Fabio Vighi is Professor of Critical Theory at Cardiff University, and author of Critical Theory and the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism.
He reckons it's "time to take the red pill and face reality: since the start of 2020, a macroeconomic virus disguised as a pandemic virus has taken possession of our lives, causing widespread depression and consigning entire populations to often extreme forms of legalized discrimination."
I found no evidence he's a denier of microbiology and his thesis that the control system is using the pandemic as a tool rings true. Folks who prefer to form an overview of situations ought to give his reasoning an appraisal. I'll quote a few interesting parts…
In August 2019, a white paper issued by BlackRock (the all-powerful investment fund already known as the “fourth branch of government”) had shown the Federal Reserve the way out of the coming “dramatic downturn,” urging the US Central Bank to implement an “unprecedented” monetary policy whereby large masses of money created out of thin air were to be delivered “directly into the hands of public and private spenders.” This “going direct” scheme, which according to BlackRock had to be made “permanent,” was promptly inaugurated a month later in response to the repo market crisis.
Since then, and especially after the arrival of Virus, the Fed’s balance sheet has grown by nearly 5 trillion dollars, an absolutely extraordinary expansion even when compared with the QE bailouts started at the end of 2008. And to get an idea of the global dimension of this expansion, we need to add the trillions created by other central banks around the world, as well as programs of fiscal stimulus such as ‘helicopter money.’
…the perverse logic of ‘pandemic capitalism,’ which allowed the top 1% to increase their wealth at record speed, while the middle classes are going missing… Currency depreciation appears to be a feature, not a bug, of central banking. Remember the World Economic Forum’s slogan? You will own nothing, and you will be happy! In short, it is not happening by accident but by design.
What does our macroeconomic environment look like? Its basic features are summarised below:
– Global debt of $300 trillion, growing exponentially
– Rapidly increasing deficits in most advanced and developing economies
– Colossal bubbles in the stock, bond (debt), and real estate markets
– Astronomical bubble in the derivatives market
– Surging inflation with potential for hyperinflation.
Within this explosive context, Virus and variants work as cynical cover stories whose aim is to expedite the authoritarian management of the implosive trajectory of contemporary capitalism, which cannot be contained through economic policy alone. The unrelenting manufacturing of ‘pandemic emergency’ is both a defensive strategy against collapse, and an aggressive attack on what is left of the ‘work society,’ for it allows the elites to use inflation as a means to impoverishment and domination.
The political left has opted to take the blue pill, and, as summarized by Franco Berardi (Bifo), it can only offer false perspectives: “There is no political way out of the apocalypse. For thirty years the left has been the main political instrument of the ultra-capitalist offensive, and whoever invests their hopes in the left is an imbecile who deserves to be betrayed, since betraying is the only activity that the left is capable of performing competently.”
If we want to avoid the coming tsunami of social barbarism we will need, at some point soon, to redefine the relationship between work, community and social wealth beyond its capitalist meaning. To do this we will need to take a third pill, which however will only become available after we organise meaningful popular resistance against socioeconomic tyranny legitimised by ‘emergency capitalism.’
I'm intrigued by his notion of a third pill. He doesn't explain it – and Matrix theory provides just the red/blue binary – but a green pill has aesthetic appeal…
Cheers Dennis for perusing these articles and books and passing on what you find.
I certainly can get put off by sentences with lots of big words but the bite size chunks you share give a lot of food for thought.
This virus has changed folks thinking and not in a good way by my reckoning. If we want to mitigate and adapt to CC challenges then BAU will not suffice. A simpler, humbler way of life, with sharing at the heart of it is what is needed.
5.9% inflation what does that mean ? Someone on $50k last year now in real terms will have had to have spent $3,000 less than in 2020 or obtained an increase of the same, not likely especially as many in the public sector were put on a “pay freeze”. How long can anyone substain such loss in spending power, especially as many of the essential items: rent, petroleum, food etc costs have increased at a higher rate and are inescapable to avoid?
National leader Christopher Luxon says the Government needs to stop spending money on “dumb stuff” in order to arrest rising inflation rates.
Asked for examples of wasteful spending to cut, Luxon pointed to cameras on fishing boats and consultant fees for the Three Waters reform coming out of the Covid-19 budget, and the $51m spent on the cancelled Auckland Harbour cycle bridge.
Cameras on fishing boats are estimated to cost $68m, while the policy costs from the Three Waters programme sit at around $20m. All up these costs make up about 0.1 per cent of the annual Government budget.
Spotify has begun removing Young’s music from its platform after an ultimatum issued by the star earlier this week to the company. Referring to controversial podcasts by Joe Rogan hosted by Spotify, Young said: “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”
Many of Young’s fans and supporters of his stance called for a boycott of the streaming platform, and for other artists to follow his lead. “I stand with Neil Young” and “#CancelSpotify” became rallying calls on social media on Thursday.
The actor and activist Mia Farrow tweeted: “Wow @Spotify you chose to keep creepy, dangerous liar Joe Rodan over the magnificent Neil Young?” There was no immediate sign of other big names in the music industry siding with Young against Spotify – an indication perhaps of its market dominance. Between 2010 and 2020, Spotify’s share of the US music market rose from 7% to 83%.
He went to visit Lynyrd Skynyrd after that was a hit & according to the report I read in RS it went okay. I also read the southern dudes got inappropriate feedback from their fans along redneck lines & the songwriter complained that "in Birmingham they love the governor, we all did what we could do" was too subtle for them…
Young’s anti-GMO rhetoric helped fuel a narrative that made it easy to spread fear and distrust about COVID vaccines, most of which used novel biotechnology methods and some of which use genetic engineering.
Foreign policy wonks have their work cut out. The international rules a small country like Aotearoa rely on are going to stretched, hopefully not beyond breaking point.
”With With this in mind I believe that 2022 will be a year where the transition from the liberal international order to something else will begin to pick up speed and as a result lead to various types of conflict between the old and new guards. What with hybrid or grey area conflict, disinformation campaigns, electoral meddling and cyberwarfare all now part of the psychological operations mix along with conventional air, land, sea and space-based kinetic military operations involving multi-domain command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and robotics (C4ISR2) systems, the ways in which conflict can be engaged covertly or overtly have multiplied. That technological fact means that it is easier for international actors, or at least some of them, to act as disruptors of the global status quo by using conflict as a systemic re-alignment vehicle“
Causes of inflation? When nobody was going anywhere two years ago except in ambulances, fuel prices plummeted. Great! Now with Putin manipulating a big war scare in Eastern Europe, fuel prices have surged. Arguably without covid, fuel may well have been in the 2.75-3.00 dollar a litre by now anyway. Most likely Russia is not invading anyone but it’s return on elevated fuel prices suits it perfectly for very little cost. Hence rapid fuel inflation which feeds on to everything else. But wait, there is a silver lining at least for us with our locally produced electricity, how much more encouragement do you need to go electric?
The other big inflation mover is the huge increase in house building big booms always raise prices, so what do you want, low inflation or not enough houses?
The other big inflation pusher that Hickey does not seem to take into account is that with 2 years of no international holiday travel Kiwis have a shitload ( proper economic term that, when you don’t know the real numbers ) of money lying around going “ spend me, spend me “. The possible real number may be close to his extra 21 billion that he says private NZers have squirrelled away or have spent it at home. How can any of these have been avoided? Almost certainly not, we didn’t get more money from wage subsidies almost certainly less, but we saved a lot of it.
The biggest single factor causing inflation is a 30% rise in fuel prices which has a huge knock on effect.
His claim people are hoarding $21 billion from cancelled overseas trips maybe true but we lost that from tourism as well.
Hickey has overlooked the number of houses being constructed is at record levels 2yrs in a row.
That has helped keep the economy ticking over nicely.
Keeping unemployment down.
Numbers on benefits are up I would say that is because of a reset during covid Nationals nasty attitude to the homeless people not able to access benefits to make their figures look good.That was changed by labour during covid.
This govt made sure homeless had accomodation,healthcare money so they didn't spread covid.
National would have left homeless to their own devices.
What role does OPEC play these days regarding fuel prices then?
We've had low inflation and 'not enough houses for years'.
Low interest rates and a lack of any other appealing asset class are 2 factors that ramped up housing prices.
Whatever the triggers, Hickey is laying out the real facts.
Tourism was supposedly NZ's biggest earner….the economy has survived that becoming irelevant ,no trouble at all.
Hickey appears to be saying the Govt did not assess the economic ramifications of Covid quickly enough.
It looks to me that it became policy to fuel the property ponzi to make GDP look good and compensate for any austerity measures(less spending/more saving)that people may have imposed on…themselves.
The next 18 months will be very interesting…indeed.
Any political theory advocating the weaponising of culture ought to cite as evidence the cultural operations of the CIA throughout history. Spooks doing cultural analysis? Who knew? Fortunately the history is becoming available via declassification:
Thomas W. Braden, the former supervisor of cultural activities at the CIA, explained the power of the Agency’s cultural assault in a frank insider’s account published in 1967: “I remember the enormous joy I got when the Boston Symphony Orchestra [which was supported by the CIA] won more acclaim for the U.S. in Paris than John Foster Dulles or Dwight D. Eisenhower could have bought with a hundred speeches.”
Perched in a privileged ivory tower, disconnected from the real world, embroiled in meaningless academic debates over specialized minutia, or floating in the abstruse clouds of high-minded theory, intellectuals are frequently portrayed as not only cut off from political reality but as incapable of having any meaningful impact on it. The Central Intelligence Agency thinks otherwise… For in an intriguing research paper written in 1985, and recently released with minor redactions through the Freedom of Information Act, the CIA reveals that its operatives have been studying the complex, international trend-setting French theory affiliated with the names of Michel Foucault, Jacques Lacan and Roland Barthes.
The intelligence agency understands culture and theory to be crucial weapons in the overall arsenal it deploys to perpetuate US interests around the world. The recently released research paper from 1985, entitled “France: Defection of the Leftist Intellectuals,” examines—undoubtedly in order to manipulate—the French intelligentsia and its fundamental role in shaping the trends that generate political policy.
So to the historical origin of the triangulation adopted by the Greens towards the twin evils of the left and right:
Greg Grandin, one of the leading historians of Latin America, perfectly summarized this situation in The Last Colonial Massacre: “Aside from making visibly disastrous and deadly interventions in Guatemala in 1954, the Dominican Republic in 1965, Chile in 1973, and El Salvador and Nicaragua during the 1980s, the United States has lent quiet and steady financial, material, and moral support for murderous counterinsurgent terror states. […] But the enormity of Stalin’s crimes ensures that such sordid histories, no matter how compelling, thorough, or damning, do not disturb the foundation of a worldview committed to the exemplary role of the United States in defending what we now know as democracy.”
The author examines how the control system uses the left as dupes:
As we know from the research on the CIA’s program of psychological warfare, the organization has not only tracked and sought to coerce individuals, but it has always been keen on understanding and transforming institutions of cultural production and distribution.
Indeed, its study on French theory points to the structural role universities, publishing houses and the media play in the formation and consolidation of a collective political ethos.
In descriptions that, like the rest of the document, should invite us to think critically about the current academic situation in the Anglophone world and beyond, the authors of the report foreground the ways in which the precarization of academic labor contributes to the demolition of radical leftism. If strong leftists cannot secure the material means necessary to carry out our work, or if we are more or less subtly forced to conform in order to find employment, publish our writings or have an audience, then the structural conditions for a resolute leftist community are weakened. The vocationalization of higher education is another tool used for this end since it aims at transforming people into techno-scientific cogs in the capitalist apparatus rather than autonomous citizens with reliable tools for social critique. The theory mandarins of the CIA therefore praise the efforts on the part of the French government to “push students into business and technical courses.”
So what to do about that? Unusually for a leftist intellectual, he sees a way forward.
develop systemic and radical critique that is as egalitarian and ecological as it is anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist… In direct opposition to the spy agency’s cultural strategy of fragment and polarize, by which it has sought to sever and isolate the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist left, while opposing it to reformist positions, we should federate and mobilize by recognizing the importance of working together—across the entire left… by working together and mobilizing our capacity to collectively create the institutions necessary for a world of cultural leftism.
For the left, the road to hell has always been paved by such good intentions. Translating them into effective action requires praxis (something leftists don't like even thinking about let alone doing) in which individual talent & flair gets synthesised in group contexts to produce collaboration.
Group-think in these contexts can be defeated by intelligent design. Principles and incentives that balance diversity of opinion with mutual commitments and agreed tasks and goals usually achieve likeminded output without infighting. Leadership to steer process towards destination can be both individual & collective. However, in our current context political activists must adapt by leaving the past failures behind them if they are serious about becoming successful…
As an old stale pale male Efeso certainly has my vote. He is a breath of fresh air. The rest of the candidates from both sides of the political divide will, in my view, be mayor of the CBD only, as Goff has proven to be. The rest of the peasantry will be ignored
It maybe a problem for Labour but I suspect they're going to have to suck it up.
Nice bloke though he is, one thing Richard Hill does not have is charisma. Efeso Collins on the other hand has it in spades. Add that to his impressive and rational thinking processes, he should be a shoo-in for the mayoralty. I believe his popularity would also transcend the Labour Party and if Labour tries to undermine him then it would likely be to their detriment.
So, the government planned to have the RAT tests available for sale in New Zealand weeks ago.
And, as the article points out, the MOH has been far too slow on approving test suppliers. Absolutely unacceptable:
"Wallis Keiller's Invitrocue rapid antigen test is banned in New Zealand – it doesn't have Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's blessing, and very few do. It's a saliva rapid antigen test that links up to an app for a result. While approved by Germany's tough medical regulator, it's not approved here…..Keiller says his tests have a 97 percent accuracy and as soon as he gets signoff he can get loads here quickly."
Yes and they also planned to build 10,000 Kiwibuild houses a year and fix homeless and poverty and a few other things. They can't do everything at once, although they have banned plastic bags from supermarkets.
So our govt has indexed benefits to wage growth. Wage growth last year was 2.4% inflation 5.9% . Everyone faces the same struggle how to survive on less. And this decrease in spending power applies for every year that wages growth is less than inflation. But Grant Robertson said this morning “It’s really challenging people, but an awful lot of it relates to Covid, supply chain and things that unfortunately will work their way through the system this year.” Grant you and your fellow ministers are disconnected with the day to day world the rest of us live in, and our pain is due to YOUR policies.
probably, but people, the country and the health system being in the best possible position is better than letting covid run free (aka not resisting community spread). We also learn more as time goes on. At some point we may well have to make a different set of decisions, but by mid year we will have actual data on omicron and long covid.
yes, what's your point? We're in the process of developing the skills of slowing viruses that are highly contagious. That wills serve us with any new variants that are more infectious (or spread faster).
Further, it appears that there are significant numbers of people getting omicron who have already had covid. There is so much to learn yet about human immunity in response to covid, across a number of areas.
You still aren't addressing long covid, so I will assume it's a case of collateral damage in a strategy of not resisting community spread.
All of which is to say that we don't actually know what the frying pan and the fire are yet.
If "best possible position" had been a serious consideration, then there would have been over two years worth of effective public health policy, and public health messaging on what people might do to optimise their immune system. Instead we got Big Pharma's vaccinate or bust strategy that cleared the table of anything and everything that might hamper 'vaccination for all' while introducing deleterious measures that had scant regard for actual health. It has been 100% medical maleficence.
By mid- year Omicron will have washed through and the acute phase abated because people will have acquired natural immunity from infection. Covid will be endemic because it has multiple reservoirs in mammalian populations.
I'm curious as to what these imaginary skills might be (the stopping or slowing spread ones) – because we already have effective anti-virals that kill the virus (and therefor stop the spread). But they've been variously banned or not publicised. Hell. On an individual level Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo solution is a hugely effective preventative measure if used as a nasal rinse. Listerine is another effective measure if gargled. And yes. The studies have been done and were published over a year ago. And then of course, there's naturally acquired immunity from previous infection…though that was rubbished and discounted by government health agencies "everywhere" until very recently for some reason that had, honest Joe, nothing to do with any crusade.
Have you read up on the decades long health tail off from the Spanish Flu I alerted you to previously? Long Covid isn't a thing – it's Covid. Covid might have multiple health effects that will ripple for decades and that will, for some part, only ever be recognised in retrospect.
Anyway. Enough of combating denial, avoidance and fear for one day.
If Omicron BA.2 gets into the community, in lieu of Omicron BA.1 that it appears to be supplanting, the spread of Covid will be faster than it would have been, and so whatever stresses and strains on infrastructure Omicron BA.1 might have presented will be exacerbated. That was essentially all I was remarking on. Chow.
Seems NZ might have foregone the frying pan for the fire (in terms of health system capacity) by resisting community spread of Omicron BA.1.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion? Still, it will be spreading fast enough within a week or two – no hurry, eh?
Most people infected with COVID-19 will be fine, but some will suffer from various long COVID symptoms, and unvaccinated people are over-represented among the unfortunate few who are hospitalised and/or die with COVID infections. The 7-day moving average for COVID deaths in Australia is ~70 per day.
Not too late to get your booster if you're eligible, and let your immune system bank a little extra protection ahead of the Omicron surge – a prudent precaution, imho.
All of New Zealand is now at Red
Protect yourself and our community by getting boosted, wearing a face mask when out and about and reducing contact with others.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion?
No.
I've merely observed government policy was to keep one variant at bay "because highly transmissible), and we're possibly going to be hit by more transmissible one.
Isn't it NZ government policy (and MoH strategy) to keep all COVID variants at bay? Just thinking how the Team’s successful 'elimination strategy' shifted to a suppression strategy as the virus evolved – adapt or die!
Both the virus and civiisation are in uncharted waters – what next?
The much spruiked income from tourism is bullshit, figures from 10 to 40 billion were being talked about at the start of covid with sensible critics saying maybe 8 to 14. Covid proved them all wrong. A large number of Aussie visitors are kiwis visiting family and they don’t spend that much, the balance particularly from Asia are bought here in vertically integrated systems where pretty much all the trip costs are bought and paid for in their home countries and are to pay for services mostly owned by Asian entities, airlines, buses, accomodation etc and this money doesn’t get banked in NZ , they probably spend far less a day than than ordinary Kiwis on a tiki tour. Also most tourists don’t spend long in NZ, a matter of a few weeks or less, whereas Kiwis travelling take a lot longer on their overseas holidays.
It is not in the industry’s interest in the slightest to have the real numbers revealed, even cruise ship visits are counted as ‘ visitor nights’ when some passengers don’t even get off the boat let alone sleep ashore. This is deceitful accounting and the
reason is the leveraging power of the mythical value to the country. Just listen to the bleating over every little sensible public safety advice or instruction, and the self importance is plain to see. The economy did far better with Kiwis spending their own thwarted trip money locally on having a look around here and then putting the balance in the bank or a bit of a tart-up at home.
Looks good though, as grade separation via tunnelling along half of it works pretty well, and can always redo the southern section later on if need be. Though still need to get the North Shore section nailed down to get the full benefit and get this all started before Labour looses power. So then National can't cancel it as easily due to all the contracts involved :3
But I can sense a mighty whinge arising from National and ACT over this, partly on cost, mainly on "public transport is evils whaaaaaa!". Along with usual moaning about the time it'll take, but given how long certain National done projects (Transmission Gully, Christchurch Rebuild and Northern Motorway, etc) took or are still in progress, despite National's claims about their competency, they don't have a foot to stand on.
Now if only Labour would do the same for Public Housing already… Figure that may happen after the next election, as a Labour-Greens government is highly likely, but we shall see.
Also, I'm rather jealous Auckland's finally getting it's public transport network sorted, because Christchurch's is still kind of shit. Sure, the new bike corridors are nice and more bus lanes have helped, but the bike corridors don't have anywhere near enough reach and buses still get snarled up in rush hour traffic at chokepoints like Riccarton Road etc. But it'll be forever at this rate before heavy and light rail are accepted by ECan.
[your pre-approved user name appears to be […], so please stick with that – Incognito]
[name removed while we discuss this in the back end – weka]
I used to post here years ago, probably under TheMess or The_Mess with the same email address lawl. But depression kicked my arse so I haven't had the energy to engage here in ages…
The Mess, can you please let us know if you want to use The Mess as your username going forward, or if you want to revert back to the one you have used on TS in the past?
No idea sadly, it's mainly been Christchurch City Council pushing for it to become government policy. I probably should go read up the policy, since I now party vote Greens instead of Labour. Because despite their anti-GMO stance, they hit the mark mostly on the other social welfare and climate change stuff.
Our Future of Transport plan would set Aotearoa up for the future by:
Investing in large scale rapid rail to reboot the regions between major cities
Accelerating transformational public transportnetworks within our major cities, including busways, light rail, and rail
Setting up a $1.5 billion Cycle Superhighwayfund to provide safe, separated cycleways, with the capacity to be used by thousands of people each day
Introducing a target date for only zero emission light vehicles to be able to be imported to Aotearoa, and linking this to the date set by the UK, likely to be 2030
Incentivise heavy freight to transition to zero emissions vehicles and be 100% powered by renewable energy by 2050
Setting up a nationwide Go Anywhere transport pass that works on all public transport, and provides access to electric car share, e-bike subscriptions and e-scooters in the main cities across the country
Reducing the cost of public transport by making it free for people over 65, under 18 and community services holders, by reducing the cost by 50% for students, and by setting up weekly payment limits – so no one pays for more than eight rides a week.
National and ACT's response is at the end, and it's just as sad and useless as I suspected:
The National Party has called the plan “a dream.”
“If it ever goes ahead it will be at least $15 billion of wasted spending,” said Simeon Brown, National's transport spokesman.
Brown said, “the number one priority for Aucklanders is a second Harbour Crossing for both public transport and private vehicles.”
The ACT party said it was not opposed to light rail, but disagreed with the approach being taken by the government.
“Auckland is staring down a decade of disruption,” said ACT’s transport spokesman Simon Court.
“Questions need to be asked about whether we could be taking actions today at less cost to deliver light rail in the future. For example, options like investing in the bus network and repurposing it for light rail later could be reconsidered.”
One wonder's how it'll be wasteful Simon, when the return on investment for rail public transit systems in cities is historically very positive. It's also somewhat cheaper than filling Auckland with more highways when Auckland's running out of room for them with out very, very expensive mass buyouts of property for the space. Oh and a 2nd car bridge would result in more congestion due to pumping more cars into the network.
As for ACT, lolwut? Put light rail on bus lanes? Pray tell, how exactly is that meant to work with the sort of infrastructure light rail needs + the problems with high frequency runs vis the lack of grade separation and stations? Never mind the disruption that would entail trying to do.
Oh right, under ACT it would never happen, and instead the bus service would be entirely profit driven and thus stop serving much of Auckland bar the highest usage areas. Because Uber exists and 1 person per car/SUV is oh so much more "freedom" and everyone can totally afford it and to pay Auckland private market rents.
Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras' first female president Thursday in the capital, Tegucigalpa.
Castro, a democratic socialist, won a landslide victory in last year's presidential election after campaigning on a radical agenda to counter years of governance plagued by corruption and scandal. She promised to alleviate poverty and liberalize abortion laws.
Castro's party, the Freedom and Refoundation Party (Libre) won the November 2021 vote with a lead of more than 14 points over her nearest opponent, Nasry Asfura, the capital's mayor and candidate for outgoing President Juan Orlando Hernández's National Party.
Winning 51% of the vote share and 1.7 million votes, Castro garnered the largest number of votes in the country's history, underscoring the public's appetite for change.
Castro's promise to stamp out the systemic problems behind poverty, including economic insecurity, inequality, corruption and violence — some of the root causes of migration to the north — is not only popular with the electorate, but has made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.
Her ascendancy is interesting for several reasons. Her husband was president – ousted by a coup in 2009 – for an establishment party (the liberals).
The party system is dominated by the conservative National Party of Honduras and the Liberal Party of Honduras.
This establishment duopoly prevailed for over a century!
In January 2021, Honduras changed the country's constitution to make it almost impossible to legalize abortion in the future. Before that, Honduras was already one of few countries with a complete ban on abortion. The constitutional reform was supported by Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez's ruling National Party.
She defeated the Nationals decisively – therefore has a mandate to alter that constitutional roadblock to abortion! Imagine the conservative consternation.
'made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.'
BIG…surprise.
'Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company dominated the country's key banana export sector and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925. The writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.'-wiki
'The US intervened in numerous military coups to protect its commercial interests, embedding a conservative, Americanised elite. Contra guerrillas backed by President Ronald Reagan used Honduras as a base to attack Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s.'-Guardian.
Well the Labour Party have found a way to introduce a Capital Gains Tax without calling it that. They are also going to put it on the family home. While they are about it they are going to claim that they are also providing you with the Capital Gain so it won't actually cost you anything.
How do they do it? Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. Aren't you going to be grateful? They will ignore the fact that thanks to their crazy policies the price of all Auckland homes has risen.
Then they will tax you some percentage of this supposed gain because the increase is all due to the tram line. It isn't a capital gain of course. It is a windfall profit according to Robbo. This "windfall' they will tax. They won't even wait till you get it of course. They will tax you…heavily….every year….even if you never use the damn tram.
What is near the line? Well all of New Zealand actually. After all. If you were ever allowed to visit Auckland the tram line would be a sight for you, a tourist, to swoon over. I'm sure you will love to contribute to Robbo's coffers.
There. Simple wasn't it. All we have to do is get it in quickly and line up all the Labour MPs to recite, in unison, and over and over again.
"This is a windfall, it is not a Capital Gain". Repeat this line over and over while interposing at intervals "Thank you Saint Jacinda for the bounty of your windfall".
You obviously haven't read what the Minister concerned has been saying. The "he" in the quote is Michael Wood.
'“It is fair and equitable that those who receive a financial windfall from significant public investment make a contribution to the project. We are clearly signalling that will happen, and that is a live prospect from today,” he said.
Levying properties to fund new infrastructure has already occurred, with new homes in the Milldale Development north of Auckland, paying an extra charge.
.A regime for light rail would be different in that it would apply to existing properties.'
So what are the homes he talks about if they do not include family homes?
"Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. "
A correction:
Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram, that will be patronised by only a handful of people because the public transport system is shit, somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home.
The N95 etc don't seem to take a dye even if dyeing doesn't screw them up. That leaves overmasks, or possibly masquerade masks over the top of the face, lol
Australia is nearly as useless as us so far as RATs are concerned. Pity we didn't hadn't learnt from what they are doing in the UK now, where they have lots of experience with Covid.
"Rapid antigen tests in the UK have individual bar codes which people photograph after taking their free test and upload the result to the NHS website, whether they are negative or positive. This means the health authorities have a clearer idea of the spread of COVID in the community."
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New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
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Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
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In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
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The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
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The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
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A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
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Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
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Fabio Vighi is Professor of Critical Theory at Cardiff University, and author of Critical Theory and the Crisis of Contemporary Capitalism.
He reckons it's "time to take the red pill and face reality: since the start of 2020, a macroeconomic virus disguised as a pandemic virus has taken possession of our lives, causing widespread depression and consigning entire populations to often extreme forms of legalized discrimination."
I found no evidence he's a denier of microbiology and his thesis that the control system is using the pandemic as a tool rings true. Folks who prefer to form an overview of situations ought to give his reasoning an appraisal. I'll quote a few interesting parts…
I'm intrigued by his notion of a third pill. He doesn't explain it – and Matrix theory provides just the red/blue binary – but a green pill has aesthetic appeal…
https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/red-pill-or-blue-pill-variants-inflation-and-the-controlled-demolition-of-society/
When you look at the accelerated scale of Q.E I have no problem entertaining this..theory.
1Trillion dollars=spent @$40 a second,takes 792 years to…spend…!
Cheers Dennis for perusing these articles and books and passing on what you find.
I certainly can get put off by sentences with lots of big words but the bite size chunks you share give a lot of food for thought.
This virus has changed folks thinking and not in a good way by my reckoning. If we want to mitigate and adapt to CC challenges then BAU will not suffice. A simpler, humbler way of life, with sharing at the heart of it is what is needed.
5.9% inflation what does that mean ? Someone on $50k last year now in real terms will have had to have spent $3,000 less than in 2020 or obtained an increase of the same, not likely especially as many in the public sector were put on a “pay freeze”. How long can anyone substain such loss in spending power, especially as many of the essential items: rent, petroleum, food etc costs have increased at a higher rate and are inescapable to avoid?
I refute that!
Are you training to be a Labour candidate??
So all he needs to make his rationale compelling is a top economist agreeing that inflation is caused by 0.1% of the annual govt budget being dumb.
Unfortunately he forgot to call for volunteers to do so. Will they come to his rescue regardless? Watch this space…
Who approved transmission gully ?
You want an example of waste start there….or a vanity flag project.
From stuff — 15% expenditure was for the wage subsidy (which Luxon approved).
That is 150 x the amt that Luxon deems as dumb cause of the inflation.
So really much of the inflation probably comes from the response to covid.
WHO chief backs Neil Young over Covid misinformation row with Spotify: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/27/who-chief-backs-neil-young-over-covid-misinformation-row-with-spotify-joe-rogan
Southern man don't need him around anyhow.
Thanks that's interesting. I will have to do some Googling.
I wonder if Mia Farrow remembers that Neil Young used to be considered dangerous?
I don't, but there is this…
https://www.thedailybeast.com/neil-youngs-long-record-of-spreading-scientific-misinformation
The new international order in 2022.
Foreign policy wonks have their work cut out. The international rules a small country like Aotearoa rely on are going to stretched, hopefully not beyond breaking point.
”With With this in mind I believe that 2022 will be a year where the transition from the liberal international order to something else will begin to pick up speed and as a result lead to various types of conflict between the old and new guards. What with hybrid or grey area conflict, disinformation campaigns, electoral meddling and cyberwarfare all now part of the psychological operations mix along with conventional air, land, sea and space-based kinetic military operations involving multi-domain command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and robotics (C4ISR2) systems, the ways in which conflict can be engaged covertly or overtly have multiplied. That technological fact means that it is easier for international actors, or at least some of them, to act as disruptors of the global status quo by using conflict as a systemic re-alignment vehicle“
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2022/01/redrawing-the-lines/
Causes of inflation? When nobody was going anywhere two years ago except in ambulances, fuel prices plummeted. Great! Now with Putin manipulating a big war scare in Eastern Europe, fuel prices have surged. Arguably without covid, fuel may well have been in the 2.75-3.00 dollar a litre by now anyway. Most likely Russia is not invading anyone but it’s return on elevated fuel prices suits it perfectly for very little cost. Hence rapid fuel inflation which feeds on to everything else. But wait, there is a silver lining at least for us with our locally produced electricity, how much more encouragement do you need to go electric?
The other big inflation mover is the huge increase in house building big booms always raise prices, so what do you want, low inflation or not enough houses?
The other big inflation pusher that Hickey does not seem to take into account is that with 2 years of no international holiday travel Kiwis have a shitload ( proper economic term that, when you don’t know the real numbers ) of money lying around going “ spend me, spend me “. The possible real number may be close to his extra 21 billion that he says private NZers have squirrelled away or have spent it at home. How can any of these have been avoided? Almost certainly not, we didn’t get more money from wage subsidies almost certainly less, but we saved a lot of it.
The biggest single factor causing inflation is a 30% rise in fuel prices which has a huge knock on effect.
His claim people are hoarding $21 billion from cancelled overseas trips maybe true but we lost that from tourism as well.
Hickey has overlooked the number of houses being constructed is at record levels 2yrs in a row.
That has helped keep the economy ticking over nicely.
Keeping unemployment down.
Numbers on benefits are up I would say that is because of a reset during covid Nationals nasty attitude to the homeless people not able to access benefits to make their figures look good.That was changed by labour during covid.
This govt made sure homeless had accomodation,healthcare money so they didn't spread covid.
National would have left homeless to their own devices.
What role does OPEC play these days regarding fuel prices then?
We've had low inflation and 'not enough houses for years'.
Low interest rates and a lack of any other appealing asset class are 2 factors that ramped up housing prices.
Whatever the triggers, Hickey is laying out the real facts.
Tourism was supposedly NZ's biggest earner….the economy has survived that becoming irelevant ,no trouble at all.
Hickey appears to be saying the Govt did not assess the economic ramifications of Covid quickly enough.
It looks to me that it became policy to fuel the property ponzi to make GDP look good and compensate for any austerity measures(less spending/more saving)that people may have imposed on…themselves.
The next 18 months will be very interesting…indeed.
Any political theory advocating the weaponising of culture ought to cite as evidence the cultural operations of the CIA throughout history. Spooks doing cultural analysis? Who knew? Fortunately the history is becoming available via declassification:
So to the historical origin of the triangulation adopted by the Greens towards the twin evils of the left and right:
'defending democracy'..American style….we have to destroy the 'country' to…save it.
The author examines how the control system uses the left as dupes:
So what to do about that? Unusually for a leftist intellectual, he sees a way forward.
For the left, the road to hell has always been paved by such good intentions. Translating them into effective action requires praxis (something leftists don't like even thinking about let alone doing) in which individual talent & flair gets synthesised in group contexts to produce collaboration.
Group-think in these contexts can be defeated by intelligent design. Principles and incentives that balance diversity of opinion with mutual commitments and agreed tasks and goals usually achieve likeminded output without infighting. Leadership to steer process towards destination can be both individual & collective. However, in our current context political activists must adapt by leaving the past failures behind them if they are serious about becoming successful…
The born to rule, rich go to great lengths to maintain the status quo and their….authority.
All the Congress and Senate members being millionaires…helps too.
Two Auckland stories to follow.
The debate for the “Labour” candidate for the mayoralty.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2022/01/efeso-yeah-yeah.html
Light rail for the isthmus.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127610200/watch-live-auckland-light-rail-goes-for-tunnel-option-with-harbour-crossing
As an old stale pale male Efeso certainly has my vote. He is a breath of fresh air. The rest of the candidates from both sides of the political divide will, in my view, be mayor of the CBD only, as Goff has proven to be. The rest of the peasantry will be ignored
Re – the first link:
It maybe a problem for Labour but I suspect they're going to have to suck it up.
Nice bloke though he is, one thing Richard Hill does not have is charisma. Efeso Collins on the other hand has it in spades. Add that to his impressive and rational thinking processes, he should be a shoo-in for the mayoralty. I believe his popularity would also transcend the Labour Party and if Labour tries to undermine him then it would likely be to their detriment.
So, the government planned to have the RAT tests available for sale in New Zealand weeks ago.
And, as the article points out, the MOH has been far too slow on approving test suppliers. Absolutely unacceptable:
"Wallis Keiller's Invitrocue rapid antigen test is banned in New Zealand – it doesn't have Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield's blessing, and very few do. It's a saliva rapid antigen test that links up to an app for a result. While approved by Germany's tough medical regulator, it's not approved here…..Keiller says his tests have a 97 percent accuracy and as soon as he gets signoff he can get loads here quickly."
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/01/omicron-government-planned-to-have-covid-19-rapid-antigen-tests-for-sale-weeks-ago.html
Yes and they also planned to build 10,000 Kiwibuild houses a year and fix homeless and poverty and a few other things. They can't do everything at once, although they have banned plastic bags from supermarkets.
Snark!
🙂
That was more opinion than fact with much loaded and (mis)leading language.
I could not find the Invitrocue rapid antigen test on the list of approved antigen tests in Germany (https://www.bfarm.de/EN/Medical-devices/Tasks/Special-topics/Antigen-tests/_node.html), so that assertion with claimed performance cannot be verified there.
Currently, there are 9 approved RATs in NZ, but none yet for saliva samples (https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-health-advice-public/assessment-and-testing-covid-19/rapid-antigen-testing#business).
So our govt has indexed benefits to wage growth. Wage growth last year was 2.4% inflation 5.9% . Everyone faces the same struggle how to survive on less. And this decrease in spending power applies for every year that wages growth is less than inflation. But Grant Robertson said this morning “It’s really challenging people, but an awful lot of it relates to Covid, supply chain and things that unfortunately will work their way through the system this year.” Grant you and your fellow ministers are disconnected with the day to day world the rest of us live in, and our pain is due to YOUR policies.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/factsheets/budget/factsheet-benefit-indexation-2019.pdf
http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/5/397995#:~:text=%22At%205.9%25%20for%202021%2C,has%20been%20in%20three%20decades.&text=%22With%20wage%20growth%20of%20only,record%20amounts%20of%20government%20spending.
So you pretty much need a 9% wage rise (before tax) to just keep 'treading water'
Hmm. Omicron BA.2 is apparently 50% more infectious than Omicron BA.1 (the original from S.A.).
Seems NZ might have foregone the frying pan for the fire (in terms of health system capacity) by resisting community spread of Omicron BA.1.
meanwhile, long covid, and there's been recent more concern about the impacts of any covid infection on human anatomy and physiology.
You're very sure of yourself on omicron being relatively harmless, but I've yet to see you address the long covid and other issues arising.
You are likely going to catch Covid. – end –
Meanwhile, were you not one of the people expressing terrible concern over NZ health care system's capacity to cope with a rapid spread of Covid?
Further, it appears that there are significant numbers of people getting omicron who have already had covid. There is so much to learn yet about human immunity in response to covid, across a number of areas.
You still aren't addressing long covid, so I will assume it's a case of collateral damage in a strategy of not resisting community spread.
All of which is to say that we don't actually know what the frying pan and the fire are yet.
If "best possible position" had been a serious consideration, then there would have been over two years worth of effective public health policy, and public health messaging on what people might do to optimise their immune system. Instead we got Big Pharma's vaccinate or bust strategy that cleared the table of anything and everything that might hamper 'vaccination for all' while introducing deleterious measures that had scant regard for actual health. It has been 100% medical maleficence.
By mid- year Omicron will have washed through and the acute phase abated because people will have acquired natural immunity from infection. Covid will be endemic because it has multiple reservoirs in mammalian populations.
I'm curious as to what these imaginary skills might be (the stopping or slowing spread ones) – because we already have effective anti-virals that kill the virus (and therefor stop the spread). But they've been variously banned or not publicised. Hell. On an individual level Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo solution is a hugely effective preventative measure if used as a nasal rinse. Listerine is another effective measure if gargled. And yes. The studies have been done and were published over a year ago. And then of course, there's naturally acquired immunity from previous infection…though that was rubbished and discounted by government health agencies "everywhere" until very recently for some reason that had, honest Joe, nothing to do with any crusade.
Have you read up on the decades long health tail off from the Spanish Flu I alerted you to previously? Long Covid isn't a thing – it's Covid. Covid might have multiple health effects that will ripple for decades and that will, for some part, only ever be recognised in retrospect.
Anyway. Enough of combating denial, avoidance and fear for one day.
If Omicron BA.2 gets into the community, in lieu of Omicron BA.1 that it appears to be supplanting, the spread of Covid will be faster than it would have been, and so whatever stresses and strains on infrastructure Omicron BA.1 might have presented will be exacerbated. That was essentially all I was remarking on. Chow.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion? Still, it will be spreading fast enough within a week or two – no hurry, eh?
Most people infected with COVID-19 will be fine, but some will suffer from various long COVID symptoms, and unvaccinated people are over-represented among the unfortunate few who are hospitalised and/or die with COVID infections. The 7-day moving average for COVID deaths in Australia is ~70 per day.
Not too late to get your booster if you're eligible, and let your immune system bank a little extra protection ahead of the Omicron surge – a prudent precaution, imho.
So resisting/slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Kiwi communities is (seems / might be) unwise (frying pan –> fire), in your opinion?
No.
I've merely observed government policy was to keep one variant at bay "because highly transmissible), and we're possibly going to be hit by more transmissible one.
So far government policy has been to keep every variant at bay, because covid kills people.
Isn't it NZ government policy (and MoH strategy) to keep all COVID variants at bay? Just thinking how the Team’s successful 'elimination strategy' shifted to a suppression strategy as the virus evolved – adapt or die!
Both the virus and civiisation are in uncharted waters – what next?
The much spruiked income from tourism is bullshit, figures from 10 to 40 billion were being talked about at the start of covid with sensible critics saying maybe 8 to 14. Covid proved them all wrong. A large number of Aussie visitors are kiwis visiting family and they don’t spend that much, the balance particularly from Asia are bought here in vertically integrated systems where pretty much all the trip costs are bought and paid for in their home countries and are to pay for services mostly owned by Asian entities, airlines, buses, accomodation etc and this money doesn’t get banked in NZ , they probably spend far less a day than than ordinary Kiwis on a tiki tour. Also most tourists don’t spend long in NZ, a matter of a few weeks or less, whereas Kiwis travelling take a lot longer on their overseas holidays.
It is not in the industry’s interest in the slightest to have the real numbers revealed, even cruise ship visits are counted as ‘ visitor nights’ when some passengers don’t even get off the boat let alone sleep ashore. This is deceitful accounting and the
reason is the leveraging power of the mythical value to the country. Just listen to the bleating over every little sensible public safety advice or instruction, and the self importance is plain to see. The economy did far better with Kiwis spending their own thwarted trip money locally on having a look around here and then putting the balance in the bank or a bit of a tart-up at home.
Makes sense.
No wonder the effect of nearly zero international tourists was negiligble.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/460377/auckland-light-rail-tunnel-to-run-to-mt-roskill-before-following-sh20-to-the-airport
So much shade thrown, so much shade.
Looks good though, as grade separation via tunnelling along half of it works pretty well, and can always redo the southern section later on if need be. Though still need to get the North Shore section nailed down to get the full benefit and get this all started before Labour looses power. So then National can't cancel it as easily due to all the contracts involved :3
But I can sense a mighty whinge arising from National and ACT over this, partly on cost, mainly on "public transport is evils whaaaaaa!". Along with usual moaning about the time it'll take, but given how long certain National done projects (Transmission Gully, Christchurch Rebuild and Northern Motorway, etc) took or are still in progress, despite National's claims about their competency, they don't have a foot to stand on.
Now if only Labour would do the same for Public Housing already… Figure that may happen after the next election, as a Labour-Greens government is highly likely, but we shall see.
Also, I'm rather jealous Auckland's finally getting it's public transport network sorted, because Christchurch's is still kind of shit. Sure, the new bike corridors are nice and more bus lanes have helped, but the bike corridors don't have anywhere near enough reach and buses still get snarled up in rush hour traffic at chokepoints like Riccarton Road etc. But it'll be forever at this rate before heavy and light rail are accepted by ECan.
[your pre-approved user name appears to be […], so please stick with that – Incognito]
[name removed while we discuss this in the back end – weka]
Moderation note for you.
Bah, let my name be >_<
I used to post here years ago, probably under TheMess or The_Mess with the same email address lawl. But depression kicked my arse so I haven't had the energy to engage here in ages…
I take that as you wanting The Mess. Just check the name field next time you comment, you will probably have to retype it. Cheers.
The Mess, Glad you are beating The Black Dog. Enjoyed your comments. I agree that National say they are good managers, but facts say otherwise.
The Mess, can you please let us know if you want to use The Mess as your username going forward, or if you want to revert back to the one you have used on TS in the past?
Yeah, I'll take it 😛
I've got my gravatar so it'll work well enough for my purposes.
😎
Nice to have you back.
Good name too. I like it. Wish I'd thought of it.
did the Greens have a plan for Christchurch rail?
No idea sadly, it's mainly been Christchurch City Council pushing for it to become government policy. I probably should go read up the policy, since I now party vote Greens instead of Labour. Because despite their anti-GMO stance, they hit the mark mostly on the other social welfare and climate change stuff.
As part of the 2020 election they announced this plan:
Also connected to the 2020 Future of Transport election priority:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127610200/auckland-light-rail-goes-for-tunnel-option-with-harbour-crossing
National and ACT's response is at the end, and it's just as sad and useless as I suspected:
One wonder's how it'll be wasteful Simon, when the return on investment for rail public transit systems in cities is historically very positive. It's also somewhat cheaper than filling Auckland with more highways when Auckland's running out of room for them with out very, very expensive mass buyouts of property for the space. Oh and a 2nd car bridge would result in more congestion due to pumping more cars into the network.
As for ACT, lolwut? Put light rail on bus lanes? Pray tell, how exactly is that meant to work with the sort of infrastructure light rail needs + the problems with high frequency runs vis the lack of grade separation and stations? Never mind the disruption that would entail trying to do.
Oh right, under ACT it would never happen, and instead the bus service would be entirely profit driven and thus stop serving much of Auckland bar the highest usage areas. Because Uber exists and 1 person per car/SUV is oh so much more "freedom" and everyone can totally afford it and to pay Auckland private market rents.
Right, lunch calls, finally…
Her ascendancy is interesting for several reasons. Her husband was president – ousted by a coup in 2009 – for an establishment party (the liberals).
This establishment duopoly prevailed for over a century!
She defeated the Nationals decisively – therefore has a mandate to alter that constitutional roadblock to abortion! Imagine the conservative consternation.
'made her an attractive ally for US President Joe Biden's administration. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is overseeing the White House's efforts to stem the flow of migrants to the US southern border, was among those in attendance for the inauguration.'
BIG…surprise.
'Honduras, where the United Fruit Company and Standard Fruit Company dominated the country's key banana export sector and associated land holdings and railways, saw insertion of American troops in 1903, 1907, 1911, 1912, 1919, 1924 and 1925. The writer O. Henry coined the term "Banana republic" in 1904 to describe Honduras.'-wiki
'The US intervened in numerous military coups to protect its commercial interests, embedding a conservative, Americanised elite. Contra guerrillas backed by President Ronald Reagan used Honduras as a base to attack Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s.'-Guardian.
I wonder if they shared a banana at the civic reception later? In honour of the grand tradition I mean…
Xiomara: "Did you know your country invaded mine seven times a century ago?"
Kamala: (gulp) "Yes, I got a briefing on the history before I left."
Xiomara: "Seven is the magic number. It cast a godalmighty spell on us. We've been spell-bound ever since."
Kamala: "Well, my president is a wizard with words. He trumped Trump!"
Xiomara: "You think he could do a counter-spell for us?"
Kamala: "You need help with abortion rights. He could talk to the Pope."
Well the Labour Party have found a way to introduce a Capital Gains Tax without calling it that. They are also going to put it on the family home. While they are about it they are going to claim that they are also providing you with the Capital Gain so it won't actually cost you anything.
How do they do it? Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. Aren't you going to be grateful? They will ignore the fact that thanks to their crazy policies the price of all Auckland homes has risen.
Then they will tax you some percentage of this supposed gain because the increase is all due to the tram line. It isn't a capital gain of course. It is a windfall profit according to Robbo. This "windfall' they will tax. They won't even wait till you get it of course. They will tax you…heavily….every year….even if you never use the damn tram.
What is near the line? Well all of New Zealand actually. After all. If you were ever allowed to visit Auckland the tram line would be a sight for you, a tourist, to swoon over. I'm sure you will love to contribute to Robbo's coffers.
There. Simple wasn't it. All we have to do is get it in quickly and line up all the Labour MPs to recite, in unison, and over and over again.
"This is a windfall, it is not a Capital Gain". Repeat this line over and over while interposing at intervals "Thank you Saint Jacinda for the bounty of your windfall".
There, done.
'They are also going to put it on the family home. '
Alwyn,I say alwyn…are you feeling…alright!![surprise surprise](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/omg_smile.png?x42494)
You obviously haven't read what the Minister concerned has been saying. The "he" in the quote is Michael Wood.
'“It is fair and equitable that those who receive a financial windfall from significant public investment make a contribution to the project. We are clearly signalling that will happen, and that is a live prospect from today,” he said.
Levying properties to fund new infrastructure has already occurred, with new homes in the Milldale Development north of Auckland, paying an extra charge.
.A regime for light rail would be different in that it would apply to existing properties.'
So what are the homes he talks about if they do not include family homes?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300505493/properties-around-aucklands-light-rail-likely-to-face-value-capture-tax
You've gone very quiet Blazer? Have your mates embarrassed you? When do you think the PM will quit, or veto Robertson and Wood's little ploy?
Or do you think she will behave like a typical politician and just deny she said it?
It was a revelation alwyn…I would actually like 'Tony Blair ' in high heels to quit.
This 'transformational' Govt is almost as disappointing as the Natz.
"Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home. "
A correction:
Firstly they are going to say that putting in a 19th century design tram, that will be patronised by only a handful of people because the public transport system is shit, somewhere near you is going to put up the value of your home.
If it moves (a train moves) tax it! If it doesn't move (like your house) tax it anyway!
Any thoughts on personalising masks?
The N95 etc don't seem to take a dye even if dyeing doesn't screw them up. That leaves overmasks, or possibly masquerade masks over the top of the face, lol
Australia is nearly as useless as us so far as RATs are concerned. Pity we didn't hadn't learnt from what they are doing in the UK now, where they have lots of experience with Covid.
"Rapid antigen tests in the UK have individual bar codes which people photograph after taking their free test and upload the result to the NHS website, whether they are negative or positive. This means the health authorities have a clearer idea of the spread of COVID in the community."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-government-has-been-found-wanting-once-again-20220104-p59ltc.html
But we are so woefully unprepared so far as RATs go that our government has hit the panic button by diverting supplies away from the private sector.