Open mike 28/06/2019
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7:00 am, June 28th, 2019 - 92 comments
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RNZ has been shining their torch into corners where lobbyists lurk and asking such questions as: Do we like the look of this?and Is this as democratic as it could be?These are most certainly questions worth asking, and every bit as valid as, say:Are we shortchanged democratically by the way ...15 hours ago - This smells
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- Foreign Minister Mahuta to meet with China’s new Foreign MinisterForeign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...2 days ago
- Education Ministers from across the Pacific gather in AotearoaEducation Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...2 days ago
- State Highway 5 reopens between Napier and Taupō following Cyclone GabrielleA vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...2 days ago
- Special Lotto draw raises $11.7 million for Cyclone Gabrielle recoveryInternal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...3 days ago
- Government delivers a $3 million funding boost for Building Financial Capability servicesThe Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...5 days ago
- Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao – new Chair and memberMinister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...5 days ago
- Scholarships honouring Ngarimu VC and the 28th (Māori) Battalion announcedFifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...5 days ago
- Appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeal and Judge of the High CourtHigh Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...5 days ago
- NZ still well placed to meet global challengesThe economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...5 days ago
- Western Ring Route CompleteAucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...5 days ago
- Briefings to Incoming MinistersThis section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...5 days ago
- Teaming up for a stronger, more resilient FijiAotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...6 days ago
- Investment in blue highway a lifeline for regional economies and cyclone recoveryThe Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...6 days ago
- Next steps developing clean energy for NZThe Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...6 days ago
- Statement from the Prime Minister on Stuart NashThis morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...7 days ago
- CPTPP Trade Ministers coming to AucklandThe Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...7 days ago
- Govt approves $25 million extension for cyclone-affected businesses$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...7 days ago
- More than 160,000 new Kiwis to call NZ home80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...7 days ago
- Scholarships propel Kiwi students to NASAThe Government continues to invest in New Zealand’s burgeoning space industry, today announcing five scholarships for Kiwi Students to undertake internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. Economic Development Minister Stuart Nash congratulated Michaela Dobson (University of Auckland), Leah Albrow (University of Canterbury) and Jack Naish, Celine Jane ...7 days ago
- New Zealand to attend regional security meeting in AustraliaThe Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...7 days ago
- Health and safety action plan for portsThe health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...7 days ago
- Bikes and scooters to be exempt from FBTBikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...1 week ago
- Foreign Affairs Minister to reaffirm our close relationship with FijiForeign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...1 week ago
- New legislation to streamline Cyclone recoveryThe Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...1 week ago
- Cost of living package: More bread and butter support for Kiwi familiesApproximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...1 week ago
- Freeing up more government bandwidth and money to focus on the cost of living$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...1 week ago
- State of National Emergency to end for Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s BayThe remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...1 week ago
- Government delivers on Dawn Raids commitmentThe Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...1 week ago
- New plan to increase productivity and high wage jobs across advanced manufacturing sectorIndustry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...1 week ago
- Aotearoa New Zealand supports Pacific countries to combat animal disease New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...2 weeks ago
- A ‘climate change election’ in 2023? Here’s what the polling tells us
The Greens say climate change will be integral to the big decision this year. Toby Manhire explores the data. Devastating, global-warming-exacerbated storms. A new IPCC report laying out the calamitous fireball hurtling our way. And a prime minister jettisoning a host of climate-aligned policies. There is plenty of material for James ...3 hours ago - Viral weight loss drug Ozempic has been approved for use in New ZealandMedsafe has approved applications for Ozempic to be used in New Zealand. How does this new drug work and why is everyone talking about it? What just happened? Last Thursday, New Zealand’s medical regulatory body Medsafe gave consent for Ozempic to be prescribed in New Zealand. The approval is for ...3 hours ago
- Cyclone Gabrielle: Why many in Muriwai can't move on
A month on from Cyclone Gabrielle, many residents in Muriwai are still living in limbo, unable to return to their homes "I can't look back because it's too sad. I can't look forward because it is too daunting." Kat Corbett's Muriwai home remains out-of-bounds more than a month after ...3 hours ago - TOP and the not terribly Teal Deal
TOP leader Raf Manji talks to Nikki Mandow about going teal, and the opportunity for a party that’s pro-business and pro-environment ...3 hours ago - Govt should explain why it rejected our advice – Climate Commission
The Climate Change Commission's chair says the Government's decisions to ignore its advice could weaken the country's most important climate policy. ...3 hours ago - Central Otago subdivision buyers lose the plot
A wave of council rule rewrites drives section buyers to give up and look elsewhere ...3 hours ago - Beware of coconut oil salesmen
Coconut plantations are far from being ‘natural’ environments, coconut oil is high in saturated fats, and, despite the advertising, most of the global supply of coconut oil doesn’t come from the Pacific Islands either Opinion: Coconut oil has gained a halo as a natural health product, with claims it can ...3 hours ago - New Orleans’ lesson on fallible flood defences: Let's not ‘build back better’
Post-cyclone, where we rebuild and where we don't is the first challenge ...3 hours ago - Sympathy cards and the lessons of birds
An author on the death of a baby and "a calm respectful grace" The normal world was out there. The clocks and the jobs and the traffic and the mortgages and the death. Especially the death. Death in suburbia means funerals with piped fake Celtic music despite the fact ...3 hours ago - The long road to Paris' rebound
One of New Zealand’s brightest young netball talents, Paris Lokotui has returned to the court 10 months after a knee reconstruction. Now she hopes her tough journey back paves a better way for other Māori and Pasifika players. Paris Lokotui remembers the moment time stood still. The 21-year-old was playing ...3 hours ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 22 March
Loading...(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. ...4 hours ago - Daily crossword, Wednesday 22 March
...4 hours ago - Some Pacific nations ‘won’t survive’ if NZ and world drop the climate ball
By Hamish Cardwell, RNZ News senior journalist There is “is much to win by trying” to take action on climate change — that is a key finding in a major new international climate report the UN chief is calling a “survival guide for humanity”. It is something of a mic ...9 hours ago - Hipkins and Luxon hit the road: A taste of campaign 2023
A pōwhiri, a pie, and a grilling from primary school kids: Today was the day the boy from the Hutt who grew up to be prime minister went home for a visit. ...12 hours ago - How can Australia pay $368 billion for new submarines? Some of the money will be created from thin a...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Australia’s decision to buy three nuclear-powered submarines and build another eight is so expensive that, for the A$268 billion to $368 billion price tag, we could give a million dollars ...14 hours ago
- Australia’s 116 new coal, oil and gas projects equate to 215 new coal power stationsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Denniss, Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Australia has 116 new coal, oil and gas projects in the pipeline. If they all proceed as planned, an extra 1.4 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases would be released into ...14 hours ago
- Chris Hipkins and Justin Trudeau discuss 'shared priorities'Prime Minister Chris Hipkins spoke with his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau this afternoon. ...15 hours ago
- Public Sector Managers Growing At Twice The Rate Of Frontline Workers
Figures unearthed by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union reveal that the growth in public sector managers is almost twice that of frontline social, health and education workers. Since 2017, the frontline workforce for social services, health and education ...15 hours ago - What Australia could learn from New Zealand about Indigenous representationSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University A referendum will be held later this year to enshrine a First Nations’ Voice to Parliament into the Australian constitution. ...15 hours ago
- Taoist rituals via video call and Tarot readings over WeChat: China’s spiritual market is going di...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Haoyang Zhai, PhD Candidate, The University of Melbourne Alexander Schimmeck/Unsplash Since its inception in 1921, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has officially promoted an atheist and materialist ideology. But belief systems in China are making a comeback – and ...16 hours ago
- Scott Robertson appointed the next All Black coach (after the current one)Scott Robertson has been announced successor to Ian Foster as head coach of the All Blacks, completing a controversial and highly idiosyncratic appointment process. He will assume the role in 2024, following the world cup at the end of this year. The contract for the breakdancing current coach of the ...16 hours ago
- Concerns Expressed For Anti-Trans Activist Plans For New Zealand VisitMulticultural New Zealand (MNZ) has expressed concern about events scheduled to take place in Auckland and Wellington on March 25th and 26th, respectively. The events will feature British anti-transgender activist, Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull. MNZ is ...16 hours ago
- Race Relations Day To Focus On Empowering Inspirational Leadership From YouthRace Relations Day is celebrated annually in New Zealand on March 21st to promote and celebrate diversity, inclusivity, and harmony among different cultural, ethnic, and religious groups. As part of Race Relations Day 2023, Multicultural New Zealand ...16 hours ago
- Mayor Wayne Brown’s Comments Concerning Says Library AssociationAuckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s suggestion to make council budget cuts by reducing staffing hours and replacing librarians and library assistants with volunteers is concerning says New Zealand’s library association. “Limiting access to the valued ...16 hours ago
- Google and Microsoft are bringing AI to Word, Excel, Gmail and more. It could boost productivity for...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mohiuddin Ahmed, Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock Google and Microsoft are on a mission to remove the drudgery from computing, by bringing next-generation AI tools as add-ons to existing services. On March 16, Microsoft announced an ...16 hours ago
- Wayne Brown’s interviews since being elected mayor, rankedThe Auckland mayor’s decision to keep the media at arm’s length makes every interview he does grant a rare and exciting event, like a new Avatar movie. Stewart Sowman-Lund ranks them all from least to most exciting. Wayne Brown has a well-reported lack of affection for the media. In his ...17 hours ago
- Papuan liberation group calls for more ‘serious’ global efforts to end violenceTabloid Jubi in Jayapura The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has called on the international community to “pay serious attention” to the escalated violence happening in West Papua. Head of ULMWP’s legal and human rights bureau, Daniel Randongkir, said that since the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) ...17 hours ago
- IPCC report: world must cut emissions and urgently adapt to climate realitiesANALYSIS: By Bronwyn Hayward, University of Canterbury This decade is the critical moment for making deep, rapid cuts to emissions, and acting to protect people from dangerous climate impacts we can no longer avoid, according to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The synthesis report ...17 hours ago
- Labour now leads National across five pollsAcross five of the latest polls for which results are published, Labour now has an edge over National. A new Talbot Mills poll, as reported by the Herald, has Labour up four points to 37%, with National down two points to 34%. The results, which draw on fieldwork across the first ...18 hours ago
- WWF Calls For The Government To Accelerate Action To Phase-out Fossil Fuels, Slash Emissions, And Re...Statement from Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, WWF-New Zealand CEO Today's IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Synthesis Report (AR6) highlights that an accelerated phase-out of fossil fuels is the best way to avoid the planet overshooting 1.5°C and risking total climate ...18 hours ago
- A day in the life of a children’s librarianThe first in a two-part series revealing insights into the working life of a librarian. For privacy reasons, all names – including place names – have been changed. Te Whare Pukapuka o Poutama is a composite library. It’s 9.30AM on a mid-January Monday, high summer, school holidays. Kaitiaki Pukapuka ...18 hours ago
- Our mysterious night parrot has terrible vision – but we discovered it might be able to hear like...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elen Shute, Researcher, Flinders University One bird bucks the stereotype of Australia’s raucous parrots – the mysterious and critically endangered night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis). Rather than flying around in noisy flocks or eating fruit in trees, the night parrot roosts all day ...18 hours ago
- No, gamblers don’t ‘need’ cash. Our research isn’t an argument against cashless gaming refor...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sally Gainsbury, Deputy Director, Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, University of Sydney shutterstock The Perottett government’s promise to introduce mandatory “cashless gambling” in New South Wales by 2028 – something for which anti-gambling activists and public-health ...18 hours ago
- Funding For Roads At Lowest Levels In A DecadeLocal Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is warning that the state of our roads could be the next infrastructure crisis if the Government does not adequately fund maintenance costs. LGNZ commissioned a report by one of the country’s leading economists, Brad ...18 hours ago
- Police Minister Ginny Andersen vows to focus on community safetyGinny Andersen, who was named in the role yesterday, says she will be working every day to make sure New Zealanders feel safer. ...18 hours ago
- Consumer Pulse: Kiwis Tighten Spend As They Face Financial StressToday Canstar is proud to release its second Consumer Pulse report, which delves into the financial worries, hopes and dreams of more than 20,000 New Zealanders over the past two years. The report, released annually, tracks Kiwis’ finances and reveals ...19 hours ago
- Australia’s electric vehicle numbers doubled last year. What’s the impact of charging them on a ...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thara Philip, E-Mobility Doctoral Researcher, The University of Queensland The number of electric vehicles (EVs) in Australia doubled in 2022 and Tesla’s Model 3 emerged as the best-selling mid-size car, the first time an EV has held this title. Despite these headlines, ...19 hours ago
- A Greyhound Will Face Full Tail Amputation Following A Race Meeting In ChristchurchSAFE is again urging the Government to ban greyhound racing sooner rather than later, following a raft of severe injures in Christchurch yesterday. Sugar rose suffered a severe tail injury yesterday at Addington raceway. Her tail was partially amputated ...19 hours ago
- PM Chris Hipkins speaks to media after visiting his old primary schoolPrime Minister Chris Hipkins is speaking to media following a visit to his old primary school. ...19 hours ago
- Industry Lobbying Influence A Major Brake On Government Action – GreenpeaceIn the wake of revelations that Chris Hipkins' chief of staff, Andrew Kirton, lobbied against the Container Return Scheme on behalf of the liquor industry shortly before the scheme was scrapped by the Prime Minister, Greenpeace is calling for the scheme ...19 hours ago
- Why peace negotiations haven’t gained any traction in the Ukraine war – and how the stalemate co...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Komesaroff, Professor of Medicine, Monash University Libkos/AP/AAP A year after Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is in ruins. At least 8,000 civilians have died, with millions displaced. Generations of infrastructure have been destroyed. Large tracts of the environment and agricultural land ...19 hours ago
- Watch live: PM Chris Hipkins speaks to media after visiting his old primary schoolPrime Minister Chris Hipkins is speaking to media following a visit to his old primary school. ...19 hours ago
- The Opportunities Party Announces A $1.5b Investment In Our Future Generations With The Teal DealThe Opportunities Party have proposed a new Teal Deal between taxpayers and young Kiwis - which includes fully-funded healthcare and public transport, and a Kiwisaver kickstarter in exchange for national civic service. Raf Manji, Leader of The Opportunities ...20 hours ago
- Why is it so hard to combine biking with public transport in Auckland?There are plenty of practical ways the city could make multi-modal transport more accessible – but have they all been consigned to the too-hard basket? How can Auckland start mitigating its impact on the climate crisis? Our biggest city’s sustainable solution must start with transport, its number one source of ...20 hours ago
- Parliament Must Seize Chance To Unlock Natural Health Products’ Billion-dollar PotentialLong overdue legislation to unlock the economic and export potential of natural health products must not accidentally add more red tape that harms the growing sector and consumers, industry body Natural Health Products New Zealand told Members of ...20 hours ago
- Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Shining a bright light on lobbyists in politicsAnalysis by Dr Bryce Edwards. Political Roundup: Shining a bright light on lobbyists in politics Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Four out of the five people who have held the top role of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff since 2017 have been lobbyists. That’s a fact that should worry anyone who ...20 hours ago
- Chernobyl was history’s worst nuclear disaster. Now it’s teaching geologists about the history o...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Fougerouse, Research Fellow, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences and The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Curtin University Shutterstock Thirty-seven years ago, on April 26 1986, the reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant suffered a catastrophic meltdown. In ...20 hours ago
- NZ Chiropractors Voice Opposition To Therapeutic Products BillThe New Zealand Chiropractors’ Association (NZCA) will today (21st March 2023) tell Parliament’s Health Select Committee that the profession opposes the proposed Therapeutic Products Bill in its entirety in its present form and in particular its ...20 hours ago
- The Bulletin: Multiple options for avoiding worst of climate breakdownThe final Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the climate crisis came out this morning. The report contains no new science but is a summary of eight years of research by hundreds of scientists and the last three IPCC reports published in August 2021, February and April 2022 ...21 hours ago
- Police accept IPCA report into incident at Tauranga CourtBay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson: Police accept the findings by the Independent Police Conduct Authority into an incident involving an officer who tasered a man in the cells at Tauranga District Court in February 2019. ...21 hours ago
- Womad review: Summer finally gets a festival worth shouting aboutFew festivals have escaped the summer of 2023 unscathed. Before the sun blessed Womad with a rare guest appearance, the Taranaki festival got a drenching too. According to my pink and blue wristband, we were partying like it was “2022”. That was the first sign that things haven’t been going ...21 hours ago
- https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2303/S00159/.htm...21 hours ago
- PVA To Appear At The Health Select Committee Today To Express ‘Grave Concern’ About Therapeutic ...Patient Voice Aotearoa’s Dr Malcolm Mulholland will today at 3.30 appear before the Health Select Committee to voice opposition to parts of the Therapeutic Products Bill on behalf of Kiwi patients. “The Bill threatens to obstruct access to unfunded ...21 hours ago
- Banking Union Calls For Levy On Bank ProfitsFIRST Union, the union for bank workers across New Zealand, is supporting calls for an immediate inquiry into bank profits and proposing a levy on excess profits to fund the establishment of a Ministry of Green Works . The March 2023 KPMG Financial ...21 hours ago
- Prime Minister Chris Hipkins responds to revelations chief of staff led lobbying firmPrime Minister Chris Hipkins says there is a need for "transparency and vigilance" around lobbyists and their relationships with politicians. ...22 hours ago
- IPCC report: the world must cut emissions and urgently adapt to the new climate realitiesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Hayward, Professor of Politics, University of Canterbury Earth Negotiations Bulletin, CC BY-ND This decade is the critical moment for making deep, rapid cuts to emissions, and acting to protect people from dangerous climate impacts we can no longer avoid, ...22 hours ago
- Why isn’t cervical screening free for everyone?There is a growing campaign to remove the costs associated with cervical screening in Aotearoa. Alex Casey explains. What’s all this then? In July, Aotearoa is getting a big shiny new cervical screening programme after years and years and years of delays. The dreaded three-yearly smear test will be exchanged ...23 hours ago
- Satellites and space junk may make dark night skies brighter, hindering astronomy and hiding stars f...Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Heim, PhD researcher, University of Southern Queensland ESA Since time immemorial, humans around the world have gazed up in wonder at the night sky. The starry night sky has not only inspired countless works of music, art and poetry, ...23 hours ago
- Labor is odds-on for a narrow victory in NSW election, but it is far from a sure betSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andy Marks, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Strategy, Government and Alliances, Western Sydney University Bianca de Marchi/AAP A gambler would probably feel the odds favour a Labor win at the upcoming New South Wales election. But, as Scott Morrison proved in 2019, underdog ...23 hours ago
- How bad is vaping and should it be banned?Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Lee, Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne), Curtin University nery zarate/unsplash, CC BY-SA Vaping regularly makes headlines, with some campaigning to make e-cigarettes more available to help smokers quit, while others are keen to see vaping products ...23 hours ago
- NZ universities are not normal Crown institutions – they shouldn’t be ‘Tiriti-led’Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic O’Sullivan, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University Shutterstock As part of its aspiration to be “Tiriti-led”, the University of Otago has embarked on a consultation ...23 hours ago
- Gen Z grew up in a world filled with ugly fashion – no wonder they love their CrocsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Brayshaw, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney 1MilliDollars/Unsplash In 2017, Julia Hobbs of British Vogue declared Crocs “have an unrivalled ability to repel onlookers and induce sneers”. But over the two decades since the notoriously ugly shoes were ...23 hours ago
- Is it time for more transparency on lobbyists?A new investigation on the role of lobbyists raises fresh questions about whether we need better disclosure of who they are and who they work for, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...24 hours ago
- Why Grater Goods is using equity crowdfunding to expandFlip Grater decided to give up her career in music to pursue her other passion of vegan delicatessens. Now, her meat-free versions of chorizo, pastrami, and turkey have launched her business and landed her products in foodstuffs supermarkets. She talks to Simon Pound about Grater Goods’ rapid success, and expanding ...1 day ago
- IPCC Report Shows 2023 Is A ‘Now Or Never’ Climate Election“This is it; 2023 will be the last opportunity New Zealand has to get a government that will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands,” says the Green Party’s co-leader and climate change spokesperson, James Shaw. Speaking after ...1 day ago
- IPCC Report A Wake-up Call For Hipkins As Climate Election ApproachesToday the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, released its ‘synthesis report’, summarising six previous reports. Greenpeace says that the latest report confirms the industrial drivers of climate change, its dire planetary impacts, and ...1 day ago
- Prime Minister’s chief of staff Andrew Kirton led lobbying firm that fought against reforms now bi...Prime Minister's chief of staff came directly from leading a lobbying firm that argued against alcohol reforms that have now been ditched. ...1 day ago
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This is like the wolf asking sheep to come to him with complaints about the grass.
I don't believe Andrew King has a clue about what life is like on the ground for tenants in this sad, sad country.
If he thinks tenants are going to risk being kicked out in this environment for asking owners to comply with the law he is ignoring the truth. The truth is wrongful evictions are almost never prosecuted, and owners hide behind the obscurity of loose law which benefits them and which it is King's very purpose in life to protect.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2019/06/tenants-shouldn-t-be-afraid-to-dob-in-uninsulated-homes-property-investors-federation.html
And some have been left uninsulated at the request of the tenant, King says.
"We have heard of people, tenants who didn't want the property insulated because they didn't want the rent to go up, so they wanted it delayed as much as possible. And I think… some have left it a little bit too late.”
God this guy annoys me. This ^^ implies that investors breaking the law are just trying to please their tenants. Bring on the crash
"We have heard of people, tenants who didn't want the property insulated because they didn't want the rent to go up"
Informed consumers making a rational decision to be cold and sick rather than homeless. Awesome – the market is working perfectly!
A + AB. That quote from King sounds exactly like something The Chairman would say and use to justify his fake concern for the poor.
subject: Why are we functionally extinct!? content: We're in exponential climate change right now. weather disruption events are worsening weekly. Earth is in a transition phase towards a new hotter thermal balance replacing our current biosphere
Sea Wanderer 1 month ago (edited)
We are already functionally extinct, it just hasn't sunk in, yet! Our life support is dying right in front of our very eyes. All because we couldn't even conceive of living in balance and harmony with Gaia.
Guy McPherson – Facing Functional Extinction
We're dooooomed!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRHOcWj–cs
Exponential climate change plus the 6th mass extinction now in full swing = doom in my book!.I know we're supposed to be above all those natural processes but actually we depend 100% on the dying natural world.
MacPherson offers nothing but doom, gloom, anxiety and depression. He does nothing to improve the situation by offering pathways to improvement, he is actively a part of making things worse by spreading the implicit message that any effort to make things better is pointless.
We would all be better off if he just STFU and retreated to his little remote sanctuary. Failing that, others can refrain from spreading his harmful message.
but is he wrong?
It doesn't matter whether he's wrong, if you give a shit about humanity.
It’s time to change the climate disaster script. People need hope that things can change:
Im not sure who it was but somebody said that 30 years of not scaring the horses obviously hasnt worked so maybe its time for some honesty….McPherson may overstate things and be fatalist but Im not convinced his predictions are any more innaccurate than say the IPCC with all their faults and vested interest influence…as I have noted elsewhere the curious thing is that McPhersons timeframe is becoming daily more mainstream
All McPherson is saying is that there's no point in doing anything so you might as well vote for right-wing parties and devote the years you have left to hedonism, or more to the point, nihilism. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.
he says a little more than that however the question was is his analysis of the possible impact wrong….it wasnt how we should address the problem, that is a different question
Leaving aside for the moment the inadvisability of accepting declarations of impending doom from people unqualified to make such declarations, my concern is with the political implications.
Even if we assume that the doom-mongering is accurate, a fuckwit who persuades everyone that there's no point in doing anything about climate change, so they might as well embrace nihilism, would make the impending extinctions far more extensive than they otherwise would be. What the fuck is that for a personal ambition?
From the RationalWiki link, it appears getting doomer groupies to fuck him (and maybe even the horse he rode in on) may indeed be part of McPherson's motivation for being a cult leader.
Oh, right, business as usual in the cult industry. I guess it's obvious when you think about it.
I suspect hes a little more qualified than yourself and if hes a cultist hes not a nihilist, more a fatalist…however as stated his proscribed response is not the issue rather its his analysis of the impacts.
He has a long history of making predictions of doom and turning out wrong.
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Guy_McPherson#Predictions
While he's still got nearly 7 and a half years to run on his Nov 2016 prediction of humans completely gone in 10 years, that's looking extremely implausible
Fair enough…not a good record but curiously the mainstream (climatologists) predictions are increasingly closing in on his timeframes….he may well be an alarmist who cherry picks his sources but it is looking increasingly that his stated timeframes are more accurate than those of the "official line " until very recently…McPherson hasnt changed but most others have
" … not a good record … " is a remarkably charitable description of 100% failure.
" … curiously the mainstream (climatologists) predictions are increasingly closing in on his timeframes …"
You want to back that up? Coz from here it looks like a completely evidence free assertion at odds with the real situation.
https://www.livescience.com/65633-climate-change-dooms-humans-by-2050.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/27/india/india-water-crisis-intl-hnk/index.html
https://www.livescience.com/65524-antarctica-ice-unstable.html
a brief selection….the potential triggers are multiple
From your first link: " …Published by the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration in Melbourne (an independent think tank focused on climate policy) and authored by a climate researcher and a former fossil fuel executive," – mainstream, huh? Or more doomers cherry-picking and distorting?
Your second link – millions of people becoming even further water-stressed in what was already an extremely water-stressed area with very high population growth is not an example of McPherson being more accurate than mainstream researchers. Nor is it the harbinger of a coming unforeseen apocalypse wiping out all of humanity. It's something that's been predicted for a long time by mainstream researchers. Hell, one of my first year geography assignments nearly 40 years was very nearly on this exact topic.
Your third link – accelerated collapse of part of the Antarctic ice sheet is an example of McPherson being more accurate than mainstream researchers? You think this is going to bring about McPherson's claims of all humanity getting wiped out within the next decade? Are you fucking serious?
every example is indicating acceleration of impact (ahead of prediction) and consequently reduced scope to adjust…..this is the regular theme from almost every study released in recent time….the models are increasingly lagging real time effects…you may choose to dismiss that data however those analysing it and writing the papers are moving closer to McPhersons position by the day
McPherson's position is total extinction of all humans within 10 years.
Nobody with any credibility whatsoever is moving to anything remotely near a position like that. Claiming they are moving towards McPherson's position is like me claiming my financial position is moving closer to Warren Buffet's financial position – it may be technically correct, but we’re so far apart it’s a ludicrously idiotic claim to make.
we have gone from nothing to worry about this side of 2100 to we're not confident that organised society will survive a generation….you must be making shitloads if your comparrison is in any way relevant
…and an aside , Indias population has doubled since your study
Doomer fantasists might not be confident about organised society surviving a generation. However, doomers have been around since forever, yet here we still are.
again. the point is you may dismiss McPherson as a doomer fantasist…my point is that increasingly more and more mainstream scientists are publicly (pertinent) echoing him…. at what point do you you consider those opinions something more than doomer fantasy?
Which mainstream scientists are echoing McPherson? Which ones? Some things happening at the faster end of predicted ranges is not a case of mainstream scientists echoing McPherson, unless you're a doomer fantasist.
Again, McPherson's position is total extinction of all humans within 10 years. Which mainstream scientists are saying anything even vaguely resembling that?
Read the studies…the common theme is the modelled predictions are proving to be grossly conservative and impacts that were predicted to occur late century are occurring now or expected near term
Which mainstream scientists are echoing McPherson by suggesting total extinction of all humans within 10 years? Which ones? Links, please.
The tropics becoming uninhabitable by humans is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively anything like total extinction of all humans. Sea level rise of 50m from loss of all Greenland, Himalayan, and West Antarctic ice is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively anything like total extinction of all humans. The massive societal disruptions caused by massive migration of billions of climate refugees is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively anything like total extinction of all humans.
So, Pat, which mainstream scientists are echoing McPherson in suggesting total extinction of all humans within 10 years. Or even a similar order of magnitude timescale? Names and links, please. Or are you just full of shit?
Matthew 13:57
And they took offence at Him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honour."
Hang in there, Johnm. On the balance of probability, Guy MacPherson is right – but too many people are afraid to admit it. Why try to fix the planet now if we can put it off until next Tuesday?
Guy Mcpherson's 5 minute representation to NYC committee on climate change:
(The ignored exist'l severe risk)
[Deleted long string of text. The complete comment is a copy & paste job. When you quote, please use quotation marks. Never quote the whole text, especially when it is long, but select the most telling part(s) to pique people’s interest. Use font style for emphasis if necessary. Always provide a link to the original source, e.g. http://arctic-news.blogspot.com/2019/06/its-time-to-pursue-hospice-by-guy-mcpherson.html – Incognito]
lol mac fearsum is flawesome – what a dude lol
Doomer cult hero says doom is coming – yawn.
Weather chaos and climate disaster round the globe – 26 June, 2019
yeah surprise surprise
News flash weather has been reported around the world today with startling results. Based on past results some weather is close to average, some well below average some well above average One person did note as weather probability is a continuous variable the possibility of average is zero Mean while in NZ a new band is being formed by Johnm Paul and Ed with Ringo expected to join soon, however there are strong rumours that John Paul Ed and soon to be Ringo may simply be one artist
Yawn, Stretch, lovely day in Auckland Ed/Paul
I hope that you Auckland residents, currently being told about the wonderful advantages you get from trams and trains, will note this item on the RNZ news this morning.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/393138/ice-causes-delays-on-hutt-valley-and-wairarapa-trains
Because of the dreadful weather we are having in Wellington today train services through the Hutt Valley to Wellington are being disrupted and delays are occurring. They aren't really major but people with early meetings aren't going to make their appointments.
Still, Ms Genter will tell us it is all for the best. Trains are much more reliable and faster than taking your car into the city. And it really isn't the fault of the train services when such a dreadful spell of weather disrupts the service is it?
Just don't expect your wonderful tram service, organised at such enormous expense by that great man Twyford, to get you to somewhere near the airport if you are planning to fly out of Auckland in 20 years time when it is completed.
Mind you, I’m not actually sure which is worse. Is it today’s hold up because of the cold or was it what happened earlier in the year because of the terrible heat wave?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018680306/wellington-trains-halted-in-heat-thousands-stranded
Auckland residents know all too well their motorway system is regularly paralysed several times a month due to single incidents. Sometimes even a simple breakdown is enough delay many tens of thousands of vehicles for hours in the morning when people are trying to make 'meetings and appointments', or in the afternoons when people are trying to get home to their families.
This includes the South Western motorway which connects to Auckland International Airport. Many a flight has been missed because of short-sighted, road-centric thinking.
umm…………..Alywin, its a beautiful day in Wellington today?????
And its not as if people don't make early meetings in Wellington and Ak cause they are sitting in their cars, traffic building up because of a nasty accident…………
umm…………..Ankerwank,I know.because I live here"
Isn't it amazing how easily disrupted train travel is though? At least on roads there is a possibility of taking another route.
This is wilful ignorance, but then that is your specialty. Other routes don't suddenly free up when there's a motorway incident.
The notional road network in Alwn's head is perfect, like a market. It tends to equilibrium, one route involves too great a cost in time? Then demand drops and substitution with other routes occurs – as demand drops on the original route, the time cost diminishes and the whole things settles into balance with gorgeously happy motorists scurrying along to their incredibly fulfilling well-paid jobs where they "align the vision" and "drive efficiencies in best practice service delivery" while "collaborating with an intense win-win focus". It's all fabulous – why would you complain?
I am tempted to reprise your own comment made at 8.53 am in the material about the Cabinet Reshuffle.
"I don't remember addressing you."
I am far to polite though so I will simply ignore your wilful ignorance.
Well, you missed the point again, but that is not unusual.
I used to read most of The Guardian (when it was left-wing) each morning when commuting by train in London and I remember reading several George Orwell novels when commuting by train in Sydney.
If you enjoy driving in rush-hour Alwyn; go for it. But decent public transport is the way to go. Nine years of Jacinda and James will make it happen.
I personally think that large vehicle public transport, such as trains, trams and buses will become a thing of the past within about 10 years.
Autonomous Electric Vehicles will be here and will take over the majority of travel in cities at least. Most people will not need to own a private car if they live in a city. It will be a bit slower in the rural areas but it will take over there not too much later. I am looking forward to it. I think it will occur at about the time they take my license away.
This will arrive at just about the time they finish the ridiculous tram system being planned for Auckland. It will open and close on roughly the same date and will join such things as Stonehenge as relics of a bygone age.
The vehicles will be built by a consortium of Google and the big car manufacturers I would think. And just think. You will be able to read your book while being carried from door to door in comfort.
All those private journeys at rush hour with a single person in each vehicle. Where will increased number of vehicles be stored during the day when they are not used?
a) why do you think there will be more of them,
b) why do you think there'll be one person in each of them,
c) why do you think they will not be used
a) under alwyn's model public transport ceases to exist,
b) more than one in a driverless EV mimics public transport, something which horrifies alwyn
c) once the workforce is at work there'll be a lot of cars unused.
Oh gotcha. I on the other hand think of it more as "public transport increasingly takes the form of driverless electric cars".
They way I think of that near future is: nobody owns or drives cars any more. Just not worth the hassle or risk or expense. Big Data Machine Learning Car Co learns what sort of transport I need and when I need it and makes sure that I have it. When I'm not in it, the car will go to where the Big Data Machine Learning Car Co algorithm says it will be used next.
@SHG at 1.13 pm
That is exactly what I think. The AVs will be the public transport of the future.
I'm not "horrified" of public transport as Muttonbird seems to think. I just want to have a 21st century version rather than the 20th, and even 19th century versions that the current CoL seem to like.
I notice that our dear leaders don't use it themselves. Limo's all round for them.
Transporting 50 or 100 people along a set route will always be a cheaper fare than transporting 1 person slightly closer to their destination. Unless it's run in Dunedin.
How many people do you think there are on a bus in Wellington.
Would you think, counting all the bus trips and the entire length of the runs that they average as many as 5 people? There are not that many bus trips that actually are at peak times and have full loads.
The main cost of a taxi is paying the driver. AVs won't have that cost. In addition people won't need to drive to the bus or train route and then leave a car parked for the day. In Wellington there are an amazing number of cars that are driven down to the bus route and then left parked there while people take a bus to work for the day.
Driverless cars also eventually means driverless busses.
So the math simply comes down to whether your pessimistic assessment of passenger numbers on public transport is low enough for single-serve private fuckmobiles (they're totally going to get used for that) to be more competitive when they moonlight as a communter service.
I'd say from your comment that you have over-estimated the capability and timeline of AEV's taking over.
Often happens when the technology and required underlying supportive structures and frameworks are not well understood.
You may just ‘lose your license’ and need to rely on the manual public transport as it is today…read your book on that.
Imagine that. You may not be alright after all, jack.
"over-estimated the capability and timeline of AEV's taking over."
You may very well be right. I tend to follow Bill Gates' opinion on the matter though. He said –
"We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction."
The time sounds about right to me. Ford seems to be aiming for a 2021 commercial implementation. When the big Car companies get into it I would say the exercise has become much more than a pipe dream.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/13/ford-is-expanding-its-self-driving-vehicle-program-to-austin/
That is a great deal better than the pessimism of a couple of years ago.
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2017/05/25/the-long-winding-road-for-driverless-cars
You can read this free if you register, (or of course have a subscription). I think the limit if you register is 5/month.
“I personally think that large vehicle public transport, such as trains, trams and buses will become a thing of the past within about 10 years.”
Interesting
Beijing underground system registered nearly 10 million commuters each Day last year. Then we have Tokyo New York and I cannot see the London Underground going within 10 years. especailly now they have nearly finished the new crossrail link
If they do go I hate to see the traffic chaos caused by this new technology.
I'll take your word for those numbers. I don't think you are really allowing for the speed with which technology can change though.
Consider mail. Did you know that the number of items delivered by NZ Post dropped from 835 million in FY 2012 to 454 million in FY 2018. The number roughly halved in those 6 years.
Or look at the use of cheques. We used 206 million in 2002. That dropped to 110 million in 2011 and was a mere 18 million last year.
Did you see that coming?
I think that 10 years is actually plenty of time for enormous changes.
I'm sure that places like Peking will keep their underground services busy. It will probably be the same way that we kept the railways going in the 1970s. Just ban any alternative. We didn't allow trucks to go more than about 50 km. China will quite likely ban AVs.
I really don't want us to spend $10 billion or so on a tram set and to then ban AVs because people would use them instead of a white elephant that we wasted so much money on.
Don't build the tram service now. Put the money into roads. In the short term they can be used by buses. In a decade, when the buses will be worn out anyway they will be there for the AVs.
Just don't let us become Luddites.
You have driven off the lovely man Bleep from this site! Harrassing his every comment until he could comment no more… You are a disgrace! You should be sent IMO (to fight CC).
Pretty sure bewildered is James using another handle.
Two handles are probably useful when barbecuing stuff?
It's the bewildered James show.
You spelt the last word incorrectly.
Surely you were meaning to say "It's the bewildered James Shaw"?
As it so happens, I delved into Bewildered’s history here and although it is more colourful than I expected, I don’t think James and Bewildered are one and the same commenter.
People need to learn not to take life or this site to seriously, just saying Maui and possible laugh at themselves every once and a while My digs at bleep where mild to what is accepted on this site, likewise in response to his digs at me that did not offend me in the slightest
I like collecting snippets of wisdom and quotes. This one is a favourite of mine
“ Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves.
As they shall always be amused…………………………………..Annom.”
See my Moderation note @ 8:01 AM.
Went to hear Thomas Nash speak yesterday, on social and co-housing possibilities in NZ
https://www.doubledenim.nz/fanny-pack/thomas-nash
He also did a quick run down on how our economy has become financialised, and our housing needs commodified.
One thing explored was the Preston effect, whereby a city in Lancashire pulled itself out of the ruins of neoliberal inspired poverty and began to thrive again …an ongoing project
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/31/preston-hit-rock-bottom-took-back-control#comment-111568613
What struck me was
Would we be able to take this route, given our signing up to the CTPPPA or whatever the hell its called now?
I think we can no longer favour local contractors in procurements?
And how thoroughly our publicly owned social infrastructure has been stripped in comparison to the UK
100% francesca 🙂
The opposite of neoliberalism. No shareholders no paying money to say the privatised half of Genesis energy. Keep it all in your economy. But the city council no longer plays that game. Instead it has adopted a guerrilla localism. It keeps its money as close to home as possible so that, amid historically drastic cuts, the amount spent locally has gone up. Where other authorities privatise, Preston grows its own businesses. It even creates worker-owned co-operatives.
Credit Unions not loan sharks.
local government controlling the market not a dog wagged by its market tail.
The Tppa would stop all this replacing local sustainability with globalism. Don’t offshore your jobs for shareholder profit keep them local for wages and local taxes to improve community.
Consultancy fees get rid of them grow your own expertise. The goverment should be reading this article.
We should be raising a rabble to go and find our money. Look under fay, richwhite, gibb, chandler, hart etc’s beds for a start off. Our tax system gave them our money. Hart just bought a $51 million dollar flat in NYC. Fay is just a scant few million away from being a billionaire. Westpac bank just took $555 million dollars in profit from us over a six month period, no doubt aided and abetted by our tax system to do so.
If NZ is a Preston we've been committing financial and social suicide since 1984.
Something nice happening in the morning can put a smile on your face for the day.
I heard Judith Collins being all nice-nice about Phil Twyford. You know, stateswoman like, adult, conciliatory understanding, with the bigger picture in view of what's good for the country. You know trying to sound party leadership material and, well, Prime Ministerial.
Then we went into Clinton-Lewinsky mode. "I did not have dinner relations with that man." RNZ tapes, "I did have dinner relations with that woman."
Of course there's a battle to be fought and being fought and the skirmishes confuse some minds. With Judith it's a bit complicated because sometimes an incidental drop-in cup of tea while going past the door is actually a many months organised formal dinner in the completely opposite direction.
With Simon? Who knows with such confusion. But you have to laugh but in doing so not overlook the significance.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018701723/collins-has-a-bit-of-sympathy-for-twyford-after-reshuffle
Yes Judith is reborning herself from that feisty aggressive take to prisoners but take the tyre burning cars sort of image, and is now copying Jacinda's conciliatory balanced friendly persona. And in doing so providing a great contrast to Simon's shouty hysterical blunderbuss approach.
All of Parliament is a stage folks.
Perhaps you could have given a bit more of that quote. Then it could have been applied to that great comic actor who plays the buffoon in each performance of Parliament.
"All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,"
………..
"Last scene of all,
That ends his strange eventful history,
In second childishness and mere oblivion
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."
Twyford, with his activities, jumped immediately to the seventh stage. Why is he still there? Why has he not been shuffled off stage into obscurity?
So many questions, so few answers.
Why is Simon Bridges still the leader of the National Party when he is so unpopular, so incompetent and is under investigation by the SFO?
Why is he still there? Why has he not shuffled off stage into obscurity for the good of the National Party?
The seventh stages is for me but far away for Phil. Thank you alwyn for the fuller quote but for whom should the various crowns fit? Where would Nick Smith fit?
I really think that Nick Smith, and Trevor Mallard should happily shuffle off into retirement together. They both fit the Cromwell judgement below, although I think they are both still into the sixth age of Shakespeare. Only just still there but they aren't into the final age yet.
“You have been sat to long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!.”
In Trevor's case of course there is another applicable comment from the Lord Protector.
“Take away that fool’s bauble, the mace”
The Lord Protector is not known by that name in Ireland where the Cromwellian invasion saw 600,000 people die as a result- 40% of the population.
That kind of 'protection' had its modern equivalent in Hue in Vietnam that "had to be destroyed in order to save it."
I din't actually say, and nor do I think, that Cromwell was an admirable figure. It was just that the quotes seem to be so appropriate.
And if your figures are right I can certainly see why the hatred of him would remain. No doubt they would have been very happy when, 3 years after he died, his body was exhumed and, according to Wikipedia "His body was hanged in chains at Tyburn, London and then thrown into a pit. His head was cut off and displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685"
There was a story about a UK Foreign Office meeting room where they negotiated with foreign diplomats under a huge painting of a battlefield (probably Waterloo). Deciding that this wasn't very diplomatic, they replaced it with a picture of Cromwell. An Irish delegation walked into the room, saw the picture, turned around and walked out again, expressing frank disapproval.
Just said this very thing about Judith to hubby this morning before reading your comment Peter.
Lets all do the Orivida chant to bring some reality about Ms Collins persona
The big question would be, "Would the real Judith Collins please stand up?"
I wouldn't rush to assume that there is only one 'real' Judith. It may be falling into an essentialist trap. Probably there are multitudes of real Judiths, depending on what is required at the time.
Yes, I think you could partly describe her as Slim Shady, very Eminem Esque.
With the issue Min Hopkins has with Principals I wonder what will be in the final report back to the minister ?
Perhaps we will also see an estimated financial cost to implement ?
https://conversation.education.govt.nz/conversations/tomorrows-schools-review/
Jong Kee has obviously decided he has enough distance from the Hisco fiasco to be able to beg the FMA to give him and his company the good once over.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2019/06/fma-to-investigate-suspicious-anz-house-sale-to-former-ceo-s-wife.html
How to deal with white nationalists and a bit of a history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WG9e-4kK-g&ab_channel=TheLauraFlandersShow
Why Iran, China, Russia? The more powerful, the less accountable to the rule of law, the poorer trading partners. Whichever side of politics we are, it just doesn't make sense to expose our economies to nations who disregard the rule of law. Whether Iran, by religious edict, China by party corruption, or Russia with a breakdown in its money judiciary. Who cares how it effects Iranians, Chinese, Russians, it's just cheating, it means we compete with cheaters, those who get ahead by buying their way out of self harm. We just don't need their crap, Europe really needs to pull its head in and decide to raise tariffs. Now sure America is cursed by fiscal cheaters, but that's why Trumps president, exposing why stupid as commander in chief, or head of banks, are anti American. Not only to Americans but to the world.
Just commenting on another anomaly with the First Year fees free scheme.
As home educators we often use a combination of self-study and institutional study. Enrolled in a tertiary preparation study, which is online delivered and fairly static, we have found out – retrospectively – that this has utilised up 40 credits of any fees free tertiary study that may follow. Given that this is a tertiary preparation course – but grade Level 4 – which used to be free from some institutions – it was not stated through the enrolment process that this is utilising a third of any entitlement to fees free tertiary study. Depending on the follow up course, this loss of entitlement transfers to up to $1,000 – $2,000 in fees.
Something to keep in mind for others on alternate academic pathways, and perhaps something else for this coalition government to keep in mind when reviewing current implementation.
An interesting article from Stuff, about the inconsistencies of ANZ when dealing with staff “mistakes” from a former staff member.
However, only 2 comments allowed, before closing off comments completely. What is it with anything to do with John Key in media, that public opinion is cut short? Is he so "sacred" that he cannot be critiqued because he has become totally untouchable? I'd like to know what/who is supplying protection to him and why! Or should that be Him, as when addressing a holy deity?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/113846220/anz-staffer-i-was-fired-for-making-money-appear#comments
"End of life choice bill"
I was chemically poisoned on my job while working in Canada and was treated for several years to be able to return to my home in NZ and 20yrs later at 75 yrs old as a baby boomer I face uncertainty as NZ does not treat anyone with the latent effects of chemical poisoning,
so now technically I could be ruled as "uncurable in NZ's inadequate medical system so I may fall through the cracks if this bill is passed to receive "assisted death as technically I cannot be treated to live any more.
The people who dreamed up this "assisted dying bill" are not thinking it through as I have had to do, because they have merely said the bill is suited for all but I would not be considered uncurable if I returned to Canada because they have clinics to treat patients that have been chemically poisoned and NZ does not.
So the 'assisted death bill' will give doctors the licence to kill because they have not been given neither the skills and regimen to save those of us that have been chemically poisoned.
Sad people that vote for this "End of life choice bill”.