Maybe some people are better at putting on various masks than others, I prefer the honesty of the moment probably due to a number of frustrations I'm sure it will pass.
"If Labour are out at the next election, NZ will get the future it deserves."
That's my fear in a way – that we may have to sink so low before an awakening, and by that time there'll be SFA left. (I'm a glass half full kinda guy).
My opinion is that Ardern's popularity has gone down because Ihumatao. Protesters have targeted her with their demand that she visit the site/march to her electorate office. Leading to some on the left no longer supporting her as the preferred PM.
I accept I could totally be wrong about this.
Jacinda is not the problem. If we lose the next election is will be a horror show.
BTW VTO your barely worth replying to in terms of how Ardern sounds. She is a good 30 points above Simon and I strongly believe that popularity has gone down because of Ihumatao. Its a year out to the next election. Long time in politics.
Afaik her popularity hasn't gone down. There was a rise after the mosque shootings, which seems pretty normal to me, and now it's dropped back to what it was before. Also seem normal to me.
According to the polls, and let's not forget the forces of manipulation at play from the right and the MSM.
meh – most people don’t care about Ihumātao at all. They will however if the government puts their hand in the tax payers pocket (even for a loan). Then you will really see popularity drop like a stone.
Still there are are plenty of other issues that it could be: kiwibuild, light rail not starting, complaints of sexual assault in the PMs office – the complete and dismal “year of delivery” backing off on CGT to name a few.
In 2013, as Labour's social development spokesperson, Ms Ardern criticised the drug sanctions telling NZ Herald that cutting support for drug users would reduce their chances of rehabilitation.
"All of the evidence suggests that responding in the way National has suggested doesn't work," she said.
"They will however if the government puts their hand in the tax payers pocket "
Funny there was no outcry when Joyce and National government around 2011 or so put their hand in taxpayers pocket to buy 45% of listed company Chorus for $940 mill.
Where was your outrage over that 'arrangement' James
this is my concern too. I had been hoping that Labour getting NZF votes and Greens getting Labour votes would work, but with National going right Peters may just end up following. Otoh, what can National offer him policy-wise if they've gone Trumpian right?
Which is basically National's best hope for government. But the nats are really hoping for a further-right party to be their politically-relevant friend. But that's not looking likely at all.
now I'm trying to imagine a scenario of the L/G govt and a Nat no mates and NZF opposition. I guess the Nat vote would have to collapse. Looking at the 2nd term election for Clark's government, the Nat vote went to NZF but between them they didn't have the numbers. I'm trying to remember what Labour were doing that was kept them there.
Watched the Alliance rot from the top down and made JimA deputy PM. Although Labour had ruled out a coalition with NZ1 in 2002, they played UF over the Greens.
If I were the PM and quite a few of her Ministers, I'd be putting a few of her senior officials on the Drip Dry setting. It bypasses the Spin cycle and saves time and heartache having to iron out all the bloody wrinkles afterwards.
They'd be some of those officials that thought it quite OK for example to use the likes of Thompson and Clark. As far as I know, not too many of them have yet been held to account in any sort of meaningful way
If I were the PM and quite a few of her Ministers, I'd be putting a few of her senior officials on the Drip Dry setting. It bypasses the Spin cycle and saves time and heartache having to iron out all the bloody wrinkles afterwards.
Brilliant!
I heard the other day that a person with whom I had small contact with in the course of their work as a National appointee to a disability work stream is now working in the Office of the Prime Minister. Strange, as I had the impression that this person was 'on to it' disability wise. Strange, because my constant moan at the moment when doing my usual government document search on matters disability is"… who the bloody hell is advising these Ministers???'
Another update on this from the Misery of Health’s website.
They have released this Cabinet Paper dated September 2018.
Also this 51 page tome dated around about when the announcement was made in July.
There’s over eighty pages of discussion, and since both Peter and I struggle to read volumes on screen I began to print them out.
Big mistake. Will I ever bloody learn? Not quite as many solid blacked out redactions as the Previous Incumbents’ effort that so riled readers here on Public Address back in 2013…but not far off.
By the way, I think we probably reached 'peak spin' 3 or 4 years ago.
I'm waiting for "Kaizen principles" to be reinvented and trotted out under a new label.
For the first time in my life of voting 'to the left' (Labour mostly with a tinge of Green), 2020 is going to be a bloody hard decision. (Did I tell you about the latest little Pinot Gris I've discovered darling? It goes wonderfully with the NZ salmon – which you can get 25% cheaper in Okkerland))
Yep, well to continue the analogy (from someone who has jumped in and out of the PS most of my life), there's also no need for the toxic fabric softeners either. And they just might find there'd be organisational culture improvements, the peons would feel safer and less bullied, staff turnover might get better (especially in places like the Munstry for Everything, but elsewhere),the number of Employment Court cases would reduce, and the idea of actual 'public service' (i.e. ekshully serving the public) might return.
Meanwhile ……………
It's possible they might even be able to catch up with things like Visa processing, or cases of worker exploitation, or processing Warrants and Certificates of Fitness, or closing down shoddy education, or even bloody radio interference (if that's even still on the agenda), or proper monitoring or oversight in a number of areas.
The downside of course is that Astoria's business might take a huge dive but that'd be quite easy to fix
The problem is dumping Ministers looks like the Government doesn’t know what it’s doing. !!!?? If National had a leader! The Coalition would be in shitters ditch.
Time to toughen up, speak more clearly, straighten the shoulders, do bolder things.
There's an element of truth to vto's comment.
Jacinda's tough, but it's time she showed it more. Yesterday in response to Paula Bennett she retaliated with a barb which went straight to the heart of the matter under discussion and created a minor uproar. She reminded Paula B that:
" I would never weaponise people's personal information" It was a direct reference to Bennett's release of the financial details of the two solo mums back in 2010.
“The quote by JA is around 5 mins in.)
It was a perfect response and there should be more of this kind of rhetoric coming from Jacinda Ardern. It is an essential part of the political fabric to treat 'like with like' and can't be avoided if Labour wants to remain in power.
I too, find her responses to interviewers to be less than clear on occasion both in delivery and content. It's as if she's trying to appease everyone and it often comes across as piecemeal and hard to decipher. Relatively brief down to earth responses will always have a bigger impact on voters than slightly rambling dissertations.
I was interested to discover through doing an interview with farming land use consultant, that the furore in the region I live in over people buying hill country farms and converting them to forestry has nothing to do with the government's One Billion Trees Programme. Instead he says the conversions are being driven by good commercial returns on forestry when the trees are harvested, along with additional cash flow from carbon credits. The 50 Shades of Green sheep & beef farmer lead movement seems to have conveniently conflated the two together, and it is being reported as such in the media
Often the 'hill country' is marginal for stock and prone to erosion. Usually the deal will involve keeping the flatter parts in production and only taking out the steeper parts.
What is the matter with the civil service – they are failing to do a good job for the citizens. The Home Office in the UK has been reprimanded over a misleading advertisement and their first response is to disagree. We get the Departments spending taxpayers money to fight what appear to be reasonable judicial decisions.
Brexit: Home Office advert banned for 'misleading' EU citizens
And some Brits are finding us too dear. Oh dear now someone else has noticed we aren't 100% anything maybe the gummint and smart-business will get their a into g.
It is tiresome to have so many business people parroting (on the likes of Q+A, The Nation etc) things they heard at the latest business breakfast.
"We need to get rid of red tape"
"We need to reduce government regulation"
If you cannot do business in NZ it is most likely not the fault of government.
The World Bank's latest 2019 Doing Business report has ranked NZ, for the third year running, as THE NUMBER ONE EASIEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD in which to do business.
– better than Singapore, Denmark and Hong Kong (2, 3 & 4 respectively)
– better than the US (#8), UK (#9), Australia (#18)
So why the need for a regulation bonfire? To cynically exploit an unexamined bias against government in order to gather votes? Yet another dog whistle?
If your business is not doing as well as you would like then you had better look at other factors than regulation:
1. External environmental factors (the advice given in almost any year one of a business degree – know your operating environment) i.e the world economy, weak or absent demand for the widgets you produce, trade protectionism in foreign markets etc etc
2. Internal environment factors – management failure, poor or short-sighted planning, unrealistic expectations, lack of innovation & research to keep up with customer demands etc.
In the regulations that matter most to business customers, however, businesses find massive barriers to entry against them, and plenty of government weakness to perpetuate it. There are near-cartels operating in whole industries including:
– Supermarkets
– Media
– Oil and petrol supply
– Electricity generation
– Primary and secondary education
– Telecommunications
– Insurance
– Banking
– All construction materials
– Sea ports
– Alcoholic drinks
All of those need massive competition interventions by the government because we know they are screwing us for either service or cost or both. Few are natural monopolies such as public water. So far this government has started on petrol, but we won't see any results to that this term. That's it.
National should concentrate on promising to smash some cartels up. Voters I am sure would take notice.
The upper-class authoritarian rule of the Conservatives under Boorish. Can't have a very restrained mural about the EU on a wall of a booring building.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said it would make also way for Boris Johnson's new administration to hold a Queen's Speech – laying out the government's plans – on 14 October…
Laura Kuenssberg said only a small number of government ministers knew about the plan before its announcement and it would inevitably cause a huge row…
With the sale of Westland Milk, Westpower are one of the last New Zealand owned west coast corporates keeping lots of people there on good salaries. No amount of serving coffee to tourists at $18 an hour will compare to this kind of business.
I probably don't have to describe how the monolith 51% owned generator and retailer Genesis is sucking blood out of us, and the government essentially assisting them by crunching any attempt at major competition doesn't help us consumers:
Yup. As a kayaker who once upon a time might have had the skills to paddle that gorge (but would never have had the cojones for it), I do indeed support Minister Parker's decision.
In terms of adding to renewables capacity, there's hundreds of megawatts of wind farms already consented, but not being built due to lack of demand. Against that background, a decision to decline a 20MW scheme that would trash a pretty special bit of river seems just simply the right thing to do.
The people with enough money to enjoy NZ and like to do it in style should be considered as top priority? It may be good to have water conserved in a dam or lake, and make electricity too. Kayakers might have to suck it up and go elsewhere. This is not the 20th century, and we run the risk of losing a lot more than a thrilling set of rapids.
We are building a dam here in Tasman. I hope it is being built for practical purposes of having water available in droughts, which is the stated reason. If it is to change land use to irrigated dairying it will result in some very angry people who have lost a clean lovely river.
The west coast if it stuck to the basics of water conservation, not exporting it, and electricity at lower prices to the local area would not be disadvantaged.
Business, we have learned how to start them. But how to keep them going and profitable seems our problem.
When we decided to make exporting a push for NZ to make more money and opened up our borders and chucked out the tariffs, it put a lot of people out of jobs within a short time. The attitude was that new jobs would grow which would take us into the future at a more modern level. We would be seeing more high tech, value added jobs. But the 'hospo' jobs that have arisen have been built on low wages, and the 'modern' has disappeared. So ordinary workers have had their opportunities to make their way in life diminished by the behaviour of government.
There seems to be the same attitude to the micro businesses that people are forced to start up to have an income, and then compete with each other and profits can be absent. Competition can include foreign sharks coming from Britain to take us down! There can be barriers to income with councils working on roads and cutting off the customer access to a tiny family business. Police may shut off a road and access to shops there while they scour the area for evidence after a crime in poor areas. Sub-contractors don't get paid after working on a job because of a rort.
There need to be a group of trouble shooters who can act as movers and shakers as part of a Small Business Agency. Tiny businesses can call to them for help, when the machine of state pushes their ability to make a living aside.
I agree Aotearoa is in a great position to weather the financial storm being created by America.
The capitalists are lureing our Rangatahi to vaping our government is going to bring them back to heal with new legislation to stop the advertising targeting youth.
That's a good move putting food in lower decial school some tamariki have no food in their whare what A crying shame.
boris is just a fool who likes to win at all cost watch his party flop out.
I don't think a NZ Mp using a cryptic phone while in China is offensive to China. They know that its not about trust. Its about making sure that one coms is safe they would use those pH all the time.
Good on you Greata sailing to America to champion human cause climate change We are doing our bit to lower our carbon footprint to Ka pai.
Condolences to Pita Pione whanau I'm sure he will be missed by his whanau
I, , whanau make sure you pepi and tamariki have been vaxcernated don't risk them getting measles do all you can to avoid them catching the virus.
Our Government putting lunches in lower decial school will be great for tangata whenua Rangatahi quite a lot of our tamariki are in lower decial school.
New trade training in Manukau and other places in Auckland will help Maori and Pacific youth get a great skill set and qualification to lift them up there ladders of life. This move back to training our youth with trade training is well over due I tryed to get my son into a good trade but there were to many Awa to cross to get them in a course in those days.
That's great Tainui is mahi with the Cook Islands people that's the way many hands make light mahi.
Science is advancing fast its not going to be long before we have technology that advances learning to just PAY and down load the knowledge hence the wealth will have a huge advantage over the rest of us. Hence we need simple smart solutions to this un democratic phenomenon as everyone has to be held accountable for their Actions.
This measles outbreak is happening all Around the Western Papatuanuku cause right leaders get power they slash social security payments to the people slashed health spending and give hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidys to the carbon barons..
Food in school for the poor tamariki is a perfect opportunity to teach tamariki how to eat healthy foods. Eating and food is a very serious subject in A GREAT country France they feed there tamariki at school and teach them to eat healthy foods after all we are what we eat.
Ed music fits in with the common people across the Papatuanuku I like his music Aotearoa was one place were his music started to hit the charts first kia kaha Ed.
When we have had a government that shorts the housing market so it takes one person's wage to pay rent add organisation beening aloud to hire people on temporary no hours guarantee employment contract they don't know if they will get 2 hours or 50 hours for the week they can't guarantee putting food on the table . The price of good food has gone from being one of the cheapest in the OECD to the dearest in 9 year. Thanks steven once Head of the retailers accocation. The Trolls have a cheek trying to justify their putting down free food for tamariki. Eco Maori wrote the above words before the Wahine from Kids Can came on the show.
Fungi Truffles Mushrooms ect are a super food that is under underutilised in Europe its quite the trend to forage for mushrooms Peter I say you using our great food produce is awesome I enjoy watching your shows. That is going to be the new way to do thing use the local food or food with a low carbon footprint like ours I sit here watching sheep with 3 lambs at foot enjoying Te Ra sitting in a green grass paddock
I agree the money organising are fleece people the whole Papatuanuku over why charge heaps for a computing transactions to change currency and all the other services that are just computer transfer????????.
Tris great subject I don't agree that New Zealand did not support the Great White Shark being protected by the international community sad but this subject was under the rada there was little reported in the media on the subjects.
I think it's great that our government is investing in growing seaweed for food production it is a super food that we need to grow commercialy to feed the people in the future.
I think that study about genitics on gay people is fulse of course its genitics not just the environment effects. I have seen people from baby's displaying a gay behavior the people who commissioned this study are religious or people who are against our gay community.
No comment on the USA space commanded
Its great that Aotearoa fashion community is celebrating diversity having elderly models large models this is a great move to getting people to except equallity for all as just showing the perfect person actually discrimination against the others whom are a different culture colour.
Tahu Potiki is a well respected person in the Maori community he got a big send off.
Ka pai to Te Maori King for going to Rarotonga to meet their leaders
Its excellent that our government is putting money into Para kore to boost the zero waste program for marae.
Cool seeing other native cultures included in the physicalogical society a lot of western institutions ignore Te tangata whenua knowledge
I agree with Dr Kopu the stats don't lie there is case of instructional raceism in New Zealand even the Eco Maori phenomenon points directly at the problem.
That is what is needed everyone getting vaxcernated against the infection of measles through pop up clinics in Auckland.
Drug companies hide the negative effects of the drugs they make all in the name of profits.
I back the workers of sky city striking for a better wage and fair conditions.
There is great interest in Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa Arterfacts Art and culture awesome.
Checking twice for bikes is a great way to teach people to think about their fellow people on the road riding bikes Ka pai.
Its about time Brazil is making moves to stop the fire in the Amazon that farmers was just talking with his wallet no though process going on there fool.
Ka pai Jared your mahi teaching tangata whenua about living a sustainable life with a low carbon footprint is excellent I talk to everyone about zero waste and lower carbon energy. I will be copying you and planting a food forest my cus has one. With that life style one is busy most times.
A lot of doctors discrimination against tangata whenua I know how the Wahine felt. I have seen it with my own eyes I make sure I deal with them professionally mite be a bit loud but that's because Te atua gave me a strong voice.
People need to respect Ngāti Toa haka Ka mate and ask if they want to use it commercially. Its tatau tatau give and take but a lot of people just want to take take take.
Eco Maori tau toko this brave young Wahine I say all the tamariki of the Papatuanuku should join her in protecting there future environment from the lying cheating carbon barrons love of money over LIFE ON EARTH.
Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg was joined by swelling and excited crowds of American teenagers at a protest outside the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, in a further blossoming of the youth environment movement given extra thrust by the Swede’s transatlantic boat crossing.
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Some US children said they were at their first ever climate demonstration; others said they had been passionate about the environment for a while but had been galvanized to act by Thunberg’s rising profile.
On Friday afternoon, Thunberg and two young activists were spontaneously invited inside the UN for a meeting with a senior leader, described as “very supportive”.
Greta Thunberg 'wants a concrete plan, not just nice words' to fight climate crisis
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Just two days after Thunberg disembarkedfrom a yacht in New York, following two weeks on rough seas crossing from the UK, young protesters dominated the crowd of up to 1,000 outside the United Nations skyscraper in Manhattan.
They came together to demand politicians and older generations take urgent and comprehensive action to reverse the climate crisis.
Carrying hand-drawn placards with messages such as “United behind the science” and “Act now or we will”, children and young people of all ages surged into a park in front of the flags of the world outside the UN on Friday morning.
Thunberg sat cheerfully but pensively in the middle of the rally, which had a rather more earnest than festive atmosphere. Young speakers gave spontaneous speeches or led chants of “System change, not climate change” and “Don’t just watch us, join us.
So, after interfering with the police, and then interfering with immigration decisions, Stuart Nash has finally been sacked: Stuart Nash has been sacked as a minister, after Stuff revealed he had emailed business figures, including donors, detailing private Cabinet discussions. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the people Nash emailed ...
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Photo by Josh Mills on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:The runs on Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank on the west coast of the United States that forced the ...
Roundup is back! We skipped last week’s Friday post due to a shortage of person-power – did you notice? Lots going on out there… Our header image this week shows a green street that just happens to be Queen St, by @chamfy from Twitter. This week (and last) in ...
After threatening Prime Minister Chris Hipkins of consequences if he dared to bar her entry, Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull has been given her visa, regardless. This will enable her to hold rallies in Auckland and Wellington this weekend, and spread her messages of hostility against an already marginalised trans community. Neo-Nazis may, ...
* Bryce Edwards writes – The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The deal was struck by the Albanese Labor Government as ...
Boomers voted him in, but Brown’s Trumpish moments might spook Aucklanders worried about what a change to National nationally might mean. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR:Auckland MayorWayne Brown has become our version of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, except without any of the insatiable appetite for media appearances. He ...
The New Zealand Government has been silent about Australia’s decision to commit up to $400bn acquiring nuclear submarines, even though this is a significant threat to peace and stability in the Asia Pacific. The deal was struck by the Albanese Labor Government as part of its Aukus pact with the ...
Recently you might have heard of a person called Posie Parker and her visit to Aotearoa. Perhaps you’re not quite sure what it’s all about. So let’s start with who this person is, why their visit is controversial, and what on earth a TERF is.Posie Parker is the super villain ...
The chair of Parliament’s Select Committee looking at the Government’s resource management legislation wants the bills sent back for more public consultation. The proposal would effectively kill any chance of the bills making it into law before the election. Green MP, Eugenie Sage, stressing that she was speaking as ...
Open access notables The United States experienced some historical low temperature records during the just-concluded winter. It's a reminder that climate and weather are quite noisy; with regard to our warming climate,, as with a road ascending a mountain range we may steadily change our conditions but with lots of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The Nanny State has scored some wins (or claimed them) in the past day or two but it faltered when it came to protecting Kiwi citizens from being savaged by one woman armed with a sharp tongue. The wins are recorded by triumphant ministers on the ...
Sometimes you see your friends making the case so well on social media you think: just copy and share.On acceptance and decency, from Michèle A’CourtA notable thing about anti-trans people is they way they talk about transgender women and men as though they are strangers “over there” when in fact ...
Not that long ago, things were looking pretty good for climate change policy in Aotearoa. We finally had an ETS, and while it was full of pork and subsidies, it was delivering high and ever-rising carbon prices, sending a clear message to polluters to clean up or shut down. And ...
Comparing (and switching) electricity providers has become easier, but bundling power up with broadband and/or gas makes it more challenging. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā TL;DR: The new Consumer Advocacy Council set up as a result of the Labour Government’s Electricity Price Review in 2019 has called on either ...
Hokitika-based Westland Milk Products has put the heat on dairy giant Fonterra with a $120m profit turnaround in 2022, driven by record sales. Westland paid its suppliers a 10c premium above the forecast Fonterra price per kilo, contributing $535m to the West Coast and Canterbury economies. The dairy ...
* Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public ...
New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public office and becoming lobbyists and ...
This is a guest post by accessibility and sustainable transport advocate Tim Adriaansen It originally appeared here. A friend calls you and asks for your help. They tell you that while out and about nearby, they slipped over and landed arms-first. Now their wrist is swollen, hurting like ...
Floating offshore wind turbines offer incredible opportunities to capture powerful winds far out at sea. By unlocking this wind energy potential, they could be a key weapon in our arsenal in the fight against climate change. But how developed are these climate fighting clean energy giants? And why do I ...
Over the past two or three weeks, a procession of Maori iwi and hapu in a series of little-noticed appearances before two Select Committees have been asking for more say for Maori over resource management decisions along the co-governance lines of Three Waters. Their submissions and appearances run counter ...
The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue war crimes arrest warrants for the Russian President and the Russia Children Ombudsman may have been welcomed by the ideologically committed but otherwise seems to have been greeted with widespread cynicism (see Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants ...
Let’s say you’re clasping your drink at a wedding, or a 40th, or a King’s Birthday Weekend family reunion and Drunk Uncle Kevin has just got going.He’s in an expansive frame of mind because we’re finally rid of that silly girl. But he wants to ask an honest question about ...
National Party leader Christopher Luxon may be feeling glum about his poll ratings, but he could be tapping into a rich political vein in describing the current state of education as “alarming”. Luxon said educational achievement has been declining, with a recent NCEA pilot exposing just how far it has ...
Way Beyond Reform: Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have no more interest in remaining permanent members of “New Zealand’s” House of Representatives than did Lenin and Trotsky in remaining permanent members of Tsar Nicolas II’s “democratically-elected” Duma. Like the Bolsheviks, Te Pāti Māori is a party of revolutionaries – not reformists.THE CROWN ...
Buzz from the Beehive Auckland was wiped off the map, when Education Minister Jan Tinetti delivered her speech of welcome as host of the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers “here in Tāmaki Makaurau”. But – fair to say – a reference was made later in the speech to a ...
Morning mate, how you going?Well, I was watching the news last night and they announced this scientific report on Climate Change. But before they got to it they had a story about the new All Blacks coach.Sounds like important news. It’s a bit of a worry really.Yeah, they were talking ...
Always a bailout: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Government would fully guarantee all savers in all smaller US banks if needed. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: No wonder an entire generation of investors are used to ‘buying the dip’ and ‘holding on for dear life’. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ...
Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in Guyon Espiner’s in-depth series published by RNZ. Two of Espiner’s research exposés ...
Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving. For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on ...
The Beginning: Anti-Co-Governance agitator, Julian Batchelor, addresses the Dargaville stop of his travelling roadshow across New Zealand . Fascism almost always starts small. Sadly, it doesn’t always stay that way. Especially when the Left helps it to grow.THERE IS A DREADFUL LOGIC to the growth of fascism. To begin with, it ...
Hi,From an incredibly rainy day in Los Angeles, I just wanted to check in. I guess this is the day Trump may or may not end up in cuffs? I’m attempting a somewhat slower, less frenzied week. I’ve had Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new record on non-stop, and it’s been a ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
The Government’s decision to introduce ‘mass arrivals’ legislation goes against the values we all share of Aotearoa as a place where all people are treated fairly, the Green Party says. ...
MINISTER DAVIDSON MUST RESIGN AFTER 'VIOLENCE' COMMENTS Marama Davidson should stand down as ‘Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence’ for the clear and outrageous statement she made at the Posie Parker protest that ‘white straight men’ are the cause of violence. Her offensive, racist, and sexist remarks ...
In response to Newshub and Amelia Wade’s obvious and ham-fisted attempt at a typical and predicted political hit job. As any politically aware reporter would know, any Cabinet subcommittee has a duty and obligation as a part of any government to respond to any UN declaration, in this case ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for the invitation to speak with you today and in your busy lives turning up to this meeting. Forty five years ago, in Howick, often described as racist, and where few Maori lived because it had been a ‘Fencible’ settlement at the time of the Anglo-Maori ...
The Green Party has marked the National Party’s new education policy and given it a fail, especially for its failure to address the underlying drivers of school performance. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
New legislation passed by the Government today will make it harder for gangs and their leaders to benefit financially from crime that causes considerable harm in our communities, Minister of Justice Kiri Allan says. Since the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 came into effect police have been highly successful in ...
This evening I have advised the Governor-General to dismiss Stuart Nash from all his ministerial portfolios. Late this afternoon I was made aware by a news outlet of an email Stuart Nash sent in March 2020 to two contacts regarding a commercial rent relief package that Cabinet had considered. In ...
Legislation to enable more build-to-rent developments has passed its third reading in Parliament, so this type of rental will be able to claim interest deductibility in perpetuity where it meets the requirements. Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods, says the changes will help unlock the potential of the build-to-rent sector and ...
A law passed by Parliament today exempts employers from paying fringe benefit tax on certain low emission commuting options they provide or subsidise for their staff. “Many employers already subsidise the commuting costs of their staff, for instance by providing car parks,” Environment Minister David Parker said. “This move supports ...
Today marks the 40th anniversary of Closer Economic Relations (CER), our gold standard free trade agreement between New Zealand and Australia. “CER was a world-leading agreement in 1983, is still world-renowned today and is emblematic of both our countries’ commitment to free trade. The WTO has called it the world’s ...
The Government is making procedural changes to the Immigration Act to ensure that 2013 amendments operate as Parliament intended. The Government is also introducing a new community management approach for asylum seekers. “While it’s unlikely we’ll experience a mass arrival due to our remote positioning, there is no doubt New ...
The Government welcomes progress on public sector pay adjustment (PSPA) agreements, and the release of the updated public service pay guidance by the Public Service Commission today, Minister for the Public Service Andrew Little says. “More than a dozen collective agreements are now settled in the public service, Crown Agents, ...
The Government has introduced the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill to further support the recovery and rebuild from the recent severe weather events in the North Island. “We know from our experiences following the Canterbury and Kaikōura earthquakes that it will take some time before we completely understand the ...
Further assistance is now available to businesses impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, with Customs able to offer payment plans and to remit late-payments, Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri has announced. “This is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to assist economic recovery in the regions,” Meka Whaitiri said. “Cabinet has approved the ...
More than 41,000 sole parent families will be better off with a median gain of $20 a week Law change estimated to help lift up to 14,000 children out of poverty Child support payments will be passed on directly to people receiving a sole parent rate of main benefit, making ...
A major investment by Government-owned New Zealand Green Investment Finance towards electrifying the public bus fleet is being welcomed by Climate Change Minister James Shaw. “Today’s announcement that NZGIF has signed a $50 million financing deal with Kinetic, the biggest bus operator in Australasia, to further decarbonise public transport is ...
A world-leading payments system is expected to provide a significant cash flow boost for Kiwi innovators, Minister of Research, Science, and Innovation Ayesha Verrall says. Announcing that applications for ‘in-year’ payments of the Research and Development Tax Incentive (RDTI) were open, Ayesha Verrall said it represented a win for businesses ...
Minister of Transport Michael Wood joined crowds of keen cyclists and walkers this morning to celebrate the completion of the Te Awa shared path in Hamilton. “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, greener, and more efficient for now and future generations to come,” Michael ...
Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Minister Andrew Little has delivered the Crown apology to Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua for its historic breaches of Te Tiriti of Waitangi today. The ceremony was held at Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton, hosted by Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki nui-a-Rua, with several hundred ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta has concluded her visit to China, the first by a New Zealand Foreign Minister since 2018. The Minister met her counterpart, newly appointed State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qin Gang, who also hosted a working dinner. This was the first engagement between the two ...
World-class satellite positioning services that will support much safer search and rescue, boost precision farming, and help safety on construction sites through greater accuracy are a significant step closer today, says Land Information Minister Damien O’Connor. Damien O’Connor marked the start of construction on New Zealand’s first uplink centre for ...
Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges. Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Can I begin by thanking Gary Taylor, Raewyn Peart and others in the EDS team for their herculean work in support of the environment. I’d also like to acknowledge Hon Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, my parliamentary colleagues, and the many activists here who strive ...
A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment. “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
$2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
[CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā tangata katoa, o moana-nui-a-kiwa, E ngā mate, haere, haere, haere atū ra, manuia lau Malaga. Thank you for the kind introduction and opportunity to join you this morning. It is always good to be here in Aukilani, where I ...
E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi, tēnā koutou katoa. Talofa lava and thank you Catherine, for the warm welcome. I’m sorry that I can’t be there in person today but it’s great for the opportunity to contribute virtually. I’d like to start by acknowledging: Alzheimers New Zealand, ...
Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide further humanitarian support to those seriously affected by last month’s deadly earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, says Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta. “The 6 February earthquakes have had devastating consequences, with almost 18 million people affected. More than 53,000 people have died and tens of thousands more ...
Migrant communities across New Zealand are represented in the new Migrant Community Reference Group that will help shape immigration policy going forward, Immigration Minister Michael Wood announced today. “Since becoming Minister, a reoccurring message I have heard from migrants is the feeling their voice has often been missing around policy ...
Construction has begun on major works that will deliver significant safety improvements on State Highway 3 from Waitara to Bell Block, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan announced today. “This is an important route for communities, freight and visitors to Taranaki but too many people have lost their lives or ...
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Private security companies are currently holding Papua New Guinea together with the largest workforce of 29,445 and supporting the police in managing law and order issues. There are only 6832 policemen and women serving the country currently, according to reports. Internal Security Minister Peter ...
By Gorothy Kenneth in Port Moresby Private security companies are currently holding Papua New Guinea together with the largest workforce of 29,445 and supporting the police in managing law and order issues. There are only 6832 policemen and women serving the country currently, according to reports. Internal Security Minister Peter ...
US President Joe Biden (right) meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) during the AUKUS summit at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego California on 13 March 2023. Image: RNZ Pacific/Jim Watson/AFP “But it is what it is,” he said of the tripartite arrangement. ‘Escalation of ...
US President Joe Biden (right) meets with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) during the AUKUS summit at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego California on 13 March 2023. Image: RNZ Pacific/Jim Watson/AFP “But it is what it is,” he said of the tripartite arrangement. ‘Escalation of ...
Procurement professional Ankit Bansal has been selected by local party members as National’s candidate in Palmerston North for the 2023 General Election. “I’d like to thank our local party members for endorsing me to campaign in Palmerston ...
Executive Manager of Te Mahia Community Village Rima Nakhle has been selected by local party members as National’s candidate in Takanini for the 2023 General Election. “The Takanini electorate is my home and I’m really excited to have the opportunity ...
Property management company director Dr Carlos Cheung has been selected as National’s candidate in Mt Roskill for the 2023 General Election. “Mt Roskill is my home and I’m grateful for the opportunity to campaign here for a National Government that ...
The Chairperson of the Governance and Administration Committee is calling for submissions on the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill The Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Bill is the second bill in response to Cyclone Gabriel. The ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins’ full statement, as shared to media, on the decision to remove Stuart Nash from cabinet: This evening I have advised the Governor-General to dismiss Stuart Nash from all his ministerial portfolios. Late this afternoon I was made aware by a news outlet of an email Stuart ...
Four strikes and Stuart Nash has been ousted from cabinet. It follows revelations this evening that he shared private cabinet discussions with business leaders and criticised decisions made in a 2020 email, according to reporting by Stuff. In the email, Nash set out his opposition to a decision cabinet had ...
The future of Stuart Nash, recently demoted to the bottom rung of cabinet, hangs in the balance following reports that he shared private cabinet discussions with business leaders and criticised decisions made in a 2020 email, according to reporting by Stuff. It follows Nash losing his police portfolio for breaching ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Crowley, Adjunct Associate Professor, Public and Environmental Policy, University of Tasmania Labor and the Greens on Monday announced a deal to strengthen a key climate policy, the safeguard mechanism, by introducing a hard cap on industrial sector emissions. But the ...
The native parrot the kea is under siege from aerial spread 1080 poison drops says a West Coast wildlife advocate Laurie Collins of Westport. While it is accepted that a good proportion of New Zealanders are opposed to aerial 1080 poison drops used ...
West Coasters might have a taste for the gung-ho but pragmatism has taken a turn for the cautious at an extraordinary Greymouth council meeting Outspoken West Coast Regional Council chair Allan Birchfield has been rolled by his colleagues in a bid to make peace with the government and stem the ...
By Tim Wilson, Executive Director, Maxim Institute* What does politics produce when mixed with violence and intimidation? Sadly nothing constructive, plus a humungous helping of anger, division, recrimination, spleen and confusion. Oh, and headlines. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Senator Lidia Thorpe’s defection from the Greens changed the power dynamic in the Senate. Now the government needs two crossbenchers (and the Greens) to pass legislation opposed by the Coalition. Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Crowley, Adjunct Associate Professor, Public and Environmental Policy, University of Tasmania Labor and the Greens on Monday announced a deal to strengthen a key climate policy, the safeguard mechanism, by introducing a hard cap on industrial sector emissions. But the ...
Security guards have made their voices heard and now have enough signatures to initiate a Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) for workers in their occupation. Since the Fair Pay Agreements Bill was passed in October 2022, more than 1000 security guards across Aotearoa New ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bianca Fileborn, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, The University of Melbourne ShutterstockThe following article discusses sexual violence, self-harm and suicide. Gender and sexuality diverse (LGBTQ+) people experience disproportionately high levels of sexual violence, but we still know very little about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jesse J. Fleay, Republic Constitutional Scholar, Federalist, Co-Author of the Uluru Statement, University of Notre Dame Australia Australia is preparing for a referendum to decide on the proposed Voice to parliament for First Nations people. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stated the ...
Toni Collette and John Leguizamo tell Tara Ward about the electric drama set in a world where gender equality becomes a sudden and shocking reality.There’s a moment halfway through in The Power when it seems Toni Collette could be channeling Jacinda Ardern. A mysterious medical event is sweeping the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fiona Charlson, Conjoint NHMRC Early Career Fellow, The University of Queensland Shutterstock Last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprised of the world’s most esteemed climate experts, delivered its sixth report and “final warning” about the climate crisis. It ...
The government's national security arm says it is working on how to address the spread of disinformation and this is not directed specifically at the general election. ...
Poet Ash Davida Jane talks with poet Andrew Johnston about his Selected Poems, which spans 23 years of his published work. I’ve started writing this review in the notes app on my phone from the backseat of my friend’s car, which feels a far cry from the world of Andrew ...
National is demanding Marama Davidson apologise to cis white men over her comments from Saturday. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says he considers the matter closed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Manlik, Casual Academic and PhD Candidate, Macquarie University ABC The recent ABC mini-series, In Our Blood, offers a fictionalised account of Australia’s response to AIDS, focusing on the development of a partnership between impacted communities, health professionals and government. ...
Aucklanders – it’s your last chance to have a say on the council’s upcoming budget. Submissions close at 11pm tonight, after which they will be collated and considered by councillors before a final proposal’s released by the end of June. As my colleague Tommy de Silva explained earlier this month, ...
Aucklanders – it’s your last chance to have a say on the council’s upcoming budget. Submissions close at 11pm tonight, after which they will be collated and considered by councillors before a final proposal’s released by the end of June. As my colleague Tommy de Silva explained earlier this month, ...
After breaking a years-long gap between New Zealand ministerial visits to China, Nanaia Mahuta says the relationship is in good shape but the Government will keep discussing differences of opinion between the countries - including support for Ukraine New Zealand will keep pushing China to use its influence to help end ...
The government has commissioned an inquiry after forestry waste caused widespread devastation in Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle. But records show experts have been sounding the alarm for decades – why did no one hear them?This story was first published on Stuff. Ten minutes into the grey wasteland of the Mangatokerau ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Oliver A.H. Jones, Professor, RMIT University Shutterstock You might have noticed many skin and haircare products are advertised as “paraben-free”, or come across online influencers warning parabens are terrible for your health. But what is a paraben? And could a ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson should apologise to white men over the “sweeping generalisation” she made ahead of the Posie Parker counter-protest on Saturday. That’s according to National’s leader Christopher Luxon who was questioned on the comments this morning at parliament. Davidson was caught on camera blaming “cis white men” ...
Candida auris is more likely to infect those who are already ill or immunocompromised and is fatal for 30-60% of those infected.What is Candida auris?Candida auris (also known as C. auris) is a type of fungus called a yeast. It was first identified in 2009 from the ear ...
Lorde’s always been mysterious and her latest newsletter to fans does nothing to change that. The New Zealand singer has just wrapped up her lengthy Solar Power tour in support of her third album released at the height of the delta Covid wave back in 2021. And while reports have ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Other items of interest and importance todayPOSIE PARKER RALLY The Facts: New Zealanders are world leaders in respecting transgender men and women Chris ...
New figures show the government has called on just 3 percent of the half a billion dollars approved to build or expand mental health hospital facilities. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins believes the polarising debate in the wake of British gender activist Posie Parker's New Zealand visit has not been helpful, nor was it helpful to bring ethnicity and race into the debate. ...
The Kiwibank Local Hero of the Year will be announced this Thursday. The judges have had their work cut out for them choosing a winner from these finalists.There are hundreds of New Zealanders across the motu who devote time to their communities. Those people who go the extra mile ...
Late last year, at the time David Farrier was readying to release his new documentary Mister Organ, broadcaster Sean Plunket started tweeting out what appeared to be court documents. As we detailed in our extensive timeline of the Mister Organ saga, the tweets included claims that Farrier had been served ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins’ morning media round has been largely dominated by remarks made by one of his ministers over the weekend. Marama Davidson, who is also co-leader of the Green Party, was caught on capture at a counter-protest to anti-trans speaker Posie Parker stating: “I am the prevention violence ...
If insurers aren’t involved in discussions on how New Zealand adapts to climate change, we risk whole sections of the country becoming uninsurable. As New Zealand considers how to better prepare for a future affected by climate change, the insurance sector needs to be part the discussion on where and ...
It will also be a couple of months before a decision is made on what approach will be taken with Coromandel’s SH25A which has been closed since cracks appeared on January 27 in the wake of ex-Cyclone Hale. Any fix will take nine to 12 months to implement. Access in ...
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Jacinda Adern doesn't come across very well any longer I think… too earnest, too many mealy words and qualifications, too much hesitation.
This combined with little real left-type action (e.g. letting the wealthy retain tax-free capital income) points to trouble with re-election imo.
Time to toughen up, speak more clearly, straighten the shoulders, do bolder things
Maybe some people are better at putting on various masks than others, I prefer the honesty of the moment probably due to a number of frustrations I'm sure it will pass.
Winston First may struggle to be re-elected for the governing coalition ditching CGT, I guess.
My awakening horror is that as National track right, NZF will pick up soft right votes and get to control the formation of government again.
If Labour are out at the next election, NZ will get the future it deserves.
"If Labour are out at the next election, NZ will get the future it deserves."
That's my fear in a way – that we may have to sink so low before an awakening, and by that time there'll be SFA left. (I'm a glass half full kinda guy).
My opinion is that Ardern's popularity has gone down because Ihumatao. Protesters have targeted her with their demand that she visit the site/march to her electorate office. Leading to some on the left no longer supporting her as the preferred PM.
I accept I could totally be wrong about this.
Jacinda is not the problem. If we lose the next election is will be a horror show.
BTW VTO your barely worth replying to in terms of how Ardern sounds. She is a good 30 points above Simon and I strongly believe that popularity has gone down because of Ihumatao. Its a year out to the next election. Long time in politics.
Afaik her popularity hasn't gone down. There was a rise after the mosque shootings, which seems pretty normal to me, and now it's dropped back to what it was before. Also seem normal to me.
According to the polls, and let's not forget the forces of manipulation at play from the right and the MSM.
meh – most people don’t care about Ihumātao at all. They will however if the government puts their hand in the tax payers pocket (even for a loan). Then you will really see popularity drop like a stone.
Still there are are plenty of other issues that it could be: kiwibuild, light rail not starting, complaints of sexual assault in the PMs office – the complete and dismal “year of delivery” backing off on CGT to name a few.
Stories like this won't be helping:
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/ardern-labelled-hypocrite-enforcing-drug-sanctions-beneficiaries
In 2013, as Labour's social development spokesperson, Ms Ardern criticised the drug sanctions telling NZ Herald that cutting support for drug users would reduce their chances of rehabilitation.
"All of the evidence suggests that responding in the way National has suggested doesn't work," she said.
"They will however if the government puts their hand in the tax payers pocket "
Funny there was no outcry when Joyce and National government around 2011 or so put their hand in taxpayers pocket to buy 45% of listed company Chorus for $940 mill.
Where was your outrage over that 'arrangement' James
Not forgetting SCF, mediaw**ks, and AMI….
Personally think it hasn’t really come down.
It has just returned to what it was before the massive jump from Ch Ch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_next_New_Zealand_general_election#Individual_polls
"If Labour are out at the next election, NZ will get the future it deserves."
A plausible scenario next election is Greens bigger vote than NZ First who then decide to go with National.
That means Labour and Greens out . Winston has always liked a 'simple coalition' rather than 3 legged stools
this is my concern too. I had been hoping that Labour getting NZF votes and Greens getting Labour votes would work, but with National going right Peters may just end up following. Otoh, what can National offer him policy-wise if they've gone Trumpian right?
Which is basically National's best hope for government. But the nats are really hoping for a further-right party to be their politically-relevant friend. But that's not looking likely at all.
now I'm trying to imagine a scenario of the L/G govt and a Nat no mates and NZF opposition. I guess the Nat vote would have to collapse. Looking at the 2nd term election for Clark's government, the Nat vote went to NZF but between them they didn't have the numbers. I'm trying to remember what Labour were doing that was kept them there.
Watched the Alliance rot from the top down and made JimA deputy PM. Although Labour had ruled out a coalition with NZ1 in 2002, they played UF over the Greens.
Lots of parties in parliament in those days.
Might be spending too much time with her 'officials' ?
"Ultimately" it will all sort itself out in the wash "going forward"
Thanks for your observations, I am sure they'll be noted with the gravity they deserve.
ha ha, I'm sure 2c goes a long way in Wellington…. can you even buy a lolly for 2c there?
Fancy admitting your observations are only worth 2c VTO. Mind you, that might be infinitely more than Sanctuary thinks they are worth.
If I were the PM and quite a few of her Ministers, I'd be putting a few of her senior officials on the Drip Dry setting. It bypasses the Spin cycle and saves time and heartache having to iron out all the bloody wrinkles afterwards.
They'd be some of those officials that thought it quite OK for example to use the likes of Thompson and Clark. As far as I know, not too many of them have yet been held to account in any sort of meaningful way
If I were the PM and quite a few of her Ministers, I'd be putting a few of her senior officials on the Drip Dry setting. It bypasses the Spin cycle and saves time and heartache having to iron out all the bloody wrinkles afterwards.
Brilliant!
I heard the other day that a person with whom I had small contact with in the course of their work as a National appointee to a disability work stream is now working in the Office of the Prime Minister. Strange, as I had the impression that this person was 'on to it' disability wise. Strange, because my constant moan at the moment when doing my usual government document search on matters disability is"… who the bloody hell is advising these Ministers???'
From my recent post on Pubic Address…https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/access-reviewing-funded-family-care-and-repealing/?p=382656#post382656
Another update on this from the Misery of Health’s website.
They have released this Cabinet Paper dated September 2018.
Also this 51 page tome dated around about when the announcement was made in July.
There’s over eighty pages of discussion, and since both Peter and I struggle to read volumes on screen I began to print them out.
Big mistake. Will I ever bloody learn? Not quite as many solid blacked out redactions as the Previous Incumbents’ effort that so riled readers here on Public Address back in 2013…but not far off.
Simply not acceptable.
Not.Fucking. Okay.
Open and transparent government my arse.
Heard of the Ombudsman and their OIA guidelines. Check it out and if you dont like the deletions APPEAL.
Clearly its a major interest for you but dont just let it slip.
By the way, I think we probably reached 'peak spin' 3 or 4 years ago.
I'm waiting for "Kaizen principles" to be reinvented and trotted out under a new label.
For the first time in my life of voting 'to the left' (Labour mostly with a tinge of Green), 2020 is going to be a bloody hard decision. (Did I tell you about the latest little Pinot Gris I've discovered darling? It goes wonderfully with the NZ salmon – which you can get 25% cheaper in Okkerland))
Yep, well to continue the analogy (from someone who has jumped in and out of the PS most of my life), there's also no need for the toxic fabric softeners either. And they just might find there'd be organisational culture improvements, the peons would feel safer and less bullied, staff turnover might get better (especially in places like the Munstry for Everything, but elsewhere),the number of Employment Court cases would reduce, and the idea of actual 'public service' (i.e. ekshully serving the public) might return.
Meanwhile ……………
It's possible they might even be able to catch up with things like Visa processing, or cases of worker exploitation, or processing Warrants and Certificates of Fitness, or closing down shoddy education, or even bloody radio interference (if that's even still on the agenda), or proper monitoring or oversight in a number of areas.
The downside of course is that Astoria's business might take a huge dive but that'd be quite easy to fix
And is anyone listening to them? – organisational culture sets the filtering out of 'distractions'.
The problem is dumping Ministers looks like the Government doesn’t know what it’s doing. !!!?? If National had a leader! The Coalition would be in shitters ditch.
Time to toughen up, speak more clearly, straighten the shoulders, do bolder things.
There's an element of truth to vto's comment.
Jacinda's tough, but it's time she showed it more. Yesterday in response to Paula Bennett she retaliated with a barb which went straight to the heart of the matter under discussion and created a minor uproar. She reminded Paula B that:
" I would never weaponise people's personal information" It was a direct reference to Bennett's release of the financial details of the two solo mums back in 2010.
“The quote by JA is around 5 mins in.)
It was a perfect response and there should be more of this kind of rhetoric coming from Jacinda Ardern. It is an essential part of the political fabric to treat 'like with like' and can't be avoided if Labour wants to remain in power.
I too, find her responses to interviewers to be less than clear on occasion both in delivery and content. It's as if she's trying to appease everyone and it often comes across as piecemeal and hard to decipher. Relatively brief down to earth responses will always have a bigger impact on voters than slightly rambling dissertations.
Never hurt Key to be full of cliches and catch phrases. ….."at the end of the day"
VTO. 1 Wow nothing to add from me except support for your comment.
Great animation of nations ranked by military spending year by year, 1914-2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw2Wm8T6tio
Great graphic Sacha. Thank you.
I learned a lot in that short time.
I was interested to discover through doing an interview with farming land use consultant, that the furore in the region I live in over people buying hill country farms and converting them to forestry has nothing to do with the government's One Billion Trees Programme. Instead he says the conversions are being driven by good commercial returns on forestry when the trees are harvested, along with additional cash flow from carbon credits. The 50 Shades of Green sheep & beef farmer lead movement seems to have conveniently conflated the two together, and it is being reported as such in the media
Often the 'hill country' is marginal for stock and prone to erosion. Usually the deal will involve keeping the flatter parts in production and only taking out the steeper parts.
What is the matter with the civil service – they are failing to do a good job for the citizens. The Home Office in the UK has been reprimanded over a misleading advertisement and their first response is to disagree. We get the Departments spending taxpayers money to fight what appear to be reasonable judicial decisions.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49488324
Brexit: Home Office advert banned for 'misleading' EU citizens
And some Brits are finding us too dear. Oh dear now someone else has noticed we aren't 100% anything maybe the gummint and smart-business will get their a into g.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/397602/what-makes-britain-great-fewer-brits-up-sticks-to-head-our-way
So we are set for a "bonfire" of regulations?
It is tiresome to have so many business people parroting (on the likes of Q+A, The Nation etc) things they heard at the latest business breakfast.
"We need to get rid of red tape"
"We need to reduce government regulation"
If you cannot do business in NZ it is most likely not the fault of government.
The World Bank's latest 2019 Doing Business report has ranked NZ, for the third year running, as THE NUMBER ONE EASIEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD in which to do business.
– better than Singapore, Denmark and Hong Kong (2, 3 & 4 respectively)
– better than the US (#8), UK (#9), Australia (#18)
https://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Annual-Reports/English/DB2019-report_web-version.pdf
So why the need for a regulation bonfire? To cynically exploit an unexamined bias against government in order to gather votes? Yet another dog whistle?
If your business is not doing as well as you would like then you had better look at other factors than regulation:
1. External environmental factors (the advice given in almost any year one of a business degree – know your operating environment) i.e the world economy, weak or absent demand for the widgets you produce, trade protectionism in foreign markets etc etc
2. Internal environment factors – management failure, poor or short-sighted planning, unrealistic expectations, lack of innovation & research to keep up with customer demands etc.
<sigh>
In the regulations that matter most to business customers, however, businesses find massive barriers to entry against them, and plenty of government weakness to perpetuate it. There are near-cartels operating in whole industries including:
– Supermarkets
– Media
– Oil and petrol supply
– Electricity generation
– Primary and secondary education
– Telecommunications
– Insurance
– Banking
– All construction materials
– Sea ports
– Alcoholic drinks
All of those need massive competition interventions by the government because we know they are screwing us for either service or cost or both. Few are natural monopolies such as public water. So far this government has started on petrol, but we won't see any results to that this term. That's it.
National should concentrate on promising to smash some cartels up. Voters I am sure would take notice.
Biggest barrier to small business is National, impoverishing our customers.
Their sneaky charges, support for businesses who underpay migrant staff, and cuts to business services don’t help either.
The upper-class authoritarian rule of the Conservatives under Boorish. Can't have a very restrained mural about the EU on a wall of a booring building.
https://katv.com/news/entertainment/banksys-brexit-mural-disappears-from-wall-in-seaside-port
Eddie Izzard says we have to be both brave and curious as far as getting on with the world is concerned. 4.40 with Joe Rogan – thoughts on Brexit.
Jordan Peterson thinks that referendums are a bad way of governing the country – Brexit 10 mins
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou62KYgXu_I&t=143s
Christopher Hitchens Destroys Angry Conservatives, Theists & Liberals 13 mins Religion leads to authoritarianism is theme.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/397690/uk-government-to-request-queen-to-suspend-parliament-ahead-of-brexit-deadline
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said it would make also way for Boris Johnson's new administration to hold a Queen's Speech – laying out the government's plans – on 14 October…
Laura Kuenssberg said only a small number of government ministers knew about the plan before its announcement and it would inevitably cause a huge row…
Government to hold a Queen’s Speech, just as all new Governments do. https://t.co/fgKSmLdOzb
— James Cleverly MP (@JamesCleverly) August 28, 2019
I am sure there will be avid kayakers who will support this decision of Minister Parker to stop the power station on the West Coast Waitaha River.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12262859
But to me it's a much bigger call than Minister Smith declining the gondola concession into Fiordland National Park a few years ago.
Forest and Bird of course love it. Even though I'm a member, I disagree with them on this one. Their statement:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK1908/S00698/waitaha-river-saved-from-hydro-scheme.htm
With the sale of Westland Milk, Westpower are one of the last New Zealand owned west coast corporates keeping lots of people there on good salaries. No amount of serving coffee to tourists at $18 an hour will compare to this kind of business.
Here's the Minister's statement in full:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1908/S00281/waitaha-river-hydro-application-declined.htm
I probably don't have to describe how the monolith 51% owned generator and retailer Genesis is sucking blood out of us, and the government essentially assisting them by crunching any attempt at major competition doesn't help us consumers:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1908/S00781/update-genesis-underlying-profit-up-on-improved-retail.htm
Also hard to see anyone wanting to invest in the ability to make us 100% energy renewable using any kind of water resource after this.
Bit of a bugger for the West Coast all round.
Yup. As a kayaker who once upon a time might have had the skills to paddle that gorge (but would never have had the cojones for it), I do indeed support Minister Parker's decision.
In terms of adding to renewables capacity, there's hundreds of megawatts of wind farms already consented, but not being built due to lack of demand. Against that background, a decision to decline a 20MW scheme that would trash a pretty special bit of river seems just simply the right thing to do.
'Consented' is therefore of no consequence to whether the West Coast or electricity renewals will benefit then.
WestPower had the money and will to do it.
Nothing was going to be "trashed". Fully backed by DoC.
The people with enough money to enjoy NZ and like to do it in style should be considered as top priority? It may be good to have water conserved in a dam or lake, and make electricity too. Kayakers might have to suck it up and go elsewhere. This is not the 20th century, and we run the risk of losing a lot more than a thrilling set of rapids.
We are building a dam here in Tasman. I hope it is being built for practical purposes of having water available in droughts, which is the stated reason. If it is to change land use to irrigated dairying it will result in some very angry people who have lost a clean lovely river.
The west coast if it stuck to the basics of water conservation, not exporting it, and electricity at lower prices to the local area would not be disadvantaged.
Business, we have learned how to start them. But how to keep them going and profitable seems our problem.
When we decided to make exporting a push for NZ to make more money and opened up our borders and chucked out the tariffs, it put a lot of people out of jobs within a short time. The attitude was that new jobs would grow which would take us into the future at a more modern level. We would be seeing more high tech, value added jobs. But the 'hospo' jobs that have arisen have been built on low wages, and the 'modern' has disappeared. So ordinary workers have had their opportunities to make their way in life diminished by the behaviour of government.
There seems to be the same attitude to the micro businesses that people are forced to start up to have an income, and then compete with each other and profits can be absent. Competition can include foreign sharks coming from Britain to take us down! There can be barriers to income with councils working on roads and cutting off the customer access to a tiny family business. Police may shut off a road and access to shops there while they scour the area for evidence after a crime in poor areas. Sub-contractors don't get paid after working on a job because of a rort.
There need to be a group of trouble shooters who can act as movers and shakers as part of a Small Business Agency. Tiny businesses can call to them for help, when the machine of state pushes their ability to make a living aside.
Kia Ora Newshub.
I agree Aotearoa is in a great position to weather the financial storm being created by America.
The capitalists are lureing our Rangatahi to vaping our government is going to bring them back to heal with new legislation to stop the advertising targeting youth.
That's a good move putting food in lower decial school some tamariki have no food in their whare what A crying shame.
boris is just a fool who likes to win at all cost watch his party flop out.
I don't think a NZ Mp using a cryptic phone while in China is offensive to China. They know that its not about trust. Its about making sure that one coms is safe they would use those pH all the time.
Good on you Greata sailing to America to champion human cause climate change We are doing our bit to lower our carbon footprint to Ka pai.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Condolences to Pita Pione whanau I'm sure he will be missed by his whanau
I, , whanau make sure you pepi and tamariki have been vaxcernated don't risk them getting measles do all you can to avoid them catching the virus.
Our Government putting lunches in lower decial school will be great for tangata whenua Rangatahi quite a lot of our tamariki are in lower decial school.
New trade training in Manukau and other places in Auckland will help Maori and Pacific youth get a great skill set and qualification to lift them up there ladders of life. This move back to training our youth with trade training is well over due I tryed to get my son into a good trade but there were to many Awa to cross to get them in a course in those days.
That's great Tainui is mahi with the Cook Islands people that's the way many hands make light mahi.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Science is advancing fast its not going to be long before we have technology that advances learning to just PAY and down load the knowledge hence the wealth will have a huge advantage over the rest of us. Hence we need simple smart solutions to this un democratic phenomenon as everyone has to be held accountable for their Actions.
This measles outbreak is happening all Around the Western Papatuanuku cause right leaders get power they slash social security payments to the people slashed health spending and give hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidys to the carbon barons..
Food in school for the poor tamariki is a perfect opportunity to teach tamariki how to eat healthy foods. Eating and food is a very serious subject in A GREAT country France they feed there tamariki at school and teach them to eat healthy foods after all we are what we eat.
Ed music fits in with the common people across the Papatuanuku I like his music Aotearoa was one place were his music started to hit the charts first kia kaha Ed.
When we have had a government that shorts the housing market so it takes one person's wage to pay rent add organisation beening aloud to hire people on temporary no hours guarantee employment contract they don't know if they will get 2 hours or 50 hours for the week they can't guarantee putting food on the table . The price of good food has gone from being one of the cheapest in the OECD to the dearest in 9 year. Thanks steven once Head of the retailers accocation. The Trolls have a cheek trying to justify their putting down free food for tamariki. Eco Maori wrote the above words before the Wahine from Kids Can came on the show.
Fungi Truffles Mushrooms ect are a super food that is under underutilised in Europe its quite the trend to forage for mushrooms Peter I say you using our great food produce is awesome I enjoy watching your shows. That is going to be the new way to do thing use the local food or food with a low carbon footprint like ours I sit here watching sheep with 3 lambs at foot enjoying Te Ra sitting in a green grass paddock
I agree the money organising are fleece people the whole Papatuanuku over why charge heaps for a computing transactions to change currency and all the other services that are just computer transfer????????.
Tris great subject I don't agree that New Zealand did not support the Great White Shark being protected by the international community sad but this subject was under the rada there was little reported in the media on the subjects.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub
I think it's great that our government is investing in growing seaweed for food production it is a super food that we need to grow commercialy to feed the people in the future.
I think that study about genitics on gay people is fulse of course its genitics not just the environment effects. I have seen people from baby's displaying a gay behavior the people who commissioned this study are religious or people who are against our gay community.
No comment on the USA space commanded
Its great that Aotearoa fashion community is celebrating diversity having elderly models large models this is a great move to getting people to except equallity for all as just showing the perfect person actually discrimination against the others whom are a different culture colour.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Tahu Potiki is a well respected person in the Maori community he got a big send off.
Ka pai to Te Maori King for going to Rarotonga to meet their leaders
Its excellent that our government is putting money into Para kore to boost the zero waste program for marae.
Cool seeing other native cultures included in the physicalogical society a lot of western institutions ignore Te tangata whenua knowledge
I agree with Dr Kopu the stats don't lie there is case of instructional raceism in New Zealand even the Eco Maori phenomenon points directly at the problem.
Ka kite Ano
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
Kia Ora Newshub.
That is what is needed everyone getting vaxcernated against the infection of measles through pop up clinics in Auckland.
Drug companies hide the negative effects of the drugs they make all in the name of profits.
I back the workers of sky city striking for a better wage and fair conditions.
There is great interest in Tangata Whenua O Aotearoa Arterfacts Art and culture awesome.
Checking twice for bikes is a great way to teach people to think about their fellow people on the road riding bikes Ka pai.
Its about time Brazil is making moves to stop the fire in the Amazon that farmers was just talking with his wallet no though process going on there fool.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Ka pai Jared your mahi teaching tangata whenua about living a sustainable life with a low carbon footprint is excellent I talk to everyone about zero waste and lower carbon energy. I will be copying you and planting a food forest my cus has one. With that life style one is busy most times.
A lot of doctors discrimination against tangata whenua I know how the Wahine felt. I have seen it with my own eyes I make sure I deal with them professionally mite be a bit loud but that's because Te atua gave me a strong voice.
People need to respect Ngāti Toa haka Ka mate and ask if they want to use it commercially. Its tatau tatau give and take but a lot of people just want to take take take.
Ka kite Ano
Eco Maori tau toko this brave young Wahine I say all the tamariki of the Papatuanuku should join her in protecting there future environment from the lying cheating carbon barrons love of money over LIFE ON EARTH.
Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg was joined by swelling and excited crowds of American teenagers at a protest outside the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, in a further blossoming of the youth environment movement given extra thrust by the Swede’s transatlantic boat crossing.
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Some US children said they were at their first ever climate demonstration; others said they had been passionate about the environment for a while but had been galvanized to act by Thunberg’s rising profile.
On Friday afternoon, Thunberg and two young activists were spontaneously invited inside the UN for a meeting with a senior leader, described as “very supportive”.
Greta Thunberg 'wants a concrete plan, not just nice words' to fight climate crisis
Read more
Just two days after Thunberg disembarkedfrom a yacht in New York, following two weeks on rough seas crossing from the UK, young protesters dominated the crowd of up to 1,000 outside the United Nations skyscraper in Manhattan.
They came together to demand politicians and older generations take urgent and comprehensive action to reverse the climate crisis.
Carrying hand-drawn placards with messages such as “United behind the science” and “Act now or we will”, children and young people of all ages surged into a park in front of the flags of the world outside the UN on Friday morning.
Thunberg sat cheerfully but pensively in the middle of the rally, which had a rather more earnest than festive atmosphere. Young speakers gave spontaneous speeches or led chants of “System change, not climate change” and “Don’t just watch us, join us.
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/30/greta-thunberg-un-climate-protest-new-york