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 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.
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.
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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Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
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).
Hope you enjoyed "discombobulated" Robert, even if Ross did not lol.
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?
https://twitter.com/lachlanp_/status/1529577138428739584
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.
https://twitter.com/crampell/status/1512057450077294599?cxt=HHwWjsC4_aqP9PspAAAA
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.
https://twitter.com/salltweets/status/1529943993240367105
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 .