists are increasingly offering needling therapies in addition to their standard care. Many Australian physiotherapists in private practice now offer dry needling or Western medical acupuncture as part of a treatment approach. Is ...
As the war in Ukraine rolls on, New Zealand is providing another $4.5m through NATO, extending NZDF deployments in Europe, and legal support for international courts. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Papua New Guinean security forces have intercepted and stopped seven trucks carrying seven containers containing sensitive election material in the Southern Highlands after it was found that the containers had been allegedly tampered with. “Manager Alwyn Jimmy called police in SHP to stop the ...
RNZ Pacific The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting has ended in Rwanda with Samoa confirmed as the next host of the meeting. Samoa’s hosting of the 2024 event will be the first time a Pacific member country will host CHOGM Samoa’s Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa attended the meeting in ...
ANALYSIS:By Professor Steven Ratuva The West and China continue to exert influence over the Pacific region. But discussions of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are increasingly patronising, framing them as vulnerable, and omitting their agency. In the battle for geopolitical influence and supremacy in the Pacific, the two most visible ...
Buzz from the Beehive The National Party’s strong objection to plans to overhaul New Zealand’s political donations regime, expressed in submissions on the Government’s proposed sweeping changes to electoral law, were reported in a Stuff report last week. The changes would include lowering the threshold for political parties to disclose ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Andrejevic, Professor, School of Media, Film, and Journalism, Monash University, Monash University Shutterstock Private companies and public authorities are quietly using facial recognition systems around Australia. Despite the growing use of this controversial technology, there is little in ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling on mayoral candidates Efeso Collins and Leo Molloy to be upfront with voters about whether they will reduce capital investment in roading or increase rates to fund free public transport. There are growing calls ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stuart Khan, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney Dean Lewins/AAP During the federal election campaign, Labor promised to future-proof Australia’s water resources. Now, new Water Minister Tanya Plibersek must deliver on the policy – one vital to securing ...
Family Planning and the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists - Toi Mata Hauora say if one thing can be learned from the overturning of Roe v Wade it is that access to safe abortion and contraceptive care must be embedded as a core service within ...
A new Class Actions Act should be developed to improve access to justice and efficiency in litigation, concludes Te Aka Matua o te Ture | Law Commission in its report, Ko ngā Hunga Take Whaipānga me ngā Pūtea Tautiringa | Class Actions and Litigation ...
OP-Ed by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana – Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). As ...
Opinion - Jacinda Ardern needs to deploy every aspect of her starpower if she wants to rescue New Zealand's faltering free trade EU negotiations, writes [Geoffrey Miller. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Payne, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, The Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney My experience as an adviser to Peter Andren – perhaps the first of the modern-day wave of non-party MPs to arrive in Canberra – suggests Labor’s ...
On Friday, 24 June 2022 (local time), millions of United States citizens lost the right to control their bodies and make decisions affecting their lives, families, and futures. The US Supreme Court reached a majority decision to overturn the constitutional ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Most women are not working full-time during most of their working lives, which holds them back from management positions and accentuates the pay gap with men, according to data released on Monday. Men on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lindsay Robertson, Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Getty Images The number of young New Zealanders aged 15 to 17 who vape every day has tripled in two years, from 2% in 2018-19 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle Shutterstock Grocery prices have taken a hike upwards for a host of reasons, including the rising costs of petrol, fertiliser and labour. You could “shop around” for cheaper groceries, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Holloway, Senior Research DECRA Fellow, Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education, Australian Catholic University Without fail, every time a politician is tasked with reforming education, the issue of performance-based pay for teachers is put on the table. It’s odd, really, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jim Stanford, Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work, Australia Institute; Honorary Professor of Political Economy, University of Sydney Reserve Bank of Australia governor Phillip Lowe has invoked memories of the 1970s, warning wage growth must be restrained to contain Australia’s surging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Speck, Emerita Professor, Art History and Curatorship, University of Adelaide Nakashima Harumi, born Ena City, Gifu prefecture, 1950, Struggling forms, c2005, Ena City, Gifu prefecture, porcelain, under and overglaze, 66.0 x 49.0 x 43.0 cm. Collection of Raphy StarReview: ...
The Fabians are running a talk by Matt Robson entitled -‘An Independent Foreign Policy for Aotearoa-New Zealand’ at 5pm today.
Will be interesting
Gee Whiz. This long time supporter of bloody wars and invasions will be able to tell us all about some of the benefits of imperialism for the aggressor nation.
Considering that there won't be anyone with any actual experience of Ukraine speaking.
And a disgraceful bunch of crusty old, arrogant, blood-thirsty, know-all, Tanky true-believers in the audience straining to listen through their ear horns to an old political opportunist hack, willing to give them what they want to hear to confirm their dogmatic conspiracy theories.
Any Ukrainian ex-pat who did turn up, would get shouted down as a Nazi.
Congratulations on the recognition for our PM by Harvard, and on her honorary Doctorate. We are fortunate to have such representation.
The right will be discombobulated!!
PM Jacinda Ardern is meeting with President Biden.
Both earned on the right political mix of good luck, good timing, and hard policy work.
Yes True.
Breaking News:
Prime Minister Ardern to meet with President Biden.
Wow! Just Wow!
This proposed meeting was previously described as problematic for a number of reasons, one of which was the Prime Minister's recent bout with Covid-19.
The significance of this unscheduled meeting, coming as it does in the wake of the latest school shooting cannot be ignored. The comments of our Prime Minister on gun reform yesterday, would not have gone unnoticed in the White House.
The right will be discombobulated!!
I doubt that.
Robert Menzies, then Prime Minister of Australia, was invited by Harvard to give a commencement speech in 1960, which he accepted. It has been only 62 years before the New Zealand PM got the same invite. In the meantime, such intellectual heavyweights as Oprah Winfrey and Mark Zuckerberg were given the same opportunity which they duly accepted. 🙂
Correct – but it's clear that the right would have been cock-a-hoop if there had been no meeting. That's why Jason Wells from ZB has been in the US asking what's effectively the same question (is your meeting with president Biden confirmed?) over and over and over – and why the NZ Herald ran a puff piece on Key's meeting with Obama years ago. Such is the desperation of these media outlets to get the Nats elected, that they have abandoned all dignity and self-respect.
I was struck by how acceptable Ardern's considerable achievements are to an economically elite, but socially liberal, audience. If anyone wanted to seriously push back at the significance of her speech, rather than just play dumb gotcha games like ZB and the Herald, that would be the point to explore – what progress has been made in reducing economic inequality.
Zuckerberg and Winfrey are fabulously rich, therefore the Right do consider them intellectual heavyweights (big brained).
Good news about the meeting. Some slightly snide comments have been made insinuating the PM may not rate getting a meeting, so hope those commenters now change their tune.
There would be few times in History, (if ever), that the President of the US rearranged his schedule at short notice to fit in a meeting with the leader of a small nation.
This meeting well arranged before Ardern left NZ. The challenge for the PM will to ensure Biden stays awake through it.
One hopes Biden will use a dialogue around Jacinda's post mosque shooting gun law changes to tighten gun laws in the US.
Biden has until November until he loses majority in Senate and Congress.
To do anything.
Then it gets really hard.
Agreed Ad….but a lot of people will look at the standing ovation she got for mentioning gun reform from the smartest people in the country and think maybe the time has come. It has to happen sometime.
Who wants to have a crack at explaining this?
Not me personally but you probably couldn't go much far past this for an explanation:
Already have.
KJT. Random musings on all sorts of things.: The Reserve Bank, Debt and the Property Market (kjt-kt.blogspot.com)
In the present case, as even the Governer of the reserve bank says, “Once again Adrian Orr describes government spending in the budget as only a very small part of the drivers behind inflation in direct contradiction to Luxon and Seymour. Here is a good explanation by Adrian Orr about what is really happening”. https://www.facebook.com/661042032/videos/1146421059476599/
Inflation is almost entirely imported. Making "fighting inflation" by raising interest rates for New Zealanders, almost totally pointless as an inflation fighting tool.
The effect is simply to punish those asking for pay rises (an intention behind the RBA all along) and to depress the real economy. Interest rate rises may yet kill more employment and businesses than covid.
"What hasn’t been commented on is that an increase in interest rates will also penalise every business and household in the country including everyone resident in Auckland and Christchurch who already have a mortgage and have no intention of buying or selling a home. There will be no beneficial behaviour change within that wide group who are not seeking to get further into debt but it will impose hardship and constrain the rest of the economy. The interest rate rise would be imposed simply as an attempt to limit price rises"
As inflation is imposed, almost entirely in this instance, from offshore, trying to limit it by raising interest rates within NZ is an own goal, and more likely to result in recession and further supply problems.
Nothing to explain, this is a part of official policy, Lachlan is entirely correct. In technical terms the estimated rate of unemployment is called the NAIRU rate. The budget documents will usually mention what rate their thinking is using.
We lack nurses/caregivers, builders (apparently), truck drivers, ag workers …the list is long.
We have a multitude of hospitality and tourism businesses that are what are described as 'zombie' companies.
There is a mismatch of employment…if you wish the labour pool to be otherwise occupied how do you engineer it?….cease the support for the non viable businesses through artificially low interest rates (and consequent increasing asset prices) and force labour into productive/profitable enterprises that can service higher capital costs.
It isnt pleasant but does Wellington (or NZ) really benefit from 400 cafes?….or do we benefit from thousands of Air BnBs (and the labour it removes from the workforce)?…or any other number of businesses that can only survive because asset values were increasing and borrowing was easy.
And then there are the associated issues related to the inflated cost of housing that feeds into our competitiveness.
In this case I propose a bylaw. Licenses for new cafe premises will only be granted when one or more of the following applies,
A) the barristas have built new premises.
B) the barristas are operating inside a doctors surgery and part timing as nurses.
C) the barristas harvest their own coffee beans.
D) the barristas have a heavy vehicles license.
D) i think the baristas with a HVL would rather work at Walmart.
Its the US so, it depends how many of the costs of operating a truck are sub contracted onto the drivers. Maybe the driver shortage will get some of those corporate excesses improved.
From experience the people for medium skilled construction or medium skilled service work are injured-recovering, long term ACC. NEETs, Long term welfare, gang-related or short term jail offenders. Especially in Southland, Otago, Canterbury. Nelson, Wellington, Manawatu, and Wairarapa.
To get below 3% those are the people you have to focus a lot of money and management around.
Not a lot of employers can do that.
Assuming this is about the NAIRU rate estimates. The cost of employment going below x is not considered important, even if escalating. In theory the idea of accelerating inflation is based on employees having too much bargaining power and earning too high wage increases. The official policy is to keep some people unemployed limiting wage demands.
If this sounds to brazen to be state policy you need only look back to the benefit cuts policies of the 90s when it was clearly projected that the unemployed needed to bargain more desperately for a job, rather than what was paid as a benefit. Literal hunger seems to have played a key part when minimal food budget estimates by nutritionists had to be cut by an additional percent to be acceptable to the official budget plan.
The cost of unemployment going below 3% may not be important to the definition of the measure, but it is certainly important to employers. The RB should reflect on that.
As a company we observe that, now that they can, many staff and subbies booking their tickets for Australia, Europe and UK for the major construction works. Australia in particular. Higher wages, even more epic infrastructure, and they will fly you in and out.
Construction Accord meetings across the main public and private players are fully focussed on this.
I think as KJT's comment highlights the Reserve bank is presently merely adding increasing interest costs to the other costs of employing people. Its doing that because its supposed to help with inflation, don't ya know.
Argh to them all
Last December a story about a GOP congressman and family posing with guns for a Christmas photo made the news. It was shortly after a school shooting.
No doubt the same will happen this year.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/christmas-card-guns-lauren-boebert-thomas-massie-start-new-culture-ncna1285709
I laughed at Gervais' Super Nature on Netflix, was offended in places, enjoyed his clever construction of humour. It was deeply political, he says it's not, that he just wants to make people laugh, but it is both: laughter inducing and very political.
He straight up spent five minutes repeating hardcore gender ideology talking points. He didn't even have to work to make them into jokes, he just repeated what happens on twitter everyday.
He also told jokes about women, disabled kids, paedophilia, and so on. He's not hating on those groups of people, he's pointing to stereotypes and the problems that identity politics is causing.
It's a particular kind of humour that won't suit everyone but there's something there to appreciate that we are short on, and that is satire.
This is as good a representation of the response to his show (and the problem) as any.
Geez that was funny, that shit-eating grin of his made it even better
#irony
David Parker puts his foot in his mouth more than once!
At 1:50 he actually says he thinks the gangs handed back their semi autos!
And not only that at 2:50 he would rather a shotgun than a semi auto fired at houses.
We all feel safe now!
'Abhorrent': Bridge calls out Parker over gun comment after recent Auckland shootings (msn.com)
That was a really bad call, like hes not wrong but really its not something you should say out loud
Why the hell not. It is true.
Maybe because anyone shooting anything at someones house is a bad look for the government and it probably isn't much of a comfort for the peoples whose houses were shot up
Still far rather a shotgun than an assualt rifle. For reasons which should be obvious.
Idiot talking heads and their parrots, get their knickers in a knot over the strangest things.
They sure do, us conservatives on the other hand don't
But. "Here we are".
A real conservative wouldn’t want to ban opera. You’re not a true conservative, you’re a wannabee, an uncouth barbarian who’s learned some manners by watching Pride and Prejudice (the one with Keira, of course) and who went to school and learned to read Hairy Maclary.
Except the police also believe high powered rifles were used on some incidents.
Do you believe the police understand what weapons were used?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/467822/this-is-frightening-for-our-community-counties-manukau-police-chief-on-gang-related-shootings
With a general arming order across Auckland,do you believe the police will be armed with hugs and kindness?
Sleep well tonight knowing Government is far happier that your house will only get shot gun pellets. I guess that is getting tough on crime according to Labour. Semi autos bad, shot guns ok.
And I feel better that according to Parker, the gangs did hand the naughty guns back (just kept the not so naughty ones).
I’d rather get hit by a Smart car than by a big 4-wheel drive. See, bad, less bad, but still bad. Let me know if I go too fast for you.
If a Smart car travelling at 60km/hr hits you crossing the road you will probably die.
If a big 4 wheel drive travelling at 60km/hr hits you crossing the road you will probably die.
You still don’t get it, do you. Let’s try a lower speed for you, say 30 km/h, and they T-bone me at the driver’s side. Likely to die, and less likely to die, still not ideal and not something I’d voluntarily test out. Still too fast for you?
BTW, even if I were to get hit crossing the road, I’d rather take my chances with a much smaller Smart car than the much bigger 4-wheel drive; even the side mirrors on the latter are more dangerous (ask cyclists).
Less "bad guns" less people dead.
To simple for you?
May as well allow RPG’s. After all they are just more “bad”?
You make it sound like we have a choice. I choose neither. Or do I have to wait for the PM sack this useless police minister first?
You want to ban shot guns as well?
No problem.
I want less crime, particularly less gun crime. Auckland has been hugely affected, and quite frankly the empty rhetoric of our police minister is sickening.
I gave a whole lot of references. You know evidence, of how we get less crime.
And then a whole bunch of idiots came back with suggestions equivalent to putting more cops at the bottom of the cliff……..
More interested in bagging some Labour Ministers, with specious bullshit, than reducing crime.
Right wingers Don't want less crime. They want more. To scare voters into voting for their over simplistic and ineffectual, "solutions".
I applaud you making suggestions about how we get less crime. I just wish the minister of police were so proactive.
But speaking of the bottom of the cliff…how about funding bollards in front of shops when crime is going nuts on your watch.
"Right wingers Don't want less crime. They want more."
What a stupid comment. A lot of the businesses that are being ram raided are probably right wingers. They want someone to actually do something about stopping it. Hugging the crims is not working.
Talking of stupid comments!! Not even intended irony undoes this level of stupidity.
Good choice! Don’t vote for ACT.
Technically, of course, he's correct. But tone deaf, and politically damaging. Particularly in Auckland.
Selective hearing: only hearing or thinking that you’re hearing what you want to hear.
And we do have just a few in-house experts in selective hearing and associated sign language here on TS.
"only hearing or thinking that you’re hearing what you want to hear."
I wouldn't describe Ryan Bridge in those terms, but ok.
I wouldn’t know, I was referring to members of the TS commentariat, who obviously use Ryan Bridge as a ‘hearing aid’.
Oh, I see. Have you considered the possibility that he might just be saying what many Aucklanders were actually thinking? And what the police minster has (belated) realised?
Do you mean, have I considered that he’s saying what his listeners actually want to hear? And have I considered that the selective-hearing ones here on TS actually heard what he wanted them to hear?
You nailed it, in a few attempts, which is better than John Key did with that hammer and that billboard.
I was quite clear – do you think he’s saying what Aucklanders are ‘actually thinking’.
[Please check and correct your user name in the next comment, thanks]
Mod note
Sorry – switching between laptop and cellphone. Corrected now.
I was quite clear too. You said Parker was tone-deaf and I replied about selective hearing. So, who’s the “he” that you’re referring to: Parker or Bridge?
Bridge.
No not what they want to hear, "what many Aucklanders were actually thinking?" There is a difference you know.
I have given my working definition of selective hearing. Are you now disagreeing with that?
It was about what Parker said and what people heard or thought they heard, yes? Bridge was the ‘hearing aid’.
Confirmation bias and selective hearing are not the same. There is a difference you know.
Now, work it out, I’m gonna have a few drinks in about an hour.
What Parker said was stupid. It is tone deaf because it goes against the lived experience of Aucklanders who are facing a rising escalation of gun related crime.
What Bridge said about Parker's comments reflects what many Aucklanders are thinking. Not what we want to think or want to hear, what we are actually thinking. Crime is rampant in the city at the moment. I live less than 10 minutes from what appears to be yet another horrendous murder, and it's out of control.
What Aucklanders were thinking about what Parker said!? He’d just said it and you and Bridge already claim or imply to know what Aucklanders were thinking? You mean the ones with selective–hearing problems who needed a hearing aid?
There you go, you demonstrate my point exactly, which is most probably why you’re listening to talk-back and hearing the things you think you’re hearing: confirmation bias.
Nice meme, BTW, nicely aided by the NZ media.
"…and you and Bridge already claim or imply to know what Aucklanders were thinking?"
I can only speak for my own impression of what Aucklanders are thinking, and it's widespread disgust.
"confirmation bias."
Far from it.
I sat at home this afternoon listening to the police helicopter and police cars moving in on the suspect in a brutal knife murder in a popular local walking area.
In Sandringham, just down the road from where I live, the Sandringham Business Association have described how brazen crime is happening every day.
Four days ago the police said they were "…disgusted by the callous behaviour of gun-toting criminals, saying it's extremely fortunate no one has been hurt after seven shootings in Auckland overnight.". That was after shootings in 7 suburbs across Auckland in one night.
If you don't live in Auckland, you seriously cannot understand what's going on.
Now you walk back the talk-back. About time you realise the limits of your knowledge and personal experience.
So, now talk-back is like a dog whistle that can only be heard & understood properly by Aucklanders who live in ‘the war zone’?
You’ve confirmed your confirmation bias, again.
Apparently, David Parker is a part-time Aucklander, but he may not live in the ‘right’ area to understand, which makes him ‘tone deaf’, allegedly.
"Now you walk back the talk-back. About time you realise the limits of your knowledge and personal experience."
I didn't walk anything back. I would have thought 'widespread disgust' was a fairly strong claim?
And yes I understand unless you've living it, it's hard to comprehend it. It's so much easier to snipe away about 'talk-back' and 'dog whistles' rather than actually accept we have a problem.
And Parker didn’t accept there’s a problem or he denied it? Now, who’s hearing things??
You have no idea where I’m living and what I experience in terms of violent crime and killings by shootings on an all too regular basis – it is not a fucking competition – and frankly it doesn’t matter because no matter what has happened in my area I still don’t see Parker’s interview in the same bad light as you do nor do I see this Government’s efforts on crime and gun laws in particular as failures or denials of a huge problem. Far from it. The big difference is that I don’t have your confirmation bias and negative attitudes.
"And Parker didn’t accept there’s a problem or he denied it? "
Oh he knows there's a problem, their polling will be telling them, which makes his flippant remark all the sillier.
"I still don’t see Parker’s interview in the same bad light as you do nor do I see this Government’s efforts on crime and gun laws in particular as failures or denials of a huge problem. "
Which makes you as out of touch as Parker's comments made him look.
Got it, because people don’t swallow the same memes from talk-back and don’t see things your way they’re ‘tone deaf’, ‘out of touch’, and ‘sniping’ at the truth-seekers & truth-speakers of MSM. You know that these labels and accusations say a lot about you, don’t you? Don’t forget to lock the doors tonight and to set the alarm.
No it's the denial of reality. You can't see it see it because you’re doing it.
😀
"Sensationalising news ≠ making it all up"
I would say that claiming media reports were 'Not a reflection of reality' is tantamount to saying they are making it all up. Wouldn't you?
[You would say that because you make up your own narrative here. It doesn’t change the fact that you are twisting KJT’s words.
Sensationalising, radicalising, ramping up, embellishing, magnifying, propaganda, et cetera, don’t mean making it all up, i.e., ab initio, but twisting and distorting reality, just as you do here with KJT’s words. You know full well that there’s always a kernel of truth and a foundation of truth, quite often the iceberg under the surface. So, don’t be smart arse here playing your smart arse game with us and implying that KJT is some kind of media conspiracy nutter.
The media know what they’re doing and it is not writing Sci-Fi or D&D Fantasy:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018806015/media-ramp-up-angst-over-arming-police
What media are very good at is making up sensational attention-drawing headlines and other click-bait because that helps them to make money. If you can’t keep up here then pull out – Incognito]
Mod note
"It doesn’t change the fact that you are twisting KJT’s words."
I didn't, and I showed you I didn't. KJT's exact words were "Sensational media, is not a reflection of reality.". "Not a reflection of reality' is implying 'making stuff up'. You do this a lot…can't run an argument and then attempt to moderate your way out of it.
[My argument is that you’re twisting KJT’s words, and you do. You left out the operative word here this time, which is “all” and you definitely implied KJT is a media conspiracy nutter. You do this a lot…denying your error of ways and then arguing with moderation when given a warning.
This is your last warning – Incognito]
Mod note
I have.
But then I noticed he simply parrots right wing "gotcha" memes. Like the usual suspects on TS. Obviously what he is paid to do.
You mean he says things that you disagree with?
It doesn't matter what Poto Williams, or any Government MP does. The media bullshit artists, and the ones popping up here will find fault with it.
Totally dishonest.
Poto has given her critics plenty of material. There would be no finding fault if crime wasn't out of control.
Repeating a false meme endlessly doesn't make it true.
But it does make it a genuinely stronger meme.
You think it's a meme? Let's see what other people are calling it.
Crime wave.
Youth crime wave spree
Auckland young people 'out of control' as ram-raids ramp up across city
Brazen crime 'happening everyday' in Auckland's Sandringham quarter
Come and visit Auckland and see it for yourself.
Sensational media, is not a reflection of reality.
"Sensational media, is not a reflection of reality."
No, of course not. They're making it all up. It's a media conspiracy. /sarc.
Sensationalising news ≠ making it all up
Don’t twist people’s words to try score your own cheap lazy point.
Of course I get paid, don't you?
Ridge is just another National Party Poodle. IMHO .